gfxgfx
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
logo
 
gfx gfx
gfx
680598 Posts in 27600 Topics by 4068 Members - Latest Member: Dae Lims March 28, 2024, 05:10:42 PM
*
gfx*HomeHelpSearchCalendarLoginRegistergfx
gfxgfx
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.       « previous next »
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 Go Down Print
Author Topic: TWGMTR - 1 year on...  (Read 29983 times)
Wirestone
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 6043



View Profile
« Reply #25 on: June 01, 2013, 07:21:31 PM »

[...] and that showcases the vocals of Brian, Mike, Al, Bruce, and Jeff, and David's guitar, very nicely, with prominent instrumental contributions from the various support band members.  I'd call it a qualified success, with emphasis on "success'.
I thought he hardly played anything on it?

Says who?  He definitely has prominent lead parts on "Shelter", "Beaches In Mind", "Strange World", and "Summer's Gone", as well as solid rhythm parts on many others. 

If you say so! I have no context to know what a modern day David Marks guitar part would sound like. My notion from the beginning was that his credits were basically contractual, so it's nice to know that's not the case.
Logged
Jim V.
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Online Online

Posts: 3038



View Profile
« Reply #26 on: June 01, 2013, 07:23:51 PM »

I really dug the album from the beginning, and there really hasn't been a Beach Boys or Brian Wilson album I liked start to finish, since, well....Brian's '88 album at the most recent. I guess I was a little nervous when the title track was released as the first single, and it kinda sounded like a Beach Boys pastiche at first. But after time I grew to love it, as I realized it was the guys doing what they do. I also really liked the fact that the first single was mid tempo with a  Brian Wilson lead vocal instead of an up tempo throwaway surf tune with a Mike Love lead vocal. If anything, it showed that they were going about things a bit different this time. Actually, thinking about it, what was the last Beach Boys single with a Brian Wilson lead vocal? "Rock 'n Roll to the Rescue" I think.

Anyways, I think Brian's writing on the whole album is pretty strong, and though I think "From There To Back Again" is probably the top song on the album, I really like what most thought were the "lame" cuts, "Spring Vacation" and "The Private Life of Bill and Sue". They might have been a bit cheesy, but they didn't seem contrived like a lot of the stuff they did from the '80s and '90s.

In the grand scheme of things, after we are all long dead, this will be generously forgotten along with the rest of their post LA career. *1/2

I know that sounds harsh, because Isn't it Time is nice, and that one Jon Bon Jovi wrote sounds pretty good too, but the production is a dealbreaker for me. Maybe cos I'm a producer I'm more sensitive to that stuff, but it's totally unlistenable imo.

The f*** are you on about? "That one Jon Bon Jovi wrote"? That's cute, how you set that little diss up. But the problem is, Brian was the principle writer, the guy who came up with the song. Yes it was extended by Joe Thomas, but all Bon Jovi did was write some lyrics. Don't go make it seem like Bon Jovi came in with a song he wrote for The Beach Boys. Didn't happen like that, so don't pretend it did.
Logged
Bean Bag
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1177


Right?


View Profile
« Reply #27 on: June 01, 2013, 07:40:49 PM »

Haven't played it in awhile.  Probably won't have the same sheen it had last year (a fking year already??).  It might need to age in the oak cask for 10 -12.   Cheesy
Logged

409.
Wirestone
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 6043



View Profile
« Reply #28 on: June 01, 2013, 07:41:27 PM »

The f*** are you on about?

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.
Logged
Mikie
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 5887



View Profile
« Reply #29 on: June 01, 2013, 07:50:55 PM »

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.

Yep. We're onto the little Whippersnapper now.
Logged

I, I love the colorful clothes she wears, and she's already working on my brain. I only looked in her eyes, but I picked up something I just can't explain. I, I bet I know what she’s like, and I can feel how right she’d be for me. It’s weird how she comes in so strong, and I wonder what she’s picking up from me. I hope it’s good, good, good, good vibrations, yeah!!
Phoenix
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 1212



View Profile
« Reply #30 on: June 01, 2013, 08:02:34 PM »

My opinion hasn't changed at all.  I still think it's the best Beach Boys album since Holland.  I still don't like "Beaches In Mind" or "Daybreak Over The Ocean" (at least in the context of the album) and still prefer swapping them out for "She Says That She Needs Me" and "South American".  I still think the the title track is OK but not "great".  I still really dig "Think About The Days" (especially leading into), "Isn't It Time", "Spring Vacation", and the last four songs, and still have no problems with tracks 5 & 6. 

