New album info (as it rolls out...)

[the captain]

Hey, by the way, just who was it that decided it was a good idea to yield the artistic decision of which numbers would make the cut to the label anyway?  After all, economics aside, it should be an artistic decision, yes?

When one wants the financial muscle of a major label, that's the trade-off. The band could easily have done an entirely self-financed, self-released album and taken complete control.

As for that last sentence, considering some of the artistic decisions the Beach Boys have made in the past, I think the answer to that in this case is a definite no.

[Generation42]

That's certainly all well and true, Luther - especially maybe the latter - and yes, there was most assuredly a trade-off to be made in order for the band to receive a higher measure of label support, but boy oh boy, anyone other than those intimately involved in the production of the music deciding (not suggesting, based on market trends, public opinion polls, casting lots, etc., but having the final say) on what makes the album just really sticks in my craw, and it can have a marked effect on the final product.  The most cited example, I imagine, would be Capitol's dealing with the early Beatles output.  Personally speaking, even after years of trying to get used to it, I still prefer The Beatles / G. Martin's vision of their work vs. just about any of the choices that Capitol made (although I do prefer having "IWTHYH" on Meet The Beatles).

Even with a decidedly up and down history of commercial success, the Beach Boys are not, of course, unknown, hungry artists without a leg to stand on, and I would think they were in a better bargaining position than that when they signed this deal.  Still, the plain truth is that, as a fan, I'm not in the know here, and it's entirely possible that the group feels that they will be somehow better served this way, and if that is their feeling, then I'll support it and defend it, even if I don't understand the motivations behind it.

All that said, this is still just a very long-winded way of saying I want my Brian Wilson suite!

Oh, that and, I like the idea behind the album cover, and was quite pleasantly surprised with the colourful ocean waves / teardrops / boobies and/or buttcheecks, but the big, ungainly band logo doesn't jibe well and needs to be rethought for a better fit.  Oops!  Looky there, here I am -  uninvolved with the production of the work, dictating my input.    Oh well, I'm right on this one!

[b00ts]

Spring Vacation:

"We're on a Spring Vacation,
Feelin' good vibrations,
Gonna take our tour
All over the nation!

Find some excitation
At the Lifeguard Station
Havin fun, fun, fun
No, you're not mistaken, it's

Spring vacation
Spring vacation
Spring vacation
Hey nowwwww....

When some loud braggart
Tries to put us down,
We go out of town
On a fun spring trip

When it gets too hot,
We go down by the sea
And we find a nice beach
Where the kids are hip"

The Private Life of Bill and Sue:

"Bill and Sue
Don't know what to do
They've got a weekend alone

They'll go down by the shore
Grab their swimsuits and boards
And they'll get into the zone..

The Surf Zone! Ba ba baaaaa..."

"From Here to back Again"

"Well I was a cork on the ocean
But now I'm a surfboard, ya know
Surfin' around all over the place
From Californ-i-a to Mexico...

You know we're

Here and back again
Find some summer friends
The summer never ends
The fun that never ends

Here and back again
Let's do it again
Swimmin' with our friends
The summer never ends...."

"Shelter"

"Weeeeeeeelllllllllllllll....

When I was hot (When he was hot)
On the beach (On his beach)
With the sun beating down (The sun beats down)
It was hot and sweltering
I looked for some shelter
And look what I found...

Shelter shelter shelter shelter shelter
Lookin for some lookin for some shelter
Lookin at tomorrow for a surf board I can borrow
Demonstratin' with the students even though it isn't prudent
Sheeeeeeelllltterrrrrrrr!"

As you can see, all of the lyrics that have leaked so far follow the basic rhyme scheme of "Be True To Your School." They also pay respect to their early 70's work with callbacks to songs from "Surf's Up." This is looking good, guys!

/Sunday idiocy

[Chris Brown]

I think the last 3 tracks comprise the suite - "Summer's Gone" is an evocative title that seems to somewhat morbidly suggest the end of one's life, and along with the other two titles, I can easily see how a suite could be woven through them.  No way Capitol cuts something like that, they know that people want to hear what Brian has to offer. 

Assuming we're right about this, it'll be the last Beach Boys album with a true Brian Wilson closing trifecta in 40 years.  That's definitely what I'll be looking most forward to hearing.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Hallmark album was called Songs From Here & Back. Just sayin... 

[joshferrell]

Spring Vacation:

"We're on a Spring Vacation,
Feelin' good vibrations,
Gonna take our tour
All over the nation!

