brian wilson

[REM Speedwagon]

i am just wondering if anyone else here really, really doesn't like brian wilson. given the way the bands here are enamoured with him and how respected he is as an artist i guess that would be pretty rare. apparently he is touring his entire Smile album. i'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned here somewhere.

[muskogee]

there is not much bad to say about pet sounds, which brian created. in fact, it rightly stands out as one of the greatest albums of all time. his voice is so sad yet so beautiful, it brings a sweet tear to the eye. I can't much agree, musically speaking. I don't know him as a person.

[William]

I need to get ''Pet Sounds''...I haven't heard much Beach Boys outside of ''Surfin' U.S.A'', and such..which I never thought much of. I'll try to get ''Pet Sounds'' the next time I go to the record store. I'll judge then.

[floating norman]

i'm gonna agree with muskogee on this one. while i don't usually enjoy jumping on bandwagons, i just can't avoid this one. brian wilson, if you read his autobiography, has had a very troubled life, and i think it's remarkable that he's even still alive. also, i've read about pet sounds, and he just wanted to make music that would spread a message of love, which is more than commendable in my book. musically, you can't find much more talented a person than brian wilson. his arrangements, melodies, and magnificent songwriting have been an influence on everyone from john and paul to the apples in stereo. in fact, the song "vegetables" from smile and/or smiley-smile, features paul mcartney crunching down on vegetables as the main percussion. good vibrations was the first mainstream song to use a theramin. he was just way ahead of his time with most everything he made. of course, the whole surfin and car thing isn't my favorite stuff either, but once he took control of the production (on pet sounds), he was able to bear his musical soul, and what soul it has! anyway, i don't particularly agree with the way he treated his first wife due to his excessive lifestyle, but a lot of that goes back to how his father was terrible to say the least. even pet sounds was produced without the use of his left ear due to his dad punching him in the ear when he was like 3. anyway, i think his life story is a very sad one, but produced music that can certainly speak to people.

[channelfan]

i think brian suffered alot mentally and physically growing up. i would suggest watching one of the documentaries out there, 'endless summer', or 'i just wasn't made for these times'.

he was a musical genious. like bethoven he could formulate complex music in his head and actually hear it all together. he would start recording harmonies with the boys and they would question what he was doing because it wouldn't seem like it was going to sound right, but once all the harmonies were in place it formed something magical and beautiful.

years of mental grief and excessive drug use have taken a toll on his mind and body and he is no longer as capable as he once was. but i for one am happy that he is still writing music and decided to perform again. i caught the pet sounds tour a few years ago and it was wonderful. i'm sure the smile tour will be just as pleasing, especially considering it was never finished and now he is evidentally putting it together in a final form. hope he comes to the u.s.!

[finch]

I like Pet Sounds and have had my own moments of obsession with learning about the Beach Boys history and Brian's history and the lost album Smile.

But as much as I like Pet Sounds, it's hard for me to hold it up to the Beatles best works because it was really just Brian and a bunch of studio musicians that recorded it. The Beach Boys just came in and sang on it.

I guess it's just tough to compare the two.

[orbitone]

i must say i don't like the beach boys much at all. i'm not a fan of really melodic / "wall of sound" type things. i'd rather listen to tom waits or john cage or something. i can hear what people like about it, and the texture and richness of the songs is stunning at times, but other than that i don't really get it. of course i'm used to field recordings and stuff from the '30s so it's not a sound i'm used to -- really glossy stuff. ... also, what are some of the lyrics that people find appealing, because i have never understood that aspect either. a lot of it sounds high-schoolish to me. i'm not trying to put Wilson down (obviously a lot of great artists worship him), I'm just curious.

[William]

first gear..its all right..second gear..its all right...third gear..hang on tight...faster, its all right... :P

[floating norman]

ah, lyrics. that's one department where i don't think brian wilson was top-notch. besides certain songs on pet sounds (caroline no, heartbeat, and others) and smile (cabinessence, heroes and villians, and others) i think some of the beach boys lyrics are pretty average at best, but i think a lot of that is due to mike love's contributions. also, i've never heard anyone say brian wilson was a poetic genius, only a musical genuis. i appreciate a lot of different styles of music, and brian wilson is just what i consider to be at the top of one certain category.

[JuneSalutesYou]

Brian Wilson hired Van Dyke Parks to write lyrics for Smile which included Heroes and Villians...ect (although he abandoned the project 3 or 4 times).

[friend]

brian wilson had some guy do a lot of the lyrics on pet sounds.

[finch]

Yeah, there was a guy who helped out a lot on the lyrics for Pet Sounds, but I forget his name. Van Dyke Parks helped in a similar capacity on Smile.

Barenaked Ladies do have a song called Brian Wilson which references a bunch of Beach Boys lyrics and episodes from Brian's life. Brian does perform the song at concerts sometimes.

[floating norman]

i guess maybe it was just another showing of brian's genius to get help on his lyrics. a smart person always acknowleges his/her weaknesses. i just think he had one of the greatest voices i've ever heard, and wrote/arranged some of the most beautiful pop music ever. :D

[oblio]

pet sounds with the exception of a few songs is completely overrated
the lyrics for example in Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) are just way too over the top faggoty - but i guess its one of those essentials that you have to like.

[ladylamentingonalawnchair]

Oblio, could you not use that adjective? It makes me very uncomfortable.

[orbitone]

I have to second that. Insulting homosexuals is really gay. Er, I mean... but really. Most of my friends aren't straight. My parents are starting to wonder...

[floating norman]

i guess i understand oblio, that you're trying to say that the lyrics are too romantic and "mushy". are you in love right now? maybe i'm "faggoty", but i can relate to those lyrics, even though, as i said the music alone is the reason i love pet sounds. ;)

[oblio]

ladylamentingonalawnchair, might i suggest taking a gravol if you are feeling "uneasy".

[gigglehertz]

After Pet Sounds, the "must-have" Beach Boys albums (er, cd's) for me are the two-fers of Smiley Smile/Wild Honey, Today!/Summer Days, and then if you haven't gotten sick of them, try Friends/20-20 and Sunflower/Surf's Up. I have to agree with the above arguments that the rest is, sadly, just plain shitty. Also even on the good cd's the Mike Love songs like Student Demonstration Time and others are also pathetic.

Please don't judge the genius of Brian Wilson on Surfin' USA or Kokomo (sp?). Try to find some of the above in the used bins and check it out for yourself.

[dolemites_sister]

Its funny how drug use makes certain bands really good... I'm drawing a blank at this very minute.. But I know there are a few bands that were very good originally when they were doing drugs and then when they decided to be clean, their music became crappy..

I'm drawing a blank... Can anyone help me with whom I might be talking about?