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Poll
Question: Rate L.A. (Light Album)
5 - 4 (2.9%)
4 - 42 (30.9%)
3 - 60 (44.1%)
2 - 21 (15.4%)
1 - 6 (4.4%)
0 - 3 (2.2%)
Total Voters: 125

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Author Topic: L.A. (Light Album)  (Read 95225 times)
Keri
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« Reply #125 on: October 17, 2011, 01:18:25 AM »

It's legit puzzling me how quickly things fell apart after Love You...

I first got into the Beach Boys in the 80's and I tracked down all their stuff that i could, I was over the moon with them and wanted to hear every scrap and i listened to MIU, LA, KtSA and The Beach Boys, there was a scent of their greatness that I still vaguely smelt. But when Brian Wilson 88 came out it picked up from where Love You left off and those later BB albums just don't repay a listen. There is so much better music around than this, they make Elton John's work look like the height of artistry.
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Amazing Larry
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« Reply #126 on: October 17, 2011, 07:06:42 AM »

You gave Shortenin' Bread a 3? You must not really like the music of Brian's heart
I really dislike the production on this one, I think it kinda ruins it. I DO however like the Adult Child version
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« Reply #127 on: February 20, 2012, 10:55:37 AM »

A very under-appreciated album. Obviously the appalling Here Comes The Night disco remix plays a large part in this. As someone who absolutely adores the Wild Honey original, to me it is a double tragedy - it tarnishes both a great song and a great album. Good Timin' and Baby Blue are the undisputed highlights - really fantastic songs! Carl and Dennis pretty much own this album - I like all their tracks here (yes, even Goin' South - I actually like the '80's sax here, which is weird coz I bloody hate it in Kokomo, Come Go With Me, etc). However, because of HCTN it really is too flawed to be anything but a 3-star album - but I'm feeling generous so I rated it a 4.
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SBonilla
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« Reply #128 on: February 20, 2012, 12:28:24 PM »

You gave Shortenin' Bread a 3? You must not really like the music of Brian's heart
I really dislike the production on this one, I think it kinda ruins it. I DO however like the Adult Child version
Curt's mix has more clarity/definition.
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musicismylife101
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« Reply #129 on: June 27, 2012, 05:06:02 PM »

A bit lackluster but it has its standouts. Good Timin' is definitely one. Love Carl's vocal on Full Sail and Al's on Lady Lynda. Dennis sounds great on Angel Come Home and Baby Blue.
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CarlTheVoice
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« Reply #130 on: August 02, 2012, 03:46:50 AM »

I bought this a couple of days ago and I can't understand why this isn't thought of as one of their better later albums. There are some great BB songs on here, which I don't think can be said for 15BO or Love You, both of which I also bought recently. IMO they are poor!

You have some top songs here - Baby Blue - an absolute gem and so beautiful. I was listening to this whilst travelling in Croatia and it seemed so suited to the landscape there, it really was heavenly.
Good Timin - A great BB song, back to their best here.
Angel Come Home - a solid song from Dennis and Carl.
Full Sail - Believe it or not, I have only just heard this song and now I can't get it out of my head! It's lovely! The lyrics and music are so soothing and this is one of Carl's best songs, up there with Feel Flows and LPR.

So, personally I don't know why this flopped and why people don't like it. I do!
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Disney Boy (1985)
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« Reply #131 on: August 02, 2012, 07:34:09 AM »

I bought this a couple of days ago and I can't understand why this isn't thought of as one of their better later albums. There are some great BB songs on here, which I don't think can be said for 15BO or Love You, both of which I also bought recently. IMO they are poor!

You have some top songs here - Baby Blue - an absolute gem and so beautiful. I was listening to this whilst travelling in Croatia and it seemed so suited to the landscape there, it really was heavenly.
Good Timin - A great BB song, back to their best here.
Angel Come Home - a solid song from Dennis and Carl.
Full Sail - Believe it or not, I have only just heard this song and now I can't get it out of my head! It's lovely! The lyrics and music are so soothing and this is one of Carl's best songs, up there with Feel Flows and LPR.

So, personally I don't know why this flopped and why people don't like it. I do!

