[Which stuido album showcases The Beach Boys at their peak as a vocal group?]

Which stuido album showcases The Beach Boys at their peak as a vocal group?

I was listening to some Friends acapella tracks and was struck by just how tight they were as a vocal group. To my mind, they were not as tight with the pure voices of their youth (early 60s) on one end, and the rougher voices in their later years (mid 70s and beyond) made them less tight on the other end. But I'm not sure which album is them at their absolute best vocally. I'm thinking it's gotta be somewhere between Today! and Surf's Up. What say you?

[2716 Beverly Dr (ft. Brian Wilson AI)]

I hope this isn't transgressing Mike LeRoy's intentions for the Brian AI, but I couldn't help but try subbing in Brian for my own voice on one of my own songs. (In truth, the vocal stems most readily available to me to test the model were from my own song files.)

Obviously this is just for fun, not for monetary gain. But here's Brian "singing" one of my tunes. I didn't tweak the input or output (except for quick normalization and compression adjustments), so it sounds funky at points. But there are also a few magic moments where it's like, "Wow—that's Brian."

2716 Beverly Dr (ft. Brian Wilson AI)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMoe44SI13c

Penny for your thoughts!

Just uploaded a pack of the Dae Lims stuff, along with some bonus tracks. Enjoy!

https://mega.nz/#P!AgFQqgCBJtmPPt9-ZuDDUcjj4etFL-eHRAw5r7B-C9PKTrXRYVB7rMr6G09jJ0n9ZeuUuclQcbG01GbI5ZgGlYJzdqoRLj6xm4yq3GEE36sdehmzXVoedjTdrxowLRe4WF8u2at2oOY

pass: smileadmixes

Wonderful—thank you so much! I'm loving this version of "Guess I'm Dumb."

Hey guys,

Since I can't get into my Dae Lims account anymore (damnit Google), I started a new one!

Our Sweet Love (Brian Wilson Demo 1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfdB2lykssM&ab_channel=SMiLEAD

God Only Knows (The Beatles ft. Brian Wilson)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFV7k3n_LN0&ab_channel=SMiLEAD

I'll be tackling more Beatles and Beach Boys soon. Stay tuned and hope you dig the new uploads.

Hey, so was it you who had the first "Guess I'm Dumb" Brian AI vocal that's since been taken down? Any way you can share a link to the audio file or post it on Vimeo? I'm dying to hear it!

https://youtu.be/T94mq3vsiZo?t=35s

In this "alternate mix" of Wouldn't It Be Nice during the 35s - 50s window, the high part of the background vocals is accentuated. Even though I've listened to this song hundreds of times, I never noticed this vocal part. And now that I've heard it, I can't unhear it (which is a good thing)! Has anyone else not noticed this high vocal part before?

I love "Guess I'm Dumb", and I'm still holding out for some Brian vocal on the song to be unearthed. Does anyone know if Brian ever recorded even a scratch vocal for it? Like, are there any session notes that would indicate such a thing? Or has anyone heard it rumored that Brian recorded a vocal? (Is there any hope for this dream of mine?!)

It's very possible he was playing, I s'pose--it's kinda hard to tell (at least from the angle I had on him). But regardless, it doesn't seem like his piano playing makes a dent in the sound b/c it's mixed so low. Or am I wrong here too? lol

I went to the Des Moines show! It was fantastic--probably better than the Clear Lake show I saw a couple years back. In fact, I almost feel like Brian is in better shape to perform now than back then. A few other observations:
- I'm glad they've done away with the whole bass-shtick, where they strap a bass on Brian like the good ole days. I just remember that being a pretty sad sight in Clear Lake.
- Speaking of playing instruments, I don't think he plays piano at all. I'm not sure what the consensus on the board is, but the piano seems to me to be little more than a prop that Brian can sit behind without feeling awkward.
- The Pet Sounds performance was pretty incredible. What stuck out to me most was "Let's Go Away for Awhile". I don't particularly like that song, but it sounded so darn lush when they played it live. It was basically the same song as the record--it might just lend itself better to live performances.
- They played at least a song off of most albums. A few were welcome surprises to hear: Feel Flows, Let Him Run Wild, Wake the World.

Thank you--that's encouraging! 

Be Thou My Vision--lots of falsetto would be great 

When I tell my (brief) story of when I met Brian Wilson, I say, "I met Brian, but Brian didn't meet me."  We shook hands, but he was preoccupied at the moment, a bit confused even.

I went w/ my dad to a show (supporting his Gershwin album, me thinks) in the summer of 2010 in Iowa. I never anticipated meeting Brian Wilson, and I'm sure my dad didn't either. But when we got to the show, we happened to be in the right place at the right time: we were near his tour bus, and someone came out & said that Brian would be willing to shake hands & sign stuff. I went in, tried to hand him a CD of my rendition of WIBN like an idiot lol, and I was told he couldn't take it, so I just shook his hand while he said to someone, "Is this the meet-and-greet?" (It wasn't the meet-and-greet lol.) That's it. Not flashy at all, but a totally unexpected experience.

As a kid (I'm 26 now), black-and-white photos were of old and/or dead people. So, naturally, I assumed the BB to be old and/or dead, ya know, based on the pictures I saw. Thus, as a kid, the thought of one day meeting Brian Wilson would hardly have made sense to me. So meeting him felt like an impossible dream that, by chance, came true.

