Friends

[Bedroom Tapes]

I think this album contains the best BB group vocals of the 60's.  It's very cohesive, flows nicely, and I enjoy every track on the album.

[carl r]

I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm talking rubbish, but I think Friends is Smile II.

Why?

Musical experimentation. No following albums had the kind of instrumental backing of, say, Busy Doin' Nothing, Diamond Head or the Euro-pop of Passing By.

A flow to the album, although with abrupt and deliberate spikes. Brian still hanging out with his hippy friends, jamming and trying to find the new sounds. No formal collaboration with the hightened expectations, but low-key external songwriting inputs are feeding in here and there.

Another difference is that there is more group collaboration with the lyrics, and Dennis adding his new songs.

I reckon it was a slow slide from this point, but what a pinnacle of achievement this is.

[phirnis]

I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm talking rubbish, but I think Friends is Smile II.
...

No rubbish at all. Listen to the title track, it's sort of an easygoing campfire version of the Smile aesthetic.

[Wrightfan]

I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm talking rubbish, but I think Friends is Smile II.
...

No rubbish at all. Listen to the title track, it's sort of an easygoing campfire version of the Smile aesthetic.

There's is a lot of SMiLE influence in my opinion:
Wake the World reminds me of Carl's production from the SMiLE era "Tones" (especially in the "Wake the world for a

But the one that really gets me is Little Bird. Listen to the part that goes "Little Bird up in a tree..." The drums, bass, and trumpets are EXACLTY like the "Child is Father of the Man" chorus. It's not even a homage, it's about 100% accurate.

[Charles LePage @ ComicList]

But the one that really gets me is Little Bird. Listen to the part that goes "Little Bird up in a tree..." The drums, bass, and trumpets are EXACLTY like the "Child is Father of the Man" chorus. It's not even a homage, it's about 100% accurate.

Agreed:

http://thesmileshop.net/index.php/Child_Is_Father_Of_The_Man

[Wrightfan]

But the one that really gets me is Little Bird. Listen to the part that goes "Little Bird up in a tree..." The drums, bass, and trumpets are EXACLTY like the "Child is Father of the Man" chorus. It's not even a homage, it's about 100% accurate.

Agreed:

http://thesmileshop.net/index.php/Child_Is_Father_Of_The_Man

Cool, though now I'm intrigued about that 1971 session. What's that about?

[Alex]

But the one that really gets me is Little Bird. Listen to the part that goes "Little Bird up in a tree..." The drums, bass, and trumpets are EXACLTY like the "Child is Father of the Man" chorus. It's not even a homage, it's about 100% accurate.

Agreed:

http://thesmileshop.net/index.php/Child_Is_Father_Of_The_Man

Cool, though now I'm intrigued about that 1971 session. What's that about?

Was that session the tag to Surf's Up?

[CarlsDarlin]

4.  I love Wake the World, Be Still, Be Here In The morning, and Little Bird.

[TimeToGetAlone]

It has come to my attention that I never rated this album, which is strange because I could have sworn I had.  Anyways, this is a very nice and tranquil album with a fairly consistent tone to it.  The title track is just great and although some feel underdeveloped, others sound just right in the low-key production.  This is the last album I feel Brian controlled before withdrawing a little.  That's not to say he wasn't still an important contributor, but I'm sure most of you are familiar with what I mean.

Meant For You - 4.5/5
Friends - 5/5
Wake the World - 4.5/5
Be Here in the Mornin' - 4.5/5
When A Man Needs a Woman - 3.5/5
Passing By - 4/5
Anna Lee, the Healer - 4/5
Little Bird - 5/5
Be Still - 3/5
Busy Doin' Nothin' - 4.5/5
Diamond Head - 3/5
Transcendental Meditation - 4/5

An easy four.

[sleeptalk]

"meant for you" is one of the sweetest little songs of all time, warms the heart from the second the vocal comes in. starting the album with that one was a genius move...closing with "transcendental meditation," on the other hand, is the record's only real fault in my opinion. shouldn't have been on the record at all.

still, i can forgive it. 4.5 rounded up...

[hypehat]

If they had closed this record with 'A Time To Live In Dreams', wouldn't it have been just perfect?

[nobody]

If they had closed this record with 'A Time To Live In Dreams', wouldn't it have been just perfect?

the version i've heard has a much different sound to the rest of the album, which is pretty dry

"little bird" is really something special.

[sleeptalk]

If they had closed this record with 'A Time To Live In Dreams', wouldn't it have been just perfect?

yes! i feel that.

[Aegir]

If I were the type to say "My ideal version of X album would have these tracks on it" (which I'm not), I would replace Be Still with A Time to Live in Dreams.

[sleeptalk]

If I were the type to say "My ideal version of X album would have these tracks on it" (which I'm not), I would replace Be Still with A Time to Live in Dreams.

too cool?

