Brian Wilson

[ukulelejesus]

I don't see why people are ragging on the production. It sounds like a logical progression from Love You. Brian likes farty see saw sounding synths. It sounds like a more polished Love You. The songwriter isn't quite as solid, but good overall, it's idiosyncratic, great melodies, the background vocalists sound fine to me. It's a pretty good album.

If you think of Love You as Brian as New Wave this is his follow up. Personally, I fucking love New Wave, so I dig this.

[carl r]

I'd probably go further than that, as there a flashes of 'Brian-as-Bach' on this album. I can think of a couple: the intro to 'Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight' is a hint at a sort of prog-rock synth landscape, though Brian and co would always be thinking of 'hit record' rather than developing this further, whilst the Night Blooming Jasmine part of Rio Grande has a synthy harpsichord bridge part which just for a sec glances towards pop as art. Of course, Andy Paley may have written these bits; but they do show how layered and intricate a lot of the songs on BW88 are...

[rab2591]

This is scary. I actually voluntarily listened 'Night Time' today because I wanted to hear it. For the longest time I hated that song.....that part before the chorus where he sings "Wait for a while because...." is flipping great. I love this album!

[pobbard]

This is scary. I actually voluntarily listened 'Night Time' today because I wanted to hear it. For the longest time I hated that song.....that part before the chorus where he sings "Wait for a while because...." is flipping great. I love this album!

That is a great part of "Night Time"... for 22 years, I've considered "Night Time" the weakest track on the record ("Little Children" comes close, but at least it recycles a great melody and doesn't suffer the sin of being boring) but I confess, after all this time, it is growing on me.

Still, so many other things I would have liked as "bonus" material on the 2000 reissue than the backing track for "Night Time". Blah.

[rab2591]

This is scary. I actually voluntarily listened 'Night Time' today because I wanted to hear it. For the longest time I hated that song.....that part before the chorus where he sings "Wait for a while because...." is flipping great. I love this album!

That is a great part of "Night Time"... for 22 years, I've considered "Night Time" the weakest track on the record ("Little Children" comes close, but at least it recycles a great melody and doesn't suffer the sin of being boring) but I confess, after all this time, it is growing on me.

Still, so many other things I would have liked as "bonus" material on the 2000 reissue than the backing track for "Night Time". Blah.

Yeah, I would have liked to see more backing tracks and original demos, but it was a far better package than most BW solo albums.

[Mahalo]

Been listening to this album all week. A couple of points- Gotta listen to this with headphones, the intricacies come through the denseness. Also, I think the demo of Walkin' The Line is superior to the final version. The suthed out bridge section sounds fierce! Also, I think Rio Grande might be truly underestimated by his fans...stunning work of art.

[homeontherange]

Love and Mercy - 2.5/5 - it's alright. very mediocre arrangement and predictable chords but kinda cute melody/lyrics. overrated
Walk the Line - 4/5 - love this one! very fun to listen to. bass is great
Melt Away - I'm saving this one
BLYHGL - Savin' this too.
Little Children - This as well
One For The Boys - 3.5/5 - pretty vocal arrangement. not very special but nice
There's So Many - 4/5 - really good song. especially the backing track
Night Time - 4/5 - another fun song. chorus is classic brian
Let It Shine - 4.5/5 - great chords, lovely melody.
MMIMDT - 4/5 - chorus melody is wonderful
Rio Grande - 4.5/5 - not that good production, but that goes for the whole album. great little pieces of music and "Night bloomin' Jasmine" is so good I almost died when I first heard it (Must be a leftover from the Smile sessions or did he still have this potential in the 80s? Why the hell didn't he do more of this stuff?)

[Jonas]

There is a 'remastered' version of this on Spotify. Its the first time I got to hear it complete.

Have to say, I am LOVING Rio Grande.

[Dr. Tim]

This benefits from the HDCD remastering, plus the bonus tracks and retooled booklet.  The synthesized strings and drums do sound unfortunately very 80's, but so it goes.

PS: redundant post.  Said the same thing earlier.  Didn't check.  Sorry, Move along.  Move along.

[Rocky Raccoon]

This is Brian at his best.  I know he had Landy behind him and the production has not aged too well but I really love these songs.  There's not one bad song, even the really cheesy numbers like Night Time and Little Children have a certain charm that only Brian Wilson can bring.  Love and Mercy, Melt Away, and Rio Grande are masterpieces on their own.  This is a rare Brian Wilson album that's good from beginning to end and should be up there with Smile and Pet Sounds.  The bonus tracks and demos on the reissue are nice to have as well though two of the B-sides, Let's Go to Heaven In My Car and Too Much Sugar are kind of awful.  His collaboration with Lindsey Buckingham isn't bad but very forgettable.  On the other hand, Being With the One You Love is a great gem and the Brian interview snippets are great as well.  The demos give an opportunity for the listener to hear some of the tracks stripped of their production showing Brian's emotions at their barest and they are great listens too.

Key tracks: Love and Mercy, Melt Away, One for the Boys, Let It Shine, Rio Grande

5/5

[Andrew G. Doe]

Let It Shine - 4.5/5 - great chords, lovely melody.

Yeah... gotta love Jeff Lynne.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

This is one of my favorite albums, I don't really know why though

The writing and melodies are top notch, mixed with some 80's synths, dang!

