Summer In Paradise

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

This is sad, but it's now been so long since there was any new Beach Boys release (17 years), that Summer In Paradise is actually starting to sound good to me.

I understand most people would not agree, but I personally would welcome a new release with ANY original Beach Boys. The guys that tour as the Beach Boys do a great job, and IMO are still the closest you're going to get to the original BBs vocally.

Begin super-critical responses: 

[The Heartical Don]

Hello John -

did your parents speak often about their love for their respective parents? And do you recall by any chance how stern your potty-training was?

[phirnis]

I'd rather listen to both BB85 and Still Cruisin' for days on end. While I appreciate the two or three decent songs the group managed to record even for an album as disastrous as this, just thinking about Remember Walking In The Sand and Slow Summer Dancin' makes me want to reach for a sick bag. By the way, The Beach Boys, from a certain point on, should have never been allowed to use any sax solos on their recordings anymore. If they were to reunite, sax solos should be the number one thing to avoid at any cost.

[Andrew G. Doe]

The last time... no, the last three times I listened to SIP, it was because I was being paid to.

And it wasn't enough.

[the captain]

It sounds the way feces smells. If it were released under some other band's name (and so fans weren't digging for something to like), I'm convinced nobody would bother pretending.

[Loaf]

This is sad, but it's now been so long since there was any new Beach Boys release (17 years), that Summer In Paradise is actually starting to sound good to me.

I understand most people would not agree, but I personally would welcome a new release with ANY original Beach Boys. The guys that tour as the Beach Boys do a great job, and IMO are still the closest you're going to get to the original BBs vocally.

Johnny, you're right. It is sad. And lonely.

I like BB85, I am very fond of Still Cruisin, but SIP should be reason enough to actually invent those Men In Black memory-wipers.

[sockittome]

Aw, c'mon!  In another 25 years, SIP will be considered the Smiley Smile of the '90s! 

You watch! 

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

If they were to reunite, sax solos should be the number one thing to avoid at any cost.

I absolutely agree with that, the sax ruins most of their late-period songs.

Perhaps humor does not translate well on the internet, but some of the responses I've had to this thread were pretty lame and came off as attacking. Most adults are able to express a difference of opinion without trying belittle others.

There are a lot of bad things about Summer In Paradise, and I was never saying it was actually a good album; rather that it's nice to hear something that hasn't been played to death. I had never before spent any amount of time listening to the album, and it was refreshing to hear the familiar voices on something different. As bad as this album is, I find it funny that SIP is universally panned, but Brian Wilson's 'Imagination' album is considered a really good album by some, which I don't see as significally better or different. The 'Adult Contemporary' genre should be swept from the earth, sax solos and all!

[the captain]

Perhaps humor does not translate well on the internet, but some of the responses I've had to this thread were pretty lame and came off as attacking. Most adults are able to express a difference of opinion without trying belittle others.

And perhaps the former (humor not translating) is why you perceived the latter (belittling). I doubt anyone cares one way or the other whether you like something, and everyone supports your right to do so. Just don't come to my house and play SIP: that's where we'd have problems. (And yes, that was humor, not an attack.)

[phirnis]

There are a lot of bad things about Summer In Paradise, and I was never saying it was actually a good album; rather that it's nice to hear something that hasn't been played to death.
...

That's why I found myself eventually turning to things like M.I.U. or some of the songs on Still Cruisin', which I had both very much disliked for quite some time. I'm perfectly aware of the fact that this stuff is not even close to Today or Pet Sounds, but you can't listen to their very best material all of the time (well, sometimes I do anyway...) and as time goes by you tend to find a certain amount of enjoyment even in some of their lesser material.

[Dave in KC]

This album has been out for some time now and although it missed the mark, Still Surfin' is as classic a Beach Boy song as the rest of the so-called classics. At least to Beach Boy fans of course. And every major group has had at least one bad album. But to call the work excrement is over the top and must come from someone with an axe to grind. Maybe someday you'll have an appreciation for the entire body of work from the group you claim to know so much about.

