Eels Blinking Lights definitely, I forgot about that one!

I liked Daisies more than Blinking Lights, myself. Granted, I've got a bias against double albums. I did like Blinking Lights, though. (I like Electro Shock Blues most, but that's the last century.)

Daises and Electro Shock are amazing albums, Eels produce the goods every time. He's a cant do wrong for doing righter!

I just can't go along with the arguement that Brian tours for the money, c'mon people he is unbelievably minted. The profits from his tours are small change to a man of his wealth. All I can say is that out of the 15 shows I've seen him perform, three are the greatest shows I have ever seen anyone perform, 11 were excellent and 1 was poor, namely the Liverpool pops show. If Brian didn't want to tour he wouldn't tour, he may be encouraged but I can't ever believe he is ordered to tour against his wishes. To answer the question asked by the post, whatever Brian's decision, I'm cool with it. He's given me more than I could ever have expected, will I turn up for more if he wants to tour again in the UK, you betcha!

Death Cab For Cutie - Transatlanticism
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
Sigur Rós - Takk...
Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes
Deerhunter - Halcyon Digest

+ a few others, but these came to mind first.

Eels Blinking Lights definitely, I forgot about that one!

Quadrophenia is one of the greatest albums of all time. Any self respecting British teenager, regardless of their date of birth should get heavily into that album. It's a rite of passage. Amazing from start to finish. Who by Numbers is a personal favourite. Anazing candid, honest writing and great performances. Regarding Endless Wire, it is a fine album, marred by Townsend's procrastination leading to a delay in recording which led to Zak Starkey being on tour with Oasis and therefore he plays on only one song which was a dissapointment to me. Get Townshends "All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" for me it stands alongside Quad and By Numbers. Incidently John Entwistle bought me a drink at the Saddlers Wells theatre the night I went to see Townshend play his Lifehouse Concert. What a blast!

Which albums would you rate as undeniable masterpieces released this century. Three immediately spring to mind for me. BWPS, Bob Dylan's Love and Theft and Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Anyone got anymore they would put in that category?

Now I live in Glasgow, Scotland but by Christ $10 are you kiddin' me for VDP? Get your arses down there people!

I knew Joe Thomas would ruin this record. I'm probably speaking a little too soon but it's not looking good..

C'mon man that is one ridiculous statement, I've feared many an album only to be very f*ckin' surprised. Case in point BW Presents SMiLE.

Likening this NEW material to a reconstructed version of a failed album is ridiculous! The only thing you could compare it to is Imagination, since Thomas virtually ruined that record with his glossy adult contemporary bullsh*t. JT is credited on 5 songs, 2 of which are "Your Imagination" and "Lay Down Burdon", well known songs within BW/BB fans(well known not favorite). Anyway, I guess I'm not completely against Thomas being involved in some songwriting but I can't stand his production! Oh yeah, those other 3 songs he co-wrote? They're horrible.

I didn't liken this new music to anything. Your statement was that Joe Thomas had ruined the new album. My point was/is that your statement is ridiculous as we've yet to hear it. I'm no great fan of Imagination but I won't pre-judge music that is yet to be heard.

I knew Joe Thomas would ruin this record. I'm probably speaking a little too soon but it's not looking good..

C'mon man that is one ridiculous statement, I've feared many an album only to be very fuckin' surprised. Case in point BW Presents SMiLE.

The Friends album just screams to me "listen to me while tripping out on acid!" Hearing Anna Lee the Healer and Friends (the song) would be quite the experience.

f*** friends is the best album ever, drugs, no drugs required, it fucking blows my tits off ewvery time. Phew that is the best album ever made! (btw give it a listen on acid, holy sheeit!)

I remember when the Pet Sounds cd came out in 1990, my friends, who were most definitely not into the Beach Boys, and I listened to it while tripping and it sounded absolutely earth shatteringly mind blowing. One friend kept repeating this is 3D music man 3D music, and it was! Another was convinced that Brian Wilson had made the album specifically to be listened to on acid. We all pissed ourselves with laughter when the boys sang "this is the worst trip I've ever been on. The same day we listened to BW88 and it was pretty good, especially Rio Grande but the synths just didn't have the same vibe as the organic sounding Pet Sounds. That was one fine afternoon I can tell you!

