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Poll
Question: Which Do You Prefer?
Keepin' The Summer Alive - 57 (50%)
The Beach Boys - 57 (50%)
Total Voters: 106

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 Go Down Print
Author Topic: Twofer polls #11: Keepin' The Summer Alive vs. The Beach Boys (85)  (Read 32035 times)
buddhahat
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« on: October 11, 2012, 03:35:30 PM »

Here it is folks: The one you've all been waiting for ...
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EgoHanger1966
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« Reply #1 on: October 11, 2012, 03:42:29 PM »

I'm not ashamed to say this (ok, maybe a little!), but The Beach Boys '85 is one of my favorite albums by this band.
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« Reply #2 on: October 11, 2012, 03:49:50 PM »

I love both, can't choose right now
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« Reply #3 on: October 11, 2012, 03:56:34 PM »

I'm not ashamed to say this (ok, maybe a little!), but The Beach Boys '85 is one of my favorite albums by this band.

Right on, EgoHanger!

I have to say I have a soft spot for both albums. I avoided them for years and finally caved in recently, so I think part of my enjoyment comes from the novelty of hearing 'new' Beach Boys albums, although I was obviously familiar with the more well known tracks.

There's a lot to love on BB85, especially with the current revival of 80s production styles making it the most relevant it's sounded since, er, 1985. Actually I think the production has a lot going for it. A lot of it sounds great. Even Passing Friend - potentially the worst track - has that cool little glockenspiel part or whatever it is. And the vocals really shimmer. I do like many of the songs too though: It's Getting Late, Crack At Your Love, I'm So Lonely & Where I Belong in particular. Oh and not forgetting Bruce's brooding power ballad.

This is a tough one for me.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2012, 04:00:44 PM by buddhahat » Logged

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EgoHanger1966
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« Reply #4 on: October 11, 2012, 04:03:08 PM »

Passing Friend is one of my favorites. I know it doesn't get much love here. That 5-minute song never overstays it's welcome. There's an overwhelming pop sensibility, and the production actually helps to serve that. Carl sounds a wee-bit drunk, but then to me he always does on any post-60s vocal of his.I especially love the lyrics, so many little catchy lines - "you better get out and move on in!". Or this inspired verse:

"I've been packing up my life in cases / For a hundred years or maybe more / I've been talking to a million people / Don't you think I should have known the score ..."

Yes, I know the Culture Club connection - and The Beach Boys could have done justice to Karma Chameleon too(!) - but I don't think I would like Passing Friend if it was sung by Boy George nearly as much.

I had written a thread here asking about similar music to this album, checked out some suggestions, and I found out for myself that I only like The Beach Boys doing 80s pop, but no other music I heard hit me the same way.
« Last Edit: October 11, 2012, 04:09:02 PM by EgoHanger1966 » Logged

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« Reply #5 on: October 11, 2012, 04:04:05 PM »

BB85 by quite some distance. Where I Belong is by far the best song (surely it must be included in the box set) and several of the others are decent. I think that things like Crack at Your Love and It`s Gettin` Late could have been good songs with a decent production.

On KTSA the title track is ok I suppose but under-produced, Goin` On isn`t bad and I quite like Santa Ana Winds (though they should have re-recorded all of the vocals). The rest of the songs are forgettable.

Both of the albums make me wish that the band could have found a decent producer when Brian went AWOL.

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« Reply #6 on: October 11, 2012, 04:12:34 PM »

85, not close for me. I still remember that summer.  I was 17, heard Getcha Back on the local radio station and drove right down to the Wherehouse and bought the cassette. It was my first BB album.  The next day I went right back to the Wherehouse and picked up Concert and All Summer Long (still my favorite) and the rest is history.
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« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2012, 04:40:55 PM »

The 1985 album is better overall but "Goin' On" and "Keepin' the Summer Alive" are better songs than anything on it.  But I'll still go with the '85 album.  That has good songs too, "It's Gettin' Late" and "Getcha Back," and it's just overall more consistent, even if most of the songs are forgettable, it's pleasant enough to make it more listenable than Keepin' the Summer Alive.  Though I actually do like "Endless Harmony" more than most people on this board I'll admit.
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« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2012, 06:51:11 PM »

I can't pick either.
I think they're both pretty awful.
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« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2012, 07:41:37 PM »

KTSA

No contest for me.
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« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2012, 08:00:59 PM »

As albums, they're both pretty dreadful, but at least KTSA has highlights. KTSA (song) rocks and Goin' On is one of the best of the decade for them. Even Endless Harmony has its moments. I really don't like anything about '85, the songs, the production, the performances. There are no highlights and there's a good chance I will never listen to any of it again.
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« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2012, 08:18:50 PM »

As albums, they're both pretty dreadful, but at least KTSA has highlights. KTSA (song) rocks and Goin' On is one of the best of the decade for them. Even Endless Harmony has its moments. I really don't like anything about '85, the songs, the production, the performances. There are no highlights and there's a good chance I will never listen to any of it again.

Pretty much agree with you. I  like the "Getcha Back"/"Male Ego" 45 but the rest of it is junk I never would have played if I wasn't a fan. KTSA isn't good, but it least it feels like the Beach Boys.
« Last Edit: October 12, 2012, 02:49:45 AM by Mike Eder » Logged
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« Reply #12 on: October 11, 2012, 08:19:37 PM »

LOVE '85. The album just feels good. And at this point, the production is vintage-cool.

Favorite moments:

"Where I Belong" - the bridge. sick harmonies. and an audible Brian falsetto on top of the stack.

"It's Getting Late" - "time waits for noooo one"

"Crack At Your Love" - bridge. very BW.

