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Author Topic: Mike working on yet another new album  (Read 51624 times)
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« Reply #225 on: July 30, 2019, 10:24:59 AM »

For a new record, there has been very limited conversation about this release in any of the usual online BB's places.

Really seems to be little interest which kinda surprises me as there is not much else happening in the BB's world.

Talk of chart placings seems pointless when even hardcore BB's fans are not particularly bothered.

In fairness, I think most people have given up trying to have a serious discussion on anything Mike does (not just here but in most places) because we all know what most of the responses will be and its not worth the hassle...

I like the album, its a nice easy listen and a fun summer album.

I think the Scott produced tracks are probably the highlights and hope Mike looks towards using him more on any future albums.

The Hollander tracks didn't involve any of Mike's band outside of backing vocals (even the vocal arrangements are outsider work), which makes the covers of Surfin' and Surfin' Safari at least a bit more interesting than if they just used the live arrangements.
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« Reply #226 on: July 30, 2019, 08:16:53 PM »

Was it a mistake to license the Beach Boys name to Mike? I've seen other acts who had to append or revise the band name, due to changes in lineup, etc. I've seen "Joey Molland's Badfinger" - I think that's fair; it can't be the original Badfinger, because the other core members are deceased. Creedence Clearwater Revisited? Subtle, right? I hope everyone that goes to to their shows knows that John Fogerty is not part of the band. Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone….as opposed to the Herman's Hermits their drummer tours with in the UK. The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie. Although last I heard, Eddie was not touring, due to health problems.
We could have Mike Love's Beach Boys (Mike, Bruce, Jeffrey, etc); Brian Wilson's Beach Boys Band featuring Al Jardine; both bands are doing essentially a Beach Boys show (even if Mike does throw in a couple of his own songs - 2 songs out of 30 or 40?).
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« Reply #227 on: July 30, 2019, 10:06:13 PM »

For a new record, there has been very limited conversation about this release in any of the usual online BB's places.

Really seems to be little interest which kinda surprises me as there is not much else happening in the BB's world.

Talk of chart placings seems pointless when even hardcore BB's fans are not particularly bothered.

I agree that there has seemed to be much discussion of this album.

And I think the reason for it is that there isn't much "there" there with this album. I bought it. I'm a weirdo. I like that there are still new solo albums coming from members of The Beach Boys. However, as far as this one is considered, I think a lot of us could've jokingly guessed the track listing before seeing it and gotten pretty close. When the the biggest surprise to me is the fact that the album contains "California Beach" and "Keepin' the Summer Alive" things are looking iffy. It just seems that Mike doesn't want to challenge himself or his audience at all. Now I'm not expecting him to put out something like Dylan's "Love And Theft" or McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard at this point (or really at any point), but it'd be nice that if he is gonna do solo albums after all this time, Mike could show his supposedly still supple songwriting skills (how's that for alliteration). Nobody needs a new "California Sun" no matter how cute Totten got with the arrangement. And though I actually don't mind the new "Surfin'", what's the point? Or "Summertime Blues", why? It kinda just seems like Mike is kinda proving his detractors right with albums like this. A smattering of remakes, covers and last but not least, covers of songs he's already covered on other albums, almost 40 years ago. With a large coating of surfin', sun and fun.
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« Reply #228 on: July 31, 2019, 06:44:14 AM »

Was it a mistake to license the Beach Boys name to Mike? I've seen other acts who had to append or revise the band name, due to changes in lineup, etc. I've seen "Joey Molland's Badfinger" - I think that's fair; it can't be the original Badfinger, because the other core members are deceased. Creedence Clearwater Revisited? Subtle, right? I hope everyone that goes to to their shows knows that John Fogerty is not part of the band. Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone….as opposed to the Herman's Hermits their drummer tours with in the UK. The Turtles featuring Flo and Eddie. Although last I heard, Eddie was not touring, due to health problems.
We could have Mike Love's Beach Boys (Mike, Bruce, Jeffrey, etc); Brian Wilson's Beach Boys Band featuring Al Jardine; both bands are doing essentially a Beach Boys show (even if Mike does throw in a couple of his own songs - 2 songs out of 30 or 40?).

