SIP Could Have Sold Much Better As Is

[Lonely Summer]

I've decided...after really thinking about it since this thread began.  Summer In Paradise could have sold TONS better IF it has dropped all of the songs hitherto employed and had instead issued something completely different, timely, meaningful and worthwhile. 

Sorry...but there just isn't enough input from ALL of the Beach Boys...and way too much from guests and those who really aren't composers or arrangers.  It's almost a solo albun.  WRONG move. 

Great album cover though. 

Everyone always says that. Am I the only one who thinks the album cover is tacky as hell and generic?

As for the topic at hand...no. You can't polish a turd. And the beach boys weren't cool enough to move records at the time, especially without Brian.

This album was 4 years too late. If it had come out right after "Kokomo", it would have moved a few copies just on residual interest. The "Kokomo" sound was already dated by 1992. But maybe Mike had never heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

[phirnis]

For some reason I'd love to hear what Masterpiece would've been like. Do we know if any initial recordings exist? I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

For some reason I'd love to hear what Masterpiece would've been like. Do we know if any initial recordings exist? I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

I didn't even know such an album (almost) existed until coming across a reference on this board just the other day. Where could one find more information on this? Was it abandoned when SIP flopped or for other reasons?

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I believe you can blame Dean Torrence for that logo, going back to the '15 big ones' period artwork....

I actually like the logo myself.  may even get it tattooe'd!

RickB

See, it makes sense on that cover because of the throwback tunes and celebration of the band's 15-year history. That neon sign look fits that oldies vibe. But making it the band's official logo just makes them seem eternally dated, imho. It's not timeless like other famous bands' iconography.

[Lee Marshall]

YA but...Ya but...Ya but...The album cover AND logo are both better than and superior to...the contents contained there-in.  The logo may well be dated...but at least IT once had its day.  The music here?  Not so much.

That other thread?  The one where we all shuddered to think what the 2017 album would be?  SIP is darned close to 'it'.  [minus Carl]  It wouldn't be any more advanced I'm afraid.  Just kind of stuck in neutral...remembering the good old days which actually never happened THIS way.
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And ALL that said...I am a listener...not a collector.  Am I glad I own the album and got a chance to hear its contents?  Absolutely...100%.  If I knew it existed and was hidden away in 'the vaults' would I want it?  You betcha.  So as BAD as the contents are...it's BAD compared to a whole mess of other recordings by THE BEACH BOYS.  Compared to other groups?  [and compared to at least 40% of what POSES as a top 40 hit in THIS day and age... ... ...it ain't THAT bad.  There's 'musicality' there.  [except on 'Forever' which was just a terrible choice, idea, and route to travel.]  It just kind of reminds me of the cover albums the Ray Conniff Singers used to put out in the early/mid 70s.  Close but NO cigar.

It's M.O.R. 'filler' and not worthy of The Beach Boys.

[rab2591]

I believe you can blame Dean Torrence for that logo, going back to the '15 big ones' period artwork....

I actually like the logo myself.  may even get it tattooe'd!

RickB

See, it makes sense on that cover because of the throwback tunes and celebration of the band's 15-year history. That neon sign look fits that oldies vibe. But making it the band's official logo just makes them seem eternally dated, imho. It's not timeless like other famous bands' iconography.

I was so bummed out when MiC was released and saw that they were still using that godforsaken logo/typeface. Here we just had the Smile Sessions box come out, we're finally getting the release of vaulted rarities, The Beach Boys are gaining traction as being not just 'Sun and Surf' band but a tour-de-force in intellectual classic pop music....and they stuck them with that dated malt-shop neon sign logo again.

[Lonely Summer]

For some reason I'd love to hear what Masterpiece would've been like. Do we know if any initial recordings exist? I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

I didn't even know such an album (almost) existed until coming across a reference on this board just the other day. Where could one find more information on this? Was it abandoned when SIP flopped or for other reasons?

Mike talked about it back in '93 - he said it would follow on the title track of SIP, with songs about the environment, kind of a latter day "Surf's Up". I have no idea if it ever got past the talking phase, but imagine that musically, it would've sounded like SIP Vol. 2.

[job]

See Mike?  Some of us appreciate you.

[runnersdialzero]

Mike talked about it back in '93 - he said it would follow on the title track of SIP, with songs about the environment, kind of a latter day "Surf's Up". I have no idea if it ever got past the talking phase, but imagine that musically, it would've sounded like SIP Vol. 2.

Wait, "Surf's Up" is "about the environment"? Are you saying this or did Mike? 

[Lonely Summer]

Mike talked about it back in '93 - he said it would follow on the title track of SIP, with songs about the environment, kind of a latter day "Surf's Up". I have no idea if it ever got past the talking phase, but imagine that musically, it would've sounded like SIP Vol. 2.

Wait, "Surf's Up" is "about the environment"? Are you saying this or did Mike? 

Not the song "Surf's Up", but the album. You know, the one that starts off with "Don't Go Near the Water", and also includes such topical songs as "Lookin' at Tomorrow", "Take A Load Off Your Feet" and "Student Demonstration Time". Maybe he would have given us SDT set to a drum machine with pseudo tropical sounds.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

See Mike?  Some of us appreciate you.

I think we all do. I call him out for the things he's done that I think weren't commendable, but I do the same to Brian as well.

Brian, Mike, whoever else...we love you guys. We wouldn't be here otherwise. Now that it's confirmed you both see this stuff, I feel the need to say it. I hope that's clear. We understand you're human and since this is a discussion forum, your faults and least proudest moments are gonna come up. But it's nothing personal.

[RangeRoverA1]

I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

That joke is already a fad, it was boring from the start when I saw the vid. Anyway, to answer job, I think w/ right songs it yes, would've sold better. And we don't even have to include Brian songs. That said, the album as is is good enough for the early 90s. Most everyone hung in the middle of 'creativity crisis' (self-made term, take or leave) and BBs jus' followed their steps. Not a big deal.

[Niko]

I'm wondering if the album would've contained any song(s) about cutlery.

That joke is already a fad, it was boring from the start when I saw the vid.

There is nothing boring about cutlery

[RangeRoverA1]

Alright:

Don't go near the table
Have you lost your fork?
Don't go near the table, yeah
The fork will wound your hand...

So, still nothing boring about cutlery?