"I Do Love You" - BB's sing an original Stevie song. hell yes.

"Maybe I Don't Know" - whole song. just awesome. Carl rocker, again with audible BW backing vocals.



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« Reply #13 on: October 11, 2012, 08:20:58 PM »

KTSA

Not a fan of BB '85.
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« Reply #14 on: October 11, 2012, 08:25:15 PM »

I really like both, but KTSA wins.
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« Reply #15 on: October 11, 2012, 08:52:40 PM »

Neither album is remarkable, but I'll give the edge to The Beach Boys.  Yes, the production is boastfully 1980's, and most of the songs don't really feel like Beach Boys' songs, but Carl's tracks win me over.  That being said, in recent years I've warmed (ever so slightly) to Keepin' The Summer Alive.  The title track and "Goin' On" are really strong, and then you have a few guilty pleasures ("Some of Your Love", "Sunshine", etc.) that I occasionally don't skip when they shuffle on my iPod. 
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« Reply #16 on: October 11, 2012, 08:55:32 PM »

Nightmarish albums, both. But if I have to, KTSA only because of Goin' On.
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« Reply #17 on: October 12, 2012, 12:25:13 AM »

I cannot f**king believe that this poll is neck and neck. Beach Boys '85 is so, so, so blatantly vastly superior to Keepin' The Summer Alive, which is an album almost entirely devoid of merit.

'85 has Where I Belong, a gorgeous song and one of Carl's very finest - nothing on KTSA (or anything else they did in the '80s) even comes close to the quality of this song.

'85 also has Carl's excellent It's Gettin' Late, not to mention his cracking vocal on Stevie Wonder's very nice I Do Love You.

Male Ego is a great little song. Getcha Back isn't a personal favourite but i can see that it's a good albeit throwaway single.

The rest of the album is largely poor, but that's still a comfortable 4 or 5 songs that are better than anything on KTSA.

About the only songs on KTSA i can stomach are Carl's two songs (and the title track is almost entirely ruined by the dreadful production). I've never seen the appeal of Goin' On. The demo of Santa Ana Winds is good, but i hate the released version (again, the awful production ruins it). The rest of the album is irredeemable.

Beach Boys '85 deserves to win this poll!
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« Reply #18 on: October 12, 2012, 01:27:13 AM »

BB's 85.

It's Getting Late, that's why. A massive jam. If Prince wrote that, it'd have sold a million copies/been the bedroom music for a generation/probably not sound quite so shitty (CHEERS, STEVE LEVINE)
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« Reply #19 on: October 12, 2012, 02:02:07 AM »

If Where I Belong had a Brian Wilson writing credit then it would be seen as a classic.
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« Reply #20 on: October 12, 2012, 02:16:45 AM »

BB's 85.

It's Getting Late, that's why. A massive jam. If Prince wrote that, it'd have sold a million copies/been the bedroom music for a generation/probably not sound quite so sh*tty (CHEERS, STEVE LEVINE)

A million times this. It's Getting Late decimates everything else from this era, highly underrated.
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« Reply #21 on: October 12, 2012, 02:52:22 AM »

BB85 all the way! It's nowhere near as good as most of their 70s work but still quite a pleasant record from beginning to end. Getcha Back, Male Ego, Where I Belong, It's Gettin' Late... all beautiful stuff and I have to admit I even quite like California Calling. It's such a typical Al song, i.e. "slightly" derivative and cheesy but still quite charming.

KTSA, on the other hand, is almost in the same league for me as Summer in Paradise. It does have its standout songs, most notably Goin' On, Some of Your Love, Livin' with a Heartache (yes!), and Santa Ana Winds, but overall it lacks spirit and the mixing is just awful! No punch at all. Most of the backing tracks aren't too excting either. By the way, I love the original Oh Darlin' demo version, warts and all, much better than what eventually ended up on the album!
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« Reply #22 on: October 12, 2012, 05:25:19 AM »

Keepin' the Summer Alive is neck and neck with Summer in Paradise for my least favorite Beach Boys album.  On most tracks (including "Santa Ana Winds," my favorite on the album) the backing vocals either sound like a vicious parody of the band or a poor imitation.  It's enough to make me nostalgic for M.I.U.

The Beach Boys is not a great album, but it doesn't offend my ears in the same way.  There are a few songs that bother me: "Passing Friend" is incredibly boring, and "Where I Belong" sounds like a proto-boy band.  Most of the album, however, is pretty bland and inoffensive.  Brian's contributions sound like half-finished demos dressed up behind fancy production, Carl's other contributions wouldn't have been terribly out of place on his mediocre solo albums from a few years earlier, though they do have superior backing vocals.  "She Believes in Love Again" is a sort of guilty pleasure for me, and even though "California Calling" suffers by comparison to the band's early surfing songs, its rhythm makes it a much worthier surf-nostalgia-song than, say, "Kona Coast."  I agree that "Getcha Back" and "Male Ego" are the best songs on the album, particularly the latter.
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« Reply #23 on: October 12, 2012, 06:19:37 AM »

KTSA  because of Goin' On and Santa Ana Winds
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« Reply #24 on: October 12, 2012, 06:41:55 AM »

I cannot stomach the title track to KTSA - just absolutely horrid stuff. Maybe the weather needs to be ice-creamy for me to enjoy it.

Who is to blame for the bass drum overdub on When Girls Get Together? They are largely sloppy and out-of-time. The poor quality version that shows up on the LandLocked and other boots do not have this overdub and the track is better because of it.

Santa Ana Winds would benefit from the Al spoken part being removed and thrown far, far away.
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