Let's not forget the unpopularest (intentional misspelling) of Beach Boys opinions...

"Mike Love is a genius." - Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is the only person in the world who could make that statement with humility.

Those are the cream of the crop! I don't think there's anything else on the level of those 2, but there might be something more obscure that someone can point out.

Will C. does post here as well if you're unaware, I believe he said he plans on releasing an updated version of that project at some point.

Edit: In the same vein, does anyone know of similarly well-done electronic remixes of other classic artists?

One of my absolute favorites too. It does have a melancholic, nostalgic feel like the other tracks you cited, but also gets a little more adventurous in the bridge and outro.

Great info, thanks c-man. Just want to get clarification on something you wrote.

Who plays on the strings on the Surfer Moon?

Don't know the players, but the arranger was Jan Berry.

Bob Norberg thought up the string arrangement and Jan Berry transcribed it for him. Bob told Jan exactly how the part was supposed to go, including the plucking of the strings, and Jan wrote the parts out for the musicians.

I believe this would make Bob Norberg the arranger, no?

On that note, it is INCREDIBLY surreal to spend the afternoon locked in traffic in a realistic Los Angeles environment and then go home, play GTA V with a VR headset for a realistic Los Angeles environment in popupbook-style 3D.

Is GTA V compatible with VR? And do you have the equipment ontor?
BB related: What BB song do you think would work best in Grand Theft Auto? I Get Around for me.

Just wanted to add my appreciation Will. I've listened to this album dozens of times. It even helped sparked some of my interest in electronic music. There is a lot of humor in there as well, which I think Brian would appreciate. Thanks for sharing this with us.

What is both ironic and amazing about this video is he's talking about California and the impression that a lot people have of California was cultivated by the man who is speaking about it in the video.  Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys breathed a new type of existence into California and shaped what it was to become or to mean to a whole lot of different people.  Time passes and things change obviously but it's hard to deny the truth in this matter and that is California is as much of a part of Brian Wilson as he is a part of it.

Very true. Well put.

I'm gonna try listening to the early albums while driving round San Andreas, or maybe looking round LA on Google maps.  You don't really get that vibe here in London.

Haha. In case anyone doesn't know, Fire Wind is talking about a video game called "San Andreas," which features a scaled down recreation of Los Angeles that you can drive around in. Fire, if you can get a copy of the latest Grand Theft Auto V it has an even bigger and more realistic Los Angeles environment. Either way, have fun grabbing a tbird and cruising to the virtual hamburger stand now.

Beautiful, thank you Billy.
I just moved back to Los Angeles last month to soak up some of the inspiration Brian talks about. It really is an amazing city.

Again, you're assuming that it's Person A holding a soundtrack to ransom. Why not Persons B, C, Q or X ?  May be the case, but it pays to consider the other options.

Howie Edelson did strongly imply that it was Person A.

By my post count you can clearly tell that I'm more of a lurker. However, I'm not any less of a fan, and I actually had a track included on one of the old PSML CDs.

With that out of the way, I don't know what the hell is going on here. Guitarfool and Wirestone, I used to really enjoy both of your insights, but I literally can't comprehend the atmosphere that's being established here right now. I don't read all of the threads, so there may be (or rather definitely are) factors at play that I'm unfamiliar with, but I can't understand this level of animosity coming from 2 such level-headed individuals.

captain, I would not disagree that adding voices other than Brian's helped TWGMTR. I think my problem is that these are just one-offs, which to me is why they feel like something of a cash grab.
If you want more diversity, why not have Darian, Nick or Scott take a lead? That is something that I would personally love.

And let me add that I do not consider Al or Blondie to be "guests" in the same method as the others; I did not mean to refer to them in my post above.

I am not posting this to be cruel to Brian or his collaborators. However, after reading some of the overwhelmingly positive discussion on this board before hearing the album for the first time today, I am sincerely disappointed.

What I see as the largest flaw is what I would deem as the overuse of guest vocalists. There are far too many of them for my tastes, and I don't feel that they musically, thematically or even (if I may be so bold) spiritually vibe with what Brian is about. If I'm honest, and sad to say, I feel that these collaborations are based more on more of a monetary than artistic basis.

I also find a lot of the production choices to be poor. The vocal reverb in particular is overbearing.

As for the songs themselves, there are a few things that caught my ear, but nothing that really grabbed me.

With the combination of the above thoughts, the simplest way I can describe my feeling about the album is "generic." It doesn't feel to me like a Brian Wilson (never mind a Beach Boys) album. I feel it is far weaker than That's Why God Made the Radio, an album that I really enjoy despite recognizing that it is not a masterwork. For me, this album will go down as another Gettin' in Over My Head, and one that I don't see myself playing very often.

Would love to be there. Not sure I can make it from where I work in time though.

