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Author Topic: No Pier Pressure - 4 Months Later  (Read 34474 times)
petsoundsnola
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« Reply #125 on: August 11, 2015, 05:29:36 AM »

Anyway, The Last Song doesn't do anything for me. The first time I heard I was like okay, that just slid by, but maybe it grows on me. It hasn't, so far.

There was too much hype for it, imo.  I like Summer's Gone much more.

I liked The Last Song a lot the first couple times I heard it.  But, it's one track that appeals to me a little less with each listen.  I agree that there was a lot of hype to live up to. 

To me, it's not the closer that Southern California or Summer's Gone are, but it sounds like it's trying to be.   


Concur.  Southern California is such a great album closer - so emotional and heartfelt.  Summer's Gone gives me chills.  Personally, the "La-La-Las" on Last Song are irritating.
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« Reply #126 on: August 11, 2015, 05:41:09 AM »

Anyway, The Last Song doesn't do anything for me. The first time I heard I was like okay, that just slid by, but maybe it grows on me. It hasn't, so far.

There was too much hype for it, imo.  I like Summer's Gone much more.

I liked The Last Song a lot the first couple times I heard it.  But, it's one track that appeals to me a little less with each listen.  I agree that there was a lot of hype to live up to. 

To me, it's not the closer that Southern California or Summer's Gone are, but it sounds like it's trying to be.   


Concur.  Southern California is such a great album closer - so emotional and heartfelt.  Summer's Gone gives me chills.  Personally, the "La-La-Las" on Last Song are irritating.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan of that either.  But I do like the "There's never enough time for the ones that you love."

There's a really good one in there somewhere. 

I'm still glad it was Brian, and not Lana Del Ray singing it though.
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the captain
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« Reply #127 on: August 11, 2015, 05:47:14 AM »

I like "the Last Song" a LOT more than either "Summer's Gone" or "Southern California," both of which have always been favorites on this board but that just didn't do it for me. The power ballad singalong works for me for whatever reason. SG just felt too pastiche for me, and the "hey we're writing about Brian's life and how he overcame adversity!" lyrics of SC bugged me from the beginning: you only get so many comeback stories before you're just still here. I didn't find it remotely sentimental or touching. But that's just me.
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« Reply #128 on: August 11, 2015, 05:56:21 AM »

I like "the Last Song" a LOT more than either "Summer's Gone" or "Southern California," both of which have always been favorites on this board but that just didn't do it for me. The power ballad singalong works for me for whatever reason. SG just felt too pastiche for me, and the "hey we're writing about Brian's life and how he overcame adversity!" lyrics of SC bugged me from the beginning: you only get so many comeback stories before you're just still here. I didn't find it remotely sentimental or touching. But that's just me.

As with most other songs from NPP, I think the beauty lies in the details of the song. Deep in the background there's a lot going on if you listen for it, and it really makes it come alive - (the organ playing in the background at certain moments and the way Brian sings certain lines).

I think Joe Thomas wrote the chord progression, but Brian's arrangements really add a hell of a lot to it.
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« Reply #129 on: August 11, 2015, 06:13:04 AM »

I like "the Last Song" a LOT more than either "Summer's Gone" or "Southern California," both of which have always been favorites on this board but that just didn't do it for me. The power ballad singalong works for me for whatever reason. SG just felt too pastiche for me, and the "hey we're writing about Brian's life and how he overcame adversity!" lyrics of SC bugged me from the beginning: you only get so many comeback stories before you're just still here. I didn't find it remotely sentimental or touching. But that's just me.

As with most other songs from NPP, I think the beauty lies in the details of the song. Deep in the background there's a lot going on if you listen for it, and it really makes it come alive - (the organ playing in the background at certain moments and the way Brian sings certain lines).

