*Merged* Brian Wilson current album thread

[Autotune]

There's this persistent, truly naif notion that great artist A + great artist B leads to great material. It ain't so most of the time. Never been so for Brian. I couldn't care less for the guests, really.

[Moon Dawg]

  They did the same thing with John Lee Hooker on his later albums (mega guest stars) but he was at his best alone or with a small band.

[Menace Wilson]

B-Dub + hot chicks = Pleasure Island

Mark my words.

[urbanite]

Ray,

Have you listened to any cuts from the new album and when do you think it might come out?

[Andrew G. Doe]

There's this persistent, truly naif notion that great artist A + great artist B leads to great material. It ain't so most of the time. Never been so for Brian. I couldn't care less for the guests, really.

The other equally specious premise is that if Brian did a duet with someone like, oh, I dunno, say, Paul McCartney, that will guarantee a certain degree of sales as there are Macca/Beatles fans who will buy anything releases.

How very unlike us.  

[Andrew G. Doe]

With all that being said, we have confirmation of at least one old song being used ... "Last Song" is a Landy-era track, if I'm not mistaken.

Possibly. Possibly not: the announced title from CATP is apparently not the same song.

[phirnis]

I like Frank Ocean and Lana Del Rey but the guest list does seem a bit forced to me. Fleet Foxes could've been great, I don't know... or what about no guests at all? Or maybe do a disco remake of the disco remake of Here Comes the Night with Daft Punk.

I think Fleet Foxes would have been every bit as forced as the likes of Ocean or Del Rey, and more forced than Deschanel (who, while in my opinion more charming and likeable than talented, is at least a more "pure classic pop" artist). Fleet Foxes sang harmony a lot, yes, but it's a style that doesn't have much to do with Brian. Really they're more akin to the early 70s Beach Boys rural vibe that mostly didn't include Brian. If anything, they should work with Al.

As for a Daft Punk Here Comes the Night, I think that would be great.

Honestly I don't see any collaborations as exciting (Musgraves the most interesting of the bunch, especially if she's co-writing lyrics--she's easily one of my favorite lyricists right now), though I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised. But whatever they want to do is fine. The guy has the right to do whatever he wants. And everyone else has the right to endlessly criticize it before hearing it, then praising it upon release for a while before contrarily deeming it among his best work (until that approach is overplayed and then hating it again). Don't f*** with the formula.

Love the final paragraph of your post because this is how it always seems to work, sometimes even for myself, I'll admit that.

Daft Punk might make HCTN sound even more late-70s than it does in its Light Album incarnation. Over the prolonged instrumental part in the middle they could have BW talk something very commonplace about his work, like "We wanted to bring some love to people, spiritual love, you know".

[superunison]

Dear. God. No.......... I truly admire the folks on here who are willing to give this all a chance... But let's be real... This is terrible news... All we all really want is one more album of Brian Wilson... That's why we're here... With the way the record industry works, I don't see how anyone realistically thinks we're getting "3 albums" any time soon. Whether we'd like to admit it or not, this may be one of the last albums we get from Brian. After having to sit through the Disney and Gershwin albums, despite their brilliant moments, it is truly disappointing to discover we could be getting another album with an "angle." this is clearly not going to be BW's final opus. It's the Joe Thomas show, let's be honest. Anyone who thinks we're getting something like the Carole King version of Good Kind Of Love better not hold their breath. Get ready for a new kind of bad.... There will be attempts at modern radio production that make TWGMTR's autotune pale in comparison. Someone said Twilight Zone. This is not good. They would not be calling in these artists for background vocals. There is a specific goal in mind here....I'm sure there will be a few great moments musically, but I'm literally cringing imagining the singers involved. One of the things that still blows me away about the BBs is the honestly in their delivery. Do we all know what the term "affectation" refers to? Zooey, Lana Del Rey, maybe you guys aren't familiar with these artists... Maybe I'll be proven wrong... It's Grammy bait, it's lame, it's cheese, it's disappointing. I'm bummed. Hate to get so negative, but I'm sorry this is like my worst nightmare. Dream album: Brian, Mark Linnet, and the wondermints plus Justyn Wilson and Al and Matt Jardine on BG vox doing the Life Suite.... Nightmare Album: Joe Thomas at the boards with his straight out of the 90s drum sounds COWRITING a duets album with a bunch of singers that I don't care about at all. Argh. Duets?! I mean Brian would be thrilled at a hit album, but it's just not my taste. And I just don't see it really being his baby. And I know it's not written in stone that it's a duets album, but trust me, they wouldn't be calling in these artist if it weren't for a Santana style grab at Grammy.

