place for compiling any new information on a next BB album

[Kurosawa]

Brian has to work with the people he is comfortable with.  Period.

It was — in my opinion — a mistake to NOT use Mark Linett for mastering "TWGMTR."

Mark is really dialed into the BB sound, and VERY dialed into Brian.

Absolutely agreed with all of this. If Brian wants to work with Joe Thomas again, of course he should, but I'd *prefer* that if he has a co-producer it be Darian, or Scott Bennett, or one of the other people he's worked with who would be capable of doing the job. That's Why God Made The Radio sounded much better than Imagination or Stars & Stripes, but it still sounded unpleasant to my ears compared to any of Brian's post-Imagination solo work. But if Joe T is who Brian wants to work with, then he's who he should work with.

As for Linnett, I can't imagine why they would ever choose anyone else, given his quarter-century-plus experience working with Brian...

TLOS was bursting with original material....the chords, the harmonies, the instrumentals - it's one of my favorite albums ever....all thanks to Darian, Bennett, and Brian's collaboration. Fast forward to TWGMTR: you have a compromise album FULL of autotune. It's not cohesive, the songwriting is kinda bland (minus Brian's obvious stunners).

I agree that Brian should team up with Darian/Bennett on this upcoming album. Make it original, make it FRESH. Don't bring in past material, don't compromise. They need to create a vision of a beautiful album and run with it. They need to trash the autotune (Mike's voice is still great, there is no need for autotune).

With TLOS, Brian proved he is still a genius; partner him with those same collaborators + the voices of The Beach Boys and you'll have a #1 album.

I agree but I'm looking forward to whatever they do, really.

[Pretty Funky]

There will be a new studio album in 2013.

So how is Al doing?

[AndrewHickey]

Brian has to work with the people he is comfortable with.  Period.

It was — in my opinion — a mistake to NOT use Mark Linett for mastering "TWGMTR."

Mark is really dialed into the BB sound, and VERY dialed into Brian.

Absolutely agreed with all of this. If Brian wants to work with Joe Thomas again, of course he should, but I'd *prefer* that if he has a co-producer it be Darian, or Scott Bennett, or one of the other people he's worked with who would be capable of doing the job. That's Why God Made The Radio sounded much better than Imagination or Stars & Stripes, but it still sounded unpleasant to my ears compared to any of Brian's post-Imagination solo work. But if Joe T is who Brian wants to work with, then he's who he should work with.

As for Linnett, I can't imagine why they would ever choose anyone else, given his quarter-century-plus experience working with Brian...

TLOS was bursting with original material....the chords, the harmonies, the instrumentals - it's one of my favorite albums ever....all thanks to Darian, Bennett, and Brian's collaboration. Fast forward to TWGMTR: you have a compromise album FULL of autotune. It's not cohesive, the songwriting is kinda bland (minus Brian's obvious stunners).

I agree that Brian should team up with Darian/Bennett on this upcoming album. Make it original, make it FRESH. Don't bring in past material, don't compromise. They need to create a vision of a beautiful album and run with it. They need to trash the autotune (Mike's voice is still great, there is no need for autotune).

With TLOS, Brian proved he is still a genius; partner him with those same collaborators + the voices of The Beach Boys and you'll have a #1 album.

Couldn't agree more. That Lucky Old Sun is one of the five or six best things ever done by any of the Beach Boys, together or separately. That's Why God Made The Radio, while better than I was expecting it to be (and it's grown on me) is mediocre with a few flashes of greatness.

[Bean Bag]

Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread... I'm just hearing this "new album" talk for the first time.  This just made my year!!!!!!!
 

I like Joe Thomas -- Imagination is one of my top BB/BW albums.  TWGMTR is really good too.  I wouldn't mind them switching it up either.  For example, the sparse and informal feel that Don Was achieved on the short little I Just Wasn't Made For These Times album would be nice.  An honest sound that worked for the Documentary, but could still be a nice sound for the Beach Boys....

perhaps, Rick Rubin?

[Jim V.]

Brian has to work with the people he is comfortable with.  Period.

It was — in my opinion — a mistake to NOT use Mark Linett for mastering "TWGMTR."

Mark is really dialed into the BB sound, and VERY dialed into Brian.