If you look at all the legal stuff that went down due to the BB name use issue in 1999/2000 (and beyond), I don't think something like this was ever possible.

There are a bunch of old threads on this so I won't go deep into it again, but when Carl died and then Mike and Al stopped touring together, initially *nobody* was cleared to use the BB name. Mike started touring around the Spring/Summer of 1998 under his "California Beach Band" name, Al initially didn't do anything, and Brian was ramping up touring solo.

Carl's estate, according to court documents, proposed at some point in 1998 to offer everybody (meaning the three actively touring corporate members: Brian, Mike, and Al) a non-exclusive license. They weren't simply all handed the name to use, but rather were all essentially "eligible" to get a non-exclusive license if they wanted to pursue it. I may be remembering this incorrectly, but court document from that time indicate Mike may have voted against this, but in any event, this was how the initial license roll-out happened.

Presumably, as far as I've ever been able to tell, there would have been no constraints on the naming, no qualifiers added. All three could have theoretically gone out as "The Beach Boys." While Al's later band naming is debatable as to what confusion it could have caused, I don't think anyone can deny that having two (or three!) bands out there simultaneously touring literally as "The Beach Boys" would have been crazy. It would have caused true confusion, and it would have led to multiple bands diluting/cannibalizing the trademark.

In the immediate though, it wasn't an issue. Mike obtained a non-exclusive license and started touring in the summer of 1998 with Bruce (and Dave) as "The Beach Boys."

It was only at the end of 1998, and more so into early 1999, where injunctions and lawsuits started. Al went out touring under the name "Beach Boys Family & Friends." He did so throughout 1999, with the courts later saying it was unclear whether Al had a valid license to do so or whether he even *needed* a license to do so.

The reason it all got turned on its head and Al was boxed out of using the name is when, by the end of 1999, BRI gave Mike an *exclusive* license. Al continued for a while to try to argue he didn't need a license, that the name was descriptive of his origin, etc. I don't think anybody was confusing a band with two or three female lead singers up on stage as *THE* Beach Boys. But it didn't matter. By 2000, Al had to drop any use of the name even in modified form.

I think two or all three of the guys going out as "Mike Love's Beach Boys", "Al Jardine's Beach Boys", etc. would have caused all of these same problems.

The only way such a modifier would work is if they had essentially *retired* the unmodified name and had Mike (or any one entity) using an exclusive license and still touring under a modified name like "Mike Love's Beach Boys."

But that never happened, and now never will.

I've said for many years now that if, in the aftermath of C50, nobody flexed any muscles to change the licensing set up, then it'll never happen. The only way anything will change in the band members' lifetimes is some extreme event like Mike being charged and/or convicted of some serious crime or something of that nature. And even then, if something *extreme* happened where BRI finally felt it had to do something, I'd say as long as Mike was still able and available to continue touring, things could get tied up in litigation for the rest of the band members' lives.
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« Reply #229 on: July 31, 2019, 11:35:25 PM »

For a new record, there has been very limited conversation about this release in any of the usual online BB's places.

Really seems to be little interest which kinda surprises me as there is not much else happening in the BB's world.

Talk of chart placings seems pointless when even hardcore BB's fans are not particularly bothered.

I agree that there has seemed to be much discussion of this album.

And I think the reason for it is that there isn't much "there" there with this album. I bought it. I'm a weirdo. I like that there are still new solo albums coming from members of The Beach Boys. However, as far as this one is considered, I think a lot of us could've jokingly guessed the track listing before seeing it and gotten pretty close. When the the biggest surprise to me is the fact that the album contains "California Beach" and "Keepin' the Summer Alive" things are looking iffy. It just seems that Mike doesn't want to challenge himself or his audience at all. Now I'm not expecting him to put out something like Dylan's "Love And Theft" or McCartney's Chaos and Creation in the Backyard at this point (or really at any point), but it'd be nice that if he is gonna do solo albums after all this time, Mike could show his supposedly still supple songwriting skills (how's that for alliteration). Nobody needs a new "California Sun" no matter how cute Totten got with the arrangement. And though I actually don't mind the new "Surfin'", what's the point? Or "Summertime Blues", why? It kinda just seems like Mike is kinda proving his detractors right with albums like this. A smattering of remakes, covers and last but not least, covers of songs he's already covered on other albums, almost 40 years ago. With a large coating of surfin', sun and fun.
I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided
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« Reply #230 on: August 01, 2019, 06:42:28 AM »

