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[JohnMill]

Brian Wilson is MOR now.  I think that is to be accepted.  Those who don't accept that fact are going to be woefully out of tune with where Brian's music is today.  

Based on the two complete tracks we've heard and the snippets, NPP is MOR (or what I assume is MOR now, or what MOR was when Imagination came out). Yet it was only a few years ago that Brian produced TWGMTR. Maybe that was MOR-ish too, but I don't remember a lot of people complaining about the production. My first reaction to this new music has been disappointment, because it sounds like Brian and Joe Thomas have taken a step back from where Brian was in 2012.

Since it's safe to assume that Brian is happy with the way NPP sounds [as Empire of Love just pointed out], I'd love to hear him explain why he wanted this kind of production. And assuming he blesses us with more music in the future, I hope that he goes back to producing it without Joe Thomas's help. Anyone who can produce songs like "Shelter", "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" doesn't need a co-producer, even though he might want one, and want Joe Thomas in particular.

"That's Why God Made The Radio" was MOR and I had and still have no problem with it.  Again for me it's the fans that do have problems with that style of production that are going to be the ones feeling left out in the cold by Brian Wilson's modern music because that is the type of artist he is now.  Personally I'm more than alright with that which is why I've got no gripe with Joe Thomas or whomever.  

At this stage in his career, it seems to me that sales are not the most important factor for Brian. The fact that he's making new music and that he is a marquis name for a label should be enough. But I know that Brian has said that sales are important to him, and certainly sales are important to record labels. I doubt this will be a big hit, simply because Brian Wilson is not a big name (I realize this contradicts what I said about his being a marquis name--well, it is, for those people in the know. But his name does not have the Baby Boomer backing that the Beach Boys name does, nor is a known to young people). I have no idea how well Paul McCartney's last album did, but he is very, very savvy at marketing, and I believe he teamed up with a hit-making producer, did he not? Joe Thomas isn't exactly the hot producer of the moment. (McCartney also recently collaborated with Kanye West.)

I'm not expecting Brian to suddenly have a huge hit, but I love that something is driving him to make new music, and that those of us who love his music get to enjoy new material.

We can't have it both ways I'm afraid.  I believe I read a quote several months back that Wilson still uses radio airplay as a gauge for how successful a particular record is.  Honestly, if sales weren't important to Brian Wilson, to me this whole debate would be a total non-issue.  Brian Wilson has nothing to prove to anyone anymore in terms of his abilities as a commercial artist.  What he accomplished in the sixties as a member and driving force behind The Beach Boys' more than speaks volumes for his ability to craft hit records.  But since sales seem to still be important to Wilson, this topic will continue to be broached and debated and unfortunately the only thing I can say is that times have changed and there are very few artists of Wilson's generation who have much pull in terms of being relevant hit makers today.  To expect Brian Wilson to have a huge hit with NPP in 2015 is being unrealistic.  As I mentioned up the chain, if this record was issued as a Beach Boys album in the mid eighties it might have had a chance of making a dent although those were turbulent times on the charts for nineteen sixties rockers too.  The bottom line for me is that I can honestly say that I have a lot of respect for what Brian Wilson is doing right now in his career and am thoroughly looking forward to this upcoming release.

[Larry Franz]

Or maybe NPP will start sounding great after many listens to the whole thing.

But one thing for sure: If I heard "Our Special Love" on the radio, and didn't know it was a Brian Wilson song, I'd switch to another station as soon as Peter Hollens started singing.

Why? He's very good. Makes that song IMO.

There's something about his voice when he first starts singing at 0:58 or so that strikes me as way too Adult Contemporary for my taste. But I should have added that his singing doesn't really bother me after that.

[timbnash68]

Yet it was only a few years ago that Brian produced TWGMTR. Maybe that was MOR-ish too, but I don't remember a lot of people complaining about the production.

They most definitely did. And on all of the same points -- instrumentation, vocal processing, etc. It was muted somewhat by the excitement that everyone had at seeing all the guys back together as a coherent unit.

Anyone who can produce songs like "Shelter", "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" doesn't need a co-producer, even though he might want one, and want Joe Thomas in particular.

Point taken -- except that each one of those songs was co-written by Joe. I've come to think Joe's greatest skill is actually his songwriting with Brian. He's gotten stuff out of the man -- songs like "Lay Down Burden" and the suite on TWGMTR -- that few others have managed since the 70s (giant exception made for Scott Bennett and "Midnight's Another Day).

I agree

[JohnMill]

Or maybe NPP will start sounding great after many listens to the whole thing.

But one thing for sure: If I heard "Our Special Love" on the radio, and didn't know it was a Brian Wilson song, I'd switch to another station as soon as Peter Hollens started singing.

Why? He's very good. Makes that song IMO.