Absolutely agreed with all of this. If Brian wants to work with Joe Thomas again, of course he should, but I'd *prefer* that if he has a co-producer it be Darian, or Scott Bennett, or one of the other people he's worked with who would be capable of doing the job. That's Why God Made The Radio sounded much better than Imagination or Stars & Stripes, but it still sounded unpleasant to my ears compared to any of Brian's post-Imagination solo work. But if Joe T is who Brian wants to work with, then he's who he should work with.

As for Linnett, I can't imagine why they would ever choose anyone else, given his quarter-century-plus experience working with Brian...

TLOS was bursting with original material....the chords, the harmonies, the instrumentals - it's one of my favorite albums ever....all thanks to Darian, Bennett, and Brian's collaboration. Fast forward to TWGMTR: you have a compromise album FULL of autotune. It's not cohesive, the songwriting is kinda bland (minus Brian's obvious stunners).

I agree that Brian should team up with Darian/Bennett on this upcoming album. Make it original, make it FRESH. Don't bring in past material, don't compromise. They need to create a vision of a beautiful album and run with it. They need to trash the autotune (Mike's voice is still great, there is no need for autotune).

With TLOS, Brian proved he is still a genius; partner him with those same collaborators + the voices of The Beach Boys and you'll have a #1 album.

I don't understand why TLOS is looked at as this great example of Brian's songwriting and performing, where TWGMTR isn't. In my opinion, his singing is much better on TWGMTR as is the fact that Mike, Al, and Bruce also got to split the leads up. The background vocals and harmonies? No doubt I'll take The Beach Boys over Brian's group any day of the week.

The songwriting? Maybe I'm just missing something, but although TLOS showed Brian still had songwriting chops, I think TWGMTR shows that he could write things both esoteric ("From There To Back Again") and super commercial ("Isn't It Time"). Whereas there are a few bummer song on TLOS, I think everything on TWGMTR hits the spot. Even "Spring Vacation", "Bill and Sue", and "Beaches In Mind". Whereas you probably won't find me listening to "Mexican Girl" or "California Role" anytime soon. And I think the more emotional material on TWGMTR like "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" works so much better and resonates more with me than something like "Midnight's Another Day" or "Southern California".

Wow, I don't know how I missed this thread... I'm just hearing this "new album" talk for the first time.  This just made my year!!!!!!!
 

I like Joe Thomas -- Imagination is one of my top BB/BW albums.  TWGMTR is really good too.  I wouldn't mind them switching it up either.  For example, the sparse and informal feel that Don Was achieved on the short little I Just Wasn't Made For These Times album would be nice.  An honest sound that worked for the Documentary, but could still be a nice sound for the Beach Boys....

perhaps, Rick Rubin?

Rick Rubin would be a horrible choice. He's not really much of a producer, he's pretty hands off, but at the same time I don't think his style of saying "that sucks, go work on something new" would work well with somebody like Brian, who I feel needs encouragement to keep doing great work.

[GuyOnTheBeach]

Rick Rubin would be a horrible choice. He's not really much of a producer, he's pretty hands off, but at the same time I don't think his style of saying "that sucks, go work on something new" would work well with somebody like Brian, who I feel needs encouragement to keep doing great work.

I think Jeff Lynne would be a good choice as producer, he can mix vocals like no one's business, is a technical genius and would probably have a few very good ideas to run with Brian, which in turn could possibly lead to Brian getting all competitive again and coming back with something even better, that's the thing I think, most (and I say most) of Brian's contemporaries are not putting out their best material these days and I'm sure he couldn't give a hoot about competing with modern artists musically.

[EgoHanger1966]

Re: Brian's vocals on TLOS vs. TWGMTR: It's not his singing ability which makes them sound drastically different. The vox on TLOS are bone dry, very little processing. Very uncharacteristic for Brian. It did show that in a studio setting, he can still deliver the goods with little to no aid. The vocals on TWGMTR are heavily processed. He does sound good, but there's a lot going on there. You just can't take it at face value - not that it's a criticism, it's just what it is.

I'd like to see something resembling a happy medium on the next album - more like Gershwin and Disney. Brian's vocals come to life with they are double tracked and reverbed. He doesn't really need autotune, pitch correction, or heavy processing (found on TWG...), just a patient producer who doesn't rely on ALL the tools to make him sound modern.