I still like the album very much!  Smiley
« Last Edit: June 02, 2013, 08:08:24 AM by Phoenix » Logged
Alan Smith
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 2089


I'm still here bitches and I know everything. –A


View Profile
« Reply #31 on: June 01, 2013, 08:53:06 PM »

I like TWGMTR a lot more than when I first heard it (which I liked anyway) - helped by some additional context/info over the last year (ESQ articles, who did what tidbits, live performances, other artifacts and hoo-ha's).

For me, TWGMTR has nothing overly cringe-worthy (key word is overly), no filler, it kicked some ass in the market place and earned the respect of the modern music industry.  Like many great BB albums, perhaps it even gave us some hints of where the band's head is at - egos/factions/decisions/warts.  It also gave some fans (at least 1) something to genuinely smile about, and be proud of.

Classic.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2013, 10:39:57 PM by Alan Smith » Logged

ESQ - Subscribe Now!!!

A new Beach Boys forum is here! http://beachboys.boards.net/
Andrew G. Doe
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 17767


The triumph of The Hickey Script !


View Profile WWW
« Reply #32 on: June 01, 2013, 10:36:18 PM »

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.

Yep. We're onto the little Whippersnapper now.

The standard of trolling here sure isn't what it used to be. Not advocating or agitating for the return of Eeyore, y'understand, but...
Logged

The four sweetest words in my vocabulary: "This poster is ignored".
Nicko1234
Guest
« Reply #33 on: June 01, 2013, 11:51:01 PM »

I still enjoy this album and think it is the best that we could reasonably have expected from the group at this point in their careers.

Beaches in Mind is poor lyrically and particularly musically and TPLOBAS is also weak. I wish they had re-recorded Daybreak as well.

Apart from that it is still impressive though. I agree that having all of the band members' voices lifts it a lot and there are several standout songs. There is a little too much Joe Thomas at times but it isn't as intrusive as it had been on Imagination.

I would give it 7 out of 10.
Logged
Mike's Beard
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 4265


Check your privilege. Love & Mercy guys!


View Profile
« Reply #34 on: June 02, 2013, 02:00:19 AM »

I can't believe it been a year already! Partly because I still haven't got round to buying the thing. I have heard most of it at least once, Brian sounds very strong, however Al could have done with a few more leads and Mike rarely sounds like Mike. I cringed when I saw Bon Jovi's name on Summer's Gone but it's far and away the best track.
Logged

I'd rather be forced to sleep with Caitlyn Jenner then ever have to listen to NPP again.
Smilin Ed H
Guest
« Reply #35 on: June 02, 2013, 03:11:33 AM »

From There to Back Again is a BB classic, head and shoulders above the rest of the album. The best BB track since Love You and maybe Holland.
I also like Pacific Coast Highway, Summer's Gone, Strange World and Think About the Days. Some of the other tracks are okay. Really don't like Spring Vacation, Beaches in Mind and Isn't It Time.
Logged
phirnis
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 2594



View Profile
« Reply #36 on: June 02, 2013, 03:38:33 AM »

...
Still don't understand the comparisons with Sunflower though...

Me neither. I think it's much closer to being a mixture between Today! and Still Cruisin'... Smiley
Logged
Ziggy Stardust
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1107



View Profile
« Reply #37 on: June 02, 2013, 03:48:21 AM »

...
Still don't understand the comparisons with Sunflower though...

Me neither. I think it's much closer to being a mixture between Today! and Still Cruisin'... Smiley


Mmmmmh, interesting thought
Logged
BergenWhitesMoustache
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 353


View Profile
« Reply #38 on: June 02, 2013, 05:07:52 AM »

The f*** are you on about?

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.

Hahaha

Thanks for respecting my perfectly valid opinion guys. xx
Logged
BergenWhitesMoustache
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 353


View Profile
« Reply #39 on: June 02, 2013, 05:10:02 AM »

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.

Yep. We're onto the little Whippersnapper now.

Hey Mikie,

I'm sorry you feel like I'm a troll because I don't like you disrespecting my opinion without adding anything to the debate, but I guess that's easier for you than facing up to the fact your persona on here is unpleasant and dismissive.

xx
Logged
Peadar 'Big Dinner' O'Driscoll
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1080



View Profile WWW
« Reply #40 on: June 02, 2013, 05:11:07 AM »

I like it more than now than I did initially though its still a 3/5 album at best for me.

FTTBA is fantastic and way more than I expected when I heard JT was involved. Pacific Coast Highway is really pretty and I enjoy most of the other stuff quite a bit like TWGMTR, Isnt it time, Strange world.

