I agree with a lot of the ideas posed already.  I would be strongly against quantifying how many leads each member gets, and I also say screw the democracy notion.  I want a coherent, solid album that balances commerciality with creativity, and that doesn't require the casual fan to understand the nuances of BB history to appreciate.  If achieving such an album means people get screwed out of leads, so be it.  A few other points:

-I'm totally cool with archival fly-ins.  Loved Al's finished version of "Waves of Love" with Carl.  If it can be seamlessly done, do it.

-I'm also cool with autotune as long as it's properly implemented.

-Lose the 90's echo-ey, Kokomo-ey sound.

-If they can get Brian's voice to sound like it does on TWGMTR, I'd give deference to him on most leads.  If Brian's voice sounds like it does on TLOS, I'd be okay hearing less of him.

-More Al all around.  His voice is still amazing.

Outside this list and on a general note, I'm okay with remaking songs that were never finished, could have been done better, or that sound like crap.  I really like the remake of "Do It Again" for example.  The original released track sounds horribly produced/mastered.  Like a copy of a copy of a copy of somebody's worn out cassette tape.  I wish the production value of songs like "This Whole World" were higher.  I'd love the Boys to re-record everything but Carl's lead, then extend that a capella outtro.  For those tracks whose album incarnations are perfect (GOK, etc.) remaking/tweaking would be blasphemous.  But for the stuff that would be epic were it not crappily mastered, I'm all for it.

[TWGMTR]

On another note, is Do It Again (2012) available for purchase anywhere besides the special Wal-Mart book thing?  Can't find this track anywhere.

Bonus track on the Japanese release of TWGMTR.

Gee that's convenient.  

EDIT: Looks like the 'zinepack is still available at Walmart.com.

Since the Beach Boys are now Mike and Bruce, they should make an album this way. Just Mike, his sidekick, and their backup band.

Frankly I'd take that over nothing. 

Thanks, I have that EP.  I kept seeing the special release booklet at Wal-Mart but never bought it because I figured the track would be released digitally sometime.  Guess I was wrong.

Simple.  I don't care what the year or their corresponding age was/is, I prefer the vocals of the Beach Boys over those of anybody else. FWIW, I'm not interested in restarting the old Autotune debate here, that was never my point or intent.

Absolutely agreed.

On another note, is Do It Again (2012) available for purchase anywhere besides the special Wal-Mart book thing?  Can't find this track anywhere.

Sheriff, good point, and I remember that discussion.  I think my beef is the extreme emphasis on touring and very little on recording.  Why is that?  That's what I don't see a satisfactory response on.  Even given your (sweetdudejim's) item 4, it seems recording would be much easier and much more feasible than touring.

Question: Could Brian, Al and Dave record a new BB album minus Mike?  Not explicitly leave him out, but leave an open invite and still record as The Beach Boys if he declined?

A BB album without Mike wouldn't suffer lyrically or musically (IMO, of course), and frankly his vocal contribution to TWGMTR was less than stellar.  I'd be cool with a Mike-less new BB album.

You're young and going to college on the East Coast...

That explains a lot.

I don't think it's a greed thing with Mike. There would be more money in the higher profile C50 lineup. I think it's a comfort level thing. He's been doing the nostalgia circuit for years, he knows the people and the facilities he's dealing with, the entire method of renting gear from venue to venue instead of hauling around truckloads of equipment...all of that is what he is used to. And he is used to not dealing with Brian and Brian's people, and of course there was issues between him and Al...to Mike I'm sure it's all a huge pain in the neck and very stressful. I think he's probably happier with less money but less headaches. Who can blame him, really?

I've said this a few times before and I'll hash it out it again, simply because I have yet to see a satisfactory response.  So it seems the biggest impediments (so far as our speculation goes, of course) the Boys working together again are:

1. The logistics of bringing all the elements together for another tour

2. Mike's preference for light and efficient touring

3. Personal differences/hostilities between parties

Seems like these three things make it darn near impossible that we'll see another C50 lineup tour.  But what about an album?  I'd rather see at least another album of original material than nothing.  By focusing on recording rather than touring, they eliminate items 1 and 2.  Granted, item 3 is a big hurdle.  But everybody's so concerned about 1 and 2.  I for one don't care about a tour.  I don't buy everybody's "greater exposure" argument either.  Sure, I'd love to see a concert, but given the choice I'd rather see them add to the canon.  I'm apparently alone in this thinking.  At least here.

I feel like I'm in 5th grade again.

I isolated the "na na na na" from Good Vibrations, and re-pitched and re-algined it to fit the Look bridge melody.