I think Joe Thomas wrote the chord progression, but Brian's arrangements really add a hell of a lot to it.
Completely agree. I didn't even touch on how the recording was put together, but I thought it was really nice. Always did, since it was first previewed on that UK radio show. The best BW ballad ever? No, but that's no crime. Some grand send off? Why saddle it with absurd expectations? It's a song. I like it.
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« Reply #130 on: August 13, 2015, 09:34:36 AM »

I still feel like it's one of the weakest Beach Boys related efforts ever released. It's in the Looking Back With Love, BB '85, Summer In Paradise category for me.
The production renders it absolutely useless. There are a few high points, but compared to the high points on other Brian Wilson solo albums they are non existent on this album.
Show me the Live Let Live, Midnight's Another Day, Melt Away, Gettin' In Over My Head classics on this record please!
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« Reply #131 on: August 13, 2015, 09:54:35 AM »

I was just listening to Half Moon Bay last night.  It really puts me in a relaxed mood. 

Has anyone tried listening to This Beautiful Day, Whatever Happened, and Half Moon Bay back to back to back.  I think they go very well together.

I'm not saying they should've left Runaway Dancer or On the Island off the record........ok, maybe Runaway Dancer.   But I really enjoy this sequence. 

Unfortunately, as much as I like 14 of the tracks, Runaway Dancer and Guess You Had to be There will likely keep me from listening to the entire album. 

Right now, TLOS is really the only solo album I can listen to without skips. 
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« Reply #132 on: August 13, 2015, 01:02:58 PM »

Just listened the whole album for the manyteenth time. It definitely is a grower, new highlights keep popping up. It already is the BW solo album I've listened the most. As some have already pointed out, Tell Me Why is an absolute classic, right up there with Brian's 60's work. The way the song gets air under its wings just before chorus... Goosebumps!

There's only one song I actively dislike, and it's Sail Away. Pointless refererences to earlier maritime hits are tacky, and the chorus is just a tae too much faux-shanty. It wouldn't be out of place on Al's solo album, though. That kind of cheery vibe, you know?
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« Reply #133 on: August 13, 2015, 08:01:14 PM »

I love TLOS, but tend to skip the spoken word parts. With this album, I can play it all the way through without skipping. If I do skip one, it's Runaway Dancer, but just because I'm not in the mood for that style.

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« Reply #134 on: August 14, 2015, 09:27:13 PM »

I just love this album ..!!!  I was against the young pups being guest on this album..But I was wrong..!! Great stuff here.. Nate Reuss on Saturday nite I like especially.. Brian still has his special gifts intact.. The background harmonies are  OUTSTANDING.... Having Al in the band makes it more special.. Another home run for Brian Wilson. And the concert on June 20th at greek theatre was unbelievable..!!! Lots of new songs and deep cuts was a fan"s DREAM..!!  That show rated as high as Pet Sounds and Smile and TLOS tours.. Brian and band were that good..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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« Reply #135 on: August 14, 2015, 09:57:45 PM »

I love TLOS, but tend to skip the spoken word parts. With this album, I can play it all the way through without skipping. If I do skip one, it's Runaway Dancer, but just because I'm not in the mood for that style.



I made a TLOS CD with music only (plus I inserted the original Midnight's Another Day) and still enjoy it VERY much.
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« Reply #136 on: August 16, 2015, 11:29:38 PM »

The vinyl track order works a bit better than the CD one with me, but it's still the production and/or mixing that ruined this stack of songs for me. It's like a diorama flattened with an ironing board so nothing sticks out to prevent someone being stung in the eye. On the vinyl I discovered some instruments that I can't understand why they didn't bring that more to the front in the mix to make a signature sound of that song. Or, as some other fan I spoke with the other day, the arrangements don"t go far enough to be really interesting.
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« Reply #137 on: August 18, 2015, 04:23:05 PM »

One thing that I think I disagree with many others here is whether the music is interesting. I think in terms of arrangement and production, it is pretty consistently fascinating listening, especially through headphones. Yes, it's "modern" sounding, clean, obviously not a big batch of musicians recording together in a room with analog equipment. That's obvious. But again and again, I catch myself noticing this little vocal part sneak into the mix, that little organ part disappear, replaced by some guitar line in its same register and stereo-spectrum place. Even when the raw material might be lacking--some of these aren't great songs--I think the result is really interesting.