[I. Spaceman]

I don't understand why TLOS is looked at as this great example of Brian's songwriting and performing, where TWGMTR isn't. In my opinion, his singing is much better on TWGMTR as is the fact that Mike, Al, and Bruce also got to split the leads up. The background vocals and harmonies? No doubt I'll take The Beach Boys over Brian's group any day of the week.

The songwriting? Maybe I'm just missing something, but although TLOS showed Brian still had songwriting chops, I think TWGMTR shows that he could write things both esoteric ("From There To Back Again") and super commercial ("Isn't It Time"). Whereas there are a few bummer song on TLOS, I think everything on TWGMTR hits the spot. Even "Spring Vacation", "Bill and Sue", and "Beaches In Mind". Whereas you probably won't find me listening to "Mexican Girl" or "California Role" anytime soon. And I think the more emotional material on TWGMTR like "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" works so much better and resonates more with me than something like "Midnight's Another Day" or "Southern California".
 
Rick Rubin would be a horrible choice. He's not really much of a producer, he's pretty hands off, but at the same time I don't think his style of saying "that sucks, go work on something new" would work well with somebody like Brian, who I feel needs encouragement to keep doing great work.

A-freakin'-men.

[Autotune]

Please! Stop hyping NEW outside producers. Specially Rubin. Mostly everybody fails at producing these guys. Lynne worked with Brian already, and -as McParland put it- had Brian doing ELO.

TLOS is great. But don't forget that many of its songs are retrieved and expanded ditties from old days; that the transitions are Darian's; and how come people have forgotten so soon about the COMPRESSION issues? Back in the day the CD was backlashed because of it.

To each their own, but I'd think twice before putting it so easily above TWGMTR.

[AndrewHickey]

Brian has to work with the people he is comfortable with.  Period.

It was — in my opinion — a mistake to NOT use Mark Linett for mastering "TWGMTR."

Mark is really dialed into the BB sound, and VERY dialed into Brian.

Absolutely agreed with all of this. If Brian wants to work with Joe Thomas again, of course he should, but I'd *prefer* that if he has a co-producer it be Darian, or Scott Bennett, or one of the other people he's worked with who would be capable of doing the job. That's Why God Made The Radio sounded much better than Imagination or Stars & Stripes, but it still sounded unpleasant to my ears compared to any of Brian's post-Imagination solo work. But if Joe T is who Brian wants to work with, then he's who he should work with.

As for Linnett, I can't imagine why they would ever choose anyone else, given his quarter-century-plus experience working with Brian...

TLOS was bursting with original material....the chords, the harmonies, the instrumentals - it's one of my favorite albums ever....all thanks to Darian, Bennett, and Brian's collaboration. Fast forward to TWGMTR: you have a compromise album FULL of autotune. It's not cohesive, the songwriting is kinda bland (minus Brian's obvious stunners).

I agree that Brian should team up with Darian/Bennett on this upcoming album. Make it original, make it FRESH. Don't bring in past material, don't compromise. They need to create a vision of a beautiful album and run with it. They need to trash the autotune (Mike's voice is still great, there is no need for autotune).

With TLOS, Brian proved he is still a genius; partner him with those same collaborators + the voices of The Beach Boys and you'll have a #1 album.

I don't understand why TLOS is looked at as this great example of Brian's songwriting and performing, where TWGMTR isn't. In my opinion, his singing is much better on TWGMTR as is the fact that Mike, Al, and Bruce also got to split the leads up. The background vocals and harmonies? No doubt I'll take The Beach Boys over Brian's group any day of the week.

The songwriting? Maybe I'm just missing something, but although TLOS showed Brian still had songwriting chops, I think TWGMTR shows that he could write things both esoteric ("From There To Back Again") and super commercial ("Isn't It Time"). Whereas there are a few bummer song on TLOS, I think everything on TWGMTR hits the spot. Even "Spring Vacation", "Bill and Sue", and "Beaches In Mind". Whereas you probably won't find me listening to "Mexican Girl" or "California Role" anytime soon. And I think the more emotional material on TWGMTR like "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" works so much better and resonates more with me than something like "Midnight's Another Day" or "Southern California".

