The Beach Boys Love You

[Jason]

"I don't wanna tell you that I care for you and have you just ignore me"......That lyric seems like something you'd hear someone say to someone else in a regular conversation.

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT.

I don't know why people don't seem to get the conversational aspect of the lyrics on this album. These songs sound literally like Brian is across from you, in conversation. THAT'S the brutal honesty of this record. Maybe that's why people don't like it.

[SmileySam]

your welcome

[Alex]

I dunno how "punk" "love you" is but...damn is it good.

I don't really mean punk in sound (except for the drums on Let Us Go On This Way and Honkin' Down The Highway), but more like punk in spirit...like Brian didn't really give a merda, and said "foda what everyone else thinks, I'm gonna make the record the way I want to!!".

[Jason]

Wasn't Brian that way back in 1965?

[SmileySam]

THIS ALBUM SUCKS
                    SUCKS
                    SUCKS

[SmileySam]

Joking

[Jason]

Yeah, in theory, this record is "punk". Brian was in "f*** everybody and everything" mode in 1976. This was the prevailing thought. 1976 brought the world a Summer Of Hate in the UK and elsewhere. The Beach Boys Love You, along with Smiley Smile, is one of the Beach Boys' great "f*** yous" to their legacy, fans, and public perception. And for that alone, we should respect them both.

[the captain]

I don't think there is anything to respect in a f*** you, just for a f*** you's sake.

[sleeptalk]

i like the idea of this record and it's pretty fun, but man, 5s and 4s? c'mon son...

"the night was so young" is great, sounds like some Wild Honey material. i really like "mona" too. "solar system" and "carson" are cute/weird/enjoyable, but way overrated.

[carl r]

Anyone else here really like "Good Time"? Whether or not it should be on this particular album is a moot point, but to my ears it kind of sounds like a joke, a pastiche of something unusual which makes it weirder still. Yet obviously simple and direct as you'd expect. And a great intro with the tapping percussion. I do like a "Good Time."

[the captain]

Love it. Huge fan.

[Wirestone]

Fantastic in many ways, but I find I love it less than I used to. In some ways, having more solo Brian out makes Love You seem less important -- we no longer need an album from 77 to reassure ourselves that he didn't lose the plot in the late 60s.

[the captain]

Interesting. My "huge fan / love it" comment was in response to the prev. post, just about "Good Time," but I enjoy your post about your changing impression of the album. I can't say I have any similar feelings, though. I really like Love You, which I heard for the first time around the time of Imagination (which was relatively early in my Beach Boys/BW fandom). Loved LY then, love LY now. Brian's continued releases are a mixed bag for me, with BWPS at the top, TLOS very, very welcome in my collection, and everything else in the "nice to hear sometimes, I guess" range. But whether he puts out another Pet Sounds (cough, not gonna happen) or a Sweet Insanity, I guess my feelings about LY are the same. It stands on its own merit regardless of its creator's decades-later state.

[Mr. Cohen]

It's hard to explain exactly, but I get the sense when I listen to this album that it's from the same guy who made Pet Sounds and Friends. Those three albums share an aura, I feel, they're from the heart in terms of both lyrical and musical content. The spacey sound of Love You reminds me in places of Pet Sounds, which also had a spacious, fairytale kind of sound in areas. It has the homey, simplistic feel of Friends. All three are also musically complex and insane at points in their own ways (obviously, as far as pure all-around complexity goes, Pet Sounds wins).

[Ganz Allein]

Fantastic in many ways, but I find I love it less than I used to. In some ways, having more solo Brian out makes Love You seem less important -- we no longer need an album from 77 to reassure ourselves that he didn't lose the plot in the late 60s.

My impression of this album has changed twice. When I first bought it, I hardly liked any of the tunes because of Brian's rough vocals and the goofy lyrics, so I sold it. But as I got more into the BBs and learned Brian's history, I bought it again and really started to dig it.  Much later, after getting into 15BO and Adult Child, I found that I liked this one less than I used to.

As much as I've grown accustomed to Brian's vocals from this period, his singing here is rougher and displays less control than on 15BO or Adult Child.  (My least favorite vocal performance, though, is Marliyn's on LPOHT.)  Also, the spare, synth-heavy/minimal drums production often sounds undercooked to me.

But with those things said, the great songwriting (albeit with really wacky lyrics sometimes) really shines through and saves the album for me.  And speaking of those wacky lyrics, I really think that "I Wanna Pick You Up" (as opposed to, say, "Hey Little Tomboy") was written in the spirit of all innocence.  Anyway, I give LY a 4.  With more production, fuller drumming, and some vocal retakes (LPOHT) and shuffling (maybe Carl on LIAW) it could be a 5.

[LetHimRun]

5. I don't know why, I just really like this quirky album. In all honesty, I probably should have given it a 4 for the reasons Ganz Allein gave (lack of drums, sometimes too much synth, and I'll throw it lack of guitars) , but I still listen to it and pretty much love it.

[Curtis Leon]

Anyone else here really like "Good Time"? Whether or not it should be on this particular album is a moot point, but to my ears it kind of sounds like a joke, a pastiche of something unusual which makes it weirder still. Yet obviously simple and direct as you'd expect. And a great intro with the tapping percussion. I do like a "Good Time."

I love Good Time. I think it's the best song on the record. A haunting reminder of the glory days, punctuated by the falsetto voice that Brian would never again have. Placing it almost in the middle of the record simply sharpens the point. This is the Beach Boys, as a band, at their peak. A peak that they would never rise to again. Saddening, really, that the album just after this cemented their status as fat, decadent, rock stars. It's only more brutal when you realize that it was just 7 or 8 years ago. Not even a decade. Shows how much things can change in the short span of a few years.

[ukulelejesus]

My favorite Beach Boys album. Pet Sounds is definatley the "Best Album", but the weird psychadellic genius of Love You wins it for me, because I'm a huge weirdo and I love that unfiltered pure as the driven snow (PUNS!) Brian Wilson.

Also, goshdarn the I'll Bet He's Nice demo kills me. There's such an energy to it and it's so lovely.

[drbeachboy]

"Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee, she really sends chills inside of me". Only Brian could write those lyrics and totally make it work. The Beach Boys Love You is a true diamond in the rough.

[ukulelejesus]

"Well, oh my, oh gosh, oh gee, she really sends chills inside of me". Only Brian could write those lyrics and totally make it work. The Beach Boys Love You is a true diamond in the rough.

Reminds me how much I like seeing Brian swear in interviews. He seems so happy when he lets himself swear.

[rab2591]

I just realized that many songs from Love You are near the top of my 'most played' list in itunes....I must really like the album  

'Solar System' is one of my favorite songs by the Beach Boys.

[The Heartical Don]

Anyone else here really like "Good Time"? Whether or not it should be on this particular album is a moot point, but to my ears it kind of sounds like a joke, a pastiche of something unusual which makes it weirder still. Yet obviously simple and direct as you'd expect. And a great intro with the tapping percussion. I do like a "Good Time."

For me, Good Time is the proverbial sore thumb on Love You. Good Timin' with lots of synths would have been better in its place.

[puni puni]

this album is a 10/10

you guys are crazy

and mona is the best track

[stack-o-tracks]

this album is a 10/10

you guys are crazy

and mona is the best track

Agreed 100%!

[aerolls]

Discuss, review and rate The Beach Boys Love You, released April 1977.

I read somewhere that sometimes it takes 5 complete spins, from start to finish, to fully appreciate the unbridled enthusiasm of Beach Boys Love You.

I already love Johnny Carson...

Wish me luck, here I go, I'll report my findings.

Adrian