The Beach Boys

[CarlsDarlin]

I gave it a 3.  It sound a bit to 80s-ish to me.  My favorite tracks are It's Gettin' Late, Where I Belong and Getcha Back.

[Alex]

I think they could've had a halfway decent album on their hands with some different songs. I was thinking a tracklisting like this (or something similar):

Chasin' The Sky
She Believes In Love Again
It's Gettin' Late
City Blues
Male Ego
Getcha Back
I'm So Lonely
It's Just A Matter Of Time
Oh Lord
Where I Belong
Love Remember Me
Wild Situation

[lance]

I really wish they would release an eighties collection that puts all the new songs on Still Cruisin' plus the non-album singles of the era all together. Not that it's that great or anything....but it would be better listening than this album.

[phirnis]

I'm probably listening to this record on much more of a regular basis than any other user on this board as to me it's such an interesting case of a failed attempt at updating their classic sound. It's too bad they called it a day in terms of making new albums right after this as they were just getting started. A bunch of great lead vocals (mostly by Carl) and three songs which I would consider top notch don't make a good album of course, but still I can see why Bruce Johnston would call this their best offering since Sunflower (though I wouldn't necessarily agree with that sentiment - Surf's Up was their best one since Sunflower...).

[lance]

I would say all their albums since Sunflower were better than this one. Maybe he meant the albums he had worked(extensively) on? IN which case five of them are disqualified. But LA light and Keeping the Summer Alive and Surf's Up and Holland  are all better...though maybe Surf's UP is arguable due the uneven quality--is there another album in the universe that manages to hit such peaks and plunge into such lagoons of shittiness like Surf's UP does? Beach Boys is more or less evenly bad...
Or maybe because Beach Boys isn't the hodgpodge that the other albums are? Or maybe it sounded better twenty four years ago?
Or maybe he was just desperately trying to sell a few albums?

[phirnis]

I can totally agree on what you wrote about the Surf's Up album. It's still one of my favorites however as it features quite a few contributions that might well be among the group's greatest ever songs and furthermore the whole story about the record's genesis and Brian's role within the band around that time was what probably first got me deeply intrigued with the Beach Boys and the numerous myths surrounding the group.

Bruce Johnston obviously had a lot to do with the making of BB85, most notably (as I understand it) suggesting Steve Levine as producer after having met him before while working with British (?) group Sailor. Therein lies a great mystery however, as I frankly don't see why the Beach Boys would allow BJ to decide on the group's artistic direction after the commercial failure of both the Light Album and KTSA.

[lance]

Oh, God, yes, it's one of my favorites too, definitely. Five stone-cold Beach Boy Classics. I don't think I would be nearly the Beach Boys fan I am without those songs.
 I was just trying to find some justification for Johnston saying it was the best one [that he had worked on] since Sunflower.

[lance]

Did I say five? I meant six.
And to be honest, the other four aren't that bad, I even like SDT. But the peaks are high and lows significantly lower, so in that sense maybe it's a deeply flawed album.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

For anyone who cares: Rocketship Records in Silverlake CA has a whole bin of "Getcha Back/Male Ego" 45s in the original picture cover for $1.99 each!

And no, I don't work for them!

[LetHimRun]

Okay, so I listened to this album as a whole for the first time. Not horrible, not great.

The one thing that struck me was "It's Just a Matter of Time." Something was weird. I had heard that song before. I had to listen a couple more times and then it hit me. It's Brian channeling "This Boy" by the Beatles. The bass line, the vocal arrangement, etc.

[punkinhead]

GREAT CALL!

I never thought of it that way, I like that though!

[slothrop]

Wow, yeah I never noticed that! But then again, I don't listen to early Beatles or late Beach Boys too often.

