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

[ArchStanton]

OK- does anyone know if this is a mistake or anything?

On Amazon, it says the vinyl doesn't release until July 3rd, where as we all know the CD and download are avaliale June 5th.

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Why-God-Made-Radio/dp/B007U1FEQW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337391225&sr=8-1

Is this true?

I believe it is sadly, some kind of problem with getting the vinyls done or something.....

[Ron]

We may be getting to the point in this old world where there's only a few factories actually pressing the vinyl anymore.  Maybe they have to wait in line?

[FatherOfTheMan Sr101]

New article in Spring Magazine coming out soon, not much info, but some nice re-assurance

"After eight examples of such unintentional self-parody, however, something unexpected happens. Partway through “From There to Back Again,” The Beach Boys throw off the pretense that they’re still adolescents and acknowledge they’re old men “thinking about when life was still in front of you,” as Al sings. “We had a lot to live; we gave it all,” Brian adds wistfully.
With this sudden honesty in the lyrics, the music changes too, busting out of its lockstep arrangements and forced cheerfulness into an ever-shifting tide of melancholy and resilience, represented by wordless choral vertigo, mood-turning piano chords, rhythmic decelerations and accelerations and happy-go-lucky whistling. It’s a tour de force that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Smile sessions, a reminder that Brian and his bandmates can still make ambitious music if they choose to.
One band member reveals that the 3:23 “From There to Back Again” and the 1:47 “Pacific Coast Highway” were at one point part of a seven-minute suite called “My Life,” but apparently ambition still has its limits in The Beach Boys camp. That’s too bad, because “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Summer’s Gone” are also terrific songs, suffused with the sadness that has marked many of Brian’s greatest creations. (If you’re a downloader, you should download these three songs and the gorgeous, wordless album opener, “Think About the Days.” Skip the rest.)
"

[LetHimRun]

OK- does anyone know if this is a mistake or anything?

On Amazon, it says the vinyl doesn't release until July 3rd, where as we all know the CD and download are avaliale June 5th.

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Why-God-Made-Radio/dp/B007U1FEQW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337391225&sr=8-1

Is this true?

I ordered the vinyl off Amazon a little over a week ago and at the time, the release date was June 23rd. July 3rd would suck, but as long as I get it.

[Runaways]

New article in Spring Magazine coming out soon, not much info, but some nice re-assurance

i never understood the term "self-parody".  Well i get what they're trying to say, but if someone is doing the same thing they've always done, then what are they parodying?

[RubberSoul13]

OK- does anyone know if this is a mistake or anything?

On Amazon, it says the vinyl doesn't release until July 3rd, where as we all know the CD and download are avaliale June 5th.

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Why-God-Made-Radio/dp/B007U1FEQW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337391225&sr=8-1

Is this true?

Darn, I was hoping to try and have the guys sign it in June...oh well, back to the drawing board! I won't worry about pre-ordering this, I'll get at my local record store when it is released.

I believe it is sadly, some kind of problem with getting the vinyls done or something.....

[Ron]

I have a problem with that review; essentially it's saying that the only songs that are any good are what he determines are the sad ones. 

The beauty of Brian's music isn't it's sadness, it's the hope in even the sad songs.  For every "Warmth of the Sun" where a girl leaves him, there's a line "My loves like the warmth of the sun; it won't ever die"  For every "Caroline, No" there's a "You Still Believe in Me". 

Telling listeners to skip everything but the sad songs is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 

[Runaways]

well i've never heard of Spring magazine, so no loss.

[Wirestone]

So, are people calling records "vinyls" now? Is this a thing? And if so, is it too late to stop them?

As for the record -- I'm afraid we're going to see a lot of lazy "Mike Love cashes in on his ill cousin" stuff. A lot of rote dismissals of half to three-quarters of the album. And it's going to be occasionally nasty. None of this has anything to do with how bad or good the record is. But having stuff like "Spring Vacation" or "Beaches in Mind" on there -- however good the actual songs are -- is baiting a certain class of reviewer. Sad to say.

There can be good songs and bad songs about beaches and surfing. The subject matter alone shouldn't determine the response. But oh, I bet it will. For some folks.