[rab2591]

Love and Mercy - 5/5 - has one of my favorite vocal harmonies on any Brian Wilson album, but the reverb heavy drum and synth take away from the beauty of the song.
Walk the Line - 2/5 - doesn't strike me as a good song - no matter how deep I listen I never find much to like about it.
Melt Away - 5/5 - an amazing song - perfect in every way, even the production.
BLYHGL - 4/5 - has a great hook and I listen to it constantly....the lyrics really remind me of the songs on Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!).
Little Children - 4/5 - The production really adds to the childlike feeling of the song, but I prefer the '76 demo...
One For The Boys - 5/5 - probably not his best vocal arrangement, but very nostalgic of his early BB years.
There's So Many - 5/5 - LOVE everything about this song - even the production.
Night Time - 0/5 - worst Brian Wilson song I've heard....subject reminds me too much of MJ's 'Thriller' - just a terrible song all around.
Let It Shine - 5/5 - I like the lyrics and the melody of the song. Very commercial but great!
MMIMDT - 2/5 - Brian seems like he's yelling into the mic on this one, and the reverb heavy drums and synths just KILL the song.
Rio Grande - 4/5 - I like the idea, but the production somewhat ruins it for me...but it doesn't really keep me from listening to it. I LOVE "the river's deep and the river's so wide," part. Rio Grande is a great closeout to the album.

Well, it's been almost 2 years since writing my original review here. I've found that in the last two years I've really fallen in love with this album. Night Time, which I originally rated 0/5, has become one of my favorite BW tunes. As has MMIMDT. Every song on this album is now a 5/5 in my book.

I really wish this album were more well known - it really is a gem!

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

As I've said several times, this is a genius album, one of my personal favorites, I have a history with this album and absolutely love it.

[Lowbacca]

Having some time to kill today, wandering into the campus record store, browsing BBs records, retrieving Brian Wilson for €2,50. 

Apart from BWPS it's my first Brian solo album on vinyl. Dunno why I don't have TLOS or BWRG yet.. they gotta sound great. BWPS on vinyl is one of the most awesome things I've ever heard off a sound recording medium.

[hypehat]

They do sound good! As does my copy of this, bar the fact it manages to loop itself on the initial section of Rio Grande....

[Lowbacca]

Where does the track "Too Much Sugar" come from? It's a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition. Sounds like a "younger" Brian vocal than '87/'88, but I could be wrong. It's another one of brother Brian's "health awareness" songs. 

[EgoHanger1966]

This is a solid album! I don't mind the production so much. Brian sounds like he's into it - that's what makes this album (and what doesn't make GIOMH). It's not a chore to listen to the whole thing start to finish. There's a cohesiveness about everything, and it doesn't get boring or repetitive. Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight is sooo good based on where it is placed in the track line-up. I also like the 1-2-3 punch of Love & Mercy, Walkin' The Line, and Melt Away.

[Wirestone]

Where does the track "Too Much Sugar" come from? It's a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition. Sounds like a "younger" Brian vocal than '87/'88, but I could be wrong. It's another one of brother Brian's "health awareness" songs. 

It was the B-side to "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car," Brian's contribution to the Police Academy IV soundtrack and a single in 1987. Don't know much about its origins otherwise.

[Lowbacca]

Where does the track "Too Much Sugar" come from? It's a bonus track on the Deluxe Edition. Sounds like a "younger" Brian vocal than '87/'88, but I could be wrong. It's another one of brother Brian's "health awareness" songs. 

It was the B-side to "Let's Go to Heaven in My Car," Brian's contribution to the Police Academy IV soundtrack and a single in 1987. Don't know much about its origins otherwise.

Thanks, mate!

[JoeP]

I thought the liner notes of the deluxe edition commented on each bonus track, but I don't recall for sure.

[musicismylife101]

Brian sounded good on this though not the best vocally, still he sounds great. I don't have a problem with the production at all though it does sound a bit dated, but then most of their material released in the 80s sounded like that. songs like Love and Mercy, Melt Away, Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight, Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long, One For the Boys, and Let's Go to Heaven in My Car are worth the listen.

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Just needledroped "Melt Away" It has 2 skips, but it still sounds AMAZING.

[sea of tunes]

I'm ashamed to say I never listened to the whole thing until this morning; nearly 24 years after it was released (July 12th, 1988).  I was all of 12 years old when it was released and I seem to have this memory of the promotion for the album but no memory of the album itself.  Fast forward 24 years and I'm hearing this record with fully developed ears, knowing much of the history of this album's history without actually having heard it previously.  It is odd -- to know about all of the baggage of a piece of music before you ever hear it.  I have to wonder if I'm more prone to empathy while writing this because of my love of the artist or where the artist was mentally when he did this.  It's hard to say.

What I can say is I agree with an earlier post that said 'I love approximately half of the songs and dislike the other half and hate all of the production'.  And yet, even within the songs I dislike there are fragments that I do love.  The synthy production, while so terribly dated, still has charms that are hard to articulate.  The strongest songs here are: "Love And Mercy", "Walkin' The Line", "Melt Away", "Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long", "One For The Boys" and "Let It Shine".  Songs like "Rio Grande" have their own charms, the middle section is absoultely beautiful. 

Strangely, while I feel like (if I'm being honest) this is a wildly uneven album; it is oddly my favorite BW solo album.  Don't ask me to explain that because I don't think I could.

3.5 out of 5.

[Dudd]

I'll give it a 3. Exhaustingly overproduced, but enough good solid tunes on there. Love & Mercy, Melt Away, and Rio Grande would be my favourites. I quite like BLYHGL too.