Joe Thomas version of Surfs Up

[Aegir]

I love Imagination. Even the arrangements.

[Awesoman]

Supposedly Brian's vocals were autotuned on GIOMH, and even though I'm one of maybe 4 people who actually LIKED GIOMH, well... you know how his vocals turned out on that one.

My understanding is that  few, if any, of the vocal tracks on GIOMH were auto-tuned or ProTooled. Maybe the track cut in 2002.

A lot of people on the, for want of a better word, 'inside' were bitterly disappointed with how the whole project turned out.

Can't say I'm terribly surprised about that.  When you get three fellow legends (namely Elton John, Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney) to appear on your album and the music is half-ass, it's a big disappointment.  Fans had been clamoring for Brian Wilson to recording something with McCartney for years and the bland, odd and slightly homo-erotic song "A Friend Like You" is what we get?  Too bad.  At least Carl's terrific vocal of "Soul Searchin'" was finally released. 

[Alex]

The collaborations were the best songs on the album. Soul Searchin' is also great. Perhaps Brian should've had more guest spots on the album. Elton, Clapton, and Billy Shears, er, Paul, practically carried the album for Brian. I'd personally like to see Brian collaborate with Wayne Coyne or Thom Yorke. Brian could bring some much needed sunshine into the bleak world of Radiohead.

[Awesoman]

Billy Shears, er, Paul, practically carried the album for Brian.

You mean he carried the one song he performed on?  Personally I felt McCartney's appearance on the song was completely wasted.  Other than primarily singing "A friend like you" repeatedly his presence was not particularly defined.  Would have been interesting if he had sung some of the verses; or even better scrapped this song completely and co-wrote a song with Brian that would have been better than this one. 

[the captain]

I thought the McCartney duet was among the worst few songs on the album. Terrible, really. A poor song with a poor performance from BW.

[Sheriff John Stone]

I thought the McCartney duet was among the worst few songs on the album. Terrible, really. A poor song with a poor performance from BW.

I think Brian's lead on "A Friend Like You" is his best vocal on the album.

But I do agree that the song was a wasted opportunity. Did McCartney even bother to record his part with Brian present?

The Beach Boys and Brian have certainly wasted some opportunities to do something really special or exciting with some bonafide superstars - Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Lindsey Buckingham (although HCGHPOBTM wasn't that bad), Elton John, The Fat Boys....

[Alex]

Well, the ones with Elton, Clapton, and Carl were good, and I kinda like Desert Drive. No matter how bad anyone thinks GIOMH is, its still better than MIU, LA, KTSA, Still Cruisin', and SIP. I'd imagine it's better than Looking Back With Love.

[Sheriff John Stone]

ascrodin, since you're a fan of GIOMH, you would be a good one to ask my question.

When I heard that Elton John was "guesting" on the album, I got a little excited - and optimistic. I didn't know what to expect, but I thought Brian Wilson AND Elton John together couldn't lose.

I'll admit I was also naive, because thoughts of "Your Song" and "Tiny Dancer" on the serious side, and "Crocodile Rock" and "I'm Still Standing" on the rock & roll side were flashing through my head.

No, I honestly didn't expect a stone cold classic, but "How Could We Still Be Dancin"? Come on.

BTW, give MIU, LA, and KTSA another good listen.

[Alex]

No, I honestly didn't expect a stone cold classic, but "How Could We Still Be Dancin"? Come on.

Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but I love that song. "Dancin, dancin, dance the night away, dance the night away..." I guess I'm in the minority on this one.

[Wilsonista]

Relative speaking, HCWSBD has the best brian background vocals on GIOMH.  How anyone could NOT like that track is beyond me.

[the captain]

No, I honestly didn't expect a stone cold classic, but "How Could We Still Be Dancin"? Come on.

I really like HCWSBD. It is among my favorites on the album. I would've preferred a spirited lead vocal from Brian on it to the Elton one, but I'm OK with that, I guess.

As for the "superstar guesting" in general, I wish they'd never bothered. Overwhelmingly, across pop musical genres, I think they're ridiculous, usually doing neither artist justice. Usually it's some has-been Clive Davis is trying to resurrect paired with some horrific cheesy adult contemporary popster (I'm looking RIGHT AT YOU, Prince and Sheryl Crow).