No Pier Pressure - 4 Months Later

[KDS]

Taking a suggestion from Ontor from the Why do you hate Mike Love thread, and bumping up discussion on Brian's great year. 

So, tomorrow is Aug 7th, No Pier Pressure will have been out for four months. 

The music of Brian Wilson goes great with summertime.  How has NPP fit it with everybody's summer listening during the summer of 2015? 

Also, after living with the record for a third of a year, has anyone's opinions changed?  Novelty worn off?  Like one song now you didn't then  or vice versa? 

Personally, I still really like it.  I've taken three trips to the beach since its release and have listened to it each time.  I also found a jukebox in Ocean City, MD that has NPP songs on it, so I've played Sail Away and The Right Time. 

[jeffh]

I've listened to it a lot over the last four months. For a long while it's what I listened to while on the treadmill at the gym, four time a week.

[ontor pertawst]

I really loved hearing the songs live, stuff that left me cold at first like "Runaway Dancer" was much more entertaining with some live energy, and man are they cooking this year. I hope they announce some more fall dates soon.

But yes, point taken: I shall pause from mocking the Lovester and give NPP another spin! Good time for it, "Whatever Happened" always hits the spot.

[The Cincinnati Kid]

I mostly feel the same way about it as the day I got it.  Possibly his best solo album (not counting Smile).  The only song I've changed my opinion about is Don't Worry.  I really did not like it, but now it has become one of my favorites.  I love the way Brian sings the verses.  Still do not enjoy Our Special Love and Last Song doesn't have any 'warmth', if that makes sense.  Still love Whatever Happened.  I usually play it back to back with From There To Back Again. 

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Still my favorite BB solo record (with POB a close second), and I've been listening to it several times a week still.

Love it.

[Wirestone]

I still enjoy it greatly. The writing is a bit patchier than I initially thought -- as great as "Whatever Happened" may be, it lacks enough sections (bridge, tag, etc.) to go to the next level. On the other hand, One Kind of Love and I'm Feeling Sad have only grown in stature for me.

Ultimately, I wonder if it's going to turn out to be an album that had bigger ambitions than it could fulfill. The guest artists, the quasi-BB reunion, the aborted Beck sessions, the material with Scott meant for the movie -- it's a lot of weight for one record to bear. And yet its greatest charms are the smaller ones: well-crafted tunes, lovely harmonies and oh-so-Brian sentiments of the lyrics.

[drbeachboy]

It's Ok (To coin a phrase), but it just hasn't bowled me over. I guess I should also sit down with it again and see if it moves me differently.

[KDS]

Initially, I didn't much care for Tell Me Why, Our Special Love, or Don't Worry, but I've grown to like all three.

Runaway Dancer and Guess You Had to be There probably keep the album from surpassing TLOS as my favorite BW solo album.  Runaway Dancer is much better live IMO, but those EDM beats.......ugh.  The Kacey Musgraves track just doesn't do much for me. 

I think This Beautiful Day, Whatever Happened, The Right Time, Tell Me Why, Sail Away, One Kind of Love, and Saturday Night are classics. 

Initially, I thought that The Last Song would've been one of my favorites, but it's not been a song I gravitated towards.  I don't think it carries the same weight that From Here to Back Again / PCH / Summer's Gone does to close out TWGMTR.  I think its a good song, but I think there are far better songs on the album. 

[ppk700]

This has been one of the most challenging years of my life, I'll leave it at that. To have new music from Brian has helped me out immensely. It's not even just "No Pier Pressure," it's everything that has gone on this year. 2015 is the Year of Brian. It kicked off with his guest appearance on Mini Mansions' "Any Emotions," a song that means quite a lot to me because it was released the day after a beloved member of my family passed away - to hear Brian's voice on new music was therapeutic. Next, Brian made an account right here on Smiley, and we learned that his favorite pizza is cheese pizza in that Q&A that he did. "No Pier Pressure" came along, and that album delivered. Best Beach Boys-related release, in my opinion, since 1979. The CD didn't leave my car stereo for a couple months. "Love And Mercy" debuted, and wow, what a film. Can't wait for the blu-ray release. I went to go see it with my girlfriend, and it was a beautiful summer day when we went - everything was perfect. Then we get Brian's tour... I was pretty depressed because I couldn't go see him over the summer. I stopped listening to "NPP" because it reminded me of not being able to go see him and how I'm practically a slave in the American socio-economic class system. So, you can imagine how ecstatic I was when it was announced that Brian is playing in NYS October 10th, just a three hour drive for me. I already have my tickets. As the date approaches, I'll be listening to "NPP" more and more. It's a fantastic album that came along at the right time, because I've needed Brian's music more this year than almost ever. Life is difficult, everyone has their own struggles, but Brian's music transports you to a place far away from all that, a safe place.

Bring on that rock and roll album.

[Cool Cool Water]

I still need to listen to it fully, maybe via headphones or something, to get a full idea if it blows me away or not. But from what I have heard that being only briefly, It's okay.

[Joel Goldenberg]

Love the album, and after seeing Love and Mercy, I really love One Kind of Love.

