The Beach Boys Album

Paul McCartney should be quaking in his boots.

This record should be unlistenable, a complete waste of time, Brian hasn't done anything good since 1998's "Imagination". That's the only time he recaptured the original Beach Boys sound, when he worked with Joe Thomas.

He worked with Joe Thomas again.

I had zero hopes for this album. The last two times I ran into Brian Wilson:

1. He hung his head on the table at the BMI dinner, even though he was the one being honored.

2. He wouldn't reveal a single detail about this album, as if he worked for the CIA and would be shot if anything came out.

And seeing him live is almost creepy. It's really the Jeffrey Foskett show. Sometimes I think it would be better if Brian didn't even show up.

As for this reunion and tour... If you don't think it's about the money, you've got enough. Brian's played it out live, he can do clubs at best. So, he buried the hatchet with his "brothers" and is on a tour that I refuse to attend, to see Brian catatonic at a keyboard he doesn't even play. As for the Grammy performance...who knew Mike Love couldn't hit the notes either?

But there are elements on "That's Why God Made The Radio" that are so right, so perfect, so melodic, so joyous, they transcend not only Top Forty radio, but everything in the marketplace.

You see Brian still hears the sounds in his head. And with the right interpreter, in this case Joe Thomas, he can lay them down on tape.

Ignore most of the Mike Love stuff, about half the album is disposable. But drill down to certain tracks and you'll become speechless. How did they get such beauty, how did Brian Wilson concoct a timeless sound that would fit perfectly on the Beach Boys' sixties albums yet doesn't seem dated today?

I'd start with "Pacific Coast Highway".

Those multi-voice harmonies, I don't know anybody who can still do this, and make it sound so rich.

And what is that, a french horn?

And then Brian starts to sing... And his imperfect voice finally works, it's found its space. His age and inability to be as sweet as he used to reminds us all that we age, and even though we may be pushing seventy, that doesn't mean we have nothing to say...

"Driving down Pacific Coast..."

Have you ever done this? With the top down and the wind blowing in your hair? You feel like the rest of the world doesn't matter, you feel utterly happy to be alive. Brian captures this, along with the bittersweet feeling that it won't be forever.

Isn't this what music's supposed to do? Touch our hearts and souls, set our minds free, so they can reflect on times gone and yet to come?

No one else could even write these changes, never mind make them work.

And be sure to stay until the 1:20 mark, when the above words are sung... It's like an angel, the voice of God, has come out from the wings to reveal truth. Utterly astounding. "Pacific Coast Highway" may only be 1:47, but that's enough, it's not too short, it's not unfinished, it's just right, you want, you need to hear it again and again and again.

After "Pacific Coast Highway" I'd go to the top of the album, "Think About The Days". The Eagles tried this with their last album, opening up with a rich, quiet a cappella number, but now you know where Henley gets it, Brian Wilson doubles down and trumps the band that owns the biggest selling album of all time. It's like you're lifted from your chair and carried over the landscape, in a bubble, only you and the music, no one else. There are no distractions, you can only observe. The human condition is a lonely one, it's a search for connection. Music, when done right, does this better than any artistic medium, even better than conversation. You feel touched by Wilson's magic wand.

And now we go to the third cut, "Isn't It Time", whose title is so close to the superior "It's About Time" from "Sunflower", and it's not as good as what comes before, but the chorus, harmonies and changes beginning just before forty seconds in...this is the Beach Boys sound, something we've given up on hearing again. But the piece de resistance comes at 1:15, I ask you, who else can concoct such a satisfying vocal blend?

And speaking of vocal blends... When you hear the band sing the chorus of "Beaches In Mind", which starts this song, you'll smile. It's just a snippet of the song, but it's so great it puts a smile on your face and makes the rest of your record collection irrelevant.

And I'll throw in "Strange World", maybe because it mentions the Santa Monica Pier, and unlike too many tracks today, the verse actually has a melody. "Strange World" is one of those strange songs where the elements are better than the whole. There are bite-sized nuggets spread throughout. So many songs today are unfinished. But it's the change at the end of the verse that grabs you. Who else takes such risks? NO ONE!

And then there's the single, "That's Why God Made The Radio". Yes, Brian Wilson wasn't made for these times, who listens to the radio anymore? They're talking on the phone, texting... The sixties are done. Or are they?

I bought every Beach Boys album until "Friends". I kept waiting for them to recapture the magic, but Brian faded away and the albums became uneven. Then there was a resurgence with the aforementioned "Sunflower" and I've never given up hope. Kind of the same way you always believe your best days are in front of you, despite all the evidence to the contrary. You see we run on hope. And music. And somehow, Brian Wilson has regained hope, which has allowed him to bestow such great music upon us once again.

There's no "California Girls", not even a "Help Me Rhonda". But there are so many snippets, little pops and crackles of Brian Wilson genius, that not only are you thrilled, you too have hope, that our best days are ahead of us. Hell, if Brian Wilson can deliver, come back from the dead and show that not only has he not lost it, he's still better than just about everybody else, what can you do?

Skip the live show, ignore the reviews, if you were never a Beach Boys fan, move right along. But if you bought the albums, if you lived for more than the hits, your jaw will drop, you will be absolutely stunned. That sound is still there. Brian is still here.

Spotify link: http://spoti.fi/NFTpDV


--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id=1

If you do not want to receive any more LefsetzLetters, http://lefsetz.com/lists?p=unsubscribe&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25

To change your email address http://lefsetz.com/lists?p=preferences&uid=0eecea7b60b461717065cbde887c8e25




--
Powered by PHPlist, www.phplist.com --