There's something about his voice when he first starts singing at 0:58 or so that strikes me as way too Adult Contemporary for my taste. But I should have added that his singing doesn't really bother me after that.

Yeah I don't care for Peter Hollins either.  That song unless it completely blows me out of the water in a way that the sample hasn't (I haven't listened to the complete song yet) is going to be one of the few on the record that I feel I'm going to be skipping over. 

[Larry Franz]

Yet it was only a few years ago that Brian produced TWGMTR. Maybe that was MOR-ish too, but I don't remember a lot of people complaining about the production.

They most definitely did. And on all of the same points -- instrumentation, vocal processing, etc. It was muted somewhat by the excitement that everyone had at seeing all the guys back together as a coherent unit.

Anyone who can produce songs like "Shelter", "From There To Back Again" and "Summer's Gone" doesn't need a co-producer, even though he might want one, and want Joe Thomas in particular.

Point taken -- except that each one of those songs was co-written by Joe. I've come to think Joe's greatest skill is actually his songwriting with Brian. He's gotten stuff out of the man -- songs like "Lay Down Burden" and the suite on TWGMTR -- that few others have managed since the 70s (giant exception made for Scott Bennett and "Midnight's Another Day).

You make an excellent point about Thomas's contributions as a co-writer. As for the complaints about the TWGMTR production, I probably don't remember that so well because there were so many complaints about something else: the contributions of a certain member of the Beach Boys.

[Larry Franz]

Or maybe NPP will start sounding great after many listens to the whole thing.

But one thing for sure: If I heard "Our Special Love" on the radio, and didn't know it was a Brian Wilson song, I'd switch to another station as soon as Peter Hollens started singing.

Why? He's very good. Makes that song IMO.

There's something about his voice when he first starts singing at 0:58 or so that strikes me as way too Adult Contemporary for my taste. But I should have added that his singing doesn't really bother me after that.

Yeah I don't care for Peter Hollins either.  That song unless it completely blows me out of the water in a way that the sample hasn't (I haven't listened to the complete song yet) is going to be one of the few on the record that I feel I'm going to be skipping over. 

You may be pleased to learn, therefore, that the sample happens to includes the part I referred to above. The song as a whole has grown on me.

[the professor]

listening to our special love and The right time on a loop in Rhapsody: if any song on the rest of the album can come close to these, it will be great. Hollins is OK on this; focus on the BW arrangement going on behind him; see him as an extra instrument, featured for a few lines but not dominant nor distracting.

[timbnash68]

See, it's all how it's used. It can be obvious, or very hard to notice. Also, there are so many things that sound like it to the untrained ear.

These days, it's pretty easy to get (legal) free plug ins , thankfully!


[/quote

I appreciate the time it took for you to post this example. I happen to think that many folks who are responding to the compressed sound of Al's voice  or the production in general are reacting to the MP3 quality of I Tunes. The Brian Team likely recorded this album at a 48 or 96k sample rate.  24 bit. When they master a CD the bit rate drops from 24 to 16, the sample rate drops from 48k to 44.1k. When they then turn this into an MP3 for delivery on I Tunes or Google it is compressed again.The computers spitting out  the digital information arbitrarily cancels out information that it deems to large and not needed. You cannot fit all of the original sonic  information digitally. Many kids today CANNOT tell the difference because they are listening on ear buds.  That is why many of todays records have such a hyped bass, because while we may be   used to listening  on huge speakers with full range of frequency response maybe 40 hz  to 16khz nowadays the whole daisy chain is reduced to speaker the size of a dime. I can't for the life of me imagine that Brian or Joe Thomas are intentionally adding any of this compression. Nor do I believe that they are mixing for ear buds. Or listening on I Tunes. Maybe they should. I work at a studio in Nashville, we make an MP3 compressed version of our mixes and listen again and then some of the producers compensate. Some absolutely detest the format and WILL NOT compensate. The rap producers mix to BEATS Headphones since they are so popular. Simply not the audience that  Brian and his team probably consider, I will be ordering my vinyl today. I am sure it will not be as compressed.

[phirnis]

Sorry if I'm misremembering but isn't there a quote by Brian himself where he said the music/production on Imagination wasn't to his liking?

Personally I think Imagination is an interesting case: I really like most of the songs and some of them I think even had the potential to be classics. But the overall sound/production... just as bland as the cover art.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Great post timbnash.

When I mix, I always test the playback on a cheap $20 pair of headphones, and then speakers last.

Phirnis, it was an interview with Paul Zallo. In all fairness, Imagination's production was sterile and lifeless.

[LostArt]

Or maybe NPP will start sounding great after many listens to the whole thing.

But one thing for sure: If I heard "Our Special Love" on the radio, and didn't know it was a Brian Wilson song, I'd switch to another station as soon as Peter Hollens started singing.

Why? He's very good. Makes that song IMO.