I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided

My guess with Mike's recent glut of albums is that they are made on the relative cheap, and the whole thing may be folded into or related to his book deal from a few years back, as I think both the book's publisher and the record label have the same parent company. Mike is able to knock these albums out pretty quickly in between busy tour dates/legs; in particular the last two were able to be knocked out pretty quickly because they're mostly covers and no time was needed to write new material.

It's ironic, about the only person in the Beach Boys at this point where I'd find some value in their knocking out a glut of albums filled with covers is Al Jardine, because his voice is so amazingly intact. There's still some value in hearing him sing stuff even when it's not super interesting material, because he's still such a great singer. Whereas, with Brian or Mike, I'd need some other hook (e.g. good *new* songs or truly uniquely inspired choices of songs to cover) to get me interested, because I don't pursue their material first and foremost for their lead vocal prowess at this stage.

So there's irony in that Al has been the last productive of the three in terms of releasing material. Considering how long it took him to get "Postcards" out, and how he's *still* kind of working that album almost a decade later (and seems stalled out on the reported "expanded" reissue of it even), I've always just gone under the assumption we'll never get another album from Al. Then, if one materializes, it'll just be a pleasant surprise.

Though, interestingly, Al and Larry Dvoskin just posted a few days ago that they finished off another of their old songs with Richie Cannata in the studio, a song called "Waves" (which I'm *desperately* hoping is not just yet another stab at reworking the now thrice-released "Waves of Love").
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« Reply #231 on: August 01, 2019, 08:50:15 AM »



It absolutely is another version of Waves of Love


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« Reply #232 on: August 01, 2019, 08:53:57 AM »

I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided

My guess with Mike's recent glut of albums is that they are made on the relative cheap, and the whole thing may be folded into or related to his book deal from a few years back, as I think both the book's publisher and the record label have the same parent company. Mike is able to knock these albums out pretty quickly in between busy tour dates/legs; in particular the last two were able to be knocked out pretty quickly because they're mostly covers and no time was needed to write new material.

It's ironic, about the only person in the Beach Boys at this point where I'd find some value in their knocking out a glut of albums filled with covers is Al Jardine, because his voice is so amazingly intact. There's still some value in hearing him sing stuff even when it's not super interesting material, because he's still such a great singer. Whereas, with Brian or Mike, I'd need some other hook (e.g. good *new* songs or truly uniquely inspired choices of songs to cover) to get me interested, because I don't pursue their material first and foremost for their lead vocal prowess at this stage.

So there's irony in that Al has been the last productive of the three in terms of releasing material. Considering how long it took him to get "Postcards" out, and how he's *still* kind of working that album almost a decade later (and seems stalled out on the reported "expanded" reissue of it even), I've always just gone under the assumption we'll never get another album from Al. Then, if one materializes, it'll just be a pleasant surprise.

Though, interestingly, Al and Larry Dvoskin just posted a few days ago that they finished off another of their old songs with Richie Cannata in the studio, a song called "Waves" (which I'm *desperately* hoping is not just yet another stab at reworking the now thrice-released "Waves of Love").

where was it posted?
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« Reply #233 on: August 01, 2019, 09:13:05 AM »

For a new record, there has been very limited conversation about this release in any of the usual online BB's places.


I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided

There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.
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« Reply #234 on: August 01, 2019, 10:56:36 AM »

I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided

My guess with Mike's recent glut of albums is that they are made on the relative cheap, and the whole thing may be folded into or related to his book deal from a few years back, as I think both the book's publisher and the record label have the same parent company. Mike is able to knock these albums out pretty quickly in between busy tour dates/legs; in particular the last two were able to be knocked out pretty quickly because they're mostly covers and no time was needed to write new material.

