Guardian review

[Smilin Ed H]

Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin(EMI)
1 star

Michael Hann
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 September 2010 21.30 BST Article history


Well, one can see why it happened. After all, Rod Stewart has had enormous success with his Great American Songbook albums of covers of pre-rock classics. And Brian Wilson, with his symphonic leanings and a melodic sense derived as much from Broadway as Chuck Berry, is arguably the rock writer with the closest ties to George Gershwin. But, goodness, what a horrible album this is. In its best moments Gershwin's songs are reconfigured into pastiches of past Wilson classics – They Can't Take That Away from Me is squeezed into the shape of California Girls, Someone to Watch Over Me follows the path of You Still Believe in Me. At its worst – an ersatz doo-wop I've Got a Crush On You, a bar-band I Got Rhythm – it's cringe-inducing. The rest passes by like elevator music from a midmarket hotel chain. Gershwin and Wilson are among the 20th century's greatest writers of popular music; no one wishing to learn more about either should start here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/02/brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-cd-review

[The Heartical Don]

British snobbery at its worst. The writer smokes a pipe, loves his Chihuahua, and is a bachelor.

[absinthe_boy]

That is a baaaad review.

The thing is, I can actually see criticism of 'I Got Rhythm' being valid....but this review was clearly written by somebody with a pre-determined agenda to trash the album.

[buddhahat]

Brian Wilson: Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin(EMI)
1 star

Michael Hann
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 2 September 2010 21.30 BST Article history


Well, one can see why it happened. After all, Rod Stewart has had enormous success with his Great American Songbook albums of covers of pre-rock classics. And Brian Wilson, with his symphonic leanings and a melodic sense derived as much from Broadway as Chuck Berry, is arguably the rock writer with the closest ties to George Gershwin. But, goodness, what a horrible album this is. In its best moments Gershwin's songs are reconfigured into pastiches of past Wilson classics – They Can't Take That Away from Me is squeezed into the shape of California Girls, Someone to Watch Over Me follows the path of You Still Believe in Me. At its worst – an ersatz doo-wop I've Got a Crush On You, a bar-band I Got Rhythm – it's cringe-inducing. The rest passes by like elevator music from a midmarket hotel chain. Gershwin and Wilson are among the 20th century's greatest writers of popular music; no one wishing to learn more about either should start here.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/sep/02/brian-wilson-reimagines-gershwin-cd-review

Ouch! The Guardian were pretty unkind to TLOS too, but this is far worse. It will be interesting to see how it fairs with other UK reviews. I'm not aware of any others besides Mojo which was also pretty bad.

[The Shift]

British snobbery at its worst. The writer smokes a pipe, loves his Chihuahua, and is a bachelor.

Steady on old chap... surely you mean springer spaniel?

Actually I'm struggling to get my head around BWRG. I can appreciate that some Gershwin lovers might not take to BW's treatment of some of the tunes.

While I love BW's voice, and some of the production on the album, it's just not a style of music I can fully take to. In fact much of it is the kind of music my folks listened to, and which I turned to Brian and the Boys to escape.

Brian's suddenly producing music for my parents and it doesn't sit right.

Appreciate he's more relaxed than ever, that he's delivered his best vocal performances for years, and that this is a fine addition to his repertoire but it just ain't my bag.

I've listened to it over and over and over (and will listen again), and found much of it very catchy and praiseworthy... but Heroes and Villains/Surf's Up/Rio Grande etc it ain't, and that's the kind of music I keep hoping to hear from BW.

Call me a narrow-minded, stick in the mud who longs for yesteryear... then ask yourself whether you'd rather hear another S'Wonderful or another Wonderful.

I see this as Brian's treat to himself, a self-indulgence, a break, a rehearsal for things to come. I hope he hasn't decided on soft jazz as a new career direction.

I'll probably think differently by tomorrow...

[carl r]

This record is certainly dividing opinion. I know what Wee Helper means. From what I've heard,  BWRG isn't my usual thing. I always have to ask whether it's as a 'fanboy' that i like Brian's records. Would I feel the same if it were someone else making them? I usually can answer that there is at least a third which I am sure I would like regardless.

Michael Hann is the film and music editor, so a big cheese, I guess, in Guardian-land. If any newspaper's opinion matters, I guess that the Guardian's does. I suppose.

Maybe we all just like elevator music. Could 'Friends' be elevator music? I thought a lot of hotels these days play Portishead light imitation-stuff these days, in lobbies and lifts? Sort of chill-out breakbeat? So is it 1970s elevator music? is that better?

[GoogaMooga]

Many people like this album, it's currently no.1 on amazon.com's sales chart for CD's.

[The Heartical Don]

Gary Usher's 'Add Some Music' on Poptones is a superb Muzak album. It's on Poptones, out of print I believe. But I love it to death. It just has that tiny touch of BWs finest melodies to set it apart... guilty pleasure, but a great pleasure nonetheless.

