The Beach Boys

[drbeachboy]

Funny, until today I do not remember anybody really liking Passing Friend. Here we get two. Everytime I hear it I imagine Boy George with Carl's face and beard.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

1.    "Getcha Back"   
2.    "It's Gettin' Late"     
3.    "Crack at Your Love"   
4.    "Maybe I Don't Know"      
5.    "She Believes in Love Again"      
6.    "California Calling"      
7.    "Passing Friend"      
8.    "I'm So Lonely"      
9.    "Where I Belong"   
10.    "I Do Love You"      
11.    "It's Just a Matter of Time"   
12.    "Male Ego"   
Seriously, take out those 4 songs and give it a listen. Of course it has some 80's flare it is BB85! Every band, group or act was tainted by the 80's sound/fashion in a way. The songs are catchy and listenable if you can get use to the production. 3.5/5 but I'll round it up to 4/5. 

Mate, there's only four decent songs on the album and you've taken out two of them!!

[lance]

I don't get the hate for Passing Friend. It's not great, but it's not the piece of sh*t everyone thinks it is. I'll say that I like it more than I'm So Lonely.

[drbeachboy]

If I play the album in full I don't bypass it, but then again I don't go out of my play it on it's own either. My least favorite track beside this one is California Calling. Probably their worst try at recapturing their past glory.

[Ovi]

Beneath the terrible production, there is some material I kind of enjoy. 'Getcha Back', 'It's Gettin' Late' and 'Where I Belong' are good songs to me, and I even enjoy 'She Believes In Love Again'.

An improvement over 'Keepin' The Summer Alive' and definitely better than the other 80's and 90's albums, but weaker than anything from the 70's. 3.

[Melt Away]

Man, Am I glad that I don't have your taste.

And you as well. Maybe I smoke too much reefer but I honestly think this album is not as bad as everyone makes it out to be! Passing Friend is good for the era, so much better than most of the crocks of sh*t coming out in '85.

[Cabinessenceking]

I like 'Where I Belong' alot, I think its a very fine 80's song.

I like 'Male Ego' for some reason the lyrics cry out that its Brian. Like a 80's production of Love You/Adult Child, am I a bad person now?
What do people think about this song? is it bad? good?
The lyrics speak truth though, so much truth.

[Ovi]

I like 'Where I Belong' alot, I think its a very fine 80's song.

I like 'Male Ego' for some reason the lyrics cry out that its Brian. Like a 80's production of Love You/Adult Child, am I a bad person now?
What do people think about this song? is it bad? good?
The lyrics speak truth though, so much truth.

I think people around here like it more than I do. For me, it's somewhere in the "decent" zone. Not as bad as 'Maybe I Don't Know' or 'Passing Friend', but definitely not a highlight. It's a take it or leave it.

I've never liked Brian's voice. He sounds like shouting. I get that the lyrics are funny in some way, but that's not enough, IMO.

[Vega-Table Man]

I like 'Male Ego' for some reason the lyrics cry out that its Brian. Like a 80's production of Love You/Adult Child, am I a bad person now?
What do people think about this song? is it bad? good?

I wouldn't call it brilliant, but it screams "Brian" to me in a way that not one of the actual BB '85 album tracks really does. I remember being surprised, having obtained it via the "Getcha Back" 45 and then listening to the album itself, that it didn't make the original album lineup.

[Lonely Summer]

If I play the album in full I don't bypass it, but then again I don't go out of my play it on it's own either. My least favorite track beside this one is California Calling. Probably their worst try at recapturing their past glory.

Funny how some things don't age well. At the time, CC was one of my favs on the album. Now it just seems dated, even if it is the least 80's production on the album.

[musicismylife101]

Never heard the entire album but head enough to make a partial review. The main problem with the album is the production. It's too 80s slick. That was my major problem. It's also lackluster, which is why I never really bothered to seek out the entire album. There are however, some decent songs. Getcha Back although it would sound way better without the slick production, It's Getting Late has a killer Carl vocal, Crack at Your Love has a great Al vocal, Male Ego for Brian, and She Believes in Love Again is also a good track. My major problem with the production is the use of electronic drums. The sound of them is just jarring to my ears and I found them annoying. Dennis is sorely missed here, had he been alive I believe the outcome might be different.

[Banana]

I've just given the KTSA/TTB two-fer another chance.  I don't know why...but I have their entire catalog and then some on my iPod so I thought what the heck.  The Beach Boys has it's moments...but it's such a relic of its time.  Way too electronic.  Mike's vocal on Getcha Back makes me cringe.  The music has no soul...it sounds like it was created by robots and the band just sang on top of it (oh wait, that's basically what happened)!  I guess all you can say is that it was an attempt to stay "hip" though I'd say that by 1985...Levine and his sound were already a bit past their freshness date.  He gets a lot of props for his work with the Culture Club...but they were essentially through after 1984's bad "Waking Up With the House On Fire".  Brian doesn't sound like he's all that happy to be there...but then again he was in the middle of the Doctor Eugene Landy Twilight Zone...so who knows what was going on.  They tried...they succeeded in a few halfway decent songs...but nothing you want to think too deeply about.  Still...it contains nothing as bad as "Livin' With A Heartache" which sounds like a Kenny Rogers/Alabama reject!

[hypehat]

The thing I like about this album, the more I listen to it, is the strange collision between Levine's and Brian/The Beach Boys' styles of production, best demonstrated by Getcha Back. You can feel the Brian coming out of that - the percussion hit on the 4, the block harmonies, bari saxes doing THAT line, strategic doubling of Mike  - versus all the eighties 'modern' techniques. "You want echo on the snare" turns into it becoming a gated monstrosity, the harmonies are precise to the point as not human, looping BW's falsetto, terrible effects on Mike...