[the professor]

Re: the Spin essay:
I too anticipate that reviewers will want to exercise their artsy cool by fetishizing the Brianesque melancholy at the expense of the greater totality of what the BB are. I am insulted by the "skip the rest," especially since each new listen to the 90-second clips reveals some new aspect of beauty. It's not self-parody, intentional or not; rather, it's a certain idiom that they created and are now contemplating--and celebrating.  I am hearing moment of Brian Eno, Frippertronics, and other bits of musical invention and influence throughout the songs.  I hear Bruce everywhere, by the way, and all the boys, save Dave's voice, though I hear his guitar.

Shelter is growing on me (that's where I hear Eno); I'll take Jeff's voice, which I wish were Bruce's part)  as a "guest vocalist" or a "homage a Carl."

 The praise of the last three songs in the Spin essay is, however, in itself, lyrical and acute, so I exhort the author to revise his essay before publication (if he's listening) to show an appreciation for the full range of tone and emotion on the album.

[Runaways]

well said prof.  A lot of critical reviewers like to disregard the early stuff, so music that resembles that they disregard it too. 

[grillo]

So, are people calling records "vinyls" now? Is this a thing? And if so, is it too late to stop them?

Yeah, it's something I noticed on this board, and at first I thought it was from non-english speakers, but now I think maybe it's from folks who somehow grew up without records. I also hear it at the re-sale shop I work at, but from 50and60-somethings. Very confusing...

[Runaways]

speaking of records, i just bought original pressings of sunflower and surf's up and am very happy inside 

[Shady]

The inevitable leak is most likely days away..

To anybody wanting to hold out till release day, best of luck

 

[Andrew G. Doe]

The inevitable leak is most likely days away..

The Cohen of Silence kept saying that about TSS... right up to the day it was released, with no leak. 

[Mendota Heights]

So, are people calling records "vinyls" now? Is this a thing? And if so, is it too late to stop them?

Yeah, it's something I noticed on this board, and at first I thought it was from non-english speakers, but now I think maybe it's from folks who somehow grew up without records. I also hear it at the re-sale shop I work at, but from 50and60-somethings. Very confusing...

Here are two vinyls: http://www.cdvinyl.de/cdpic/00CV/others/lp-rest_28.jpg

[b00ts]

New article in Spring Magazine coming out soon, not much info, but some nice re-assurance

"After eight examples of such unintentional self-parody, however, something unexpected happens. Partway through “From There to Back Again,” The Beach Boys throw off the pretense that they’re still adolescents and acknowledge they’re old men “thinking about when life was still in front of you,” as Al sings. “We had a lot to live; we gave it all,” Brian adds wistfully.
With this sudden honesty in the lyrics, the music changes too, busting out of its lockstep arrangements and forced cheerfulness into an ever-shifting tide of melancholy and resilience, represented by wordless choral vertigo, mood-turning piano chords, rhythmic decelerations and accelerations and happy-go-lucky whistling. It’s a tour de force that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Smile sessions, a reminder that Brian and his bandmates can still make ambitious music if they choose to.
One band member reveals that the 3:23 “From There to Back Again” and the 1:47 “Pacific Coast Highway” were at one point part of a seven-minute suite called “My Life,” but apparently ambition still has its limits in The Beach Boys camp. That’s too bad, because “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Summer’s Gone” are also terrific songs, suffused with the sadness that has marked many of Brian’s greatest creations. (If you’re a downloader, you should download these three songs and the gorgeous, wordless album opener, “Think About the Days.” Skip the rest.)
"

They've buried the lede here... Apparently "My Life" was the seven-minute suite, and it has been pared down to these two songs. I had assumed that the group had just changed the track breaks, and that "Pacific Coast Highway" and "Summer's Gone" were part of the suite,

He says that it is according to a member of the band... perhaps these other tracks might turn up on the new Greatest Hits compilation that is supposed to have new songs? I hope this was Brian's decision.

My favorite track so far is "Isn't it Time," but the last few sound amazing from these descriptions. I have also grown to love "Spring Vacation" in spite of the lyrics and production. The melody redeems the song fully for me.

[b00ts]

Just listened to the samples again; in "Summer's Gone," at the start of Brian's phrase 'The nights grow cold,' you can hear a double-tracked voice (each track hard panned) singing along on the word "The" and then clipped. It is very bassy and high volume, and it sounds like Mike. Perhaps he recorded a lead for the song and they left that small bit in by accident. The water drips in the background are slick too.