Lots of throwaway but fun stuff. I think I'm in the minority in finding "Summers Gone" quite boring.
Logged

MarcellaHasDirtyFeet
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 582


View Profile
« Reply #41 on: June 02, 2013, 03:39:47 PM »

I like it more than now than I did initially though its still a 3/5 album at best for me.

FTTBA is fantastic and way more than I expected when I heard JT was involved. Pacific Coast Highway is really pretty and I enjoy most of the other stuff quite a bit like TWGMTR, Isnt it time, Strange world.

Lots of throwaway but fun stuff. I think I'm in the minority in finding "Summers Gone" quite boring.

Count me in the minority then. It's pleasant enough, and very very pretty, but doesn't blow my mind. No complaints about it, though.

As if that wasn't enough to put the quality of my taste into question, I've gotta say that I really like everything on this album except Shepter and Bill&Sue. I moved Think About the Days between Beaches in Mind and Strange World a week after release and never looked back. Despite the sudden shift in tone, I don't find it jarring and I think it does well as a transition piece. It's nice to have the title track lead off the album, as well, and while TWGMTR (the song... and album, I guess) isn't a work of art, it is a fun, idiosyncratic world of its own.

Isn't it Time is a great singalong, and I like all of its permutations but still think they could've made it PERFECT somehow.

Spring Vacay and Beaches in Mind remind me of Los Lonely Boys' Heaven, what with the Fender tone and early 00s production value. That doesn't bother me, but it tells you where Brian and Joe's headspace was. It's the Beach Boys- The "rockers" are always going to be pop at heart, and now it's soft rock pop. As for lyrics? It's a little late for BB fans to be taking issue with lyrics. I love both SV and BIM. No apologies.

Daybreak gets a bad rap. Mike sings it well, Christian keeps it pretty and somewhat Carl-y (a lil' at least), and the melody is not without it's charms.

Strange World sounds the most like what I would expect modern Disney Brian to sound like, and FTTBA takes that side of things and gives it a funky, forward thinking BW twist that I adore. Pacific Coast Highway and Summer's Gone are nice vignettes that add up to a sum greater than its parts.

I love this album. Shelter and Bill&Sue are unimaginative and inoffensive, without the toe-tapping guitar fun of BIM and Spring Vacay, but don't ruin the experience for me. I played it a lot. It made my summer last year, and was my first/only contemporary release by the band other than TSS. It sounds like The Beach Boys to me, even without Carl, and I forgive it every quirk and misstep simply for existing.
« Last Edit: June 02, 2013, 03:54:23 PM by MarcellaHasDirtyFeet » Logged
Jim V.
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Online Online

Posts: 3038



View Profile
« Reply #42 on: June 02, 2013, 04:28:54 PM »

The f*** are you on about?

Don't feed the troll. I wrote most of a message like that but deleted it after thinking better of it. Take a peek at the WIBNTLA thread to see what this one is capable of stirring up.

Hahaha

Thanks for respecting my perfectly valid opinion guys. xx

I respect your opinion. My only problem is you try to distort things by making it seem like Jon Bon Jovi wrote "Summer's Gone" by himself, whereas the fact is that Brian conceived it like 13 years before. And things of that nature. That's my problem.
Logged
tony p
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 88


View Profile
« Reply #43 on: June 02, 2013, 04:44:32 PM »

In the grand scheme of things, after we are all long dead, this will be generously forgotten along with the rest of their post LA career. *1/2

I know that sounds harsh, because Isn't it Time is nice, and that one Jon Bon Jovi wrote sounds pretty good too, but the production is a dealbreaker for me. Maybe cos I'm a producer I'm more sensitive to that stuff, but it's totally unlistenable imo.

100% agree

heard it a few times again recently, and doubt i will ever go back to it again.
just doesnt really do much for me

weak songs (apart form 1-2) with boring production.

major disappointment when it first came out, and still feel the same way one year on
Logged

I gotta heart that just wont stop beating for you, I gotta love that just can’t stop feeling for you
Don Malcolm
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Online Online

Posts: 1108



View Profile
« Reply #44 on: June 02, 2013, 10:36:11 PM »

The overall consensus (which, admittedly, is very hard for the more spirited posters here to take seriously...) is that TWGMTR is right in the middle of the pack of all the BB studio LPs, just below Smiley Smile and just above Shut Down Vol 2. Clearly several of the TWGMTR "haters" who've surfaced over the ensuing months did not bother to participate in that poll, as there are no votes below "2 out of 5" in that poll.

I personally give it 3 out of 5, rounded up from 2 1/2. (Averaging out my individual song ratings works out out just under 2.7, with the last three songs salvaging a very saggy middle.)
Logged
SurfRiderHawaii
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 2569


Add Some Music to your day!