It's ironic, about the only person in the Beach Boys at this point where I'd find some value in their knocking out a glut of albums filled with covers is Al Jardine, because his voice is so amazingly intact. There's still some value in hearing him sing stuff even when it's not super interesting material, because he's still such a great singer. Whereas, with Brian or Mike, I'd need some other hook (e.g. good *new* songs or truly uniquely inspired choices of songs to cover) to get me interested, because I don't pursue their material first and foremost for their lead vocal prowess at this stage.

So there's irony in that Al has been the last productive of the three in terms of releasing material. Considering how long it took him to get "Postcards" out, and how he's *still* kind of working that album almost a decade later (and seems stalled out on the reported "expanded" reissue of it even), I've always just gone under the assumption we'll never get another album from Al. Then, if one materializes, it'll just be a pleasant surprise.

Though, interestingly, Al and Larry Dvoskin just posted a few days ago that they finished off another of their old songs with Richie Cannata in the studio, a song called "Waves" (which I'm *desperately* hoping is not just yet another stab at reworking the now thrice-released "Waves of Love").

where was it posted?

https://www.facebook.com/ESQEditor/posts/10157325039287487
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« Reply #235 on: August 01, 2019, 11:04:22 AM »


There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.

I would think any album containing a bad "curry" dialog line/joke spoken in a bad fake Indian accent would disqualify itself from being the best solo album. Can you imagine if Mike did a Mickey Rooney-esque Japanese impersonation talking about eating a fortune cookie at the end of Sumahama? Well that's basically what Ram Raj has.

Plus the Autotuned Help Me, Rhobot cover on Disc 2 is so unbearably bad, I would bet no fan has actually listened to it (for legit enjoyment, and not for ironic reasons) more than 1-2x max.

Despite the really, really awful "Good Vibrations, assassinations" lyric, I vote Looking Back With Love is the best Mike Love solo album. That whole album is kind of a guilty pleasure, perhaps just for the early 80s production. It has its moments, and at least Autotune wasn't invented yet.
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« Reply #236 on: August 01, 2019, 11:46:06 AM »



It absolutely is another version of Waves of Love




Probably. But geez, I hope it's something else. "Waves of Love" is a nice song, but there are THREE versions of it already released, all of which sound more than reasonably "finished."

I mean, if they got some deal to get the song in a movie or TV show or something and went it do a new remix with maybe some new overdubs, I've got no problem with that. But Dvoskin is posting about this thing like it's a NEW song *finally* finished after 26 years. So they put not one, not two, but *three different unfinished* versions of the song out back in 2012?

If they're really trying to sell this as a new thing, to the point of even giving it an alternate title, that's a pretty big bummer. Is this the only song Dvoskin has written with Al over all these years? Are they not aware Al's fans are very familiar with this song already? It's additionally infamous for being batted around and then comically sadly rejected for the 2012 reunion BB album.

But then again, Al has a precedent for rerereworking the same thing over and over, often after the track lies dormant for years. "Loop de Loop" went unreleased for 30 years, and then we got *three* variations on that one released in 1998. We got FIVE mixes of "PT Cruiser" when that was released on a CD single.

And hey, if "Waves of Love" was like the only thing Al had in the vaults, I'd sympathize with trying to work with limited source material. But he's got TONS of songs in the vaults we've never heard.
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« Reply #237 on: August 01, 2019, 11:50:43 AM »


There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.

I would think any album containing a bad "curry" dialog line/joke spoken in a bad fake Indian accent would disqualify itself from being the best solo album. Can you imagine if Mike did a Mickey Rooney-esque Japanese impersonation talking about eating a fortune cookie at the end of Sumahama? Well that's basically what Ram Raj has.

Plus the Autotuned Help Me, Rhobot cover on Disc 2 is so unbearably bad, I would bet no fan has actually listened to it (for legit enjoyment, and not for ironic reasons) more than 1-2x max.

Despite the really, really awful "Good Vibrations, assassinations" lyric, I vote Looking Back With Love is the best Mike Love solo album. That whole album is kind of a guilty pleasure, perhaps just for the early 80s production. It has its moments, and at least Autotune wasn't invented yet.