It's such an anachronism, because you can feel that Carl really embraced it and unleashed some Prince-ian tight processed whiteboy soul (It's Gettin Late being the prime example) and Bruce just did powerballads. And then you have BW's doo-wop "Gene says I should put my good songs on my solo album, so I'm going to rewrite X" and Al and Mike being, well, Al and Mike. SoCal goofs.


It's such a weird album in it's mediocrity.

[punkinhead]

Weird how so much synth and sax can hurt an album but yet it can help an album like Love You

[punkinhead]

I just listened to California Calling in my car and it sounded great, I really enjoyed it. I kinda wished this type of instrumentation and production would have been used on this album instead of the latter that used all over the album.

BTW, why so much hate for Male Ego?

[EgoHanger1966]

There's something terribly wrong with me. I bought the twofer about a month ago, mainly so I could have KTSA. KTSA has better production values by a long shot, but I kept coming back to BB85, and I really, really like it now. I know I should be repulsed by the synths, sterile vocal sound, and everything else, but I just end up enjoying the album despite all of that. I think Passing Friend is a fantastic track - Carl rips into the vocal and tears it a new one. Crack At Your Love is so damn catchy, the backing track is so awful that it's awfully good, and Al's vocal is impassioned. I Do Love You is overlong, but it's full of twists and turns vocally - very melodic stuff. There isn't a song I dislike on this album now, although It's Just A Matter of Time doesn't hit the spot for me.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

There's something terribly wrong with me. I bought the twofer about a month ago, mainly so I could have KTSA. KTSA has better production values by a long shot, but I kept coming back to BB85, and I really, really like it now. I know I should be repulsed by the synths, sterile vocal sound, and everything else, but I just end up enjoying the album despite all of that. I think Passing Friend is a fantastic track - Carl rips into the vocal and tears it a new one. Crack At Your Love is so damn catchy, the backing track is so awful that it's awfully good, and Al's vocal is impassioned. I Do Love You is overlong, but it's full of twists and turns vocally - very melodic stuff. There isn't a song I dislike on this album now, although It's Just A Matter of Time doesn't hit the spot for me.

I'm with you, man. It's nowhere near as bad as people make out. It's certainly not in the MIU/KTSA/SIP league of awfulness that's for sure. There's terrific songs on there to discover amidst the poor tracks and the dated production: It's Gettin' Late, Where I Belong, I Do Love You, Male Ego - these are all strong songs, especially Where I Belong, which to me is a BB classic!

[Banana]

It took me way too long to give BB85 a real chance...but it's not a bad LP...if you can look beyond the somewhat dated production.  I think they're in really fine voice.  Carl especially kicks major butt on this LP. 

[punkinhead]

the vinyl experience of this album is what turned me on to the album. I had always heard here on the board that the vinyl sounds a bit "ballsier" and the folks who said that were right! Take a listen to it on there and see what I mean. It makes me appreciate the album that much more.

[Banana]

I've got a copy that I bought used...looks like it's been played once.  I'll give it a spin tonight!

[Banana]

You are correct.  I had a chance to listen to the original CBS vinyl and it sounded great.  For way too long I've been dismissive of this LP...but I gave it another chance following a discussion on this forum and it really is not a bad record.  If you can get past the 80's production you'll find some good songs and some impressive singing.  Carl, in particular, kicks butt on this LP.  I love his vocal on "It's Getting Late".  Bruce's lead on "She Believes In Love Again" has a somewhat grittier tone than normal and it sounds good.  I've actually found myself spinning this LP on my iPod in the car on a regular basis these past couple of weeks.  It sounds great turned up loud and played with the windows down on a hot day.  An overlooked effort.

[Summer_Days]

I heard quite a lot about this album prior to picking up the KTSA/BB85 two-fer in 2000. Much of what I read was dismissive. Until I bought the CD, all I'd ever heard from the album was 'Getcha Back' which I loathed (still do), so I was worried.

Well, this album is not quite as bad as I figured it would have been. I like, I guess a bit in a guilty pleasure way, 'It's Gettin' Late' (Carl can sing just about ANY song and turn it from garbage to more than listenable), 'Maybe I Don't Know', 'I'm So Lonely' (seriously!), 'Where I Belong' and the great doo-wop vibe of 'It's Just A Matter of Time'. Everything else on the album sucks in my opinion and should be avoided at all costs.

Carl Wilson is almost the only reason to listen to a lot of post-Love You BBs albums.

[punkinhead]

I heard quite a lot about this album prior to picking up the KTSA/BB85 two-fer in 2000. Much of what I read was dismissive. Until I bought the CD, all I'd ever heard from the album was 'Getcha Back' which I loathed (still do), so I was worried.

Well, this album is not quite as bad as I figured it would have been. I like, I guess a bit in a guilty pleasure way, 'It's Gettin' Late' (Carl can sing just about ANY song and turn it from garbage to more than listenable), 'Maybe I Don't Know', 'I'm So Lonely' (seriously!), 'Where I Belong' and the great doo-wop vibe of 'It's Just A Matter of Time'. Everything else on the album sucks in my opinion and should be avoided at all costs.

Carl Wilson is almost the only reason to listen to a lot of post-Love You BBs albums.

Someone once said that Carl could sing the phonebook and it'd be great.


BTW, no love for Male Ego?
It's always been a highlight for me.

[Summer_Days]

I just can't get into 'Male Ego'. I like it a bit better than the dreadful 'California Calling' and the pitiful 'Getcha Back', but I still don't like it very much.

[Disney Boy (1985)]

I agree re Getcha Back. There is just NOTHING TO IT. The chorus sounds like a particuarly uninspiring bridge leading up to an actual chorus that never arrives. It's so flimsy and lightweight. It definately deserves to be ranked alongside the weaker material on the album, not the good stuff.