This is getting rather far afield.. I hate to seem so pedantic, but may we have  more scholarly, focused discussions with real information according to the rubric of this topic? Perhaps I do not understand the genre of a message board, but I want concrete information and  learned speculation.  The Lindsay info is usefully, but much else is off topic over the past several days. Perhaps it is simply the product of our collective frustration and anticipation over this new album?

Ooo get you sista!

Yeh, I've seen Ray several times and the 2006 band was brilliant, saw them in Glasgow. Played Word of Mouth this afternoon, now got UK Jive on, which I bought the same day as I got the Pet Sounds cd back in 1990. Summers Gone is a brilliant song the bridge lyrics always choke me up "Dad looked at us then he looked at his wife, he must've wondered where we all came from. Then mum said Dad, you know it won't last long, before you know it summers gone" I love that reminicense of childhood family life, very Ray.
UK Jive sounds better than I remember, oh well I feel a Kinks phase coming on.

I listen to the first Clark solo album quite a bit, there are some really good songs but I can't help but find it a little boring. I think Gary Usher is a huge part of why I like the Byrds, his production style and Roger's guitar playing are a match made in heaven and I really miss that.

Does anybody here like Dr. Byrds and Mr. Hyde? I think that album is pretty underrated, especially This Wheels on Fire and Bad Night at the Whiskey.

The Gary Usher productions are the greatest Byrds albums. After Sweetheart they died on record, though Untitled is a good, sometimes inspired effort. Notorious Byrd Brothers is in my top 5 albums of all time. Absolutely incredible album. If anyone on this site doesn't have it, treat yourself immediately!

I go all the way to the end with this band. Love the albums everyone else loves, the often cited Face to Face, Arthur, VGPS, Something Else, Lola, but also love Misfits, State of Confusion, Word of Mouth, even their finale, Phobia.

Yeh Misfits is excellent, unfortunately by Word of Mouth and State of Confusion Ray's production had become of it's time and renders those albums difficult listening, mind you the songs on WoM are great. If they had trimmed Phobia down to 10-12 songs it would have been brilliant. The 2 new songs on To the Bone were better produced and Animal in particular is a favourite of mine.

I don't have any problem with the production on those albums. I do think UK Jive and Think Visual were just a tad overproduced in spots, but for the most part, I really like the Kinks 80's work. I can't think of any act with similar longevity who were still producing high quality work right to the end. Certainly not the Beach Boys 

What do you think of Ray's solo albums, there's a couple of classic Davies songs on them, Thanksgiving Day and Imaginary Man spring to mind.

Outtasight! Pretty fucking amazing my man. Superb job!

Those 3 synth notes on Love and Mercy annoy the hell out of me everytime I play it. They shouldn't but they do. I also end up singing the missing vocals on Melt Away when I play the remastered version. 2 of the 3 greatest songs on that album screwed up, very poor! Maybe I should just stick to playing the original issue, the first BW/BB's album I ever bought incidently.

It is such a joy to watch Brian when he's that relaxed. Gotta love it.

Well to be honest, I've not heard any modern pop record to never sound "slick."  The only time I come across an true organic sound on any recent music, it's always coming from indie alt-country bands.  Even Amy Winehouse's "Back To Black" may have been ridiculously retro (yet still modern) but there was still some "slickness" to it.  There's no way around it...

Plenty of ways around it.

All you need is a decent producer........

"Sounding like 80's Beach Boys", oh dear that's just about the worse comparison he could have come up with. Does not whet my appetite. Could tie in with JT being an executive producer.

Well, I would worry about it sounding like "90s Beach Boys" more. Summer in Paradise dates from 92, IIRC.

But yeah, if Joe Thomas is involved -- as we have known since late last year, at least -- the album will probably have a degree of slickness to it. I mean listen to the version of "Do It Again" that's out! I've been banging this drum for awhile now, and I'm astonished that people are still taken aback or trying to wishful-think their way out of this.

Joe Thomas involvement, Joe Thomas musicians = Slicker, adult contemporary sound.

That's just the way it is.

You are likely right, but I just hope the fact that he may be an executive producer rather than producer as such might mean there's less slickness going on than might otherwise have been the case.

But back to the album ...

The interview with Probyn thread has a lot of new stuff.