[the captain]

I'm convinced that phenomenon is true of any major fan of any band or artist. Once you've dedicated yourself to that person or band, you look harder for something to like and forgive the bad. While I despise SIP, I'm quite certain that there is BBs music that I'd mock incessantly if I weren't already "dedicated to the cause." Queen: I love them, and so I can find something to like in The Miracle or The Works even though I'd probably not have enjoyed them on their own terms. Dylan is the same.

[the captain]

This album has been out for some time now and although it missed the mark, Still Surfin' is as classic a Beach Boy song as the rest of the so-called classics. At least to Beach Boy fans of course. And every major group has had at least one bad album. But to call the work excrement is over the top and must come from someone with an axe to grind. Maybe someday you'll have an appreciation for the entire body of work from the group you claim to know so much about.

I do appreciate the entire body of work, in that for anyone to make a living creating music is an admirable thing. And of course, to have created some of the best work of all time is more than admirable. That's not a free pass to make sh*t, though, and SIP is sh*t. And if you're speaking to me, use my name.

[punkinhead]

i enjoy the sax solo on Goin on     

[the captain]

I enjoy the sax solo in "Ruby, My Dear" from Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. After that it gets dicey.

[Loaf]

Sax, when used responsibly, can be a beautiful thing between adults.

The 80s almost single-handedly ruined the saxophone as a means of artistic expression.

As big a fan of Brian's new music as I am, there's a part of me that still fears the worst when Paul Mertens steps up to sax all over the tune with his designer stubble.

[punkinhead]

I forgot some of your love's great sax line

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

The saxophone wasn't always evil; it sounds awesome on those old records by The Coasters (a favorite of mine), but like someone else mentioned, the 80s 'smooth jazz' sounding sax in enough to make me want to...

Another group, Super Furry Animals, have named the saxophone the instrument of the devil, and vow to never have any sax on their records.

[the captain]

The saxophone wasn't always evil; it sounds awesome on those old records by The Coasters

Very true. The tool itself is never evil, but the person using it.

[Smilin Ed H]

"Once you've dedicated yourself to that person or band, you look harder for something to like and forgive the bad. While I despise SIP, I'm quite certain that there is BBs music that I'd mock incessantly if I weren't already "dedicated to the cause." Queen: I love them, and so I can find something to like in The Miracle or The Works even though I'd probably not have enjoyed them on their own terms. Dylan is the same. "

The Paul Williams approach...

[carl r]

I've heard some nice Charles Lloyd saxophone on Feel Flows and All This Is That from the 70s concerts.

Is it really the sax which is the problem, or is it the sax tacked onto cheesy synths and drum machines?

I can't help but think it was all about the benjamins, at some point it became a lot cheaper to use cruddy digitised keyboards and machines than to spend time and effort writing, and get a bunch of good musicians to perform or play on a record.

In this sense, the Beach Boys may have "rationalised" their own music out of contention.

[art rush]

I love "Summer of Love" - always have, always will. If you stop jacking off to Cabinessence for a few minutes and watch the video, you might actually have some fun.

[The infamous Baldwin Organ]

I've heard some nice Charles Lloyd saxophone on Feel Flows and All This Is That from the 70s concerts.

Is it really the sax which is the problem, or is it the sax tacked onto cheesy synths and drum machines?

I can't help but think it was all about the benjamins, at some point it became a lot cheaper to use cruddy digitised keyboards and machines than to spend time and effort writing, and get a bunch of good musicians to perform or play on a record.

In this sense, the Beach Boys may have "rationalised" their own music out of contention.

I agree with you, and for me, that can be generalized about most pop music in the US today. As a musician, I'm frequently dissapointed how few instruments are actually played in music today.

What I found surprising about Summer In Paradise, is that they didn't even use their regular touring musicians. As I understand it, the album was mostly put together by Mike and Terry; Carl had long wanted to do a 'rock and roll' album, and Al was kicked out for most of it, but I wonder how they felt about the record as they were making it. They played some of these songs in concert too.

[The Heartical Don]

Kenny G.

[Sam_BFC]

Sax, when used responsibly, can be a beautiful thing between adults.

The 80s almost single-handedly ruined the saxophone as a means of artistic expression.

Sax works great in Madness records however IMO