It sounds like there are a good amount of Mike Love bass vocals throughout the album. "Isn't it Time" has some cool wordless scatting that is almost definitely Mike. It is buried in the mix though, you have to strain to hear it. It sounds like the harmony mix is less bass-heavy than we are used to, except for "Daybreak Over the Ocean," which really gets close to the classic Beach Boys blend, even though there may be no Beach Boys on the track aside from Mike.

Possible Joe Thomas influence on the arrangement of "Strange World," with the descending figure from the bridge of "Lay Down Burden" from Imagination.

[runnersdialzero]

Just out of curiosity, can the enraged pitch correction discussion that's evident on this board be found anywhere else? Or are we the only ones who talk about it.

At one point on the Hoffman board it started heating up, just as it is here, until the mods got sick of the bickering and the same old tired arguments back and forth, and they started deleting posts and pretty much clamped down on the subject because the argument is just so silly, really.  It all boils down to this:

The production decisions have been made by the production team.  The recording is finished.  The songs have been chosen.  The songs have been mixed and likely mastered.  We will hear what the production team wants us to hear.  If you don't like the songs, you don't like the songs.  If you don't like the sound of pitch correction, you don't like the sound of pitch correction.  If you end up paying $12.00 for the disc, and you can't listen to it for whatever reason, then you're out $12.00.  Maybe you can sell the thing and get some of your money back. 

But why argue over something that we have absolutely no control over.  The Beach Boys are releasing a new album very soon.  As with every other album ever made by any artist in any era, you may like it and you may not.  You pays your money and you takes your choice.         

A healthy life philosophy, because no one ever changed anything.

[Summertime Blooz]

The inevitable leak is most likely days away..

To anybody wanting to hold out till release day, best of luck

 

It seems like things have tightened up considerably over the last couple of years as far as leaks go. Anyway, between the iTunes and Amazon samples, and the Dutch radio cuts we already have about 25 minutes of a 36 minute album to listen to. We have a pretty clear picture of what this album is. I don't think there's going to be many surprises come June 5th.

[runnersdialzero]

I think The Smile Sessions is the only thing I've seen leak several days after it was released. Incredible.

[Wirestone]

I don't think there's going to be many surprises come June 5th.

We'll see.

[Andrew G. Doe]

I think The Smile Sessions is the only thing I've seen leak several days after it was released. Incredible.

But they didn't, aside from the official previews: descriptions of the box were leaked, but not the actual tracks.

[Andrew G. Doe]

New article in Spring Magazine coming out soon, not much info, but some nice re-assurance

"After eight examples of such unintentional self-parody, however, something unexpected happens. Partway through “From There to Back Again,” The Beach Boys throw off the pretense that they’re still adolescents and acknowledge they’re old men “thinking about when life was still in front of you,” as Al sings. “We had a lot to live; we gave it all,” Brian adds wistfully.
With this sudden honesty in the lyrics, the music changes too, busting out of its lockstep arrangements and forced cheerfulness into an ever-shifting tide of melancholy and resilience, represented by wordless choral vertigo, mood-turning piano chords, rhythmic decelerations and accelerations and happy-go-lucky whistling. It’s a tour de force that wouldn’t have been out of place on the Smile sessions, a reminder that Brian and his bandmates can still make ambitious music if they choose to.
One band member reveals that the 3:23 “From There to Back Again” and the 1:47 “Pacific Coast Highway” were at one point part of a seven-minute suite called “My Life,” but apparently ambition still has its limits in The Beach Boys camp. That’s too bad, because “Pacific Coast Highway” and “Summer’s Gone” are also terrific songs, suffused with the sadness that has marked many of Brian’s greatest creations. (If you’re a downloader, you should download these three songs and the gorgeous, wordless album opener, “Think About the Days.” Skip the rest.)
"

Really ?  I'd argue that point, and strongly.

[Jay]

I think The Smile Sessions is the only thing I've seen leak several days after it was released. Incredible.

But they didn't, aside from the official previews: descriptions of the box were leaked, but not the actual tracks.

I probably shouldn't say this, but I had a download of the entire disc 1 of TSS a couple days before I got the physical set, and I pre ordered it.