I agree with every word of the above (although i wouldn't describe Love You as poor, just over-rated). In fact, you've singled out for praise my own personal favourite songs from the album (Baby Blue, Good Timin', Full Sail, Angel Come Home). I'd say it's comfortably their best studio album since Holland. I just wish they'd included a few more Bambu songs and/or California Feeling in place of HCTN.
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Zach95
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« Reply #132 on: August 12, 2012, 08:20:48 PM »

My friend just gave this to me on vinyl, I hadn't "technically" listened to the album through full, until tonight.  And I've got to say, I've never heard an album quite so bizarre.  Not really in a good way, but not necessarily in a bad way either.  Just, bizarre.  The first side is quite neutral.  Nothing offensive there; Good Timin' is absolutely gorgeous and clearly the highlight, Lady Lynda is harmless enough, Full Sail is an above average Carl composition, Angel Come Home plods along, again, inoffensive, and then Love Surrounds me caps off the normal string of songs wonderfully, I really enjoy that track.  But then, and take remove yourself from your Beach Boy fandom for a second and view this objectively, you've got some weird mellow Japanese song to close out the first side.  That, coupled with the ridiculous Japanese artwork for the song (hilarious, by the way) begins the bizarre-ness of the record.  The track is good enough, I suppose, but the Japanese parts coupled with the Oriental music just makes for an...interesting track.

Then you flip over the record and you know its coming...(I didn't know what to think, I admit I never actually listened to all ten minutes)...and you drop the needle and the funky groove starts playing and you've got perhaps the downright craziest track by the Beach Boys.  This song's listening experience is something to behold.  You're not staring at a computer or anything so you've got no idea where you are in the song besides the fact that you know there's another freaking verse to Here Comes the Night but where the heck is it! And then the monkey! What?! But when those dee dee dee dee dit dit dit vocals come in, you can't help but get excited for Carl to come roaring in with his lines!  And after ten minutes of utter confusion and mayhem Carl's back with a gorgeous vocal and another brilliant track and you can't believe what just happened.  Bizarre.  Here Comes the Night into Baby Blue.  A clueless decision that somehow is brilliant.  Goin' South is another inoffensive, if not slightly boring, track. And Shortenin' Bread is...well, Shortenin' Bread.  Another bizarre double take track.  I gave the album a 3.   Yeah, it's just about mediocre.  But I love it, if not only for the incredible listening experience it provides you with.  You better be prepared for a ride when diving into LA Light Album. 
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Cabinessenceking
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« Reply #133 on: August 21, 2012, 03:25:00 PM »

My friend just gave this to me on vinyl, I hadn't "technically" listened to the album through full, until tonight.  And I've got to say, I've never heard an album quite so bizarre.  Not really in a good way, but not necessarily in a bad way either.  Just, bizarre.  The first side is quite neutral.  Nothing offensive there; Good Timin' is absolutely gorgeous and clearly the highlight, Lady Lynda is harmless enough, Full Sail is an above average Carl composition, Angel Come Home plods along, again, inoffensive, and then Love Surrounds me caps off the normal string of songs wonderfully, I really enjoy that track.  But then, and take remove yourself from your Beach Boy fandom for a second and view this objectively, you've got some weird mellow Japanese song to close out the first side.  That, coupled with the ridiculous Japanese artwork for the song (hilarious, by the way) begins the bizarre-ness of the record.  The track is good enough, I suppose, but the Japanese parts coupled with the Oriental music just makes for an...interesting track.

Then you flip over the record and you know its coming...(I didn't know what to think, I admit I never actually listened to all ten minutes)...and you drop the needle and the funky groove starts playing and you've got perhaps the downright craziest track by the Beach Boys.  This song's listening experience is something to behold.  You're not staring at a computer or anything so you've got no idea where you are in the song besides the fact that you know there's another freaking verse to Here Comes the Night but where the heck is it! And then the monkey! What?! But when those dee dee dee dee dit dit dit vocals come in, you can't help but get excited for Carl to come roaring in with his lines!  And after ten minutes of utter confusion and mayhem Carl's back with a gorgeous vocal and another brilliant track and you can't believe what just happened.  Bizarre.  Here Comes the Night into Baby Blue.  A clueless decision that somehow is brilliant.  Goin' South is another inoffensive, if not slightly boring, track. And Shortenin' Bread is...well, Shortenin' Bread.  Another bizarre double take track.  I gave the album a 3.   Yeah, it's just about mediocre.  But I love it, if not only for the incredible listening experience it provides you with.  You better be prepared for a ride when diving into LA Light Album. 

this was a good read! agree with you on all points. what they coulda done to make it less aweful was to put the single mix of HCTN as a bonus track, then taken some Adult Child into it's place or some other Brian oddity.
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bluesno1fann
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« Reply #134 on: August 30, 2013, 10:46:45 PM »