I'll say it: I think NPP is in those aforementioned ways a wonderfully produced album.
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« Reply #138 on: August 18, 2015, 05:05:56 PM »

It's a good album, not great.  Nothing wrong with that, but to me it did not live up to the pre-release hype.  In my mind, it is nowhere near as good as Brian's material on TWGMTR.
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« Reply #139 on: August 18, 2015, 05:11:53 PM »

it did not live up to the pre-release hype.

To me, that is never the artist's or the art's fault. That's the promotion machine's problem, or the consumer's problem. I'm a basketball geek, and so for me it's like some 18-year-old drafted in the top three who, after a bunch of scouts saying the kid will end up great, just isn't great. He's ... fine. OK. Is that the kid's fault?
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« Reply #140 on: August 18, 2015, 05:52:28 PM »

I just love this album ..!!!  I was against the young pups being guest on this album..But I was wrong..!! Great stuff here.. Nate Reuss on Saturday nite I like especially.. Brian still has his special gifts intact.. The background harmonies are  OUTSTANDING.... Having Al in the band makes it more special.. Another home run for Brian Wilson. And the concert on June 20th at greek theatre was unbelievable..!!! Lots of new songs and deep cuts was a fan"s DREAM..!!  That show rated as high as Pet Sounds and Smile and TLOS tours.. Brian and band were that good..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You said it, bro. Great post!   w00t! w00t!
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« Reply #141 on: August 18, 2015, 10:31:06 PM »

To my brothers and sisters that agree with me, that "Sail Away" is a letdown.... I'm thinking that maybe the chorus, if it had a different melody, would actually work.  Can anybody else hear that?  There's something wrong to me in the way that it was SUNG, not necessarily WHAT was sung. 

If I move over into that, though, now I'm criticizing Brian's song structure instead of his lyrics....


I like the verses, but the chorus is like nails on a chalkboard to me, literally.  I can't quite place it, but it's something about how it lazily resolves, if you listen, it has this kind of descending thing that's going on, after each phrase it turns around slightly, and walks slowly towards resolving after the last "Sail away with me...." on each chorus.  So it's like a lazy resolution back to the root. 

Does anybody else hear that? 
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Ron
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« Reply #142 on: August 18, 2015, 10:35:51 PM »

Back on the NPP topic....

Has anyone else noticed a slight similarity between Our Special Love and Spring Vacation.

Just before the chorus, "nothing but nothing" sounds a tad like "get up and hit up." 


Oh it's more than a slight similarity. It struck me on first listen: I know I wrote about it in the thread that ran when that song first appeared in 2014, the thread where Hollens posted.

By the way, while I still don't love that song's boy-band cheese factor, there are some nice changes in the NPP version that help me enjoy it more.

Granted, I've never heard the 2014 Hollens version, but the version on NPP doesn't strike me as being "boy band-ish."  I don't hear anything in it that makes me recall with cringe worthy boy bands of the late 1990s (what a terrible time for music).  Granted, I think it would sound better with actual instruments, but I think the harmonies are very good on that song.  

Oh it's not dramatically different, just some different parts added and/or differently mixed. The part I find cringeworthy is Hollens's lead. Not that he's a bad singer, it just is so cheesy at that point overall. :55 seconds or so up until the "Spring Vacation " bit is its first go-round. Just not a fan.



It's (in my opinion) because he's singing it so... tender.  It's hard for a guy to pull that off, and then other men enjoy it.  George Michael could do it, because he had some a phenomenal voice; he could sing tender, or sweet, and people actually enjoyed it because he was so talented.

It's hard though to hear a guy with an average voice like Mr. Hollens (no disrespect) sing a song in a tender voice, and enjoy it. I just think we're not the intended audience!