[phirnis]

Ugh, Santana might be a fitting comparison, conceptually. We'll see...

Let's be honest to ourselves, Brian's not going to release another Friends or Love You or whatever your favorite "quirky BW" album might be. Not even another BW88. What's the last album that truly was "his baby"? It's hard to say and at this point I think it's tiresome to speculate. Some of the songs on TWGMTR show what he's still capabe of as a writer and his lead vocals were pretty good on the two Disney records. At the very best, his next album is going to show traces of that. The man will be 72 in a couple of days and overall I'm glad he's still around.

[Loaf]

Okay, so we haven't heard any of the new album yet, but how many collborations between any of the Beach Boys and other famous musicians have been any good?

off the top of my head, only Al's efforts with Neil Young and David Crosby had any kind of musical enjoyment for me.
And Willie Nelson on the Stars & Stripes CD.
And I like Little Richard on Happy Endings.


But how about the duff ones:

Stevie Wonder?
Bob Dylan?
Paul McCartney?
Elton John?
the rest of the S&S album?
Arec Bardwin?
The Four Seasons?
The Fat Boys?


I would love for the collaborations with LDR, Zooey, Frank Ocean etc to be brilliant songs, but i'm not getting my hopes up. As for the Santana references, Brian's already had his Clive Davis moment. It was his Christmas album.

[phirnis]

The McCartney and Dylan "duets" puzzled me because in both cases Brian's partner contributed no more than what, two lines of singing in total?

[Jonathan Blum]

Dear. God. No.......... I truly admire the folks on here who are willing to give this all a chance... But let's be real... This is terrible news...

Let's be real...  this is pure prejudice.

Hate to get so negative, but I'm sorry this is like my worst nightmare. Dream album: Brian, Mark Linnet, and the wondermints

So your worst nightmare is Brian working with a bunch of younger artists who are fans of his...  but your dream is for him to work with Wondermints.

Check, please,
Jon Blum

[Andrew G. Doe]

Dream album: Brian, Mark Linnet, and the wondermints plus Justyn Wilson and Al and Matt Jardine on BG vox doing the Life Suite....

Pardon my incredulity, but you are aware that Wondermints* have formed the core of Brian's band for over fifteen years, and that Mark's been his engineer for longer than that ?

[* correct, no definite article, as Darian told me years ago.]

[ToneBender631]

With the way the record industry works, I don't see how anyone realistically thinks we're getting "3 albums" any time soon.

You mean like when Brian released three albums between 2004 and 2005? Or three albums between 2010 and 2012? Or how it's been stated that he has three albums worth of material with 2 years of recordings done? And how he has a biopic in post-production that will likely need a soundtrack to go with it?

It's the Joe Thomas show, let's be honest.

It's also been the Brian show the whole time, with Don Was taking part at some point as well.

There will be attempts at modern radio production that make TWGMTR's autotune pale in comparison.

The auto-tune on TWGMTR (exempting the IIT single remix) is actually done very subtly. There's one particular moment in TLOS where the auto-tune jumps out far worse than anything on TWGMTR. But hey, it's not like there was any pitch manipulation on a single from Brian's magnum opus...or was there? And it's not like Brian has gone on-record with recording magazines stating that he doesn't mind auto-tune...or has he?

One of the things that still blows me away about the BBs is the honestly in their delivery.