While we're on the subject, do we know for sure that Brian never recorded a lead vocal on this tune?  I would pay big $$$ to hear that.

Annnnnd Today! (also out of 5):

Do You Wanna Dance: 2
Good To My Baby: 3
Don't Hurt My Little Sister: 3
When I Grow Up: 5
Help Me Ronda: 3
Dance Dance Dance: 4
Please Let Me Wonder: 4
I'm So Young: 5
Kiss Me Baby: 5
She Knows Me Too Well: 4
In The Back Of My Mind: 5
Bull Session: 1

Stars for Sunflower (out of 5, to be clear!):

Slip On Through: 5
This Whole World: 4
Add Some Music: 4
Got To Know The Woman: 1
Deirdre: 4
It's About Time: 4
Tears In The Morning: 3
All I Wanna Do: 3
Forever: 5
Our Sweet Love: 3
At My Window: 4
Cool Cool Water: 3

https://soundcloud.com/catmf/for-eleanor

Have at it, friends! 

Getcha Back -- It took me awhile to get past the 80's-ness of it & Mike's cheeze in order to see how awesome the bgv's are. And that transition from the 1st chorus to the 2nd verse is KILLER.

The Trader

Can't Wait too Long (two-fer version)

Welp, this is awesome. Kudos to you for being awesome at music.

I performed this about 6 months ago, but I forgot to share it on here! Take a listen to my "God Only Knows" live piano-vocals cover if you'd like.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrx9dSDqt3w

Here's my rank-the-tracks-style review of NPP:
https://chadandchelsea.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/no-pier-pressure-by-brian-wilson-album-review/

"Tell Me Why" -- The BGV's on the chorus--my favorite moment(s) on the album. Also the organ pulse in the pre-choruses, which felt like a nod to Love You. (Did anyone else notice the organ?)
"The Last Song" -- The perfect musical & lyrical climax, particularly the timpani.
"Don't Worry" -- The guitar scratching.
"This Beautiful Day" -- the first 30 seconds...dat melody is beautiful.
"One Kind of Love" -- The vox: "I couldn't hear my heart calling out for you."

[OVERALL THOUGHTS]

OVERALL THOUGHTS
-- The vox on this album are either sung or mixed better, or both. The blend is awesome, and...
-- ...I love the falsetto. Foskett is talented, but something about the falsetto on NPP is superior. (It's not Foskett, right? I'm actually 100% sure lol.)
-- The drums are pretty obnoxious throughout the album. Although I wish Brian approached percussion like he used to (i.e. less is more), I would even settle for them being turned down a bit in the mix.

HIGHLIGHTS
"This Beautiful Day" -- A lovely opener, much catchier & prettier melody than that of TWGMTR.
"The Right Time" -- I'm tempted to say that this is just standard fare, but then I remember: Who else makes music that sounds like this? Sure, it's not one of my favorite BW tracks--but it's still a solid track, and probably the right choice for a single, I s'pose.
"Guess You Had to Be There" -- The 2nd best upbeat song on the album. Gotta love those BGVs on the chorus.
"Don't Worry" -- I love this song. The 1st best upbeat song on the album. Whatever cheeze there is in this song is outweighed by the catchiness and inspiration-ness (inspiration-ality?) of the lyrics.
"Tell Me Why" -- I really, really love this song. Easiest the best song on the album. The lyrics are heartbreaking, and the relationship of the lead vocal to BGVs on the chorus is like magic.
"One Kind of Love" -- Parts are reminiscent of TLOS. Drums taint the otherwise perfect chorus. But the verses are the real treat in this track.
"The Last Song" -- It's not the album closer probably any of us was hoping for, but it does build into something very emotional & powerful. I wasn't sold on the first set of la's, but after the build I was completely sold. Lovely end to the album, tho the coda drags on a bit.

MIDLIGHTS
"Runaway Dancer" -- Tempted to put this as a "lowlight", but it's just so freakin' weird that I'm drawn a bit to it. However, it doesn't feel at all like Brian.
"Whatever Happened" -- S'okay, I s'pose.
"On the Island" -- As someone mentioned earlier, Zooey's vocal inflections save this otherwise fair song. It's gotta a good cute-seductive feel.

LOWLIGHTS
"Half Moon Bay" -- Why is this song on the album? If the solo parts were taken out, it would actually make more sense, IMHO.
"Our Special Love" -- Every album has a turd.
"Sail Away" -- I really wanted to like this song--I really did. But I just don't. I hate whatever sparse accordion-sounding-thing pops in & out throughout.
"Saturday Night" -- I don't understand this song. Pass.

BOTTOM LINE
A better album overall than TLOS, and its highs are much higher than anything on TWGMTR, IMHO. I'm a mixture of disappointed & pleased, but the highs of the album really make it all worth it.

trailer's got me stoked. brb gonna keep watching it all day long.

My Diane, hands down.

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/bob-dylan-beach-boys-hall-of-fame-round-one/

Vote The Beach Boys over Bob Dylan! (Sorry if this has already been posted!

sh*t is going to get real on the board once this comes out.