As far as vocals go, there's no question that Al in particular improved That's Why God Made The Radio no end, but I'm talking about songwriting and (especially) production more than performance. That Lucky Old Sun isn't slathered in so much autotune it makes the vocals sound like they're coming from robots, and doesn't have some of the horrible over-clean instrumental sounds that That's Why God Made The Radio does (worst example, that single drum beat going into the end section of the title track, or the crunchy guitar on the "making this night a celebration" section).

As for songwriting -- there's some good stuff on That's Why God Made The Radio, but even the best material is let down by somewhat trite lyrics, and the worst (Spring Vacation, Beaches In Mind) is downright horribly bad. I'll admit my tastes don't line up perfectly with most people on this board on this -- I find Summer's Gone an almost unlistenable dirge, for example (though the backing track, sans vocals, is more impressive) while I think The Private Life Of Bill And Sue is one of the best things on the album. But to my mind I'd only rate five songs (Bill And Sue, Shelter, Strange World, Isn't It Time, From There To Back Again) on the album as even up to the average level of That Lucky Old Sun, and I'd take the best material from that album (Live Let Live, Good Kinda Love, a few others) over any of them. That Lucky Old Sun has, to my ears, nothing on it that's less than 'pretty good', while very little on That's Why God Made The Radio rises past that level, in songwriting terms.

That's Why God Made The Radio isn't a *bad* album, by any means -- and it's grown on me a lot -- but I'd be lying if I said I thought it was actually a *good* album either, except by the massively lowered standards of Beach Boys product post-Love You (other than LA it's definitely the best released album under the Beach Boys name in my lifetime). Whereas I honestly think that That Lucky Old Sun is a minor masterpiece -- not perhaps on the level of Smile or Pet Sounds but not an album it's laughable to hold up against them, either.

[AndrewHickey]

TLOS is great. But don't forget that many of its songs are retrieved and expanded ditties from old days; that the transitions are Darian's; and how come people have forgotten so soon about the COMPRESSION issues? Back in the day the CD was backlashed because of it.

To each their own, but I'd think twice before putting it so easily above TWGMTR.

I don't particularly care who did what, or when the songs were written, just the quality of the end result. Remember that many of the songs from That's Why God Made The Radio were from 1998, and that, for example, the chord sequence to Think About The Days or the chorus to The Private Life Of Bill And Sue were written by Joe Thomas. Brian's always worked with collaborators, and always dug up and reworked older material.

As for the overuse of compression on the CD, it's not something I've ever complained about myself, and quite possibly the other people who prefer That Lucky Old Sun to That's Why God Made The Radio are also not the same people who complained about it. But it's also perfectly possible that they think the compression is problematic on the CD, but that one single bad choice at the mastering stage is less of a problem than a lot of bad choices in the writing and recording stages.

Saying that That Lucky Old Sun is a better album than That's Why God Made The Radio doesn't mean saying that the former is perfect and could not be bettered, or that the latter is utterly worthless, just that the former is a better album.

[GuyOnTheBeach]

Lynne worked with Brian already, and -as McParland put it- had Brian doing ELO.

This is very true, but I think he has come quite a way as a producer since then, did you hear his work on Regina Spektor's "Far" or Tom Petty's "Highway Companion" album?, if he done a job like that I think it could make for a very nice record.

[Bean Bag]

Please! Stop hyping NEW outside producers.

I only mentioned Rick Rubin since the topic was discussing the pros and cons of those involved in helping Brian -- i.e. Joe Thomas, Darien etc.

Rick Rubin would be a horrible choice. He's not really much of a producer, he's pretty hands off, but at the same time I don't think his style of saying "that sucks, go work on something new" would work well with somebody like Brian, who I feel needs encouragement to keep doing great work.

A horrible choice?  Come on.   I know nothing about the process that he uses -- but if it's hands off and direct... I don't see that as bad.  Might that not be good at pushing the band?  I know the Beach Boys wouldn't subject themselves to that... but that's more their problem, than mine. 