In a way, this album is underrated. Not highly underrated, but still.
This album did not deserve the highly negative ratings it got (I'm especially looking at you, Dave Marsh you fucking prick: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/l-a-light-album-19790531), from it's release and even since. For other than "Love You", "L.A. Light Album" is their best album of the late 70's.
I do think a lot of the negativity comes from the 11-minute disco remake of "Here Comes The Night". While not quite as good as the original "Wild Honey" version, I actually enjoy it a lot more than most people. In fact, I think they did a great job on that. Having said that, I do agree that it should have been released only as a non-album single.
The worst song from this album is a no-contest. From Mike Love's vaults comes the dreadfully crap "Sumahama". This is the only song i truely skip whenever I listen to this album.
The masterpieces of this album are Dennis's "Love Surrounds Me", and "Baby Blue", from the unfinished "Bambu". They are to be investigated by anyone claiming to be a Beach Boys fan. Sadly, they are to be Dennis's last major contributions to the BB's, as he would be virtually absent in KTSA.
Other great songs include "Good Timin'", "Lady Lynda", and "Angel Come Home". "Full Sail is all-right, as is "Shortenin' Bread". A small clunker would be "Goin' South". While not horrible, It is unbelievably dull and boring.
I give this album a fair 3.5 out of 5.
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chrs_mrgn
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« Reply #135 on: August 31, 2013, 08:25:13 PM »

Okay so I have never really given this album it's fair share of attention. What should I know about it before I really give it a true listen through? Any significant history, backstory, great session stories?
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drbeachboy
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« Reply #136 on: September 01, 2013, 05:55:23 AM »

I say give it a good listen first, then ask questions.
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The Brianista Prayer

Oh Brian
Thou Art In Hawthorne,
Harmonied Be Thy name
Your Kingdom Come,
Your Steak Well Done,
On Stage As It Is In Studio,
Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' Bread
And Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,
As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,
And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,
But Deliver Us From Mike Love.
Amen.  ---hypehat
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« Reply #137 on: September 27, 2013, 11:54:00 AM »

Anyone in the UK know where to get L.A./Light Album & M.I.U at a reasonable price?, as its been deleted from the catalog now, thanks. 
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RiC
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« Reply #138 on: October 25, 2013, 10:04:36 AM »

This is pretty odd album. It doesn't have cohesion at all, just songs thrown together. A lot like 20/20. L.A. has couple great songs, many mediocre ones and one that's absolutely horrible and that's Sumahama. I don't want to say a word about than one...

Good Timin' 3/5
Lady Lynda 3/5
I like both of these as much. They are very nice pieces, but nothing special really.

Full Sail 3/5
I love Carl's vocals here. This song has lot of good in it, but it's still somehow boring.

Angel Come Home 4/5
Wow! Can't imagine anyone else than Dennis singing this. The song itself is not special, but he makes it almost a classic.

Love Surrounds Me 4.5/5
This is great, really really great. Doesn't sound like Beach Boys at all. In the good way.

Sumahama 1/5
Not a word.

Here Comes The Night 3.5/5
I love this! The only problem here is that they shouldn't have put the long 10 minute version on the album. It's way too long. But I love disco and this song is really cool. Play this to people and say it's The Beach Boys, they won't ever believe you!

Baby Blue 5/5
Perfect song. Best part is where Dennis comes in. And the ending. It has those crazy sound effects and drums on the background which sound really cool.

Going South 3/5
Good song but somehow a little bit boring.

Shortenin' Bread 3.5/5
Amazing! Truly another great WTF-moment on this album. The other ones are of course Sumahama and HCTN. Once again Dennis rocks!

3/5 for the album. This is mostly a fun album to listen to. And once again, such a shame to look back and think that they hand hands on on a really great album, but they missed it. Once again...
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bluesno1fann
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« Reply #139 on: October 25, 2013, 05:52:54 PM »

This is pretty odd album. It doesn't have cohesion at all, just songs thrown together. A lot like 20/20. L.A. has couple great songs, many mediocre ones and one that's absolutely horrible and that's Sumahama. I don't want to say a word about than one...

Good Timin' 3/5
Lady Lynda 3/5
I like both of these as much. They are very nice pieces, but nothing special really.

Full Sail 3/5
I love Carl's vocals here. This song has lot of good in it, but it's still somehow boring.

Angel Come Home 4/5
Wow! Can't imagine anyone else than Dennis singing this. The song itself is not special, but he makes it almost a classic.

Love Surrounds Me 4.5/5
This is great, really really great. Doesn't sound like Beach Boys at all. In the good way.

Sumahama 1/5
Not a word.

Here Comes The Night 3.5/5
I love this! The only problem here is that they shouldn't have put the long 10 minute version on the album. It's way too long. But I love disco and this song is really cool. Play this to people and say it's The Beach Boys, they won't ever believe you!

Baby Blue 5/5
Perfect song. Best part is where Dennis comes in. And the ending. It has those crazy sound effects and drums on the background which sound really cool.

Going South 3/5
Good song but somehow a little bit boring.

Shortenin' Bread 3.5/5
Amazing! Truly another great WTF-moment on this album. The other ones are of course Sumahama and HCTN. Once again Dennis rocks!

3/5 for the album. This is mostly a fun album to listen to. And once again, such a shame to look back and think that they hand hands on on a really great album, but they missed it. Once again...

