Last album before the top 5, and easily one of the weirdest, yet most brilliant albums that Brian and the guys ever made. What do you guys think about Love You?
Excellent review, your knowledge and presentation is really impressive. After the awesome early 70s albums I was disappointed in the change of direction but it's about time I listened to it again and re-appraised it. So great you are keeping the interest in the band alive!
I have this at #5. It's a great album but it makes the Beach Boys a more interesting band because they put out stuff like this. It's my 2nd favourite cover after Smile too. The prominent synth parts is one of the highlights of this album. Brian sounds excellent on his backing vocals through out the album especially since most of his leads were a bit hoarse. The chorus of Airplane is his cleanest lead on the album and almost has hints of his old voice. With McCartney II coming out in 1980 and Neil Young's Trans in 1983 it felt that with Love You Brian was once again briefly ahead of his peers.
Ive tried but i just cant get the appeal of this one. I know people love that moog synth but idk. That being said tho, Id definitely place it in my top ten but thats only because it is indeed more listenable than most of their albums in their entirety.
Good review! The album is definitely a top 5 BB record for me. “Honkin Down The Highway” was released as a single (to little success). The single version was slightly different to that the drum intro was removed. Also, Smiley Smile was the last album that Brian produced (I think). Apparently the label didn’t do a lot to promote it and many initial pressings were actually made of weak materials, Mike blamed the album’s lack of success to that.
Funny you mention the thing about weak materials, I've never heard of that but what I can say is that my copy is FLIMSY. I'm scared it's gonna snap it in half if i hold it wrong
My single copy of "Honkin' Down the Highway" has the drum intro but it is missing the instrumental break just before the 2 min mark. It jumps right into the "Takin' one little inch at a time now..." part.
Great review and conversation, a new found appreciation for this album, The Pet Sounds and SMiLE era will always be my favorite I think, I appreciate all there era’s, and that late 60’s to early mid 70’s period, so many great under rated albums and songs, and it amazes me and pisses me off, that because SMiLE did not come out, it seriously tarnished them as a group, and it hurt all there albums after that, looking back on the history it’s just crazy that albums especially like Wild Honey, Friends, Sunflower and Surfs up didn’t sell well, so criminally under rated and so awesome, they should’ve sold so much better, all because SMiLE didn’t happen. It tarnished all there efforts after it, it hurt Brian so bad, and it affected the whole group as a whole. It’s crazy and it makes me mad man.!
The irony: Mike didn't like SMiLE because he feared it wouldn't sell. Flash forward to the early 90s. Mike assumes creative control of the band and releases Summer in Paradise. This album proceeds to sell less than any Beach Boys album to date. At least the former was an artistic triumph. The latter... it's an artistic abyss.
@@briank4972 I show some respect to Mike as he did help write a lot of there big hits, but as a person, I don’t have a lot of respect for him. The fact that he wouldn’t support Brian at all during the Pet Sounds and SMiLE periods really kills me, always negative and trying to hold him back, I hate that, as an artist, yours supposed to grow and drive to be different creatively.
I listen to the SMiLE sessions, and there are so many beautiful songs there, how could someone not want those songs to come out.? It’s amazing Brian was able to release Pet Sounds, the resistance and negativity kills me. That’s why I find it hard to talk about Mike.
SMiLE is plainly my favorite body of music. It's beautiful music, and yet so much more. I like experimental music, but so often I feel like especially far out experimentation ends up at least slightly compromising the beauty. Someway, somehow, Brian was able to pursue this kind of far out experimentation without compromising the music's beauty. If anything, I would say he even figured out a way to get the experimental facets to booster the beauty. For me and my ears, I have yet to experience music which achieves this so effectively.
This one is such a groove with some great vocals although I think there are a couple tracks that don't quite fit the tone, such as Good Time and Ding Dang. Which is more awkward: I Wanna Pick You Up from this album or Hey Little Tomboy from M.I.U. Album? My pick is the former. Least favorite on this LP by far, I'm one of those who find the lyrics weird.
