"The Like In I Love You" Is Streaming

[Autotune]

I think that the current band's vocal sound will work just fine within the jazzy feel of this new album.

BTW: "they don't sound like the beach boys" is not fair criticisim. Who does?

As late as the S&S album those guys were singing terrific group vocals.

The fact that you don't grasp this song on first listen is indicative of the fact that this is something special. Best BW vocal in ages, sophisticated melody and chord progression, ultra cool intro and outro, pretty lyric, richiness of sound... Man who would have thought 30 years ago that BW would still be recording music like this in his late 60s?

[grillo]

after a few days listening my verdict is in ('cos I'm certain everyone cares )...not bad
the one thing I miss most of all from BW, and maybe from music in general, is the possibility of things going wrong. In other words, there never seems to be the chance one might hear a mistake. Everything gets fixed in the mix and it's gettin' to the point where all music (at least major label stuff) is super bland.
This song is a prime example; everything is perfect, and perfect is not what I like about BW. I like coughs and basses that jump in too early. I like missed double-tracking and goofed lyrics. I like the human element that seems to be completely lacking in the stuff I've been hearing lately.
Back to this song...I enjoy it, but hope this isn't the best track on the album.
blah blah blah

[brother john]

I second the above.

[Autotune]

and how or why does technically "perfect" equal bland?

[drbeachboy]

When performing Gershwin, it had better be perfect. Otherwise it will be torn to shreds by the critics. This is not your typical Beach Boys record, nor a typical rock and roll record. There could be other reasons for it to be bland, but being technically proficient to play and sing it should not be one of them.

[runnersdialzero]

being technically proficient to play and sing it should not be one of them.

That's not the issue at all with "perfect" recordings - not the performance or performers, so much, but the production etc.

I don't entirely agree in the case of this song, although I still hear the autotune and that is one thing about "perfection" that bugs me. Things like this take the human element out of music, it becomes sterile, there's no room for anything to breathe, etc.

[jammer730]

Thank you grillo, you said exactly what I was trying to get across. It's sad how recorded music relies on digital alteration so much these days (saying this while listening to Disney Girls).   

[grillo]

Thank you grillo, you said exactly what I was trying to get across. It's sad how recorded music relies on digital alteration so much these days (saying this while listening to Disney Girls).   

you are  welcome

[drbeachboy]

Brian's voice isn't what it used to be. To be perfect in performance, autotune may be required. Come on everyone,  the man is 68 years old. Do you really want another Gettin' In Over My Head? I am just happy and thrilled that Brian is still recording.

[runnersdialzero]

Brian's voice isn't what it used to be. To be perfect in performance, autotune may be required. Come on everyone,  the man is 68 years old. Do you really want another Gettin' In Over My Head? I am just happy and thrilled that Brian is still recording.

Brian can sing just fine, no autotune, if he gives a sh*t or is encouraged by others. Autotune is not necessary for him to sound good.

Gettin' in Over My Head's biggest problem with the vocals was they were seemingly always doubled (regardless of if it fit or not), always caked with an absolutely ridiculous amount of reverb, and then buried. Autotune, if it wasn't used, couldn't have made those vocals better.

[drbeachboy]

Yes, he does sing just fine, but just not as great as needed for this type of material. Brian sings Ok, but he is 68 years old. Nobody's pipes are that great at that age. I have no problem with autotune if used sparingly.

[Wirestone]

I haven't written much about my impressions -- mainly because it took some time to grow on me. This is a much different, more thoughtful kind of song from Brian, where you see him wrestling with a past source and tearing some of it down and building on other parts. In a way, I'm glad for the outside set of ears on the remix. I think a sophisticated, just this side of AC mix is probably what a project like this needs.

But nothing would work unless Brian were interested and involved -- and once he is, look out. I increasingly think, like AGD, that we're in for something quite special. Not TLOS. Not Smile. But something combining the big band ethos of Adult Child with production touches from Today (and of course a few surf licks here or there) and a seasoned team of backing musicians who can play must about anything.

Good times.

[runnersdialzero]

Yes, he does sing just fine, but just not as great as needed for this type of material. Brian sings Ok, but he is 68 years old. Nobody's pipes are that great at that age. I have no problem with autotune if used sparingly.

It's not used sparingly, and what I'm saying is that if they'd applied a bit of pitch correction to the few notes that needed it, it would sound worlds better than running the entire vocal through an autotune filter. Pitch correction or autotune will not fix sh*t tone - Brian's tone is great here, no computer trickery can create that.

[Roger Ryan]

Yes, he does sing just fine, but just not as great as needed for this type of material. Brian sings Ok, but he is 68 years old. Nobody's pipes are that great at that age. I have no problem with autotune if used sparingly.