-- Joe Thomas is overseeing the band in the studio. Probyn said he thought he was an "executive producer."
-- Bruce seems to have written at least one song for the album.
-- Probyn has only played on a three or so tracks (at the time of the interview -- he seems to have done more since). Many more were recorded last year and early this year not including him (such as the God radio song).
-- He describes some of the other songs as sounding like "80's Beach Boys." If that means "Somewhere Near Japan," I'm in. If it means "Wipeout," we'll see.
-- Some of the songs feature a small chamber orchestra group.
-- Brian has co-written most of the songs, with Mike helping on a couple.
-- There may be theremin on at least one tune.
-- Apparently D'Amico and Walusko will be on the tour!

"Sounding like 80's Beach Boys", oh dear that's just about the worse comparison he could have come up with. Does not whet my appetite. Could tie in with JT being an executive producer. I just hope his description is inaccurate.

Neil Diamond's previous (?) album (the one produced by Rick Rubin) went to number one in both the US and UK.  I don't think it is unreasonable to hope for a similar outcome for our guys.  But does anyone have any idea of what sales were like for the Neil Diamond album?

Hmm… anyone know the sales figures for the last Joe Thomas-produced project?

Anyone know what the last album Joe Thomas produced was?



Well if the  idea is to go by what Joe Thomas has produced, the project would be in trouble sales wise
Joe Thomas seems like a sharp guy, who produces rock videos on vintage groups like Stevie Nicks, and
somehow stumbled into a relationship with Brian Wilson, producing the Imagination album. Much of his work
seemed to be farmed out to Session men and arrangers, and I know of no other artist of any merit Thomas
has ever produced, in the context of a new album.

Obviously Rick Rubin, Jack White, T Bone Burnett, there are qualified producers or co producers available.

But that doesn't matter. The Beach Boys have 50 years experience in the studio, and a cast of sidemen, that
could all be producers, writers and artists in their own right.

The question is, label support, timing, and the fact that this is no ordinary album., the label has something
special to sell, the original Beach Boys, more or less, doing a real bonafide special album, for the first time
in decades. I don't know how much Joe Thomas adds in the studio, but he seems to obey cardinal rule number
one, don't F up the music, he may not add much, but he doesn't force a bunch of incompetent choices to be made.,.
if he creates a good vibe in the studio, and makes the guys feel comfortable if he offers a little centeredness, in a sea
of quirky artists fine, that's his role, not the role of Phil Spector or George Martin, but a guy who attends to things,
makes sure the string section shows up, makes sure an arranger has charts ready, then fine.


No one knows how well this will sell, no one knows what kind of job the label or promo people will do. How much
money will be spent on ads, how much word of mouth there will be from the tour and album

But they have a special product here, it may be the death knell of classic sixties rock, but still this album can go
big big big, the final studio album from one of the most iconic groups of all time. A sympathetic press, dying to interview
the boys, much like the press used to interview the Beatles in the sixties, most of the groups are dead, or retired, and
here we have Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine, and Bruce Johnston, mixing it up with the press, video clips of them
singing on a group overhead microphone in the Capitol tower, this is a red carpet nostalgia trip for baby boomers, and all
the suburban kids will hear from their parents, oh yeah, there was the Beatles, the Stones and the Beach Boys, and this
is a very special moment, little Johny, little Melissa,

Rolling Stone, Newsweek, and Time could offer front covers for this tour and album, and if the reviews say, oh this album is
special, this album transports you back to California Girls, Good Vibrations and God Only Knows., and if a great single starts
getting airplay, because Capitols promoters and indies start twisting arms, and if they buy ads, and it could go viral on the web
and , the all that free Establishment press eating up the story like candy, and Dear Carl Wilson include due to the wizardry of
magnetic tape

If the single is good, and Capitol pushes really really hard, and they start getting feature stories in time and newsweek, this
is gonna be very very big, three times four times bigger than Neil Diamond with Delirious Love

A group is more appealing, than stone faced broody Neil Diamond, there is the funny Beach Boy, the Clever Beach Boy, the spiritual
Beach Boy,

If this is played right, this stands in as a surrogate album for the Beatles album that never happened. This can go very very big, if they
play it right, if they play it hard, this can go big.


If everybody treats it, like eh, this means nothing, then that's what will happen, if on the other hand, you turn on your evening news
and see Paul McCartney or Pete Townsend say, this reminds me of what I wish we could have done, if your local CNN or ABC Broadcaster
looks dead into the camera and says, Ladies and Gentleman, the unbelievable has happened, The Beach Boys have recreated the time
and mood of so long ago with a brilliant new album, being raved about from wall street to London, this may be the most significant rock
album of the last twenty years.


