Discuss & Rate Beach Boys Songs Day by Day

Your ratings for Unleash the Love (Disc 1):
1-1 vote
2-1 vote
3-5 votes
4-1 vote
5-0 vote

 

I saw you say in the 50th thread that you would be willin' to start all over again. I'd love to do that! It's Summer, and there is a whole section of fans that will come back out to do the '60s albums.

 

I want to talk about Mike Love Christmas and 12 Sides of Summer. Track by track, the full Monty.

 

I liked 12 Sides of Summer the best of the recent albums Mike has given us. I reviewed it at my Beach Boys forum, Endless Harmony Forum. I'm willin' to add comments if we did that track-by-track. I haven't listened to Mike's Christmas album in a while, but okay with listening again. We just did a Christmas with the Beach Boys in the middle of July, which was weird, but it's Winter Down Under where our host at EHF lives, so it probably worked better for him. Better to do Christmas music regardless of the temp. at Christmastime.

 

I'm surprised we didnt track by track "Unleash". I think its worth the detailed analysis.

 

I did not rate this, but I don't like it very much. There is an alternate version (Mike Love Not War) up at youtube. Favorites from that are: "10,000 Years", "Anything for You", "Cool Head, Warm Heart". I don't care for Mike's mystical songs post 1972. I do love "I Don't Wanna Know" from First Love. I would like him to stop re-hashing old Beach Boys numbers on new albums, please. They never work for me.

Fine if he wants to do old songs live, I watched about half-a-dozen from the show he did the other day in Nebraska this morning. Everybody has the right to go to concerts, but it is a mess right now with Covid-19 in America - anywhere in America. I hope all those fans will be okay, not many of them were wearing a mask. John was the only band member wearing a mask and gloves. The girl and her mom who were taping a lot, and I mean a lot of the songs from the front row created something special for those of us who will not try to head out to shows. They had flown there all the way from California! They sounded tight for being off the road so long.

 

I agree. More so than his unreleased and released earlier albums.

 

I meant the band. I checked a couple of things yesterday. Jason's sessions for the new albums began 22 July 2019. Sail On (the band): looks like E. C. morphed into Sail On in early 2017,

I guess after they gave up on promoting Together. Their youtube channel went up 2 February 2017. The live shows were going on soon after. This was the exact line-up from the Together

sessions. They probably figured they could make more money as a Beach Boys tribute band. The only change was losing Kyle Polk early into it, the drummer that had been with them for a

long time. One of the new drummers is Adam Thurston, who's also in a Beatles tribute band, The Return. Carling Schatzman was another. Matt Thomson (guitar and vocals) is also a new

member. He must be who replaced Jason when Jason left to begin the new albums.


Remember when Brian had back surgery, and couldn't make the 10th, 11th, and 12th May 2018 dates with the Nashville Symphony? Since Sail On is Nashville-local, they got the gig! That's

when I first heard of them. Unfortunately a little too late to see them at Daryl's House Club (Daryl Hall lives up here, and runs it) in Pawling, New York - not too far from me, on 28 April '18.

The only other time they played anywhere near me was a free show with fireworks, 5 July 2018. I knew about it, but was out of town for the 4th that year. 4th of July is a lot more fun down in

New York City and Long Island. They have a facebook page for updates, but they seem to be shut down for now, so, no new shows. I can't find many song-clips - I do see they play songs from

the late '60s, though. I would personally rather see Jason with the Explorers Club, doing their own music. He's 39 - his best idea is to make it with his own music before it's too late.


Jason is a very talented cat. We'll see how he promotes the new albums without touring. He has his own facebook page. There, him and Shane Tutmarc have been giving some detailed info

on who sings what, and where on some of the songs. The self-titled Originals album is very very good. I've heard all of it, now. One of the best of them is "Look To The Horizon" - should you

have some time to check it out.

 

NO, pleeze NO, Wata!! Just say NO!!

 

lol.

 

Thanks, nick99nack, for that great video showing just what a complete ******* looks like.

 

Today we'll discuss & rate Unleash the Love (Disc 2).