[Jay]

It's really a shame that the production is so terrible. This really tries to be a good album. The songs are decent...some of them. Getcha Back is a good song with nice harmonies, especially from Brian. Brian's bit at the end is great. Mike's vocal strains a little. It's Getting Late is a really good song. It's one of my favorites. Where I Belong is one of Carl's greatest songs. She Believes In Love Again is a great song. I think it's Bruce's best. The production is just a little bit to processed though. California Calling MIGHT have been decent  had it been recorded about 10 years earlier.  Now it's just...degrading. Al's faux enthusiasm is annoying and quite frankly pisses me off. It's Just A Matter of Time has terrible lyrics, but it's a decent song. It's a fun little doo wop style song.  Male Ego kicks about 5 kinds of ass. To paraphrase somebody talking about the last few films Laurel and Hardy made,and to turn it into a Beach Boys reference: All in all, I think we should pat the boys on the back for one last noble group effort and go on to more important things, like Pet Sounds.

[slothrop]

I don't know what's wrong with me, but I've been thinking "California Calling" might be genius...

[summerinparadise.flac]

The album is pretty bad but boy does Getcha Back sound great on vinyl. Huge sound.

[sparkydog1725]

Listening to it for the first time now (just got back from Half price Books 20% off sale, scored BW88 again, my copy skips).

Much better than I feared, a couple of keepers on it. Hate the drums /synths too. The vocals seem stronger than I would have guessed. Now to get KTSA...

[rab2591]

Listening to it for the first time now (just got back from Half price Books 20% off sale, scored BW88 again, my copy skips).

Much better than I feared, a couple of keepers on it. Hate the drums /synths too. The vocals seem stronger than I would have guessed. Now to get KTSA...

  Your profile pic made me bust out laughing!

[southisland]

i have very mixed feelings about this album. as a younger fan it's a lot easier for me to stomach levine's production -- this is the version of the BBs that was crammed down my throat as a kid, so the twinge of nostalgia makes it go down pretty smooth. as a collection of songs, it's on the same mixed-to-poor scale as the last couple of albums, with the predictable carl highlights ("it's gettin' late" is a JAM, such a great vocal) and a great brian-assisted throwback single in "getcha back". the tracks on the lower end of the spectrum are so hilariously ill-conceived that no one could have produced them except... well, the beach boys in 1985. i'm talking "california calling." "crack at your love" probably falls into this category but jardine singing over that production is just so Gosh Darn hilarious that it's worth it for me as a novelty alone. hearing brian sing "i'm so lonely" and realizing that's the best original cut he could come up with for the album is pretty depressing -- decent melody but it's just such a charmless, flat retread of the whole "love you" naivete.

all in all, pretty much par for the course for the post-rieley BBs, but more divisive than it really should be because of the production. 2 1/2, rounded up to a 3 for nostalgia's sake.

[SMiLE Brian]

Very odd album with a weird mix of 1980s production and The Beach Boys.

[hypehat]

I am drawn to this album for reasons I don't quite understand. The good tracks are just fine, fine, soft rock. The worst.... well. She Believes In Love Again is absolutely dire. Poor Bruce, he'd be the greatest asset the Beach Boys had since Brian stepped back if he wasn't so soft. His songs are utterly destroyed by the cheese factor, but he's a musical powerhouse.

Carl rocks the f*ck out of this record, though. His last good leads, imo.

Oh, and it doesn't count, but MALE EGO. What a jam that song is, that beat is f*cking killer.

[drbeachboy]

I love Male Ego. Simple, basic and primitive, especially compared to the rest of the album. Love Brian and Carl's vocals on it.

[pixletwin]

2. It sounds like Boy George.

[Melt Away]

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.  

[drbeachboy]

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

[EgoHanger1966]

I tried this one again today on Spotify. There is about half a decent album here. Minus the production - here are the songs I liked enough not to skip and play all the way through:

Getcha Back (of course, I already knew and liked this one).
Crack At Your Love
California Calling
Passing Friend
I'm So Lonely (wouldn't sound too out of place on BW88)
I Do Love You