You've piqued my interest Peter. Here is a link with some mp3 samples if anyone is interested:

http://www.jezgraham.com/jezbeachboyssolopiano.html

Anne Wallace is perhaps the one name that rivals Brian Wilson in the modern myth of SMiLE. All kidding aside, I think everyone would love to hear what you could come up with. Thanks for posting   

Love is a Woman is probably my least favorite song on Love You. There really isn't anything that stands out for me in the music (chords/melody), production, use of synths...anything really! HOWEVER, it clearly is aesthetically in line with the rest of the album, so I have a hard time seeing someone liking most of the rest of the album but outright disliking this song.

Let me edit this to say that I'm not trying to invalidate your opinion Wirestone, or anyone else that feels the same, that's just how it is for me.

Any Beach Boys fan should be a huge Jellyfish fan.

"Split Milk" is easily the Pet Sounds of the 90s with production and top notch songwriting and arranging.
Vocals are amazing too.
Check out "The Ghost at Number One" there's a huge section in the middle that is a direct homage to Pet Sounds.

I love Jellyfish, but always felt they were more of a cerebral than an emotional band, like the Beatles rather than the Beach Boys. Their vocal harmonies seem more reminiscent of Queen than the boys to me, but then again without the emotion I hear in Queen's vocals as well.

Years ago i read a question from someone wondering how Brian Wilson could get label credit for "Sloop John B" when he didn't right it.  The answer was in the actual wording of the credit: "traditional, arranged by Brian Wilson". Or perhaps "adapted". I suspect that is a common tool for stuff in the public domain but with a history.

In the case of "traditional, arranged by 'X,'" does the arranger get 100% of the songwriting royalties?

Wow, it's like a Student Demonstration Time supporters group in here. I will add my voice to those that don't despise, and possibly even enjoy the song. I've never voiced this opinion since (besides the fact that I don't post that often!), it seems (or it did before) that there was a unanimous dislike of it. In many cases it was an intense dislike, which I could never understand. For me it's a noticeably better song than All I Want to Do (the 20/20 track).

I hate getting involved in such a soap opera, but I can't hold my tongue. I haven't read the whole thread, but drbeachboy (if you're even a real doctor), you're really making yourself look silly here. And I'm quite surprised AGD is on the same side as well, I would think you would be for journalistic integrity more so than anyone else.

It was a life-affirming event when I absolutely needed it.
Which lends an appropriate context to the band's relationship with most of us Smiley Smilers over the past 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 what have you years!

That's pretty cool. Although they did only play the fan-chosen setlist at one concert. How would you feel if the boys played a whole concert of b-sides and rarities, and you never got to hear it?!

In any case, I nominate Justin to be our setlist picker.

I disagree a bit with the Beatles outtakes, mainly because prior to Anthology there were some spectacular releases like Unsurpassed Masters, Ultra Rare Trax, Acetates, and various other studio sessions scattered about. There were some long strings of multiple takes for songs like "I Saw Her Standing There", "Strawberry Fields", "Help", etc. where you could hear them running through take after take and fine-tuning the song, not to mention some funny mistakes and studio/control room backchat. But I will agree and say the Beach Boys library of such sessions is much more complete, much more organized, and a much better "fly on the wall" experience than the average Beatles disc used to be back in the day.

Agreed. For fans that couldn't get enough, we had the Beatles "Back Track" series, The "Unsurpassed Masters" sessions box sets, "Ultra Rare Tracks" boxes, "Acetates", "Contol Room Monitor Mixes", the 3 "Anthology" CD sets, "Get Back Journals" and "Day By Day" "Twikenham", "Abbey Rd.", and now the totally bitchin' Beatles COMPLETE RECORDING SESSIONS ANTHOLOGY 72 CD box.

There is certainly a lot of variety in Beatles outtakes, but it's mostly bits and pieces of lots of different tracks. You don't often get all, or nearly all, of the takes for a song, except for a few cases that guitarfool pointed out. Even the edited versions on the Pet Sounds box set are more than you can get for many (any?) Beatles songs.

The Real Beach Boys, is there any particularly interesting material for Elvis that you'd recommend? I lean towards his early years, but would be interested in hearing about anything that's worthwhile.

I don't need to tell many of you, but the Unsurpassed Masters / Sea of Tunes volumes are an absolutely incredible listen (or so people say, not that I've heard them myself...). The way you can hear songs taking shape, and how Brian and the musicians (and the other Beach Boys on vocal sessions) interacted, just conjures so many superlatives in my mind that I can't list them all. Suffice to say, the fact that these recordings are available to us is mind-blowing (and certainly an annoyance to the band, but that's another story).

Which leads me to my actual question: do any other bands/artists have comparable outtakes? I've heard a few from the Beatles, but they're much more limited; just a few clips here and there, not full sessions for a song. I've tried searching for others without success, though I did read somewhere that Elvis supposedly has some sessions out there. Does anyone have any insights?

Ah man, this is torture being that I don't own a TV.

Looking forward to the DVD release

Bro. Just do a mix of Surf's Up with the Colonel's March, and I will send you a TV. Standard definition, of course.

LOL! Not sure if I'll be able to syncopate it to Murry's standards.

That's true, I'll try to send you my custom Murry Ableton swing template.
Ken-tu-cky Fried SURF'S UP, it's sure to make your day