Find some excitation
At the Lifeguard Station
Havin fun, fun, fun
No, you're not mistaken, it's

Spring vacation
Spring vacation
Spring vacation
Hey nowwwww....

When some loud braggart
Tries to put us down,
We go out of town
On a fun spring trip

When it gets too hot,
We go down by the sea
And we find a nice beach
Where the kids are hip"

The Private Life of Bill and Sue:

"Bill and Sue
Don't know what to do
They've got a weekend alone

They'll go down by the shore
Grab their swimsuits and boards
And they'll get into the zone..

The Surf Zone! Ba ba baaaaa..."

"From Here to back Again"

"Well I was a cork on the ocean
But now I'm a surfboard, ya know
Surfin' around all over the place
From Californ-i-a to Mexico...

You know we're

Here and back again
Find some summer friends
The summer never ends
The fun that never ends

Here and back again
Let's do it again
Swimmin' with our friends
The summer never ends...."

"Shelter"

"Weeeeeeeelllllllllllllll....

When I was hot (When he was hot)
On the beach (On his beach)
With the sun beating down (The sun beats down)
It was hot and sweltering
I looked for some shelter
And look what I found...

Shelter shelter shelter shelter shelter
Lookin for some lookin for some shelter
Lookin at tomorrow for a surf board I can borrow
Demonstratin' with the students even though it isn't prudent
Sheeeeeeelllltterrrrrrrr!"

As you can see, all of the lyrics that have leaked so far follow the basic rhyme scheme of "Be True To Your School." They also pay respect to their early 70's work with callbacks to songs from "Surf's Up." This is looking good, guys!

/Sunday idiocy

lol...

[joshferrell]

"That's why God made the radio"
in the garden of eden God stuck his finger down
and made the radio so we won't go to hell
that's why God made the radio,it is our Jesus Christ
it's going to raise us from the dead and then we'll go surfin all night
adam told eve listen here to me don't you let me catch round the apple tree
if you do,woman, you'll send us to hell
that's why God made the radio,so we can go surfin
save the whales,the tree's and vote for ROMNEY
God wanted us to surf so he waved his hand
and turned the radio into a groovy surf board
that's why God made the radio,so we can hear the Devils rock n roll
We started this band after selling our souls..

[b00ts]

"That's why God made the radio"
in the garden of eden God stuck his finger down
and made the radio so we won't go to hell
that's why God made the radio,it is our Jesus Christ
it's going to raise us from the dead and then we'll go surfin all night
adam told eve listen here to me don't you let me catch round the apple tree
if you do,woman, you'll send us to hell
that's why God made the radio,so we can go surfin
save the whales,the tree's and vote for ROMNEY
God wanted us to surf so he waved his hand
and turned the radio into a groovy surf board
that's why God made the radio,so we can hear the Devils rock n roll
We started this band after selling our souls..

Love it. This is another option:

"That's why Al Gore made the internet
You'll see horrible things that you'll try to forget
When we play a show, login to see the set
On smileysmile dot net..."

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Well, now we've heard either "Beaches...." or "Days..." 

If you were looking for JT, you found him the song is good though!

[I. Spaceman]

The most cited example, I imagine, would be Capitol's dealing with the early Beatles output.  Personally speaking, even after years of trying to get used to it, I still prefer The Beatles / G. Martin's vision of their work vs. just about any of the choices that Capitol made (although I do prefer having "IWTHYH" on Meet The Beatles).

All that said, this is still just a very long-winded way of saying I want my Brian Wilson suite!

Without Capitol rejiggering Rubber Soul into a more cohesive musical whole, we wouldn't have had Pet Sounds. Which is Brian Wilson's finest "suite".

[Les P]

I think the last 3 tracks comprise the suite - "Summer's Gone" is an evocative title that seems to somewhat morbidly suggest the end of one's life,

I can't help but think it will go something like "Summer's gone, but our summer love goes on."

[doc smiley]

I think the last 3 tracks comprise the suite - "Summer's Gone" is an evocative title that seems to somewhat morbidly suggest the end of one's life, and along with the other two titles, I can easily see how a suite could be woven through them.  No way Capitol cuts something like that, they know that people want to hear what Brian has to offer. 

Assuming we're right about this, it'll be the last Beach Boys album with a true Brian Wilson closing trifecta in 40 years.  That's definitely what I'll be looking most forward to hearing.