(forgot to post this yesterday...somehow)

 

Haven't listened to this one all the way through so can't rate it. It was only included due to demands from the record company, and I consider the album to be disc 1 only.

John Cowsill singing Wild Honey is good fun and I have added it to Beach Boys related playlists in the past.

 

I never bother with the second disc. Bit like NASCAR but with better vocals.

 

As much as I like disc 1 I have little use for disc 2. "Warmth of the Sun" and "Kiss Me Baby" only tracks I revisit. Cowsill's "Wild Honey" is a live highlight and nice to have it here as well. But autotuned renditions of other Beach Boys classics no thanks. I can only give it a 1, even with the things I like.

 

Glad to see you all being honest about Mike's Beach Boys' remakes... John Cowsill is one thing, but to use Stamos was a game changer. Mike has some excellent music makers in his band.

Stamos is nothing more than a bongo playing hack. I was living in California when he started showing up at Beach Boys concerts. Guess because it was California, he could get to the gigs

easily enough. After 1985 The Beach Boys were little more than a touring act. I kept supporting them, going to the concerts and buying the product. The endless compilations with a hit or

two tagged on. Yes, I own Summer In Paradise. That was where the original ended. The Cd is mostly oldies and remakes. To this day it is hard for me to believe the man who helped write

the songs on Wild Honey could, within ten years, become unable to write decent lyrics. I liked (still do) most of Looking Back With Love, but he didn't write that. I own that, too. I own the

first two Celebration records. I own Bruce's '77 solo record. I like Bruce. I am okay with him rejoining the group. He helped with some great Beach Boys numbers when he came back. He

helped Brian, again, when he was called on with that first step back to performing live. Bruce is an even bigger puzzle than Mike. Bruce just stopped sharing his music with the public. Has

he written something I've missed? Does he sing lead vocals on any of these newer remakes? If not, why not? Unleash the Love was, for me, one listen and done. I didn't buy it. I listened to

some of it yesterday for the first time in a long while.


I have many of the boots, but not the Mike solo ones. I've gotten to know them since joining the on-line community in 2005. Unlike some (just stop it oldsurferdude), I walk and talk carefully

when the topic of Mike pops up. Mike is a valuable member of The Beach Boys. Always has been. Mike, leave the Beach Boys tunes for the live shows. I don't need the studio remakes. The big

"if" might be, if he let Ike sing some of them - or sing along with Mike on some of them. Ike doesn't need auto-tune.

 

A couple good tracks but overall not impressive. 2/5

 

Somehow I find it offensive that Mike thinks we and/or the world need remakes of Beach Boys' classics, none of which come close to the originals. What's the point, other than trying to boost songwriting royalty checks? Oh, of course, that's it. 1/5

 

1 from me too.

 

Pretty much how I view disc 2 as well.

Agree re: Cowsill’s Wild Honey. He does a decent job & it is the only track I ever return to on this disc.

 

The covers disc was included at the behest of the record company. Its inclusion will actually have earned Mike less money as a percentage as the songs are co-writes (unlike most of disc 1).

Not that Mike is against doing covers of his own stuff as we will get to on 12 Sides of Summer...

 

My understanding is that he HAD to record those as condition for releasing the album, so the record company could make money on "Beach Boys songs" that I assume they hope they can sell to advertisers or something. It wasn't really Mike's fault.

But it is worthless. Perhaps a couple of good renditions/vocal performances, but I can't give it more than a 1/5.

I may have listened to the whole thing (with shaded windows, bolted doors and the lights off, wearing headphones) once. I cant remember. I have blocked that memory.

 

A few more words, and my vote. To quote Mike (out of context, as he had the balls to say this about Brian): "He's not in charge of his life, like I am mine.

His every move is orchestrated..." So what are you guys saying? That Mike is not in charge of what he can put on his albums?

I have this album blocked from my memory, too. Blame it on Sherlock. I want to only retain the good times. This album isn't. soft 1/5, 1/10.

 

There's nothing new about a record company making demands about what is to be included on an album.

It's been happening to The Beach Boys for 50+ years.