I don't know how Brain and "The Boys" work, nor how Rick Rubin works.  I just know the results.  I listen to the results... the records.  Rubin has a nice raw, focused, DRY sound.  And to those complaining about TWGMTR's over-produced/auto-tuned vocals... Rubin's  dry sound came to mind.  He really focused the Chili Peppers sound, which was also getting slick, bloated and unfocused.  I'm sure it would be AWESOME to hear a Rick Rubin produced Beach Boys album.  He would give it some teeth.  Some edge.  And I don't buy that Rubin couldn't work with them.  He's pretty experienced at working with artists.  It's his job.  He could find a way.

I don't know... whatever.   

[SMiLE Brian]

I thought TLOS was forced  in places as yet another "Brian has had a hard life and feel sorry for him" album statement from people around Brian. TWGMTR was Brian making his true comeback and having the last 3 songs pick up where "Til I die" left off in 1971.

[the professor]

Agree with SmileBrian.  I never listen to any solo work by Brian. Loving Postcard from California and "I think about you often" and "POB."
Drivin, by the way, on PFC is better than BIM; why?  Dave's solo is louder. Don't fetishize the master Brian's art as the only art. Al, Bruce, Mike, and Dave can write some good songs.

[SMiLE Brian]

Don't get wrong though, songs like "good kind of love" are great personal statements from Brian.

[Sam_BFC]

While Brian's vocals were far less obviously processed in terms of tuning and reverb on TLOS, I would not be at all surprised if they were heavily compressed in the mix (forget any mastering compression).  For me personally, the dry and compressed sound produced a slightly overly aggressive and brash sounding final product (I fully accept that this is what they were going for).

While the vocals on TWGMTR are a little over processed in terms of artificial tuning, they do have the sweetness that I feel is lacking on TLOS (in spite of Brian's rather good performance).  As others have mentioned, the vocal sound of BWRG and ITKOD might be a happy medium.

I am quite a fan of some of the instrumental arrangements and production on TLOS however (although they again are a little dry sounding for my taste).

Agree that the 'emotional' songs on TWGMTR are perhaps more moving than those of TLOS (although I do like the verses and chorus of Southern California a lot).

Odd that Mark wasn't involved with TWGMTR, although the mastering was done by the same guy that has done nearly all of Brian's recent releases if I'm not mistaken (Bob Ludwig).

Not convinced that Rick Rubin would be well suited to the BW/BB game (maybe he'd do a cool job with stuff like Isn't It Time, less so stuff like From There To Back Again).

[AndrewHickey]

Agree with SmileBrian.  I never listen to any solo work by Brian. Loving Postcard from California and "I think about you often" and "POB."
Drivin, by the way, on PFC is better than BIM; why?  Dave's solo is louder. Don't fetishize the master Brian's art as the only art. Al, Bruce, Mike, and Dave can write some good songs.

Then let them. As I said before, I don't care who does what, so long as the finished result is good.
But I've seen very little evidence of your claim. Mike's work has been mediocre *at best* since Still Cruisin' at the latest -- and I'd argue since long before. He does have a track record of being able to write commercial lyrics, but his work in the last twenty-five-plus years hasn't really demonstrated it.
Bruce has the ability to write good stuff, but has never really chosen to use it for the Beach Boys, with one or two notable exceptions.
Al has never been much of a songwriter -- most of his stuff is incredibly derivative, and he writes very little. I enjoyed his solo album, but half of it is covers and remakes, and the other half might as well be.
And as for Dave -- I find his solo stuff literally unlistenable because of the production, so I can't comment on his songwriting. And while I'm glad that he's been able to rejoin the band and finally get some reparation for the horrible way he was treated, and agree he adds a lot to the stage shows, he's had little or no input into any of the music I love the Beach Boys for (I basically don't ever listen to the pre-All Summer Long albums). He's a good guitarist, and has a very good stage presence, but as a listener I honestly couldn't care less if he has any involvement with any future album (though again I hope he does just from the point of view of rectifying an injustice done to someone who seems a genuinely nice person).

What I want is to hear more great music -- I don't really care who it is who does what to make that great music. Brian has written maybe as many as a hundred of my very favourite songs, and hundreds more good or okay ones. The other four between them have written, without the help of Brian or his brothers, *maybe* as many as ten songs I'd miss if I never heard them again. I absolutely think that if Dave, say, writes a song as good as God Only Knows, it should be on any future album. But I also think that the material for a new album, were there to be one, should be decided on merit, and just purely statistically the chances are that if the surviving Beach Boys were to record ,say, thirty new tracks, and say the ten best were chosen, at least nine of those ten would be Brian songs.