[GoogaMooga]

Gary Usher's 'Add Some Music' on Poptones is a superb Muzak album. It's on Poptones, out of print I believe. But I love it to death. It just has that tiny touch of BWs finest melodies to set it apart... guilty pleasure, but a great pleasure nonetheless.

I agree, lovely album! Poptones did a nice series including Curt Boettcher and Sandy Salisbury.

[Mike's Beard]

Yeah this guy probably enjoys a nice Michael Buble album after a hard days work and is anxiously awaiting the next Sting release.

[The Heartical Don]

Yeah this guy probably enjoys a nice Michael Buble album after a hard days work and is anxiously awaiting the next Sting release.

...and in his youth he was a huge prog-rock fan, esp. Wishbone Ash.

We have a case. Shall we shoot him?

[The Shift]

Yeah this guy probably enjoys a nice Michael Buble album after a hard days work and is anxiously awaiting the next Sting release.

...and in his youth he was a huge prog-rock fan, esp. Wishbone Ash.

We have a case. Shall we shoot him?

I'd like to hear The Ash's opinion of BWRG. In fact, I wonder (in the absence of a BW tour of the material) whether Wishbone Ash could present it live on stage, as a concept piece?

[Mike's Beard]

Yeah this guy probably enjoys a nice Michael Buble album after a hard days work and is anxiously awaiting the next Sting release.

...and in his youth he was a huge prog-rock fan, esp. Wishbone Ash.

We have a case. Shall we shoot him?

That might seem a tad extreme to outsiders. Shall we settle for giving him a good hard kick in the balls?

[Nicko]

Just because this was a bad review doesn't make it any less worthwhile than the good reviews imo.

As for the album, unfortunately I think much, much better versions of most songs exist elsewhere that I would prefer to listen to. Don't get me wrong, Brian certainly sounds a million times better than he did on something like GIOMH but at this time in his career he can't come close to competing with some of the vocalists who have tackled these songs in the past.

[Smilin Ed H]

Imagine how bad the Disney reviews will be - especially if he doesn't stick to the genuinely good stuff...  Get out now, Brian...

[Wirestone]

Y'know, the album stands on its own.

It's a heartfelt, deeply considered work. It is not to everyone's taste. As I've posted many a place, there are certain aspects of this record -- cover versions, strings, crooning -- that will make many people cringe, fans and non-fans alike.

And that's okay. I've struggled with the album myself -- not its quality, which is really about the best Brian has ever done as a solo artist, but more with the fact that I know these songs well. Very well. And that's not quite as exciting as a new album of BW-written (or lightly frosted) tunes. He also excises all the lead-in verses from the songs (there's a great verse to "Someone to Watch Over Me," for example). But these criticisms are very personal -- they wouldn't make the album any better or worse for the general public.

Brian is not a fashionable guy. He is (still) a unique musician, with great depths of talent. And he's made a record that -- for once -- I can believe without reservation that he cares about and loves. For me, that's enough.

[Fun Is In]

Wow, well-said Wirestone.

It really does sound like he put the effort in on this one.
It has really caught my ear, enough so that I can play it thru on repeat and go to sleep and wake again with the songs in my head.   Certainly could be signs of old fart-dom, but I'm enjoying the heck out of BWRG.

[PongHit]

British snobbery

Isn't that a redundant phrase?

[The Heartical Don]

Y'know, the album stands on its own.

It's a heartfelt, deeply considered work. It is not to everyone's taste. As I've posted many a place, there are certain aspects of this record -- cover versions, strings, crooning -- that will make many people cringe, fans and non-fans alike.

And that's okay. I've struggled with the album myself -- not its quality, which is really about the best Brian has ever done as a solo artist, but more with the fact that I know these songs well. Very well. And that's not quite as exciting as a new album of BW-written (or lightly frosted) tunes. He also excises all the lead-in verses from the songs (there's a great verse to "Someone to Watch Over Me," for example). But these criticisms are very personal -- they wouldn't make the album any better or worse for the general public.

Brian is not a fashionable guy. He is (still) a unique musician, with great depths of talent. And he's made a record that -- for once -- I can believe without reservation that he cares about and loves. For me, that's enough.

Lovely call. Cheers for that!

[Paulos]

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

[The Heartical Don]

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

...also known as The Grauniad.

[The Shift]

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

...also known as The Grauniad.

But its not nown as the grauniad becase of ani pretenshiuosness. Ther's anotheer reeson, wich I cant recal rite now.

[absinthe_boy]

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

...also known as The Grauniad.

But its not nown as the grauniad becase of ani pretenshiuosness. Ther's anotheer reeson, wich I cant recal rite now.

They once actually spelled their own name incorrectly back in the day when metal typesetting was used. In the papers earlier days it was well known for typos.

[The Heartical Don]

No one should take the Guardian review too seriously, the pretentiousness of the Guardian is incredible.

...also known as The Grauniad.

But its not nown as the grauniad becase of ani pretenshiuosness. Ther's anotheer reeson, wich I cant recal rite now.

  me niether, but my freinds Lieber and Stoller will be able to. I just love these American typos, like: seperate, and so on.

[the captain]

Definately. I do to.