I think the 2004 loose collection of Mike songs that floated around for years is easily his best solo "album" (using that term loosely since it was presumably not a fully sequenced album; the McCartney home recording certainly would have never been released), but apart from probably just reusing "Cool Head", everything else on "Unleash" that comes from that 2004 collection is markedly worse in every way. Autotune is the most problematic; but the re-recordings just sound more shrill and screechy and artificial compared to the 2004 collection, which maintains at least a little warmth. I'm not even like a die hard fan of Christian Love's voice, but I think his leads on "Too Cruel" and "I Don't Wanna Know" sound much better than either Mike's 1978 or 2017 leads.

I actually also thought the still unused reworking of "Everyone's In Love With You" from the 2004 collection wasn't that bad, probably the only time Mike has re-recorded something that isn't way, way worse than the original. So of course that went unused on "Unleash." Which is even weirder considering back in the 2000s I think Mike actually added that reworked version to his setlist occasionally.
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« Reply #238 on: August 01, 2019, 12:13:27 PM »



It absolutely is another version of Waves of Love




Probably. But geez, I hope it's something else. "Waves of Love" is a nice song, but there are THREE versions of it already released, all of which sound more than reasonably "finished."

I mean, if they got some deal to get the song in a movie or TV show or something and went it do a new remix with maybe some new overdubs, I've got no problem with that. But Dvoskin is posting about this thing like it's a NEW song *finally* finished after 26 years. So they put not one, not two, but *three different unfinished* versions of the song out back in 2012?

If they're really trying to sell this as a new thing, to the point of even giving it an alternate title, that's a pretty big bummer. Is this the only song Dvoskin has written with Al over all these years? Are they not aware Al's fans are very familiar with this song already? It's additionally infamous for being batted around and then comically sadly rejected for the 2012 reunion BB album.

But then again, Al has a precedent for rerereworking the same thing over and over, often after the track lies dormant for years. "Loop de Loop" went unreleased for 30 years, and then we got *three* variations on that one released in 1998. We got FIVE mixes of "PT Cruiser" when that was released on a CD single.

And hey, if "Waves of Love" was like the only thing Al had in the vaults, I'd sympathize with trying to work with limited source material. But he's got TONS of songs in the vaults we've never heard.

I wonder if Al got this Reworking A Song To Death tick from Brian after witnessing Brian's neverending reworking of songs during the SMiLE era.

There's gotta be a reason why Al got to be this way, and I think it has to do with either a perfectionist instinct from Brian that rubbed off on him (Al's vocal performances are generally certainly pretty damn perfect, and he's rarely if ever let a subpar Al vocal performance slide into a song)... or maybe Al feels the need to live up to the standards (to the best of his own ability) that Brian set in his peak era.

Maybe he's trying to prove something. Hard to say.

Certainly non-linear, non-destructive editing has made it harder for indecisive people to ever finish and be happy with a song when they can keep on working on a song endlessly, and without any real additional cost.

It's somewhat of a mystery. But something just occurred to me also: Everyone (including me) has pondered how Brian gave a stellar-for-the-era vocal performance on Match Point of Your Love in 1978. Well guess who produced that track? Alan Charles Jardine, that's who. Did Al cajole a very unusually solid vocal out of Brian? Was that an early example of Al striving for perfection in the studio? Probably not, but who knows...
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« Reply #239 on: August 01, 2019, 03:41:44 PM »


There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.

I would think any album containing a bad "curry" dialog line/joke spoken in a bad fake Indian accent would disqualify itself from being the best solo album. Can you imagine if Mike did a Mickey Rooney-esque Japanese impersonation talking about eating a fortune cookie at the end of Sumahama? Well that's basically what Ram Raj has.

I completely forgot about that - it's crazy that the ONE song I thought had some originality to it on that album ends with some risqué racial* "humor" - in this day and age someone should've caught that immediately and trashed it before it left the studio. I remember when that first emerged - it took awhile for someone to notice it because barely anyone was listening to the tracks all the way through LOL

*before I get flayed alive, I want to say while I don't think it was racist in its intent at all, it is "humor" at the expense of a race. Ironic that the title of the album is Mike Love Not War - clearly no one who worked on that album would walk up to an Indian person in real life and do such an impression to their face, so why on earth do it on an album that is touting the virtues of love and peace?
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« Reply #240 on: August 01, 2019, 11:45:27 PM »


There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.