Drivin' *is* better than Beaches In Mind, incidentally -- you're quite correct there. Though I could do without the middle eight with all the references to other songs...

[EgoHanger1966]

I thought TLOS was forced  in places as yet another "Brian has had a hard life and feel sorry for him" album statement from people around Brian. TWGMTR was Brian making his true comeback and having the last 3 songs pick up where "Til I die" left off in 1971.

It's all the same, really. The "Brian's had a hard life" syndrome you speak of is still there in the suite, but in the form of, "have him write melancholic, depressing songs that envoke the Pet Sounds and SMiLE sound". Not that I'm complaining....

[Autotune]

I thought TLOS was forced  in places as yet another "Brian has had a hard life and feel sorry for him" album statement from people around Brian. TWGMTR was Brian making his true comeback and having the last 3 songs pick up where "Til I die" left off in 1971.

True. The "happy days are here again" topic became stale by then. TWGMTR is a much less contrived album topic-wise. BW's solo efforts of recent vintage sounded like "Brian doing Brian", and that is because his collaborators filled in the blanks with their own brand of BW pastiche. Thomas did not do that, like it or not.

[SMiLE Brian]

I thought TLOS was forced  in places as yet another "Brian has had a hard life and feel sorry for him" album statement from people around Brian. TWGMTR was Brian making his true comeback and having the last 3 songs pick up where "Til I die" left off in 1971.

It's all the same, really. The "Brian's had a hard life" syndrome you speak of is still there in the suite, but in the form of, "have him write melancholic, depressing songs that envoke the Pet Sounds and SMiLE sound". Not that I'm complaining....

I am not either man I just feel like parts of the TWGMTR suite  like summer's gone were a more personal statement about the past in my opinion. I would rather have Brian lead the way than Mike being trapped in the endless summer.

[southbay]

A Rick Rubin/Beach Boys album would never see completion. The key to producing the Beach Boys is the ability to complete a project with bloodshed or lawsuits, and for whatver reason Joe Thomas has been able to do that twice. With Love's apparent distaste for some of those in Brian's camp (I take that only from Ambha's comments post tour) I think we can rule out any of his band members producing an album. Also, add me to the list that found much of teh material on TWGMTR more compelling and honest than that on TLOS (i.e., the closing suite vs. . Southern California/MAD--although it is really splitting hairs).

[EgoHanger1966]

I thought TLOS was forced  in places as yet another "Brian has had a hard life and feel sorry for him" album statement from people around Brian. TWGMTR was Brian making his true comeback and having the last 3 songs pick up where "Til I die" left off in 1971.

It's all the same, really. The "Brian's had a hard life" syndrome you speak of is still there in the suite, but in the form of, "have him write melancholic, depressing songs that envoke the Pet Sounds and SMiLE sound". Not that I'm complaining....

I am not either man I just feel like parts of the TWGMTR suite  like summer's gone were a more personal statement about the past in my opinion. I would rather have Brian lead the way than Mike being trapped in the endless summer.

Words of a wise, wise man.

[Awesoman]

TWGMTR was — for the most part — ghost-produced by J. Thomas.

I enjoy the album quite a bit, and find the vinyl sequence very satisfying.  

There will be a new studio album in 2013.

Don't let 2012's malaise confuse the issue.

Not trying to question ESQ here, nor am I trying to phil the thread with dispair, but just curious:

Can you elaborate a little here?  Is this talk of a new album based on fact or wishful thinking?

[Gohi]

TWGMTR was — for the most part — ghost-produced by J. Thomas.

I enjoy the album quite a bit, and find the vinyl sequence very satisfying.  

There will be a new studio album in 2013.

Don't let 2012's malaise confuse the issue.

Not trying to question ESQ here, nor am I trying to phil the thread with dispair, but just curious:

Can you elaborate a little here?  Is this talk of a new album based on fact or wishful thinking?

Yeah. It's weird to see this after Andrew G. Doe said the opposite.