Nice!  Wish I would have asked you that a long time ago, since I've been pouring thru TSS the last few weeks looking for that vocal.  Excellent mix there.

My only criticism of what I've heard so far is the really heavy use of the "Child is the father..." refrain.  (Of course I may just be over-perceptive of this refrain because it's my least favorite part of Smile.)   

I'm a little confused about where all this stuff is at and what some of your titles mean, so forgive me if this question is totally out of the ballpark (or if I'm asking the entirely wrong person).  I'm also not a Smile expert, so...

I was on the beachboyssmilead website and listened to the "Look" mix.  I recognized the section that sounds like it comes partially from "Good Vibrations" (da-da-da-da-da - da-da-da...) but more extended.  But I can't figure out where you got the light vocal from that section from.  Is that vocal from one of the Smile Sessions tracks or a bootleg?

Stubborn friggin' jerk.  I get that he's comfortable with his touring band.  I get that working with the other guys is unpredictable, possibly erratic.  I get that Brian carries some serious baggage.  But the subtle jabs and passive progressiveness won't let up. 

Screw tours!  I could care less if the group ever reunites for another tour.  I'd like an album.  At least an EP.  The magic is there and it pains me to see them piss it away over pride.  I loved TWGMTR, warts, autotune, and all.  So much more can be done musically by this group and all anybody cares about is tours.

So where can I hear this Bruce you speak of?  Is there a particular track or point in a track that would help me see your point?

That's odd -- a couple of people have said that, and yet the one place where I do see some tiny amount of merit to the "Bruce isn't real" argument is that his vocals have always stuck out for me like a sore thumb in the harmony stack. All the other band members have a family sound, even the non-family members (and weirdly even Blondie and Ricky to an extent -- Blondie could sound spookily like Carl at times to my ears), yet Bruce sounds nothing like any of them. I *like* his voice, but it didn't fit the blend especially well.

Interesting, Andrew.  I still can't pick him out individually, but I will concede that without Carl and Dennis, the vocal stack does not have that same family sound.  Frankly, that family sound isn't way apparent to me in their 70's stuff, where the harmony seems really light-- almost an afterthought.  But on the whole, you could probably replace Bruce in today's stack with any of the touring band supporting vocalists and I probably wouldn't notice.  Remove even one of Brian, Al, or Mike, though, and the quintessential Beach Boys sound is lost.  Which is why I'm not way into the BW solo stuff. 

I'd rather see all the boys come together for another studio album rather than a tour.  I love concerts as much as the next guy, but I don't get why posters here place so much emphasis on touring at the expense of recording.  Which is a better contribution to their legacy- a handful of concerts or an album?  Which would mean greater exposure to the public?  I'd go see either band play, but I'd rather have an album hands down.

As a relatively recent die-hard fan (grew up listening and loving the Boys, but only recently started digging deeper), it's very tough for me to pick out contributions from David or Bruce in any given song-- aside from instrumental solos or lead vocals, of course.  Listening to a vocal stack, for example, I can always ID Brian, Mike, and Al (and Carl and Dennis most of the time), but I can't for the life of me ID Bruce.  And when it comes to guitars, it could be David or anybody else.  I'm not refined enough to be able to detect (or care) who's who on what, instrumentally.

From what I've read/seen in interviews and documentaries, I really like Dave and am pretty blah on Bruce.  I guess my point in regards to the topic is that from a casual fan perspective, it's like, Bruce who? (and this coming from somebody who shares his politics)

Granted, my die-hardness is still young.  I'm open to the possibility that I will be able to clearly ID Bruce in the vocal stack and come to appreciate his contributions more as time goes on.  Perhaps I'll even come to like "Disney Girls" or "Dierdre" too!

I'm always amazed at the ability of some stations to score these interviews.  Maybe if I act like a ditsy, I-just-googled-Postcard-and-smile-5-minutes-ago Beach Boys fan, I can finally get the interview I've been asking for with Al!

There are analogue synths, you know. They're all over Love You, even! I think you're conflating 'analogue' with 'acoustic' or 'non-amplified'?

I'm not a musician, but generally I'm talking about sounds that would be right at home on the Tron soundtrack.  Or sounds that mimic another instrument, but that are not generated by that instrument.  Or just electronic sounds in general-- something created by pushing a button rather than picking a string.  Nothing wrong with synths, but I personally prefer an instrument to an electronic sound.  The synths on Love You make it even less appealing.  That's not the primary factor, though.  I think I'd like that album much better if Brian didn't sound like death warmed over-- heck, if I could even recognize without too much effort that it's actually him.  Ah, but I suppose changing any one of those factors would moot the album's authenticity.