Like when they sang about surfing or when they sang about drag racing on songs that were co-written with outside artists (one of whom was a radio DJ)?

Do we all know what the term "affectation" refers to? Zooey, Lana Del Rey, maybe you guys aren't familiar with these artists... Maybe I'll be proven wrong...

Does this sound like an artist out for a Grammy or a radio hit? Or, does this sound like the closing track to an album by an artist who has repeatedly gone on record saying how she's inspired by Brian? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh4l2cubkAQ

Here's an interview w/ ZD talking about the song in question:

Q: There’s also a more choral element to a number of the songs on Volume Two—”If You Can’t Sleep” in particular. What inspired that?

ZD: I have been a harmony enthusiast since I was a child, singing in choir and with friends growing up. I always put a ton of harmonies on my demos. Arranging vocals is one of my absolute favorite things to do. I had recorded a demo of “If You Can’t Sleep” that was all my multi-tracked vocals, so when we went into the studio, we decided to do the same. All of the tracks are my voice and there are something like 20 tracks of just vocals. I wanted it to sound like a string section.

Nightmare Album: Joe Thomas at the boards with his straight out of the 90s drum sounds COWRITING a duets album with a bunch of singers that I don't care about at all.

So far we've seen no pictures of Joe at the boards and only pictures of Brian at the boards. We also know that Brian recently stated he's done working with collaborators other than Scott. And we know that there are shared vocals with Al and Blondie, with Matt Jardine handling a good portion of backing vocals. And we know that he's recorded some vocals with a number of artists that hold him in the highest esteem, much like The Wondermints (as has already been so ably pointed out).

...but trust me, they wouldn't be calling in these artist if it weren't for a Santana style grab at Grammy.

Brian's got two Grammy's. I don't think he feels the need to "grab" another one just to validate his career.

[Nicko1234]

So far we've seen no pictures of Joe at the boards and only pictures of Brian at the boards.

Proof if proof be need be. 

[ToneBender631]

So far we've seen no pictures of Joe at the boards and only pictures of Brian at the boards.

Proof if proof be need be. 

Fair enough. :-)

[halblaineisgood]

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[halblaineisgood]

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[ToneBender631]

I don't agree with your post or the fellow you were arguing with,  I just can't stand to see the classic Beach Boys period used as a reference point for the inauthentic . "Well you think Lana Del Ray Sucks, huh?? How about when the BB's sang abput CARS!?!? "

I didn't even touch on LDR nor did I equivocate one artist sucking with their classic period. I was making a point about "honesty" in delivery. There was an inherent affectation to what they were singing about then. My point was to give a bit of perspective as the affectation in no way detracts from the vocals, melodies, the iconic imagery or the arrangements which I love.

[halblaineisgood]

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[halblaineisgood]

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[ToneBender631]

Mr. Mike Love believes every word he sings. Cars, Surfing, whatever - don't tell me his delivery ain't honest. Enough people in this world pick on the early Beach Boys, we don't need a fan doing it too, do we? That other guy is never gonna like Zooey Desahnel anyhow, you'll never convince him, so no need to humble the Beach Boys in the process!  

Hah! It's true...Mike really does believe every word that he sings at this point, as long as there's no lyric mentioning crows and cornfields. :-) Really, I didn't mean it to negate their accomplishments, just to provide a little perspective!

[Smilin Ed H]

Brian Wilson as franchise. Dear God.

[Ray Lawlor]

Ray,

Have you listened to any cuts from the new album and when do you think it might come out?

Yes ; I don't know the release date but I would think sometime this year.

[SMiLE Brian]

Mr. Mike Love believes every word he sings. Cars, Surfing, whatever - don't tell me his delivery ain't honest. Enough people in this world pick on the early Beach Boys, we don't need a fan doing it too, do we? That other guy is never gonna like Zooey Desahnel anyhow, you'll never convince him, so no need to humble the Beach Boys in the process! 

His modern day surf songs are as honest as Billy Mays pitching oxy-clean.....