So far from what I'm listening to the whole thing sounds pretty messy and unpolished.  But I think that's what they were going for...?  And the Paley tracks are just as weird as they sounded on bootlegs.  Going to have to listen to this more to determine if it will grow on me but so far I'm not overly enthusiastic.  It is kind of interesting to hear some of this stuff. 

Interesting track listing.  Hope it has some chestnuts.  Currently listening to "Right Where I Belong".  It's, ehhh, interesting to say the least.  Not sure I'll be listening to it again though...

In recent years I've noticed a kind of disappointing trend among fans where the opinions of the "Smile" music as a whole is veering more toward lukewarm or even less than positive reviews or "re-evaluations", like the average comment I'm thinking of might be along the lines of "well, it was good but not as good as the hype" or "it's not as mind-blowing as we thought years ago", or whatever the case. I guess it happens with a lot of iconic music over the years, or maybe there are other layers of narrative involved too, I don't know.

That's news to me and pretty surprising to hear.  If there is any criticism I have with the album it would be that it was never finished, making it frustrating to listen to at times over what could have been.  The 2004 solo version of SMiLE is still pretty satisfying (the live version preferable over the glossier studio version) to me because it's a complete thought and puts the brilliance of the music into the forefront.  

As for the new piano album, I'm probably going to pass on it.  Interesting idea and I know some fans love it, but it's just not very engaging for me.  What I've listened to is certainly pleasant, but I just don't find myself coming back to this one very often.  🤷‍♂️

It was pretty solid.  Not reinventing the wheel in terms of Beach Boys/Brian Wilson documentaries but still pretty enjoyable to watch nonetheless.  It was interesting watching his interaction with Jason Fine throughout the film.  Brian seemed mostly at ease with him. 

Also curious as to the music they were recording.  Was it for the allegedly forthcoming soundtrack to this film?  That re-recording of "It's O.K." was flat, "Long Promised Road" wasn't bad and that new song was bizarrely Brian Wilson. 

No, it is Jeffery Foskett. Guest vocal on Jeremiah's album. He has 2 lead vocals on the album. The other is California Baby, which is showcased in the Sandlot Club movie.

Is it Jeffrey doing the lead?

Sure sounds like him.

Here's the full song:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=3t5CnuhArZE&feature=share

I’ve always thought it’s his stock answer in interviews to move them along or end them.

What’s your next project?
I want to do a R&R album....Next!

It’s been the same for what, 15 years? In that time, with many albums and projects and a band at his disposal it’s never happened. Don’t think it has ever been tbh.

The real rockers in the band were Carl and Dennis.
I can't imagine Brian, especially nearing 80, suddenly coming out with an album of uptempo rock and roll songs.

He probably should've made this album in the late 90s/early 2000s.

Agreed.  And even then I would have been skeptical of such a release.  Now that he's less than a year shy of turning 80 and doesn't seem to be in particular good shape, I'm even more skeptical he'll ever record this type of album.  If anything maybe this is just his "go-to" response he uses in interviews when he doesn't have anything suitable to talk about. 

Man, how awesome would it have been if Harrison and the band collaborated together?  Harrison's guitar would have sounded great on "Forever" (and quite apropos since the song was the band's equivalent to the Beatles' "Something").  And I can picture the band supplying some lush harmonies on "Here Comes the Moon" among other songs.  Oh well.  At least we got Ringo to play on a track, albeit a forgettable one.   🤷‍♂️

So what compelled the band to dust this one off for KTSA?  Were they running short on material?

Nice to hear the song stripped down. Some great chord changes in that song. Good intelligent pop writing.

There were some horrendous live versions by the boys in 2012 but the one posted above is decent though Jeff sounds a bit off at times.

Yeah this was never really a song that begged to be played live.  Works much better in the studio.

I don't know if I really like Peterik's version because as someone else  already pointed out, this song succeeds as a vocal showpiece instead of a stripped down introspective tune.  But still an interesting listen. 

I once heard "Sail On, Sailor" at either Publix or Kroger back in the 90's that music was out of print.  But by far the rarest thing I've ever heard was a muzak version of "Surf's Up" in an airport...also back in the 90's!

Not sure if this has been discussed before but Jim Peterik recorded his own version of "TWGMTR" a few years ago.  I had forgotten he co-wrote it.  It's different, I suppose.  Stripped down considerably.

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=_hkg24JjVCc&feature=share

It's just a bland tune that plods on repetitively until it mercifully ends.  Nothing remarkable about it. 

It's a pretty song but it's quite schmaltzy and dated sounding for the time.  And Brian's wonky lead vocal is all over the place.  The song would have probably been more at home featured in one of the band's earlier albums from the early 60's.

I don't hold out much hope for a tour.  Maybe a one-off show?

Not so much a comment or opinion on the new mix, but rather an anecdote that in one 1980 KTSA review that I remember, the writer's opinion was that THIS track was the ONLY good one on the album! Another writer in another 1980 review was of the exact opposite opinion, and wrote that this was the only real "turkey" on the album! Just goes to show how subjective opinions can be.

