TLOS DVD

[buddhahat]

I have to say I found this unexpectedly enjoyable. It starts off looking a bit staged with lots of corny cliches about Brian having come full circle, but after a while there is footage of Brian in the studio and he looks engaged and in control of things, and although I suspect some will disagree, it doesn't look at all staged. It's a much better indication of how capable Brian is in a studio environment than the BWPS footage was imo. Anyway don't want to get hopes up as opinions will inevitably differ, but personally the overall sense I got from the short movie was that Brian was much more confident and positive in creating this new album.

[STE]

I wish there was more of that "Scott-cam", what a treat would be to see Brian creating!

[buddhahat]

Yeah they always scrimp on the 'cam' footage! I'd give anything to see more from the Darian Cam in Beautiful Dreamer.

[Loaf]

Probyn's "speech" in the group circle was embarrassing, and i had an "uh-oh, here we go..." feeling about the rest of the DVD, but it got much better.

It was such a joy to see Brian engaging with the production. He's a shy man, and having a camera on him while he's working isn't the best way to catch him unguarded, but there were moments, especially at Scott's place. I got the feeling that there were plenty more moments were he was involved in the work, but these were not shown on the DVD, and the film producer preferred to show Brian's fake smiles.

i hate it when he forces a smile (no pun intended), like on the "live" performances on the disc.

i don't want my musical heroes to smile if they don't want to. I am perfectly happy to have them sit there with whatever expression they feel like having.

[Bean Bag]

Overall, what's value of the DVD?

I just pulled the trigger on the single disk.  Amazon had it for 8.99!  The DVD version was 18!

I also figured the DVD was "watch once and file"...did I do right?  HELP -- I can still change the order within the hour!!!!

[Loaf]

It looks like if you live in the USA and get VH1, the DVD bonuses are being shown as a half-hour show, so you can watch it for free.

I paid £11.99 for the CD/DVD, versus £8.99 for the CD, so an extra £3...was it worth it? Maybe.

put it this way...i'd rather have paid the extra £3 and gotten all 4 bonus audio tracks, but that's not going to happen...

[elnombre]

If you're a Brian fan, what's $18? The guy only releases an album once every few years.

[Roger Ryan]

Per the discussion we were having earlier regarding the "live" in-studio footage, my take is that the "Good Kind Of Love" footage is primarily live whereas the "Forever You'll Be My Surfer Girl" performance is lip (and band) synched to the album version. Did a less than stellar performance from Brian cause the producers to edit the footage around the pre-existing track? Although the two performances are joined together seamlessly, Brian sounds like he's live on GKOL, but, visually, he's hardly ever in synch with the FYBMSG vocal track. There are several moments during the latter song where other members of the band appear to be out of synch with the audio track as well (percussion is off and so are the guitars). It's not a big deal to me, but given how well Brian performed "Southern California" and other songs live on the Abbey Road show, could they not have simply chosen a different track to perform live for the DVD?

The behind-the-scenes stuff is fun and appears to be a fairly accurate depiction of Brian and the band recording the album. I wouldn't say it was worth another nine dollars and I'm ticked that this "Deluxe" version does not include the three bonus tracks found on Best Buy single disc version.

[brother john]

I know we al love Brian, but that film is almost unwatchable. Its really pleasing to see Brian looking and sounding so well, and Probyn and Jeff come across well, but the whole thing is just an embarrassing exercise in choreographed sycophancy, and to anyone but us loyal fans, who are used to this 'Look, everyone, Brian's really in control, watch him call the shots in the studio' kind of nonsense it would be the cringe of the century. Why do I always feel that someone is trying to manipulate me whenever I see any publicity from Camp Melinda & Co. Who are they kidding? What's the point? I just wish they'd be honest for once, and paint a realistic picture rather than present this never-ending chocolate-box whimsy, which we all know is just for show.

[Amy B.]

I haven't seen the DVD, but is it possible that Brian really was in control? That they filmed whatever they could get and figured if Brian didn't do anything, they wouldn't release the DVD but since he did, they used the best footage? Brian seems really into this album. According to people who know Brian, he does have his good days where he is engaged. I don't understand why any sign of him being engaged is dismissed as "staged."

I wonder if Brian was told to talk about Arthur Koestler in the IJWMFTT doc.

