CD Charts
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Music : Orange Crate Art
Rating: 
- Caution Genius' at work
Fantastic album - thanks to Van Dyke Parks Brian can concentrate on working his magic over vocals. Intended or not there specks of Stephen Foster and Steely Dan. "San Francisco" alone is worth the cost of the CD - certainly in my top five Brian songs. That said all of these songs stick in the memory long after hearing them. A very playable album and not one to sit on the shelf. The cover says it all - it has that washed out hazy feel of a hot afternoon. Buy and luxuriate.
I commend this CD to the house.
Rating: - beautiful album - huge feel good factor
When I first bought this album I was a little unsure about it. I had recently bought 'smile' which has is one of my favourite album ever. I was amazed when I listened to this at how good it was - if you like 'smile' you will probably like this album. Wilson's harmonies are absolutely fantastic, especially on the title track. There is a jazz sensibility about the music, kind of like the Four Freshmen. Each song is very different, cleverly written and there is a huge range of instruments. It is quite a sonic experience in itself.
There is a feel of Americana in many of the songs and an old world innocence which suits Wilson's voice and harmonies perfectly. There is also a mellow Beach Boys vibe to it. I really love this album and enjoy it more each time I listen to it. The music is complex so it deserves more than just a casual listen.
This is serious music and seriously good. I rate it among Brian Wilson's best albums, absolutely.
Rating:
- Meringue
This album is meringue, battenburg cake and candyfloss, very sickly and bad for the teeth. Tastes real good for the first ten minutes, then you gradually start turning green and queasy as the endless nostalgic melodies, orchestras and monotonous Brian Wilson harmonies flow on and on, and you realise it's gonna be like this for the whole 47 minutes. I speak as a fervent Brian Wilson fan, but this is a Van Dyke Parks album, make no mistake. An album in praise of the rich white Californian lifestyle of the fabulous fifties and soaraway sixties. Never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy or grey. It's a happy album, but the happiness is of the big-toothpaste-advert-smile variety, the kind you see on holiday brochures, all those folks having so much fun fun fun. Some of the songs might have been rescued from their aggravatingness if Brian hadn't chosen to layer a million vocal tracks over everything, making all the harmonies sound identical, and therefore soulless - and this is Brian we're talking about, who knows ALL about what harmony can do. But he probably knew that if he tried any harder with this stuff it'd just be wasted effort. Skip this one and proceed to Live at the Roxy by Brian or Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks (now there's a genuinely strange record).
Rating: - Off the wall, notorios wilson rumness and superb engineering
When I first slipped this CD into my player, after tweaking the disk itself, I felt like that guy in the armchair in those Maxell ads!
The basslines are powerful and rythmic, choruses rich and layered, lyrics poetic, nostalgic and at times obscure [by van dyke parks probably].
It may not be exactly radio airplay friendly and it's anything but commercial. This, I guess is half the appeal. Don't buy this album if you like your music categorised in little boxes. It is niether Pop, Rock, Country or indie, the nearest I can place it is Surf Rock.
If you liked George Martin's 'In My Life', you'll probably like this.
It is an album that is by turns refreshing, happy, warm and sad, whilethe orchestration and arrangements are peerless with rich, layered instrumentation with REAL drums, which makes a change.
In some respects it reminds me of the Beach Boys album 'Holland' {I have 'Trader' in mind].
Buy this album if you like a surprise and are open minded as its huge fun and full of melody.
Just a pity it wasn't masterd as a 24bit HDCD disc, as the dynamic range would have been goose pimply!
His 'Imagination' album also has superb production just like this one...
In short, WIERD BUT FUN!
- Caution Genius' at work Fantastic album - thanks to Van Dyke Parks Brian can concentrate on working his magic over vocals. Intended or not there specks of Stephen Foster and Steely Dan. "San Francisco" alone is worth the cost of the CD - certainly in my top five Brian songs. That said all of these songs stick in the memory long after hearing them. A very playable album and not one to sit on the shelf. The cover says it all - it has that washed out hazy feel of a hot afternoon. Buy and luxuriate.
I commend this CD to the house.
Rating:
- beautiful album - huge feel good factorWhen I first bought this album I was a little unsure about it. I had recently bought 'smile' which has is one of my favourite album ever. I was amazed when I listened to this at how good it was - if you like 'smile' you will probably like this album. Wilson's harmonies are absolutely fantastic, especially on the title track. There is a jazz sensibility about the music, kind of like the Four Freshmen. Each song is very different, cleverly written and there is a huge range of instruments. It is quite a sonic experience in itself.
There is a feel of Americana in many of the songs and an old world innocence which suits Wilson's voice and harmonies perfectly. There is also a mellow Beach Boys vibe to it. I really love this album and enjoy it more each time I listen to it. The music is complex so it deserves more than just a casual listen.
This is serious music and seriously good. I rate it among Brian Wilson's best albums, absolutely.
Rating:
- MeringueThis album is meringue, battenburg cake and candyfloss, very sickly and bad for the teeth. Tastes real good for the first ten minutes, then you gradually start turning green and queasy as the endless nostalgic melodies, orchestras and monotonous Brian Wilson harmonies flow on and on, and you realise it's gonna be like this for the whole 47 minutes. I speak as a fervent Brian Wilson fan, but this is a Van Dyke Parks album, make no mistake. An album in praise of the rich white Californian lifestyle of the fabulous fifties and soaraway sixties. Never is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy or grey. It's a happy album, but the happiness is of the big-toothpaste-advert-smile variety, the kind you see on holiday brochures, all those folks having so much fun fun fun. Some of the songs might have been rescued from their aggravatingness if Brian hadn't chosen to layer a million vocal tracks over everything, making all the harmonies sound identical, and therefore soulless - and this is Brian we're talking about, who knows ALL about what harmony can do. But he probably knew that if he tried any harder with this stuff it'd just be wasted effort. Skip this one and proceed to Live at the Roxy by Brian or Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks (now there's a genuinely strange record).
Rating:
- Off the wall, notorios wilson rumness and superb engineeringWhen I first slipped this CD into my player, after tweaking the disk itself, I felt like that guy in the armchair in those Maxell ads!
The basslines are powerful and rythmic, choruses rich and layered, lyrics poetic, nostalgic and at times obscure [by van dyke parks probably].
It may not be exactly radio airplay friendly and it's anything but commercial. This, I guess is half the appeal. Don't buy this album if you like your music categorised in little boxes. It is niether Pop, Rock, Country or indie, the nearest I can place it is Surf Rock.
If you liked George Martin's 'In My Life', you'll probably like this.
It is an album that is by turns refreshing, happy, warm and sad, whilethe orchestration and arrangements are peerless with rich, layered instrumentation with REAL drums, which makes a change.
In some respects it reminds me of the Beach Boys album 'Holland' {I have 'Trader' in mind].
Buy this album if you like a surprise and are open minded as its huge fun and full of melody.
Just a pity it wasn't masterd as a 24bit HDCD disc, as the dynamic range would have been goose pimply!
His 'Imagination' album also has superb production just like this one...
In short, WIERD BUT FUN!