Guardian Review

[Disney Boy (1985)]

Another well-written review by Alexis Petridis (a big Brian Wilson fan) of the Guardian:

It's easy to be sceptical about the Beach Boys' reunion. Indeed, if you look at the messageboards, diehard fans seem the most distrustful of the lot, which figures: for all the warmth and open-heartedness of the band's best music, if there's one thing being a Beach Boys fan teaches you, it's scepticism. There are only so many times you can be told Brian Wilson has been restored to full physical and mental health, the better to make himself and a lot of other people a great deal of money, before you develop what the Clash called a "bullshit detector", and Beach Boys fans have been told that on a regular basis – and with a great deal of evidence to the contrary – for the last 36 years.

Anyone looking to the music itself to check for signs of cynicism need only turn to Spring Vacation. It opens with a verse in which Mike Love claims to be "living the dream … cruisin' the town, diggin' the scene". The Beach Boys' music has often involved a suspension of disbelief – all those songs depicting a perfect, gilded California youth, written by a man whose own youth had been mired in physical and mental abuse – but this seems to push unreality to its limit. You find yourself wondering why on earth a 71-year-old would be cruisin' the town and diggin' the scene: perhaps he's plannin' on askin' them to keep the noise down so an old man can get some rest. Then it moves on to the subject of the reunion itself: "We're back together, easy money," he sings, as indeed you might if, after years of playing fairgrounds and casinos, you found yourself shifting $70m [£45m) of concert tickets simply by hooking up with the cousin you have spent most of the last 20 years suing. "All I can say is, we're havin' a blast!" he offers, which isn't what a recent profile in Newsweek – depicting Brian Wilson "in various stages of distress" on stage with the band – suggested.

If the lyrics are disingenuous, the song itself isn't up to much, the music slick but unremarkable. The first two-thirds of the album passes in similarly ho-hum style, notwithstanding the wordless introduction, Think About the Days, which is beautiful. The title track is a decent pastiche of Wilson in his prime, its cascading chorus equal parts Kiss Me Baby and John Barry's Theme from Midnight Cowboy; The Private Life of Bill and Sue, however, a satire on reality TV, makes you want to curl up and die of embarrassment.

But just as you're about to dismiss the album entirely, something extraordinary happens. The final three tracks – From There to Back Again, Pacific Coast Highway and Summer's Gone – form a kind of suite that is easily the best thing Brian Wilson has put his name to in the last 30 years. Episodic, occasionally lapsing into silence, filled with shifts in tempo, the melodies impossibly beautiful, it takes the melancholy at the heart of Wilson's greatest work – from Pet Sounds to Til I Die – and repurposes it. In contrast to the rest of the album, which relies on creaky nostalgia, it concerns itself with ageing ("sunlight's fading and there's not much to say", sings Wilson on Pacific Coast Highway), death and the Beach Boys' legacy. "Our dreams hold on for those who still have more to say … it's time to go," offers Summer's Gone, undercutting all the gung-ho, we're-havin'-a-blast guff that comes before it in the same way the wistful, autumnal intro to California Girls seemed at odds with that song's sunkissed lechery. Wilson's vocals sound engaged with the subject, which seems faintly incredible given that on every other recent record he's made, he's sounded like a man forced at gunpoint to read his lyrics off a broken autocue.

For all its flaws, That's Why God Made the Radio is an infinitely better way for the Beach Boys' story to end than their last album of new recordings, 1992's disastrous country outing Stars and Stripes Vol 1, or indeed the last album that bore their name – Mike Love, Bruce Johnston & David Marks of the Beach Boys salute NASCAR – on which the trio rerecorded old hits for the benefit of a chain of US petrol stations. Exquisite beauty nestles alongside stuff that's wildly misjudged, painful honesty alongside the constant burnishing of a myth about youth and sunshine and a California that everyone stopped believing years ago, the whole thing wrapped in stories of non-existent fraternity, harmony and good vibrations: it's the Beach Boys in a nutshell. Perhaps without realising it, That's Why God Made the Radio tells you almost everything you need to know about America's Favourite Band.

[filledeplage]

I'm not sure I agree with this columnist.  One problem which can arise when folks get "advanced" copies of a work, prior to public release is that the public might rely on their opinion.  Some of what is written is sentionalized half-truth.  Oftentimes when people sue, it is to clarify rights, and ownership, and it seems that there were ownership rights in question, which were not honored, either in monetary recognition, or written attribution.  And when a bully manager of minors is involved, it becomes even more important to "right the wrongs."  The author missed the history lesson.  

Often music is expression of a personal philosophy, or message for society to change or at least "wake up.". I'm unconvinced that what is branded as "sad or melancholy" is any less philosophical than the Ancient Greeks, or Shakespeare.  It is often the introspective side of music that provokes us all to think.  Is "Til I Die" sad or does it make us think about how we are a small part of this planet and the universe?  Do we need to think of how and where we fit in the greater scheme of things? Ya.  

Life is not a party everyday. Maybe Brian, is forcing us to think, look inward and ask ourselves, not unlike JFK, was prodding us in a call to serve, and, asked, "Ask not, what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Brian's seems to be a call to be introspective, and think about life with its' highs and lows.  JFK used oratory; Brian used music.  Both had lasting impact on society.