I can respect that, but I personally find nothing creepy about I want to pick you up. I see it as nothing more than a song about fatherhood, and though the lyrics can be interpreted as weird, the song is written wonderfully and i love how it sounds
There’s really no way to describe the vibe on this album, it’s one of those where you hear it and you either get it or you don’t. It’s like a part of all the punk/new wave stuff from around that time, but still completely in its own league. I heard someone describe it as Brian Wilson’s version of Low, and I could definitely see that, especially because their recording dates match almost perfectly. I only wish it didn’t include ‘Good Time’, because I’m a major puritan when it comes to recording dates and stuff. Replace that with the outtake ‘You’ve Lost That Lovin Feelin’ and this is 10/10 for me.
i know i mentioned it on 15 big ones but i think that album and love you are actually very similar sonically, tons of synths and syncopation on both. they make a good twofer. i once read a review of this album that compared it to smiley smile but much better and with synths. i personally like both of those albums a lot. smiley smile is weird as hell. its mellow but kinda droning too "Love is a Woman" is probably my favorite song here. Brian did it solo on SNL around that time with the house band. It was kinda sleazy and cool. i cant find the footage anymore it used to be up here.
I dunno why this album and adilt child are juat constantly playing for me all year I've none stopped listened to these two albums Thry aren't the best but they are just so unique and sort of ahead of the curve
They're very messy and strange, but SO damn charming and fun. It makes me sad that they were basically Brian's last artistic statements with the beach boys (until 2012). After 78, i mostly just stick to Brian's solo work
@@purevycara deffo agree here there's a good fan adult/child online that collects unreleased songs along side adding some MIU tracks and it's wonderful I'll link it below there's a link to download the full album there is pretty good stuff probably my favourite mix of songs
The wait is killing me! It's either going to be Today, Smile (2004 or 11), Surf's up, Sunflower but unlikely to be Pet Sounds. Anywho, I admire your throughless.
Interesting to see that you've ranked this above Friends. I'm not sure I would do that personally. I think because Endless Summer shut down the more creative projects The Beach Boys were doing, it might be the one event I wish I could change in Beach Boys history. If it hasn't been released, maybe Mike wouldn't even be playing greatest hits sets at state fairs and such today, and maybe if we were lucky we would've gotten a proper follow up to Holland. If anyone hasn't heard it, check out the Seattle 1977 version of Roller Skating Child. It is partial, but it's a whole different beast live, and Brian sings high falsetto parts. Mona reminds me of a big band style. Dennis's singing on it has a slight Rat Pack style to me. When I first heard the album, I saw people say that it was seen as a stab in the back to fans who wanted more in the style of Pet Sounds, and I thought Good Time was intended to parody that sound a little bit, taking two key instruments from Pet Sounds (harmonica and castanets) and making them sound eccentric and goofy and ridiculous outside of a lush arrangement. Airplane is another one that took on a whole new arrangement live. If anyone hasn't heard it, I'd really encourage checking out the London 1977 version, the Landover 1977 version, or really any other live version from that year. There's even a version without Brian(!) where Al sings his verse parts and Carl sings the gruff count-in near the end. I think Sweet Insanity didn't come out because it was a Landy Project and Melinda thought that it wasn't up to par.
I do wish the band had stayed on their creative kick after Holland. Tragic that a band with such talent would all the more be written off as an oldies act with the reception of Endless Summer. Mike's embrace of this didn't help. I could halfway understand the oldies focus if it centered on the Pet Sounds/SMiLE era, but of course it had to focus on the more accessible, more commercial, and lyrically vacuous early material.
I'm not sure why Melinda seemed to get so involved with Brian's creative direction. To my understanding, she's the one who steered him away from Andy Paley and toward Joe Thomas, all apparently to help make his sound more commercial. Look, this is Brian freaking Wilson... I go to this guy's music solely for its artistic merits, not because it's readily accessible to the masses.
I LOVE Friends, don't get me wrong, but this album is something completely different and in a way I prefer. It's unlike literally anything else I've ever heard, and only Brian at that time period could've made music like this. Respect your opinion though And yeah, some of the live versions are super cool
Excited to see how your rank the remaining 5 🤔. If I were to rank them today I’d probably put sunflower at tippy top. But tomorrow maybe it would be pet sounds, who the f knows
I've been a Beach Boys fan for over 50 years. Sorry, but a simply can't connect with this record. i find it sloppy, crude and oafish. Originally these songs were from a therapy session with Landy, getting Brian to write songs (he had to appear on the Carson show so he wrote a song about it). Their best album post Holland is the LA album. The Brian Wilson self titled album eclipses everything post Holland.
I can respect that but i can't agree at all; this album's songs are so brilliantly strange yet unique, and I find it to be a fascinating look into 1977 Brian Wilson.
From a lyrical perspective, I could totally see how it can throw a casual listener off, but there's a certain charm to the music and vocals that can't be replicated