[TonyW]

Still listening to it as a whole. Often when I have music on shuffle in the car and a NPP track comes on I go "stuff the shuffle I want to hear that album" and I can't say that about much of the BB/BW/solo stuff since the 70s. Mostly listen to BB/BW/Live compilations I put together.

NPP rules! ... and its been a cold cold winter downunder ... bring on summer.

[Lana]

I bought it on day one and still love it very much as a whole. It stands as being some of the best work Brian Wilson has ever done, on par with even the best albums the Beach Boys made. The voices of the other Beach Boys present give the album an authentic sound that can't really be topped in the year 2015. It's a great album. But each individual song is unique and wonderful taken out of the context of the album, each sinking you into its own world. Sail Away is my favorite track: "Drink my water from a shell that I find" It's so sincerely BW.

[chaki]

I think it sucks really bad. The songwriting is unmemorable. The guest stars suck, especially the Cap Cities dude and the .Fun guy is just the worst. Production is uninspired.

[TV Forces]

"No Pier Pressure" is very down on my list of favorite Brian Wilson albums.  Much of it doesn't even musically sound like Brian to begin with, and once it came out Brian said "I can't write a song to save my life" in Rolling Stone Magazine..  So it appears it's Brian Wilson, and not the other guests, who is the true guest star on his own album.  The songs are very un-Brian like.

[shelter]

I listened to TLOS non stop for weeks after it came out and I still absolutely love it. Same thing for TWGMTR. Not counting BWPS/TSS, those might actually be my two favorite Beach Boys or Beach Boys related albums since Sunflower.

But NPP is a different story. I listened to it four times on the day I got it and once on the day after that, I didn't like it and I haven't played it since. Very disappointing album that I rank somewhere in GIOMH's neighborhood.

[phirnis]

The album as a whole is not my cup of tea but that's fine, I have enough great BW music to turn to instead. "Tell Me Why", however, is fabulous!

[Cool Cool Water]

"Tell Me Why", however, is fabulous!

I agree. I think Al's vox part in that song is marvellous, not to forget the splendid harmonies accompanying. 

[Tony S]

Agree on Tell Me Why....my favorite song on the CD. Al's vocals are stunning, and really elevate the song to another place.

[18thofMay]

His best solo album.

[Rocker]

Just today while on the bus, "Tell me why" came into my mind again. I've said it before: it's such a monster of a song! One of Brian's (!) best imo... if the lyrics were more connected. Right up there with "She knows me too well" which I consider a absolute highlight in Brian Wilson's/The Beach Boys' catalog.

"Runaway dancer" was an earworm for a long time.
"The right time" (not only 'cause it's a very catchy song but also, maybe even most, because of Al's vocals) I found myself many times humming while being at whatever place.

[clack]

"No Pier Pressure" is very down on my list of favorite Brian Wilson albums.  Much of it doesn't even musically sound like Brian to begin with, and once it came out Brian said "I can't write a song to save my life" in Rolling Stone Magazine..  So it appears it's Brian Wilson, and not the other guests, who is the true guest star on his own album.  The songs are very un-Brian like.

Llike TWGMTR, most of the songs on NPP date back from the late 90's, though I believe Brian is still writing songs here and there.

As for NPP, I rate it as BW's 3rd best (not counting SMiLE), after '88 and TLOS. It's very good, but no masterpiece.

[Outtasight!]

"No Pier Pressure" is very down on my list of favorite Brian Wilson albums.  Much of it doesn't even musically sound like Brian to begin with, and once it came out Brian said "I can't write a song to save my life" in Rolling Stone Magazine..  So it appears it's Brian Wilson, and not the other guests, who is the true guest star on his own album.  The songs are very un-Brian like.

Llike TWGMTR, most of the songs on NPP date back from the late 90's, though I believe Brian is still writing songs here and there.

As for NPP, I rate it as BW's 3rd best (not counting SMiLE), after '88 and TLOS. It's very good, but no masterpiece.

I don't think it's been established if any  of these songs date back to the 90's.

[Wirestone]

Llike TWGMTR, most of the songs on NPP date back from the late 90's, though I believe Brian is still writing songs here and there.

Neither of those statements is correct.

Of the tracks on TWGMTR, the title tune, Spring Vacation, Beaches in Mind, Strange World, Pacific Coast Highway and Summer's Gone have their roots in late '90s Wilson-Thomas writing sessions. Three of those were substantially rewritten or expanded for the album. Think About the Days, Isn't It Time, Bill and Sue, Shelter and From There to Back Again were newly written by Brian. Mike's song dates from the late 70s.

On No Pier Pressure, the only song confirmed to date from the late 90s is Runaway Dancer. Given its similarity to Lay Down Burden, I'd wager that the Right Time is also of that vintage. Of the remaining tracks, it's been confirmed that Our Special Love, One Kind of Love, Guess You Had to Be There, Sail Away and the Last Song are new.

[Wirestone]

Much of it doesn't even musically sound like Brian to begin with, and once it came out Brian said "I can't write a song to save my life" in Rolling Stone Magazine..  So it appears it's Brian Wilson, and not the other guests, who is the true guest star on his own album.  The songs are very un-Brian like.

So to be clear, you are saying that Brian's writing credits on the album are faked?