It's not used sparingly, and what I'm saying is that if they'd applied a bit of pitch correction to the few notes that needed it, it would sound worlds better than running the entire vocal through an autotune filter. Pitch correction or autotune will not fix merda tone - Brian's tone is great here, no computer trickery can create that.

Check out Michael Bauble's hit single from last year ("Haven't Met You Yet") to hear autotune destroy a decent vocal. That sound is everywhere today and it's especially annoying to hear it in supposedly organic genres like "alternative" rock. As far as I'm concerned, the use of autotune on Brian's vocals has been subtle and has not approached the overkill use that is currently so common.

"The Like In I Love You" is quite charming. It's unmistakably Brian. I'd be weeping if you told me thirty years ago that Brian would release a record this inspired in 2010. Over the past decade, I've kind of gotten use to the man putting out some pretty high quality stuff - it's a nice thing to get used to.

[gsmile]

Anyone else hear a snippet of "The Spirit of Rock n' Roll" in the intro to "The Like In I Love You"?  Specificially the "as long's there's music we'll all live forever" melody.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Yes, he does sing just fine, but just not as great as needed for this type of material. Brian sings Ok, but he is 68 years old. Nobody's pipes are that great at that age. I have no problem with autotune if used sparingly.

It's not used sparingly, and what I'm saying is that if they'd applied a bit of pitch correction to the few notes that needed it, it would sound worlds better than running the entire vocal through an autotune filter.

Thing is, they didn't. No auto tune on this song or, I'm lead to believe, the whole album.

[brother john]

Oops!

[Pretty Funky]

Brian sings Ok, but he is 68 years old. Nobody's pipes are that great at that age.

Funny you mention this now. I was watching a clip of Petula Clark from a couple of years back. (she's 78 this year) This is the last song of the gig and she must have looked after her voice compared to Brian. At the end of a show he's struggling.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0T_EPeGj20

[Wirestone]

Brian's voice is actually in decent shape -- not great, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been (and arguably better than it was 10 or 20 years ago). His tone and phrasing are better than they used to be, and his pitch -- well, some days are better than others. (See the other thread about Elton John -- he's five years younger than Brian and arguably has the voice in worse shape.)

Female performers tend to take better care of their voices, I think, and certainly jazz and standard-type singers like Ms. Clark often sing into their 80s with great accuracy and emotion (and Petula Clark is doing a lot of work in that performance to disguise any age in her voice -- she shouts instead of sings at one point, and her vibrato is a little wobbly, but the spirit and performance make it all fade away).

[MD]

Anyone else hear a snippet of "The Spirit of Rock n' Roll" in the intro to "The Like In I Love You"?  Specificially the "as long's there's music we'll all live forever" melody.

Yep...That's the first thing I thought too...

Every time I play the song...I sing that snippet during the intro... 

[Paulos]

Brian's voice is actually in decent shape -- not great, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been (and arguably better than it was 10 or 20 years ago). His tone and phrasing are better than they used to be, and his pitch -- well, some days are better than others. (See the other thread about Elton John -- he's five years younger than Brian and arguably has the voice in worse shape.)

Female performers tend to take better care of their voices, I think, and certainly jazz and standard-type singers like Ms. Clark often sing into their 80s with great accuracy and emotion (and Petula Clark is doing a lot of work in that performance to disguise any age in her voice -- she shouts instead of sings at one point, and her vibrato is a little wobbly, but the spirit and performance make it all fade away).

Have you head Joni Mitchells voice laltely? I heard her doing Big Yellow Taxi live a year ago or so and could not believe how worn and broken her voice sounded, her voice in the early 70s was a thing of almost overwhelming beauty, same can be said of Brian's 60's voice.

[brother john]

Somebody famous who knows her who I can't remember but who I read about recently described her as 'one of the last Great Smokers', though I don't think she does now. She acknowledges that her voice has changed but (naively) doesn't ascribe it to smoking, which of course is the reason she hasn't got one any more. Brian should count himself lucky he has a voice at all.

[Andrew G. Doe]

Sounds like something the Cros would say. 

[Amy B.]

Have you head Joni Mitchells voice laltely? I heard her doing Big Yellow Taxi live a year ago or so and could not believe how worn and broken her voice sounded, her voice in the early 70s was a thing of almost overwhelming beauty, same can be said of Brian's 60's voice.

I heard her remake of "Both Sides Now," (which she admittedly recorded 10 years ago) and thought it was, in many ways, better than the original. Her older, husky voice made it incredibly effective.

[hypehat]

Bob Dylan to thread!

But yes, Brian's voice is rather incredible considering the sheer hell he's subjected it to over the past 40 yearss - Dylan did barely half of what Brian did to himself and he can barely spit out the words nowadays.