There's something about his voice when he first starts singing at 0:58 or so that strikes me as way too Adult Contemporary for my taste. But I should have added that his singing doesn't really bother me after that.

I sent my 18 year old daughter, who is majoring in choral music in college, and who is into Sam Smith these days, a copy of this song and she really likes the Peter Hollens parts with the Brian vocal arrangements behind.  She said that it probably wouldn't be a hit on the radio, but it would get some play.  For what it's worth...

[lostbeachboy]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

[HeyJude]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

I think a Top 10 finish for the album might be tough. On the one hand, it seems to take less and less sales to chart highly on the album charts these days. But I believe Brian's best ever solo chart performance in the US is #13 for "Smile" in 2004. "TWGMTR" of course hit #3, but that had the BB name (and anniversary hoopla) attached to it.

If the second week of April is a slow week sales-wise, and Capitol puts enough push behind the album, it could do relatively well on the charts. If it hits the top 10, it could well do so while still selling less copies in its first week than "Smile" did in 2004 when it hit #13.

[lostbeachboy]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

I think a Top 10 finish for the album might be tough. On the one hand, it seems to take less and less sales to chart highly on the album charts these days. But I believe Brian's best ever solo chart performance in the US is #13 for "Smile" in 2004. "TWGMTR" of course hit #3, but that had the BB name (and anniversary hoopla) attached to it.

If the second week of April is a slow week sales-wise, and Capitol puts enough push behind the album, it could do relatively well on the charts. If it hits the top 10, it could well do so while still selling less copies in its first week than "Smile" did in 2004 when it hit #13.

Unfortunately Brian is not a "hit making" solo artist like his musical contemporaries.

[job]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

On which chart?

[lostbeachboy]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

On which chart?

Billboard Hot 100

[Wirestone]

If the promo is strong and good -- a very big if -- it could go top 10. Just the way the charts are now.

However, the release of The Right Time as a single concerns me a bit -- no hot young things to push the record. But we shall see!

[HeyJude]

This album is going to reach ooh I'm gonna say #9 on the charts.

Give us one pic of brian, al, david, blondie and ricky!

On which chart?

Billboard Hot 100

I think the "Hot 100" is the singles chart. The album would be found on the Top 200 albums chart.

[HeyJude]

If the promo is strong and good -- a very big if -- it could go top 10. Just the way the charts are now.

However, the release of The Right Time as a single concerns me a bit -- no hot young things to push the record. But we shall see!

As I mentioned in another thread, even stranger is that they aren't even marketing "The Right Time" technically as a single.

It's not listed as a single with its own single cover art on iTunes for instance. It's simply the only purchasable track on the actual album. It's being marketed on Facebook and whatnot more as a case of "Pre-Order the album and download one of the songs RIGHT NOW!"

It's actually unfortunate, as the wording of some of the blurbs have implied you can't just buy the single track on its own. They obviously want lots of album pre-orders, but some idiots like me will buy the one download right now and then still buy the whole album on CD as well.

[Les P]

However, the release of The Right Time as a single concerns me a bit -- no hot young things to push the record. But we shall see!

It is over 6 weeks until the album is released...perhaps there will be a second single and video to coincide?  (or first OFFICIAL single, per Hey Jude's comment that "The Right Time" does not seem to be marketed as a single).

[JohnMill]

However, the release of The Right Time as a single concerns me a bit -- no hot young things to push the record. But we shall see!

It is over 6 weeks until the album is released...perhaps there will be a second single and video to coincide?

"Saturday Night" could lend itself to a pretty good video.  You could document all the collaborators on the album doing different things throughout Hollywood on a Saturday Night only to by the end of the video all meet up together on Hollywood Blvd. where Brian happens to be hanging out.  Never gonna happen but I think it would be a neat concept of bringing everyone together under one umbrella.

In all seriousness though, this is a moot point but the best chance that NPP has/had of cracking top ten on Billboard would've been to somehow bundle it with the "Love & Mercy" film either as a soundtrack or some type of tie-in. 

[rab2591]

I think the release of Right Time was more for us true fans - it gives us something to talk about, start some buzz. I think they will really push the Nate Ruess song (if that becomes a single), as well as the Musgraves song (if it too becomes a single).

[Les P]

"Saturday Night" could lend itself to a pretty good video.  You could document all the collaborators on the album doing different things throughout Hollywood on a Saturday Night only to by the end of the video all meet up together on Hollywood Blvd. where Brian happens to be hanging out.  Never gonna happen but I think it would be a neat concept of bringing everyone together under one umbrella.

I like it!

[alf wiedersehen]

I think the next single we'll see is "On the Island", mainly because they've already made a music video for it. Although, while Zooey Deschanel is a popular actress, she doesn't exactly burn up the charts sales-wise. So, maybe they'll go with something else.

[Shady]

It will easily chart in the top 10...

Given the right promotion and the right single choices top 5 is possible.