On Sep 5, 8:38=A0pm, radiomd <radi...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> In article
> <3825b4b3-5c82-43bf-873b-6c7b58805...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
> =A0The old geezer <J...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > Brian's voice is SHOT, the Wondermints CANNOT compare to the original
> > BBs vocals & harmonies, the lyrics are inane, it is not PC,
> > uhhh....what else........uhh....errr....oh yeah, the cover art is
> > Stoopid......& when I purchase a cd I want at least 60 minutes of
> > music....anything less today is a rip-off! =A0The ONLY thing that may
> > have salvaged this recording would have been to include Mike & Bruce &
> > Al in the vocals. =A0Only maybe.
>
> Another view --
>
> To me Brian sounds more natural on this recording than he has for
> decades. He'll never sound like the 22-year-old Brian Wilson anymore,
> but here he sounds like -- well, himself. His singing here sounds just
> fine to me, and although it's clear in concert that he was problems
> sustaining notes and sometimes with pitch, he sounds like he mostly
> pulled this one off in the studio without much digital assistance.
> Possibly the songs were constructed more carefully this time around to
> suit what we can do with his voice these days. Not much doubling by
> Foskett this time, either.
>
> Also, I have no problem with the lyrics, or anyway no problem other than
> with the sophomoric rhymes of the word "muchacha". I found that the
> subjects of the songs are handled directly and deftly, not tritely or
> cloyingly. I didn't cringe at any forced lyrics here as I do during some
> of the numbers on "Gettin' In Over My Head" -- excepting the few lines
> of "Mexican Girl" I mentioned above, and even those I readily admit are
> stupid on purpose. (Warning: I like the sometimes reviled "The Waltz",
> which I think is can be excused on the grounds of its clever
> sentimentality, so as usual YMMV.) Also I think the sequence of songs
> hangs together as a cycle or work that has greater impact than its
> individual parts.
>
> Good performances, including good backup singing. By now I think Brian
> has toured with the Wondermints-and-friends longer than he did during
> the initial run of the Beach Boys, and clearly they work together well
> and have established their own identity as a performing and recording
> entity. At no point did it sound to me like they had tried and failed to
> be Beach Boys, and at no point did I think that any of the surviving
> co-litigants were missed. If the guys who made the record wanted to and
> could have woven them in, fine, but I think it would have amounted to an
> inessential gesture.
Insightful post. By the way, I believe I know you from the Giants
group. I post as Lord Buckeye over there. And yeah, Brian has toured
longer with the Wondermints than with the Boys. I've been lucky to see
him 4 times! In '78 with the Boys in Oakland, 2000 at Hollywood Bowl,
'01 in Phoenix (opening for Paul Simon?!) and the Smile show also in
Phoenix.
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