I like the mix, and like *most* of Brian's vocals...but not so much the songs; the rest after San Francisco IMHO is unlistenable. Hold Back Time may just be the worst song Brian's ever been involved with on some level.
I read somewhere a ways back that there was some sort of rumor that they "accidentally" used a guide vocal/rough take of "Hold Back Time."
How they would accidentally mix and master an earlier version of the song and it would make it to release is something I can't explain.
It could very well be a weird little-cited urban legend based on Brian's vocal syncing on that song being weirdly off.
But it's interesting to think of the possibility that a more polished version of the song is laying around somewhere in the vaults.
When OCA first came out, I wasn't that into it. The title track was nice, but the whole thing was so weird and non-Brian-like, I never initially gave it a *ton* of listens. Then as time went on, I grew to really like it. I have mixed feelings about VDP's drenched-in-nostalgia lyrics. Very literate (obviously), and as Elvis Costello has alluded to, VDP's lyrics almost always *sound* good when sung, in terms of meter, etc.
But it's Brian's vocal stacks that I love most on the album. Even with some harmonizer/synthesizer sort of aid, his (and/or VDP's, I guess it's not entire clear) vocal arrangements and performances are stunning.
I also think it's really interesting to hear Brian sing an entire album of *new* music, but written by someone else. Even with his sort of whiney, crazed-sounding voice, his vocals on OCA are at times full of energy and enthusiasm if nothing else.