Not to be completely sexist (all hell, why not?) I can listen to a female with an average voice sing tenderly and don't have any problems with it.  Just not a fan of a dude half whispering "Nothing, but nothing...." in my ear. 

Not that there's anything wrong with that.... just saying there's not much in his lead for any of us to appreciate!

Now Brian has a phenomenal voice, though... even at his age I can listen to him sing anything and just absolutely adore it, so I'm not juts on a homophobic rant here, I'm seriously trying to describe it the best I can.  It takes a special type of male voice to be able to sing tenderly, and 'pretty', and have other men actually appreciate it. 

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« Reply #143 on: August 19, 2015, 12:54:09 AM »

Agree with Ron. I've never been so analytical about it, but there's something with Sail Away that it just doesn't work as a song. Blondie's weathered voice would have deserved something better to sing. SA is just a bit too meh.
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« Reply #144 on: August 19, 2015, 01:30:01 AM »

Personally I think that SA was conceived by Brian as a Beach Boys song with Mike to sing the first verse. Just an assumption.
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« Reply #145 on: August 19, 2015, 12:25:27 PM »

It ALMOST works, but not quite.  I agree it's a waste of Blondie and Al, wish they were on something a little different but it is what it is. 
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« Reply #146 on: August 19, 2015, 09:28:28 PM »

Slightly OT, but I was shocked when I saw the vinyl version in a couple stores going for $30-$40. Paid less than $20 for TLOS and TWGMTR.
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« Reply #147 on: August 19, 2015, 11:33:37 PM »


  It's hard for a guy to pull that off, and then other men enjoy it.  George Michael could do it,

Unfortunate choice of wording there Ron.
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« Reply #148 on: August 20, 2015, 05:38:30 AM »

I enjoy NPP a lot and think it's one of the better albums in Brian's solo career. I think it's good but not great and my main issue is that it does sound a little like two (or three) projects compiled into one single album. There are the the guest appearances that work well together, the songs featuring Al that sound like they could be from a TWGMTR follow up and the songs that sound like a BW solo album in with a TLOS vibe. Along these lines:


Duets:
"Runaway Dancer" (featuring Sebu Simonian)
"On the Island" (featuring She & Him)
"Half Moon Bay" (featuring Mark Isham)
"Our Special Love" (featuring Peter Hollens)
"Guess You Had to Be There" (featuring Kacey Musgraves)
"Saturday Night" (featuring Nate Ruess)

Beach Boys album:
"This Beautiful Day"  
"What Ever Happened" (featuring Al Jardine and David Marks)
"The Right Time" (featuring Jardine and Marks)
"Tell Me Why" (featuring Jardine)
"Sail Away" (featuring Blondie Chaplin and Jardine)
"The Last Song"  
"Somewhere Quiet" 

BW solo:
"One Kind of Love"  
"Don't Worry"  
"I'm Feeling Sad"

In some ways the tracks work fine together and I can enjoy the album as whole piece, but can't help thinking that perhaps this was more than one single cohesive project. A Beach Boys album of the above tracks featuring Al, extended with similar material could have been killer. The duet songs are great, but sit better alongside each other. Again, a full album of duets could have been excellent. From a marketing point of view, either a new Beach Boys album or a set of duets/guest songs would probably have been an easier sell. The 'solo' sounding songs might have formed part of a Love and Mercy companion album, that might also have been a better selling point.

I'll probably end up listening to my alternate track listing and the TWGMTR/NPP blend I've playlisted. The Al tracks work brilliantly with the TWGMTR stuff.

I would however say that "Sail Away" it's absolutely outstanding. To me it will be a latter day Beach Boys classic, regardless of the named artist. Even now when I hear Al sing "Try and imagine how our life would be, if you could sail away with me", I'm floored.


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« Reply #149 on: August 20, 2015, 07:32:41 AM »

I'm with El Mole' on "Sail Away" -- it's one of those songs which makes that whole Beach Boys thing feel effortless!

Cheers,
Jon Blum
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