Best song off that album?!  Yikes.  I can't recall if I've ever even sat through this song in its entirety before skipping it. 

The BBs have a pretty large catalog to draw from for a "single artist" channel, especially considering they pulled in nearly all of their solo albums, all of the archival sets including all of the studio and live copyright extension sets, and even pulled in some "grey market" releases like live '81 Carl stuff, '66 Japan, '71 Fillmore East, '81 Washington DC, etc.

The problem is that they didn't like run through everything on any sort of even basis. They seemed to rotate the same 25-50 songs *over and over and over* and then sprinkle in the other 90%+ of the catalog very sparingly. "Kokomo" and "Be True To Your School" and "Fun Fun Fun", etc. all got played *dozens* of times per day, and then once every few days I'd see something weird like a "Celebration" song or Carl live at the Bottom Line, etc.

Yeah, I don't remember as many repeated songs going on in a given day the first time SiriusXM brought this channel out. Even though there still was a lot of variety in the material they were playing, I still notoriously heard a lot of the same stuff pretty consistently and I never had the station on much longer than a few minutes at a time.  Although the band definitely has a lot of material to warrant a permanent channel I believe a lot of said material, especially almost anything post-"Good Vibrations", is rather alien to the average listener that just wants to hear the hits.  So deep-diving into the rare stuff like the Celebration albums probably won't prove marketable.  🤷‍♂️

[why is it a problem to criticize Brian, but it’s encouraged to criticize Mike?]

Considering his “fans” are so freakin toxic I’m glad they don’t really take any seeming interest in our ideas. I mean, half the “fans” think that Brian is forced at gunpoint by Melinda to tour and record music. Other fans complain that Brian’s music is over produced, his vocals are bad, his vocals are too autotuned. I hope they have completely tuned us out regarding listening to any feedback or ideas. However, I will always wish that they do a radio concept album with a DJ, radio ads, and full of covers of classic rock songs. Pleasure Island.

I’m glad they decided to do their own thing. And considering this could have been an album of nothing but hits, but they decided to throw on some fairytale music and a SMiLE medley, this is such an amazing gift to us.

We as fans probably think too deeply about these things.  Brian and the other Beach Boys have put out music we either have liked or disliked.  It might be a tad unfair to suggest anyone frowning at this new release are automatically acting as toxic fans (although I'm fully aware they exist).  I admit that I haven't liked every album Brian has put out.  I honestly never really got a whole lot out of the Gershwin album save for a few songs, and to this day I don't think I've ever listened to his Disney album in full.  But on the other hand I still enjoy listening to No Pier Pressure and occasionally still play some of his other solo albums.  I don't think it's realistic that we warmly embrace everything an artist offers us.

As far as this piano solo album goes I am currently completely indifferent towards it.  It might prove to be something special or it might barely get one listen from me and then I'll completely forget about it.

On a side note, didn't Brian recently record a brand new song to appear in his documentary?  When do you suppose we'll get to hear that...?

I don’t think I said that anyone disliking this album is toxic (or even suggested it), I was just pointing out that many of the fans are toxic, and because of that I kinda like that the BW camp doesn’t listen to any fan critiques or ideas.

I’ve got nothing against people disliking the idea of this album, I have something against people immediately speculating that Brian didn’t play on this album, or that it doesn’t even sound like Brian (whatever the heck that means, as I doubt these people have sat around with Brian every time he plays the piano). It’s that kinda of garbage that made me think for years as a young fan that Brian was a kind of Uncle Bernie who was being propped up by Melinda. I’ve read and heard so many lies that are based on this idea that Brian can’t do anything for himself, and it’s speculation like this that keeps feeding these lies. It’s disgraceful.

And to add to Guitarfool’s response, I also want to point out that elsewhere it is being asked why is it a problem to criticize Brian, but it’s encouraged to criticize Mike? I will answer that by saying that Mike’s solo career is most always criticized based off of his own standards (he critiqued Brian for possibly using auto tune on NPP, then Mike spent the next 5 years creating music that puts T-Pain to shame). Whereas there seems to be a vast supply of “fans” who go straight at Brian’s dignity when it comes to his solo output (see guitarfools examples above). Brian literally has schizo-affective disorder and is a manic depressive yet people take time out of their day to publicly rip his dignity and his family to shreds whenever he steps out with new music…think about that.

And as for the Long Promised Road documentary music, I hope we get to hear that stuff soon! Apparently they are great sounding tracks. If this documentary and soundtrack take any longer to come out, the thing is going to start getting a reputation like SMiLE

@relx, agreed with the post of the month award

Understood and I wasn't really trying to call you out for anything, Rab.  I was more generalizing the argument I've been hearing (not from you) by some suggesting we should be happy with anything Brian or his bandmates put out unconditionally.  And if we offer even the slightest bit of dissent we're acting toxic.  That just seems silly to me. 