What I love about The Beach Boys Love You is its strikingly direct presentation of Brian's mental state from the time he wrote and recorded it. 

And right there's the distinction between those who like this album and those who don't.  It's how we individually define what's "good."  If the primary criterion for liking Love You is how directly it presents Brian's mental state at the time, I suppose It's a masterpiece.

My primary criterion is more basic, I guess.  It's how a piece of music sounds to me, which is obviously a matter of taste.  Does it hit the right buttons in my brain? In the case of Love You, quite the opposite for me.

Brian's current band doing Love You would be horrible precisely because they'd sing it professionally and use "real instruments" (whatever the f*** that means, since I'm pretty sure synthesizers are real instruments).

Synthesizers are a real instrument like a vitamin is real food.  Real? Sure.  But unless I'm listening to electronica, I'll take an analog instrument over digital any day.  Not a huge fan of electric guitar either.

Micha, are you familiar with the handful of Love You cover songs on the "Caroline Now!" compilation album? Maybe you'd enjoy these a bit better than the original renditions.

I am and to me, they're an incredible improvement over the originals. Not that he will, but would luHv to see Brian and his band redo this album.

That would be very interesting.

I could go for that.  His voice sounds much better now and I bet they'd use real instruments this time.  As far as re-do's go, though, I'd love to see the Boys release an "enhanced" version of of "This Whole World" keeping Carl's lead and extending the outtro.  The production on that track does not do it justice.  Then it ends way, way too soon.

I have a 7 year old son with Asperger syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder).  He loves to listen to the Pet Sounds and Smile sessions to analyze the progression of the tracks.  He even know who's playing which instruments and will comment on takes-- as if speaking directly to Carol Kaye or Hal Blaine or whoever-- like he's a little Brian Wilson.  He loves anything Brian Wilson or Beach Boys, save for "Summer's Gone," which he says makes him sad: "It reminds me that they're old and makes me think they'll never record again."

The rest of my kids (ages ranging from 3 - 11) love the Boys too.  They recently sent me a recording at work of them all singing "Isn't It Time."  The younger two often mimic the Surfin' demo, complete with the dialog about laughing and popping each other in the mouth.  Aside from TWGMTR, they don't care for most of the post Wild Honey material.  

They also think it's cool that Uncle Jesse "is a Beach Boy."  Sorry, not going to shatter their dreams there.  And my 9 year old really digs Al's Postcard From CA.

I didn't mince words on why Brian's voice changed.  I told them all about the drugs, about how they were Dennis' demise, but that they all got clean again.  I feel like it's a very relatable lesson for them on the dangers of drugs.

Love You is a great album- let us go on this way, roller skating child, mona, johnny carson, good time, the night was so young, airplane... great tunes!

Great tunes how?  Musically?  Vocally?  Conceptually?

I think what it comes down to is people like what they like, and don't what they don't.  Aside from material that can be near-universally classified as a masterpiece, there's no logical reasoning with stuff like Love You (and for me, the 70's stuff in general).  It's always amusing to me when people chalk a general distaste for a set of material up to "misconceptions."  You may not be doing that in this post, but this is a common argument when it comes to the BB's later stuff.

It's all good.  There are a number of post-60's BB songs that I have grown to love mainly resulting from insightful posts on this board.  I think my open-minded approach has backfired in the case of Love You, though.  I probably shouldn't have tried to like it.  

To be clear, I'm not a black and white, 60's-rules, 70's-sucks fan.  My favorite albums are Pet Sounds and Smile, and I ditch about half the tracks on both of these albums when I compile playlists.  I love Still Cruisin' and TWGMTR.  To each his own, I suppose.

Here we go again.......next will come the idea that we must be pretending to like it to be trendy 

Actually my next idea was the it's-so-bad-it's-good theory, but that doesn't even hold water.  I'm inclined to accept that a turd is a turd and leave it at that, but it seems like every day somebody here is praising that album.  Since I really do respect most peoples' opinions around here, I figure there must be something to all the 'Love You' love.  I just haven't figured it out yet.

Kookadams, what exactly are the misconceptions of the post '72 output? 

The democracy aspect is way over-praised.  I could care less who contributes which songs-- I just want them to sound good.  And precious few post-60's songs sound good to me.

RE: Love You, I've been listening to this album over and over again for a week and I still have no clue why anybody, anybody likes that album.  I really am trying to keep an open mind about this period and Love You in particular, but I feel like y'all are trying to convince me that a turd is a tootsie roll.