[b00ts]

It is pretty obvious in the SMiLe DVD, WIRWFC Press Kit, etc. which scenes are staged for the camera. This doesn't mean that Brian didn't work on the album. I don't think people are fully fair to him for the work he has done over the past 10 years. He does have a great group behind him that works very hard, but just because there are staged clips on the videos, it doesn't mean that he is not doing the work on the records. A lot of the DVDs are probably staged;iIt is probably not easy for him to "act" as easily as Probyn, Jeff, Darian, et cetera.

That said, the DVD was kind of a circle-jerk.  I am sick of hearing about all Brian's been through in context with his latest work, as it sounds mitigatory to me and I don't believe he is in need of explanations for his new work. It stands up with the rest of his catalogue and is the latest in a line of albums that includes "Today!" "Summer Days..." "Pet Sounds" "Love You" "Brian Wilson 1988" "SMiLe" and now this... and I believe that it's his best solo record. So the condescending, apologetic tone of his EPK pisses me off, just as I can't stand how every fucking interview with him begins with Q: How are you feeling today? A: A lot better, it has been rough this past [Year/Month/5 years] but I am coming out of it now. Ask him some questions relating to the music! A lot of us care about it, you know...

[Chris Brown]

My theory on any of these "in the studio" videos is that while a lot of things on there are staged, they are meant to try and re-create how Brian works when cameras aren't around.  He can't act natural and do his thing with cameras on him, but I really think that when he's in the studio without that pressure, he really is in control to a large degree. 

Maybe he's not the General Patton of the studio anymore, but like the band says (repeatedly), he knows what he wants, and knows what needs to be done to get it.  I thought one of the coolest parts of the DVD (I actually caught it on VH1 Classic the other night) was where Taylor was talking about him teaching them their vocal parts, and how a lot of times they don't sound like they will work.  But the voices come together, and its magical.  Sounds just like what everybody who worked with Brian during the mid 60's said about him.  The part where Scott was talking about how the cool chord change in the chorus of "Midnight's Another Day" happened...Brian walks by and casually throws him the chord, and its brilliantly off the wall.  Stuff like that is always fun to hear about, especially now when in so many other ways he isn't the same guy he was 45 years ago.  But put him in a studio or at a piano, and he's still the great Brian Wilson.

[Loaf]

Personally, i would rather not have the recreations of the in-studio experience, if all they are are recreations. And if that meant there wasn't enough footage for a bonus DVD (for which I paid extra), then that is fine with me.

I would prefer 20 minutes of unedited Scott-cam footage. That's the stuff real BW fans want to see and would be willing to pay for.

[elnombre]

It is pretty obvious in the SMiLe DVD, WIRWFC Press Kit, etc. which scenes are staged for the camera. This doesn't mean that Brian didn't work on the album. I don't think people are fully fair to him for the work he has done over the past 10 years. He does have a great group behind him that works very hard, but just because there are staged clips on the videos, it doesn't mean that he is not doing the work on the records. A lot of the DVDs are probably staged;iIt is probably not easy for him to "act" as easily as Probyn, Jeff, Darian, et cetera.

That said, the DVD was kind of a circle-jerk.  I am sick of hearing about all Brian's been through in context with his latest work, as it sounds mitigatory to me and I don't believe he is in need of explanations for his new work. It stands up with the rest of his catalogue and is the latest in a line of albums that includes "Today!" "Summer Days..." "Pet Sounds" "Love You" "Brian Wilson 1988" "SMiLe" and now this... and I believe that it's his best solo record. So the condescending, apologetic tone of his EPK pisses me off, just as I can't stand how every foda interview with him begins with Q: How are you feeling today? A: A lot better, it has been rough this past [Year/Month/5 years] but I am coming out of it now. Ask him some questions relating to the music! A lot of us care about it, you know...

I couldn't agree more, but of course journalists will always want to hone in on the car-crash aspects of his life, same as they do with everyone else's.

[Bean Bag]

I know we al love Brian, but that film is almost unwatchable. Its really pleasing to see Brian looking and sounding so well, and Probyn and Jeff come across well, but the whole thing is just an embarrassing exercise in choreographed sycophancy, and to anyone but us loyal fans, who are used to this 'Look, everyone, Brian's really in control, watch him call the shots in the studio' kind of nonsense it would be the cringe of the century. Why do I always feel that someone is trying to manipulate me whenever I see any publicity from Camp Melinda & Co. Who are they kidding? What's the point? I just wish they'd be honest for once, and paint a realistic picture rather than present this never-ending chocolate-box whimsy, which we all know is just for show.