I would think any album containing a bad "curry" dialog line/joke spoken in a bad fake Indian accent would disqualify itself from being the best solo album. Can you imagine if Mike did a Mickey Rooney-esque Japanese impersonation talking about eating a fortune cookie at the end of Sumahama? Well that's basically what Ram Raj has.

I completely forgot about that - it's crazy that the ONE song I thought had some originality to it on that album ends with some risqué racial* "humor" - in this day and age someone should've caught that immediately and trashed it before it left the studio. I remember when that first emerged - it took awhile for someone to notice it because barely anyone was listening to the tracks all the way through LOL

*before I get flayed alive, I want to say while I don't think it was racist in its intent at all, it is "humor" at the expense of a race. Ironic that the title of the album is Mike Love Not War - clearly no one who worked on that album would walk up to an Indian person in real life and do such an impression to their face, so why on earth do it on an album that is touting the virtues of love and peace?
Okay, I read about it all over this board, then I got the cd and finally heard it, and my reaction was "what was all the fuss about?" Have we really gotten that hypersensitive these days?
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« Reply #241 on: August 02, 2019, 03:10:58 AM »


There's no doubt Unleash the Love - essentially a reworked "Mike Love Not War" - is Mike's best solo project, with some good self-written songs, even if the production is somewhat sterile.  It's unfortunate it took so long for it to become a reality because his voice was so much better when Mike Love Not War was recorded.  His voice sounded really bad on the Christmas album Reason for the Season but with the magic of autotune and who knows what else actually sounded a little improved on 12 Sides of  Summer.

I would think any album containing a bad "curry" dialog line/joke spoken in a bad fake Indian accent would disqualify itself from being the best solo album. Can you imagine if Mike did a Mickey Rooney-esque Japanese impersonation talking about eating a fortune cookie at the end of Sumahama? Well that's basically what Ram Raj has.

I completely forgot about that - it's crazy that the ONE song I thought had some originality to it on that album ends with some risqué racial* "humor" - in this day and age someone should've caught that immediately and trashed it before it left the studio. I remember when that first emerged - it took awhile for someone to notice it because barely anyone was listening to the tracks all the way through LOL

*before I get flayed alive, I want to say while I don't think it was racist in its intent at all, it is "humor" at the expense of a race. Ironic that the title of the album is Mike Love Not War - clearly no one who worked on that album would walk up to an Indian person in real life and do such an impression to their face, so why on earth do it on an album that is touting the virtues of love and peace?
Okay, I read about it all over this board, then I got the cd and finally heard it, and my reaction was "what was all the fuss about?" Have we really gotten that hypersensitive these days?

Would you say the same line in the same way directly to the face of an Indian person?

If no, then why? Could it be because it is perpetuating a stereotype and generalizing an entire race by mimicking an accent? And if yes, would you also be cool with Mike releasing an album with a vocal snippet of someone mimicking an African American and stereotyping the food they eat? Why would that be any different?  

If that's "hypersensitivity", guilty as friggin charged. What you call hypersensitivity I just call not being a prick.

edit: Again I'll say, I don't think the intent was ill-natured at all...Especially in an age where we all have probably seen more than one episode of the Simpsons. But I think we should still ask the question, is it cool to mimick accents and continue to use racial/cultural stereotypes? No, it's not. When you get down to it, what is the purpose of mimicking someone's accent and stereotyping their culture? Is it bringing that person up? Or is it bringing them down? Because it's doing one or the other and I'm fairly certain it's not making a positive impact on their lives. So why even have such a thing on an album that is supposed to have a positive impact on the world?
« Last Edit: August 02, 2019, 03:22:50 AM by rab2591 » Logged

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« Reply #242 on: August 02, 2019, 10:05:18 AM »

I think Mike made his artistic statement with Unleash the Love. The majority of songs on disc one were new songs - at least to fans like me who don't have access to every bootleg or unreleased tape. I bought Unleash the Love, and enjoyed hearing what Mike could come up with this late in the game. I listened to the Christmas album, but I didn't feel I needed to add it to my collection. And the new one, not really interested. Wondering if maybe Mike had a 3 album deal and recorded this one just to get something out? Whatever, I guess it's impressive that he's putting stuff out. I don't see Brian or Al rushing to get anything new out. How long did it take Al to record Postcards? Maybe we can expect a followup when Al's 90.  Undecided

My guess with Mike's recent glut of albums is that they are made on the relative cheap, and the whole thing may be folded into or related to his book deal from a few years back, as I think both the book's publisher and the record label have the same parent company. Mike is able to knock these albums out pretty quickly in between busy tour dates/legs; in particular the last two were able to be knocked out pretty quickly because they're mostly covers and no time was needed to write new material.

