The Genius of Brian Was Brevity

[Mr. Cohen]

Some people will complain about how short Brian's fades are, or how he'd make an album that was maybe 20 minutes long - but I think that was one of his greatest strengths. Brian never wanted to give the listener an opportunity to get bored. When he finally branched out to making longer songs like "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes & Villains", look out how many sections he packed into the songs! At his peak, Brian would never have written a 3+ minute song that's just verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus. His songs always left you wanting more, and that's why people still want to hear them over and over 50 years later.

[Jason]

This is one of the greatest descriptions of Brian's craft I've ever read.

Brian was a master of restraint and excess at the same time...an embarrassment of riches and a lack thereof at the same time. It's a quality of his productions that truly made them great.

[I. Spaceman]

That is a right on assessment.

[hypehat]

Brevity is the soul of wit, after all.

[Mr. Cohen]

I also don't get all the people that hate "Bull Sessions..." at the end of Today. Yeah, I get that in the year 2012, with the access you have hundreds of hours of studio tape, and your iPod with 5,000 songs, it might seem boring. But I think it was a really cool way to end a record in the '60s.

[buddhahat]

This is one of the greatest descriptions of Brian's craft I've ever read.

Brian was a master of restraint and excess at the same time...an embarrassment of riches and a lack thereof at the same time. It's a quality of his productions that truly made them great.

This is very true. I always find it fascinating the stellar stuff that is left on the cutting room floor eg. the hum be dum section of GV.

[NHC]

Excellent take on the subject. I always wish some of the short little car songs like 409, or even later ones that I also really love, like I Went To Sleep, were a little longer, but then I realize that even then I'd want one more verse and one more verse and one more verse.  This way, they're perfect the way they are.  They say what needs to be said and more would probably ruin it. He does amazing things within the time frame he selects for any given song, whether an under-2 minute hot rod tune or longer works like the aforementioned GV or HV. And, yes, I too, always liked stuff like Bull Session, because it gave us teen-agers access to the guys just as guys horsing around and talking rather than music stars behind a glass curtain. Guess what, they were real people just like us (plus some great musical talent tossed, of course)!

[Ron]

Heroes and Villians is too long, and Cabinessence is too long, imho. 

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I think that albums like Pet Sounds and SMiLE is Brian being competitive and pushing himself. While Smiley Smile, Friends and Love You is Brian being himself and not giving a sh*t.

[Chris Brown]

Heroes and Villians is too long, and Cabinessence is too long, imho. 

Assuming you mean the single release and not the "cantina" version, I agree with you on "Heroes."  Can't agree on "Cabinessence" though, for me the changes in dynamics make the song feel shorter than it really is.  I've always believed that even though people call "Good Vibrations" the ultimate modular record, I think Brian truly perfected it on "Cabinessence."

To the OP, very well said.  Brian always left the listener wanting more, and he was a master at packing a ton of great music into 2-2:30.  Look at something like "Wouldn't It Be Nice."  There's so much that happens musically in that song, all of it mindblowing, and yet he gets it all out in just over 2 minutes.  It never ceases to astound me.  I remember in the A&E Bio, Al said that just the bridge to that song would be an achievement for most writers in a lifetime - for Brian, it was just a bridge, one piece of a greater whole. 

[Lonely Summer]

I think the Beatles were very good at this, as well. Too much of the music released since the BB's/Beatles prime drags on and on and on. One of the best albums of the 80's was Marshall Crenshaw's debut and there's barely a song over 3 minutes on there.

[SMiLE Brian]

Bravo, Dada! 

[over and over]

Brian Wilson is THE genius of music!!!! (mic drop)