And, no, Brian did not write Ciceronean oratory, but gave us plenty to think about.   In a way, lots of it is philosophy, of a sort; All This is That, Sail on Sailor, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, etc.  And there is a lot of upbeat music, rock and roll, and courtship stuff, but shows balance as between the two.

And so what, that Stars and Stripes was not a big hit. It was another music model, that allowed them to grow, involve other musicians, not in their genre and observe a different approach from a country angle, at a time when it was becoming more mainstream.  

It seems grossly unfair, to slam songs up which the general public has not heard, somehow attempting to skew the audience response.  Reserving judgement until the public has had a fair chance to listen and make up their own minds, is a fairer method.   Or, let the critics write the articles, and publishers hold them until the public release.  

"For all its' flaws" as the author says, nitpicking "That's Why God Made the Radio" newsflash! - the Boys are still around after 50 years! Pet Sounds should have been the big lesson.  And it might not be their last album.

And, she can eat her words, "with a fork and spoon!"  

[keysarsoze001]

IMO IMO IMO, and not trying to pick a fight, BUT:

If reviews were withheld until after a product is already publicly consumed, there'd be no point in having them.

I thought the review was by and large spot on. The first half of the album is fluff; the second half is art.

As for music being an expression of personal philosophy, can we explain all of those songs written about cars and surfing and girls by a guy who never left the house? I highly doubt Brian was asking us to look within ourselves to see our place in the grand scheme of the universe when he wrote "Til I Die".

Stars and Stripes did not help anyone in that band to grow or to evolve their styles, or we'd see some actual evidence of country music on subsequent releases, which by and large hasn't happened. Artists need to be called out when they make something bad, and that's what that album was.

[filledeplage]

IMO IMO IMO, and not trying to pick a fight, BUT:

If reviews were withheld until after a product is already publicly consumed, there'd be no point in having them.

I thought the review was by and large spot on. The first half of the album is fluff; the second half is art.

As for music being an expression of personal philosophy, can we explain all of those songs written about cars and surfing and girls by a guy who never left the house? I highly doubt Brian was asking us to look within ourselves to see our place in the grand scheme of the universe when he wrote "Til I Die".

Stars and Stripes did not help anyone in that band to grow or to evolve their styles, or we'd see some actual evidence of country music on subsequent releases, which by and large hasn't happened. Artists need to be called out when they make something bad, and that's what that album was.

So far, I've heard about half of the album.  Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.  There are samples of the songs, but I am waiting till I have it "in hand."

It is dangerous to assume what Brian's intent was with Til I Die.  No one can take a trip through the mind of another. Once art or music is released, the observer makes the interpretation.  I view it as a trilogy of sorts, using a rock, a leaf, and a cork as metaphors for the universe.  Others regard it almost as a funeral dirge.  

We are reminded that the topics for music were a group effort among the band members.

Watch Stars and Stripes the DVD, if it is available.  There are some interesting sections where the musicians work together.  "Bad" is a value judgement.  Some things need time to grow and have a second-look effect.  Stars and Stripes is the only country artist related CD I own.  It was a 101 course on who the players were, at the time in country.  

Critics who have had biases, have skewed outcomes for music, movies, and have been career enders.  It can have a chilling effect on sales.  The pen can indeed mightier than the sword.

JMHO  

[Emdeeh]

This discussion reminds me of another issue I have with criticism, especially re the BBs (but not only them) -- why is it that "melancholy" and "sad" songs are considered to have more artistic merit than "upbeat" or "happy" songs?

To me, there's no difference merit-wise between the two categories. They're both valid expressions of human emotion. I enjoy one kind as much as another, although I'll admit to being drawn a little more to the exuberant side of the BB's catalog. Your mileage may vary and probably will.

[Jason]

I stopped taking British critics seriously long ago, so yeah. The album is great. Deal with it.

[keysarsoze001]

This discussion reminds me of another issue I have with criticism, especially re the BBs (but not only them) -- why is it that "melancholy" and "sad" songs are considered to have more artistic merit than "upbeat" or "happy" songs?

To me, there's no difference merit-wise between the two categories. They're both valid expressions of human emotion. I enjoy one kind as much as another, although I'll admit to being drawn a little more to the exuberant side of the BB's catalog. Your mileage may vary and probably will.

The first half isn't fluff because it's upbeat. Some of the BBs upbeat tracks are among their finest work. I just think the first half is disingenuous superficiality.

[Jonathan Blum]

This discussion reminds me of another issue I have with criticism, especially re the BBs (but not only them) -- why is it that "melancholy" and "sad" songs are considered to have more artistic merit than "upbeat" or "happy" songs?

It's not so much a matter of artistic merit, but of *impact*.  If you can find an upbeat number which communicates as powerful a sense of joy and exuberance as something like "Til I Die" or "Summer's Gone" does of sadness, it'll get recognized.  The problem is that there's so much pop/rock music which is just kind of a bit positive-ish cluttering up the scene, it makes it harder to stand out -- to get noticed with a positive song, it needs to be a truly emphatic triumphant YES.

Fortunately, the Beach Boys have managed a few of those in their time -- a little thing called "Good Vibrations", for a start...

Cheers,
Jon Blum
(or, for my money, Brian's falsetto whoop in the coda of "Fun Fun Fun")