It's ironic, about the only person in the Beach Boys at this point where I'd find some value in their knocking out a glut of albums filled with covers is Al Jardine, because his voice is so amazingly intact. There's still some value in hearing him sing stuff even when it's not super interesting material, because he's still such a great singer. Whereas, with Brian or Mike, I'd need some other hook (e.g. good *new* songs or truly uniquely inspired choices of songs to cover) to get me interested, because I don't pursue their material first and foremost for their lead vocal prowess at this stage.

So there's irony in that Al has been the last productive of the three in terms of releasing material. Considering how long it took him to get "Postcards" out, and how he's *still* kind of working that album almost a decade later (and seems stalled out on the reported "expanded" reissue of it even), I've always just gone under the assumption we'll never get another album from Al. Then, if one materializes, it'll just be a pleasant surprise.

Though, interestingly, Al and Larry Dvoskin just posted a few days ago that they finished off another of their old songs with Richie Cannata in the studio, a song called "Waves" (which I'm *desperately* hoping is not just yet another stab at reworking the now thrice-released "Waves of Love").

where was it posted?

https://www.facebook.com/ESQEditor/posts/10157325039287487

On Doe's unreleased page, it has this entry:

Life's A Wave (Alan Jardine - Dvoskin - Brown)

Maybe it is that instead?

http://www.bellagio10452.com/vaults.html
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« Reply #243 on: August 02, 2019, 09:09:49 PM »

Listened to the album...for the most part the production is pretty good, the whole thing in fact is miles better than Waves of Love for the most part... but Mike’s voice is horrible. It’s shot...he’s trying, and I will give him all the credit for that, but the songs don’t really suit his current voice...

Except Girl from Impanema. Holy sh*t was this great. I don’t care if anyone disagrees with me but I’ll have it in my top ten Beach Boy solo tracks that aren’t from Pacific Ocean Blue (or BWPS because that doesn’t really count) . THIS is the type of stuff Mike should be doing these days, and I loved every aspect of it. Bravo


Keeping The Summer Alive? Less said about that, the better.

Rockaway Beach was actually pretty good again minus Mike’s voice. Had they done something like this back in, uh, 1995, it would’ve been great. Mike though brought it down. Not for lack of trying...just doesn’t have it in that style of singing.

Only my opinion.
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« Reply #244 on: August 02, 2019, 09:17:42 PM »

https://cheddar.com/media/the-beach-boys-mike-love-previews-new-album-sides-of-summer

Link is to a 4 minute interview Mike gave on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to promote his album.

Fitting location, I suppose.

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« Reply #245 on: August 03, 2019, 12:39:28 AM »

I actually really like the overall production of the version of "Here Comes The Sun", from a musical point of view. It's an interesting different approach to the song.
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« Reply #246 on: August 05, 2019, 11:34:02 AM »

I actually really like the overall production of the version of "Here Comes The Sun", from a musical point of view. It's an interesting different approach to the song.

When they brought that out at the Albert Hall I wondered if all the band were in the same key

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« Reply #247 on: August 07, 2019, 11:06:06 AM »

UEF,

The Albert Hall performance was rough, but the studio version sounds great, and it seems the band has gotten better at playing the song. When they played it at Ravinia on Sunday, the harmonies were great.
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« Reply #248 on: August 07, 2019, 03:42:27 PM »

“The only way anything will change in the band members' lifetimes is some extreme event like Mike being charged and/or convicted of some serious crime or something of that nature”

Wouldn’t his solo albums qualify as that?
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« Reply #249 on: August 08, 2019, 04:46:44 PM »

LOL
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