Yeah, I hear ya brother!  This goes back to some of those threads (are we getting the real Brian).  I say you're right...we're still fed a line.  Which is ..... .  It doesn't bother me...cuz at least we're getting product...but its a huge compromise.  We all know it.

This really hit me as I watched all those old 1970s TV appearance by Brian...where he talks openly about using coke and dope and acid.  It's not that I require such naked honesty...but c'mon...the dude's been places.  And I get it that he's fine now.  The Don Was film for me was more realistic...so I figured I didn't need this DVD version too.

[jeffcdo]

How exactly does the DVD compare to the VH-1 special?  I initially read that they are totally different, but the descriptions here of the DVD sound like they are nearly the same.

[TdHabib]

How exactly does the DVD compare to the VH-1 special?  I initially read that they are totally different, but the descriptions here of the DVD sound like they are nearly the same.

They have some of the same content, but the DVD has lots of exclusive stuff...

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That said, the DVD was kind of a circle-jerk.  I am sick of hearing about all Brian's been through in context with his latest work, as it sounds mitigatory to me and I don't believe he is in need of explanations for his new work. It stands up with the rest of his catalogue and is the latest in a line of albums that includes "Today!" "Summer Days..." "Pet Sounds" "Love You" "Brian Wilson 1988" "SMiLe" and now this... and I believe that it's his best solo record. So the condescending, apologetic tone of his EPK pisses me off, just as I can't stand how every foda interview with him begins with Q: How are you feeling today? A: A lot better, it has been rough this past [Year/Month/5 years] but I am coming out of it now. Ask him some questions relating to the music! A lot of us care about it, you know...

Well put. What really flips my sh*t is that it comes across as "You know how we said Brian's Back? Well he wasn't, not really. But he's back now! Honest!"

[DonnaK]

I bought 2 cd's from Best Buy yesterday, 1 regular cd/dvd and 1 with the bonus tracks. I just watched the dvd and to say the least, I'm a bit disappointed. I taped the VH1 show the other night, and basically it is the same thing. I paid extra to get this and I paid extra for 3 bonus tracks and I paid extra to iTunes for 2 bonus tracks. All in all, I personally don't think the album is all that great. Sorry folks. Maybe I've listened to Pet Sounds and Smile one to many times, but TLOS just doesn't cut it in my book. I do love Southern California for it's nostalgia tho, it reminds be of the ending of the Wilson brothers as a whole and the end of the BB as we knew them. I'm putting this one to bed.

[Bean Bag]

My single disc version arrived today from Amazon.    (Glad I got the $8.99 single disc -- and TIVO'd the VH1 DVD content!)

I've only been able to listen to the first few tracks so far -- and so far I love it! 

It's a lot better than I had hoped.  I guess I didn't have super high expectations...but I agree the music sounds great -- well performed, interesting arrangements that go places that aren't cliche and aren't expected.

The vocals sound fine....I think this sounds way more together than GIOMH.   


nothing to complain about from me!!

[DonnaK]

Maybe I was expecting another Pet Sounds or something, but I have had more time to listen to it and I AM starting to like it!!!!!! I really do like So. Cal, Oh Mi Amor, Midnight's AD, and a bit more. I think the AOL Sessions are great especially when I can go back and see Wonderful and Smile as well as TLOS cuts.

I guess it's getting the better of me at last!!!!

D

[Dan Lega]

       WOW!  Is anyone else as shocked as I am that the DVD of "That Lucky Old Sun" does NOT include a full video performance of the work?!  Seriously, all this time I thought the DVD was going to have a full live performance of "That Lucky Old Sun".  I'm flabbergasted that it only has, what, one (or is it two) songs on video.  I mean, I'm so shocked and disappointed that I really don't want to even listen to it right now.  I don't remember seeing anything that said the DVD was only going to be a documentary and a video clip of one or two songs.  Am I the only one who was this hornswaggled?


             Love and merci (and not so lucky),     Dan Lega

[GoofyJeff]

a serious misstep as far as I'm concerned, especially when the band ran thru the whole of TLOS at least FIVE times for the cameras!!!

Then again, releasing the whole thing would make sense, which is precisely why it wasn't released.   

[Don't Back Down]

I was somewhat let down by the DVD. I was expecting more of a BWPS dvd approach, have a good amount of studio footage separate from interviews and the like, and then the full Capitol performance. More bang for your buck. oh well, nevertheless it's a great album, I think.

[Pretty Funky]

The cynic in me says that is just a teaser! Wait until after the album has been toured and I would put money on a complete album DVD.