View Profile
« Reply #45 on: June 02, 2013, 10:43:48 PM »

Considering Carl and Dennis are gone, and the guys are like 70, great effort. Would like to have heard more Al and Bruce.
Logged

"Brian is The Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his f***ing messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything" - Dennis Wilson
Please delete my account
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 872

Please delete my account


View Profile
« Reply #46 on: June 03, 2013, 12:20:43 AM »

The overall consensus (which, admittedly, is very hard for the more spirited posters here to take seriously...) is that TWGMTR is right in the middle of the pack of all the BB studio LPs, just below Smiley Smile and just above Shut Down Vol 2.

Well, there's proof that we should take such ranking with a pinch of salt. "TWGMTR" is above the album with "Fun, fun, fun", "Don't Worry Baby" and "The Warmth of the Sun" on it.
Logged

Please delete my account
Andrew G. Doe
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Gender: Male
Posts: 17767


The triumph of The Hickey Script !


View Profile WWW
« Reply #47 on: June 03, 2013, 03:32:46 AM »

Also "'Cassius' Love vs 'Sonny' Wilson", "Shut Down Part II", "Denny's Drums" and "Louie Louie".  Grin
Logged

The four sweetest words in my vocabulary: "This poster is ignored".
absinthe_boy
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 604


View Profile
« Reply #48 on: June 03, 2013, 04:37:30 AM »

The last four tracks are still very much on my regular "playlist".

I also give 1,2 & 6 a listen every so often.

I have the CD purely because it was a necessity when getting my tickets to see the band at Wembley. The vinyl sounds much better. But the autotune is a problem.
Logged
Bean Bag
Smiley Smile Associate
*
Offline Offline

Posts: 1177


Right?


View Profile
« Reply #49 on: June 03, 2013, 06:05:48 AM »

I like it more than now than I did initially though its still a 3/5 album at best for me.

FTTBA is fantastic and way more than I expected when I heard JT was involved. Pacific Coast Highway is really pretty and I enjoy most of the other stuff quite a bit like TWGMTR, Isnt it time, Strange world.

Lots of throwaway but fun stuff. I think I'm in the minority in finding "Summers Gone" quite boring.

Count me in the minority then. It's pleasant enough, and very very pretty, but doesn't blow my mind. No complaints about it, though.

As if that wasn't enough to put the quality of my taste into question, I've gotta say that I really like everything on this album except Shepter and Bill&Sue. I moved Think About the Days between Beaches in Mind and Strange World a week after release and never looked back. Despite the sudden shift in tone, I don't find it jarring and I think it does well as a transition piece. It's nice to have the title track lead off the album, as well, and while TWGMTR (the song... and album, I guess) isn't a work of art, it is a fun, idiosyncratic world of its own.

Isn't it Time is a great singalong, and I like all of its permutations but still think they could've made it PERFECT somehow.

Spring Vacay and Beaches in Mind remind me of Los Lonely Boys' Heaven, what with the Fender tone and early 00s production value. That doesn't bother me, but it tells you where Brian and Joe's headspace was. It's the Beach Boys- The "rockers" are always going to be pop at heart, and now it's soft rock pop. As for lyrics? It's a little late for BB fans to be taking issue with lyrics. I love both SV and BIM. No apologies.

Daybreak gets a bad rap. Mike sings it well, Christian keeps it pretty and somewhat Carl-y (a lil' at least), and the melody is not without it's charms.

Strange World sounds the most like what I would expect modern Disney Brian to sound like, and FTTBA takes that side of things and gives it a funky, forward thinking BW twist that I adore. Pacific Coast Highway and Summer's Gone are nice vignettes that add up to a sum greater than its parts.

I love this album. Shelter and Bill&Sue are unimaginative and inoffensive, without the toe-tapping guitar fun of BIM and Spring Vacay, but don't ruin the experience for me. I played it a lot. It made my summer last year, and was my first/only contemporary release by the band other than TSS. It sounds like The Beach Boys to me, even without Carl, and I forgive it every quirk and misstep simply for existing.
Excellent post!  This is pretty much exactly how I feel.  I made a few shifts to the tracklist as well.  I played this album (usually my tracklist) A LOT last summer.  And when it ended, would usually play it again -- sometime three or four times in a row.

So your tracklist is to just move the opener between Beaches In Mind and Strange World?  I'll have to try that.
Logged

409.
gfx
Pages: 1 [2] 3 4 5 6 7 Go Up Print 
gfx
Jump to:  
gfx
Powered by SMF 1.1.21 | SMF © 2015, Simple Machines Page created in 0.636 seconds with 22 queries.
Helios Multi design by Bloc
gfx
Powered by MySQL Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!