[Aegir]

I just feel like it screws with the artistic intent. An album is a specific collection of songs that's meant to be listened to in a certain way. To use an extreme examply, if everyone had access to the multitracks and were musically competent, they would probably remix all the songs on every album by every band to their liking. You're not really a fan of the band, then, you're a fan of yourself.

Besides the music itself, another element of a band is how they present it.

I'm not too cool, I'm too weird.

[the captain]

I just feel like it screws with the artistic intent. An album is a specific collection of songs that's meant to be listened to in a certain way. To use an extreme examply, if everyone had access to the multitracks and were musically competent, they would probably remix all the songs on every album by every band to their liking. You're not really a fan of the band, then, you're a fan of yourself.

Besides the music itself, another element of a band is how they present it.

I'm not too cool, I'm too weird.

I mostly agree with you here, Aegir. But I think listeners probably overdo the idea of an album being a specific set of songs presented in a specific way sometimes, too. It seems to me that people want their favorite bands/musicians to have had some grand master plan or insight (see: Smile) when in reality a lot of the time an album is a collection of the songs that are done and ready to be released. Not that it's just a random dumping of material, either. But labels probably have more input into song choice and sequencing on many albums than artists do.

[Aegir]

Well, I don't know, I think the thing with sequencing is that if you listen to an album enough, you expect one song to flow into another. When one song ends, I hear the intro to the next song on the album in my mind. The twofers ruined this somewhat. After the "POOF" at the end of "Mama Says", you're supposed to hear the click of the record ending. Instead the Cantina version of "Heroes and Villains" starts up.

[the captain]

Well, I don't know, I think the thing with sequencing is that if you listen to an album enough, you expect one song to flow into another. When one song ends, I hear the intro to the next song on the album in my mind.

Sure, but this is based in large part on what your mind knows is the "correct" sequence--which may or may not have much to do with some grand artistic plan on the musicians' part. There are plenty of Beach Boys songs that I have entirely re-sequenced in my head because my head has been trained to hear them in the context of mix discs I have done. Same phenomenon.

But your initial point is one I agree with: re-sequencing is playing god. I just don't believe the artists necessarily were the gods as often as assumed on the originals.

[sleeptalk]

But your initial point is one I agree with: re-sequencing is playing god. I just don't believe the artists necessarily were the gods as often as assumed on the originals.

both points are completely irrelevant when an album isn't so carefully put together (a la Pet Sounds or SMiLE) and/or it simply could have been better. this is true of pretty much any BB album less the paranthetically referenced.

[the captain]

Faulty logic. My point IS irrelevant, in that it was really a tangent off Aegir's point. But his point is absolutely not irrelevant, because you're going off the assumption that any album whose sequencing you don't agree with is not carefully put together, or could have been better put together. You don't think someone--whether it's the Beach Boys or not (which gets at my point) took care in putting them together? Or, more to the point (as opposed to irrelevant to it), you think you could do that objectively "better"?

Your careless or flawed sequencing is someone else's PERFECT sequencing. I know someone who would argue to the death FOR Transcendental Meditation as the finale of that album, and his BBs views are nothing if not well thought out and insightful. In short, you're not disproving Aegir's "playing god" point at all. Far from irrelevant, it is proven by you.

To put it another way, mind your manners. Disagree with some courtesy.

[sleeptalk]

Your careless or flawed sequencing is someone else's PERFECT sequencing. I know someone who would argue to the death FOR Transcendental Meditation as the finale of that album, and his BBs views are nothing if not well thought out and insightful. In short, you're not disproving Aegir's "playing god" point at all. Far from irrelevant, it is proven by you.

lol, no. it's not "playing god," it's a harmless "what if." and yes, of course, we all have different ideal "what if" scenarios. that's the kind of thing that makes a message board fun.  

you also misunderstand the meaning of "irrelevant" in the context i used it: my point was, unless there really is a "godly" mind and intent behind a tracklisting (like, say, Pet Sounds or Smile), then resequencing and reimagining a record in a way is far from sacrilegious. are we to reserve the same reverence for KTSA that we would Pet Sounds? and hell, some people can find fault with Pet Sounds — i heard someone in another thread say they wish it ended with "Trombone Dixie." and why not discuss things in this way? it is, again, the kind of thing that leads to the insights and debates that make message boards worthwhile.

To put it another way, mind your manners. Disagree with some courtesy.

you ought to grow some thicker skin if this really chaps your ass so much.

[the captain]

Stop looking at my ass and giving me advice in how I care for it.

I don't have any problem with rearranging sequencing for yourself and discussing it; I do it all the time.

[sleeptalk]

Stop looking at my ass and giving me advice in how I care for it.

i can't help it; i truly care for you, luther. here, just let me apply a bit of neosporin...

[sockittome]

I think I'd much prefer to play God, than play god.