I disagree, I think that "Summer's Gone" would not be part of the suite as this title has been mentioned  before but not in any way referenced to being in a suite.  I still feel IMHO that the 3 parts of the suite are likely combined to form one title ( Brian writing fragments?     )  and a title like "Here and Back Again" sure has a Life Cycle like feel to it.

[STE]

"That's why God made the radio"
in the garden of eden God stuck his finger down
and made the radio so we won't go to hell
that's why God made the radio,it is our Jesus Christ
it's going to raise us from the dead and then we'll go surfin all night
adam told eve listen here to me don't you let me catch round the apple tree
if you do,woman, you'll send us to hell
that's why God made the radio,so we can go surfin
save the whales,the tree's and vote for ROMNEY
God wanted us to surf so he waved his hand
and turned the radio into a groovy surf board
that's why God made the radio,so we can hear the Devils rock n roll
We started this band after selling our souls..

Love it. This is another option:

"That's why Al Gore made the internet
You'll see horrible things that you'll try to forget
When we play a show, login to see the set
On smileysmile dot net..."

Wait wait, now it's my turn to make up some fake ridiculous Mike-style lyrics!
How about

"We like to get around
get up, we'll hit up
every hot spot in town"



Oh wait...

[Andrew G. Doe]

I think the last 3 tracks comprise the suite - "Summer's Gone" is an evocative title that seems to somewhat morbidly suggest the end of one's life, and along with the other two titles, I can easily see how a suite could be woven through them.  No way Capitol cuts something like that, they know that people want to hear what Brian has to offer. 

Assuming we're right about this, it'll be the last Beach Boys album with a true Brian Wilson closing trifecta in 40 years.  That's definitely what I'll be looking most forward to hearing.

I disagree, I think that "Summer's Gone" would not be part of the suite as this title has been mentioned  before but not in any way referenced to being in a suite.  I still feel IMHO that the 3 parts of the suite are likely combined to form one title ( Brian writing fragments?     )  and a title like "Here and Back Again" sure has a Life Cycle like feel to it.

I would have to disagree with your disagreement.

[bcdam]

Don't know if it got posted yet, but in this CBS report, there's a snippet of a new song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K7h7IICAs0

Sounds a little "Summer in Paradise"-y, but I'll reserve my judgement until I hear more than 5 seconds of it.

[STE]

Don't know if it got posted yet, but in this CBS report, there's a snippet of a new song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K7h7IICAs0

Sounds a little "Summer in Paradise"-y, but I'll reserve my judgement until I hear more than 5 seconds of it.

There's a thread about that:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,12854.0.html

[doc smiley]

I think the last 3 tracks comprise the suite - "Summer's Gone" is an evocative title that seems to somewhat morbidly suggest the end of one's life, and along with the other two titles, I can easily see how a suite could be woven through them.  No way Capitol cuts something like that, they know that people want to hear what Brian has to offer.  

Assuming we're right about this, it'll be the last Beach Boys album with a true Brian Wilson closing trifecta in 40 years.  That's definitely what I'll be looking most forward to hearing.

I disagree, I think that "Summer's Gone" would not be part of the suite as this title has been mentioned  before but not in any way referenced to being in a suite.  I still feel IMHO that the 3 parts of the suite are likely combined to form one title ( Brian writing fragments?    )  and a title like "Here and Back Again" sure has a Life Cycle like feel to it.

I would have to disagree with your disagreement.

Darn..

nothing worse than having our resident expert disagree with your disagreement...
it certainly stacks the odds against me... but I'll leave it at that, I don't want to get all Phil about it.  

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

Life Suite:
The suite makes this a must buy.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Think about it... final track on the last ever Beach Boys album is called "Summer's Gone". Poignant, yet somehow inevitable.

[The Shift]

... on the last ever Beach Boys album ...

Is that a certainty or a likelihood? And if the former, what's the evidence? Pretty please?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Because I say so. 

[Rocky Raccoon]

Some updated info on the album plus the QVC appearance and a magazine release featuring the re-recorded "Do It Again."
http://www.jambands.com/news/2012/04/30/the-beach-boys-confirm-that-s-why-god-made-the-radio-release-date-and-info

[The Heartical Don]

Did Phil Cohen comment on the whole affair already?

[pixletwin]

Complete track listing up on amazon. All the same titles we've already heard about. (not sure if this had been reported yet, but I haven't read it).

[myonlysunshine]

I really hope that by "mellow," Brian doesn't mean the new album is full of Joe Thomas adult contemporary schlock like Imagination.