Glad to see some love for the Disco version of Here Comes The Night! They really did a great job on that, and if someone played it at a disco, I'd certainly dance to it! But it should have remained a non-album single.
Also, I think giving 1 out of 5 is a little too generous for Sumahama lol
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RiC
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« Reply #140 on: October 25, 2013, 10:49:12 PM »

I'm not gonna give 0/5 for any Beach Boys related song  Roll Eyes The disco-Here comes the night is very well done experience and I always get that dancing feeling when I play that. And those vocals are awesome. I think the best would've been to inculde that 4 min version on this album and keep this long only as a single. Then they could've dumped Sumahama and added couple songs by Dennis or anyone, everybody knows they could do better than this. After those changes this would've been a great album.
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Mr. Wilson
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« Reply #141 on: March 03, 2014, 09:49:04 PM »

Cover 4/5 music 3/5... I like this LP but it does have its shortcomings.. HCTN should be the 3:30  or  the 4:30 version.. In those  edit"s  I REALLY like the version of the song..  The vocals + production are great.. If you use the short version of HCTN you have room for 2-3 more tracks.. Added songs of good quality make this LP a 4 instead of a 3.. Anything in the vaults from the 70's will do.. From 93 box set or MIC box would work..  I would call this progressive adult BB music which I do like..  I don't see anything wrong with BB growing up on record with more mature themes..
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TonyACT
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« Reply #142 on: October 09, 2014, 02:51:13 PM »

Solid 4 for the CD from me (I have it on the 2-fer).  Some very nice ballads and I don't mind them doing one disco song in their career -> it is rather well done and varies the tempo of the album before it gets too slow.  I really like the old first side.  I had this on LP many years ago and liked it then as well - it was pretty popular here in Australia as were a couple of the singles.
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TonyACT
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« Reply #143 on: October 09, 2014, 02:53:35 PM »

Anyone in the UK know where to get L.A./Light Album & M.I.U at a reasonable price?, as its been deleted from the catalog now, thanks. 

Just be patient with ebay - which is what I did and snagged it for AU$30 delivered a couple of weeks ago which is a decent price.
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bluesno1fann
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« Reply #144 on: October 10, 2014, 03:14:49 AM »

Also, I think giving 1 out of 5 is a little too generous for Sumahama lol
Responding a year late, as I didn't follow this thread, I gotta say I don't agree with you. To me, giving 0 to a song or album equates to not having heard it. And RiC have, so 1 is the lowest point.

I'd say those who haven't heard it shouldn't vote
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TonyACT
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« Reply #145 on: October 10, 2014, 04:27:51 PM »

I like Sumahama.

We need a scale from 1-10, but I agree that you shouldn't vote if you haven't heard it.
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elnombre
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« Reply #146 on: December 21, 2014, 05:33:49 PM »

Angel Come Home and Baby Blue are two of my absolute favorites. Bona fide classics in my view. Goin' South I actually quite like, very warm vocal from Carl. Good Timin' is lightweight but nice. Love Surround Me is good too, but usurped by the version on the POB reissue. Overall a solid effort with a couple of misfits. An album to cherry pick from rather than listen to in full.
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KDS
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« Reply #147 on: April 20, 2015, 07:56:04 AM »

Considering that one fourth of this album is taken up by the worst thing The Beach Boys put to tape to date, I couldn't give this the four I was considering.  A high three. 

Not a bad album.  Other than the excellent nephew of Surfer Girl, Good Timin, and Al's Lady Lynda, nothing really jumps out to me though. 

The only track I skip is the awful disco bandwagon Here Comes the Night.  To be honest, I'm really not a huge fan of the Wild Honey original.  Disco was pretty much a disease that infected all music in the late 70s.  But, when Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, The Stones, and KISS did disco influenced songs, the songs at least still sounded like the bands.  I can tell Miss You is the Stones, same with Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 with Floyd.  But, not here.  Absolutely terrible. 

Some of the other good tracks here include Sumahama, Full Sail, and Angel Come Home. 

The Shortenin Bread closer is interesting, but pure filler. 
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phirnis
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« Reply #148 on: April 20, 2015, 12:30:55 PM »

I do like 70s disco but Here Comes the Night is a very weak attempt at the genre. Sounds like the whitest disco record ever.

For me, it's the only thing about L.A. I don't really like.
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Bean Bag
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« Reply #149 on: April 20, 2015, 07:10:14 PM »

It's just too long (Here Comes The Night).  I don't have a problem with the concept -- I love the idea actually -- but it just doesn't merit the length.  It doesn't go nowheres.  And usually extended disco mixes don't.  Typically the club or dance mix is relegated to a single.  I'm not sure how it made the actual LP release.
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