my album is in Amazon's Top 30 (minimal Beach Boys content)

Adam Marsland here.

This is pretty off-topic and I won't be offended if it gets kicked off the main board, but I have a new album that comes out tomorrow called GO WEST. It's a double CD and it's the best work I've ever done...while it's not a BBs-soundalike album, there is a lot of harmony and Wilson influence (particularly Dennis'). Earle Mankey mastered the album and Probyn Gregory appears on three songs.

The album is currently in Amazon's Top 30 best selling albums, thanks in part to an outpouring of support in the Beach Boys community (thank you). We think we have a shot at making the U.S. indie album chart this week, so I wanted to get the word out to my friends here that didn't already know about it. We have until Saturday night to get enough sales to make the chart. If you're interested in ordering, the links are below. Amazon has it for the rest of the day for $11.99, not bad for a double disc set.

There is also a great video for the first single from the album: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QL_HpLuAT_s
amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002J0QDHS
our online store: http://www.adammarsland.com/store.html

Alan Boyd wrote a wonderful review of the album for the Beach Boys Britain newsletter, which I will repost here, and then I will stop taking up everybody's time with self-promotion. Thanks all for your patience and for your support.

adam marsland

[reprinted from Beach Boys Britain newsletter]
ADAM MARSLAND: GO WEST
by Alan Boyd

From Wikipedia:

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold (especially records and compact discs). A double album is typically, though not always, released because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as a single piece artistically...

Adam Marsland has a new album coming out in August called "Go West," and it's a double album. Not really a double CD (although it is being sold on compact disc and the package contains two CDs), but a double album. Like the White Album, "Tusk, "Out of the Blue," "Songs in the Key of Life," and so many others from back in the day when music was distributed on narrow black platters called LPs (also known as phonograph records). It's been 5 years since Adam last released a new album, and during that time he's been busy storing up a war chest of new tunes, letting the ideas for this album germinate in his brain while he's been busy doing other things. As a matter of fact, I remember him coming up with the concept for "Go West" while we were out touring the midwest US with a setlist of Carl and Dennis Wilson songs (which was later recorded and released as a CD called "Long Promised Road - Songs of Carl and Dennis Wilson"). After releasing a career (so far) retrospective compilation called "Daylight Kissing Night." Adam immediately went to work on the new record. He worked quickly and efficently, recording most of the tracks at home with the help of Chaos Bandmates Teresa Cowles, Kurt Medlin, and Northern Soul legend Evie Sands, and cameos from other musical friends here and there.

This is definitely Adam's most ambitious and personal work to date, a 23 song cycle that deals with hope, optimism, disappointment, love, loss, isolation, relationships, loneliness, ups, downs, joy, anger, heartache, ambivelence - basically all of those pesky human emotion type things that everyone goes through when negotiating their way from their 20s to their 30s and beyond. And yet, there's nothing pretentious about the album. No angst-fueled nine minute solos, weirdly-worded confessionals or narcissistic primal scream therapy exercises to make one wish that the remote for the CD player was nearby - nope, this is simply a collection of well-crafted pop songs. With hooks galore.

In recent years Adam and the Chaos Band have made it a point to take on various tribute projects, everything from the Carl and Dennis Wilson songbook, to a program of 60s-70s soul, to marathon club gigs where the band literally will play 50 different songs of all different genres over the course of a night - everything from country to southern blues to disco to bubblegum - and the versatility required to pull off these gigs is well displayed in this new collection. To put it simply, "Go West" goes all over the place, from the pounding kind of kick-ass power pop that Adam perfected with his old band Cockeyed Ghost, to gorgeous Elton John-styled piano ballads, catchy feel-good pop, lush and personal mood pieces, soul and R&B, and even an insidiously infectious disco tune with a sarcastic edge (I don't wanna dance, I don't wanna dance with you) that just might have a strong appeal for people who claim to hate disco music.

Aficionados of all things Beach and Boy will definitely find much to admire here, starting with the fact that the album was mastered and partially mixed by Brother Studio whiz kid Earle Mankey, who played such a vital role in crafting the sonic textures in "The Beach Boys Love You" and Dennis' "Pacific Ocean Blue." There's a gorgeous, wordless vocal piece called "Who" that shows off all of the arranging skills that Adam learned dissecting Wilson tunes - and indeed, there are fantastic group vocals throughout the entire album. The haunting "No Return" showcases Adam's falsetto in a swirling keyboard-dominated production that recalls some of the rich sonic textures that Carl Wilson and Steve Desper aspired to back at Bellagio.

Some other personal favorites of mine: the title track, a sad and wistful piano piece with lovely chord changes and beautiful vocal flourishes from Evie and Teresa, effectively communicates the sense of personal isolation that often precedes a major change in one's life...."Cut and Run" is an angry slice of punkpop that gives Adam a chance to growl and scream just lke the good old days of Cockeyed Ghost... "Two Children In A Bed" is a funky soul duet with Evie, a perfect vehicle for that incredible voice of hers, and her performance serves to demonstrate just why Dusty Springfield called Evie her favorite singer...."1 in 4" is a foot-stomping take on a dysfunctional relationship that somehow manages to turn rage into ear candy..."When I Lied To Everyone" is an incredibly radio-friendly rocker with serious attitude and a chorus that took up permanent residence in my brain the first time I heard it... and speaking of catchy, "Grateful for the Rain" is a down-home slice of sugary pop that's so catchy it's almost annoying, and indeed Adam may have to be punished for it someday. But on the album it's immediately followed by another blast of rock and roll ("It's Hard") that completely obliterates the rather sticky aftertaste, so all is forgiven.

Check out Adam Marsland's new album. It's called "Go West." There are 23 songs, and they're all in full dimensional stereo.

=

The Smiley Smile Message Board