If you start seeing that kind of press, watch what happens. But they gotta have a few first class songs, that live up to the hype
and Capitol has to open their wallets, and they need to call in every favor from every journalist, DJ and promo man they can,

Just watch,. this album is a rare opportunity. We will know pretty soon. Its all up to Brian and the boys delivering, and the PR machine
if they tell people this is one of the most significant albums in a decade, people will listen, people will believe, and in part, it might even
be the truth.

If they let this album die with ordinary promotion efforts, I will be very disappointed, the American Press is practically begging for interviews
they need a first rate journalist in the studio documenting the sessions for the special to air on ABC a week before the albums release.


The Beatles anthology sold around 20 million units on the strength of two new songs, and some film clips, there was no new, last
final album.

Reality check please, plot lost.

I go all the way to the end with this band. Love the albums everyone else loves, the often cited Face to Face, Arthur, VGPS, Something Else, Lola, but also love Misfits, State of Confusion, Word of Mouth, even their finale, Phobia.

Yeh Misfits is excellent, unfortunately by Word of Mouth and State of Confusion Ray's production had become of it's time and renders those albums difficult listening, mind you the songs on WoM are great. If they had trimmed Phobia down to 10-12 songs it would have been brilliant. The 2 new songs on To the Bone were better produced and Animal in particular is a favourite of mine.

Everything from Something Else to Everybody's in Show Biz is solid gold. Preservation Acts 1 and 2 have their moments and for some reason I love Give the People What They Want. Ray's solo albums are pretty damned good too.

Look they don;t need half a million sales to be vindicated commercially or artistically. This is their year, just so long
as Brian delivers a good album.  Brians band many be technically better, but that Beach Boys blend with Wilsons
vocal arrangements has the chemistry, and wisely they are using some of Wilson's guys and Mike's guys aren't bad
either, that Cowsill drummer seems to have a good feel, hard to tell from just the remake, but if he is a Cowsill he
probably well understands the chemistry of a vocal group and family group..

The band line-up is actually what's convinced me that everything's being done right - because Cowsill and Totten are the two people from Mike and Bruce's band that I'd have chosen to join Brian's band. John Cowsill will *amaze* you - he's easily the best drummer any Beach Boys related act has had, as well as being a phenomenal vocalist. Watch the video of the Grammys if you can find it anywhere online now, and just look at his interplay with Nelson Bragg, and remember that while he knows the song, that's the first time he'd played in public with that band.

As good as Cowsill is....the distinction of the best drummer any Beach Boys related act easily goes to Todd Sucherman

Correct!

I was thinking 3-5 million units worldwide, and ongoing
sales as part of the catalogue and official canon, and so I very unscientifically thought, oh that's
gotta be worth several hundred grand for an album cut on here.

   Where to begin? Still Cruisin' is the only studio album since Pet Sounds that we know has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. That relied on the massive success of 'Kokomo' and also featured three classic tracks. Also, 3-5 million in album sales worldwide is enough to get you into yearly top ten lists....so you're talking Rihanna territory there.

I think the tour will give it a boost and such, but I'd be shocked if it did any better than 300K worldwide and that's being very, very generous. It could just as well sink below 100K worldwide. A solo songwriting credit on one song on the album won't really amount to much to be honest. We're talking like a few grand.

I didn't realize the sales numbers for the Beach Boys had sunk that low, but those last couple studio albums were not that great,
and maybe I am just dead wrong, but they are gonna do much better than a couple hundred thousand units, huge free media coverage
the big tour, and supposedly the high quality of this new album, and the drama of the reunion, and the swansong, if this album is as good
as they say it's going to be, I still say 1-2 million units worldwide.

Didn't Brian Wilson presents Smile 2004 surpass between one and two million worldwide. Now that was 8 years ago
but still, this has the Beach Boy name, and everything else, if the album is good, they will do well. I hope.

Now I realize you were quoting numbers for sales going back to the late sixties, I find that hard to believe that some of those albums
didn't do better, but that best of package sold several million , a few years ago, No if this album is good, they'll do a couple million
world wide, too many good things are happening, the stars are right this time.

3-5 million? No chance. Outside of a small group of music fans, no-one gives a sh*t about a BB's reunion I'm afraid. The world has moved on check out the sales of the last Who album in 2006, their first since 1982. The world yawned, scratched it's arse and went back to bed.