Considering his “fans” are so freakin toxic I’m glad they don’t really take any seeming interest in our ideas. I mean, half the “fans” think that Brian is forced at gunpoint by Melinda to tour and record music. Other fans complain that Brian’s music is over produced, his vocals are bad, his vocals are too autotuned. I hope they have completely tuned us out regarding listening to any feedback or ideas. However, I will always wish that they do a radio concept album with a DJ, radio ads, and full of covers of classic rock songs. Pleasure Island.

I’m glad they decided to do their own thing. And considering this could have been an album of nothing but hits, but they decided to throw on some fairytale music and a SMiLE medley, this is such an amazing gift to us.

We as fans probably think too deeply about these things.  Brian and the other Beach Boys have put out music we either have liked or disliked.  It might be a tad unfair to suggest anyone frowning at this new release are automatically acting as toxic fans (although I'm fully aware they exist).  I admit that I haven't liked every album Brian has put out.  I honestly never really got a whole lot out of the Gershwin album save for a few songs, and to this day I don't think I've ever listened to his Disney album in full.  But on the other hand I still enjoy listening to No Pier Pressure and occasionally still play some of his other solo albums.  I don't think it's realistic that we warmly embrace everything an artist offers us.

As far as this piano solo album goes I am currently completely indifferent towards it.  It might prove to be something special or it might barely get one listen from me and then I'll completely forget about it.

On a side note, didn't Brian recently record a brand new song to appear in his documentary?  When do you suppose we'll get to hear that...?

Iconic has done a great job so far. Really, there's no reason there can't be a *permanent* Beach Boys channel. When you consider their vast catalog *as a band* -- studio albums, concert albums, a ton of archival releases -- plus their solo material, outside projects, covers and influences (both inspired by and inspiring TO The Beach Boys), and the possibilities of talk shows...it could easily be done.

Maybe.  Although I found myself pretty winded from this channel after listening to it for only a couple of minutes at a time.  I mostly enjoyed it in small doses.  Only so many times you need to hear some songs like "Spirit of America" get replayed. 

Specifically on Goin' On, that vocal hook sounds so similar to the vocal snippet that plays before the string outro on the Smile Sessions version of Heroes and Villains. Is there any proven influence, or is it just a coincidence as far as we can tell?

Probably coincidental.  Brian and the band are known for reusing various motifs and bits throughout their music in other songs.   Take the similarities between BW's "Walkin' The Line" and Al Jardine's "Looking Down the Coast" for example.  Hell, their early previously unreleased song "All Dressed Up For School" morphed into "I Just Got My Pay" before finally achieving it's Super Saiyan form of "Marcella".

And yeah there seems to be more of a direct Queen influence going on here. 

I'm still taking a lot of this in and haven't actually listened to the whole thing in full yet (I've heard most of it though).  A lot of the new stuff serves as a curiosity more than anything as a lot of the unreleased stuff sounds a tad unfinished.  And "songs" like "My Solution" would never stand on its own on any proper Beach Boys album.  I'm not complaining though.  Really glad they put this thing out though as it's well worth the purchase.  I don't know how much casual listeners will get out of it (other than the actual Sunflower and Surf's Up material themselves) but for the diehards like us this is an absolute treat.  Great job Howie and thanks for fighting to put this set out.  I look forward to hearing what you have in store for the Ricky/Blondie years! 

Just in case we're overloading you with content and you want to start slow, check out this compilation they put out for their 50th anniversary:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k9fmNgWFLsa30y5cV1sazVWD9-BcB17eM&feature=share

It's a good sampler of the band that covers their entire career, not just the early surfer/car hits.  It gives you a decent idea of what the band is about.  Then you can branch out and explore the other suggestions being made in this thread.  The Made In California box set that came out around the same time goes more in depth but that would be worth listening to as well. 

I had just started getting into the Beach Boys around the time this album came out.  So I kinda liked it at the time.  But yeah, this was a pretty big misfire.  A couple of the songs were alright such as "Caroline, No", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Don't Worry Baby" and "I Can Hear Music", but overall we should have gotten an album with new, original music instead of this.  Especially since Brian was involved at the time. 

Side story: I remember the grocery store I worked at around this time had played every song on their radio at one point or another. 

Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I suspect that the only Beach Boys album that contains a version of that song is "Songs From Here and Back," a 2006 release that the BBs did through Hallmark.
https://www.amazon.com/Songs-Here-Back-Beach-Boys/dp/B000JR4BWM

That's correct.  He and his band re-recorded a pretty clunky version of it for that compilation. 

I never really understood the appeal of this song.  The only thing remarkable about it is that Bob Dylan appears in one version of it.  Otherwise it's a pretty forgettable song.  🤷‍♂️

The alternate This Whole World is up on YouTube. It is absolutely terrific, has an easygoing, relaxed lead vocal with different phrasing and a couple of different lyrics, different-style backing vocals near the end and the close is pure '60s Sunshine Pop gold. The best FF nugget yet released!

Very thankful they did not end up going with this cheeseball ending.  The a capella tag in the final version always gave me chills.  This ending sounds more at home capping an episode of The Love Boat instead.  Still it's fascinating to listen to.  Can't wait for this release to come out!