Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

He's dead! He was a Beach Boy! It was unavailable long enough to become mythologised!

hey Carl Wilson's got all three of these things going for his solo records and nobody cares about them

(which is totally okay - they are not good)

you know there are at least a couple "this so-called lost classic is overrated pile of crap" reviews of the reissue about to drop. there is always a backlash to myth rock landmarks.

I remember it being nice, but not some kind of epochal, criminally unreleased mountain of genius, as all the 100% ratings on Metacritic from classic rock mags would lead you to believe.

yeah seriously this reminds me of chuck eddy complaining about other critics raving about the Betty Davis reissues. has more to do with being annoyed by hype than the actual material methinks

I don't think I was swayed by the hype, at least no more so than virtually anyone -- critics included -- is normally swayed. I just feel a strong nostalgic pull toward that kind of music (70s West Coast rock), and these songs are especially good examples of that genre. And it's not like other artists (save Wilco maybe) are churning out stuff like this routinely, anymore. Hence my semi-irrational love for this disc.

Well, "critics included" I imagine. I mean, I'm guessing critics get caught up in hype like anyone else, as much as they try to evaluate something on its merits alone.

Being unavailable for a while often gives a boost. The Traveling Wilburys albums, for instance, are regarded considerably better now than they were back then. Particularly "Volume 3", which got a pretty lukewarm reception back then, but which is now often seen as almost as good as the debut.

See also "Sunflower". (I mean, it is an amazing album, but most people didn't realise until the re-release a few years back)

But is that because they were unavailable or it just took some time for the albums to gain a following of vocal supporters?

Wilburys are unlistenable glop lets get that straight

But is that because they were unavailable or it just took some time for the albums to gain a following of vocal supporters?

I think a bit of both. When an album is unavailable, you don't get the chance to get sick of it in the same way, and you remember it for its positive qualities while you ignore what you might not have liked so much about it.

That is, unless you play your old vinyl records or cassettes a lot, but fewer and fewer people do that.

I don't know about that. Seems like it cuts both ways. Tusk, which I think shares some commonalities with P.O.B., has always been available, I believe. And its rep seemingly grows by the year.

Wilburys are unlistenable glop lets get that straight.

Yeah, I sort of think this, too.

I think Pacific Ocean Blue is good, and this reissue is great news and generally a lot of fun. But I also think it's off-base to peg it as an experimental avant-pop album. West Coast rock, not far from the kind of thing Wilco is making now, is right on the money, but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

THAT'S what's irritating me. It's insane.

Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

Okay, well, that's just ri-damn-diculous. It's still a lost classic, and I do think that term ("lost classic") is used far too loosely.

i love this album and so have read zero press about it

But I also think it's off-base to peg it as an experimental avant-pop album. West Coast rock, not far from the kind of thing Wilco is making now, is right on the money

But Dennis Wilson, like Jeff Tweedy today, didn't have the kind of voice you expect from a West Coast MOR singer.

the trick is not to read the press guys

but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A.

maybe cuz the Wire guys haven't bothered to listen to a lot of West Coast 70s MOR rock...? or no wait maybe its cuz Remain in Light and Kid A owe more to West Coast 70s MOR rock than previously recognized haha

Yes, there's a strong Jacksone Browne/Doobie Bros. vibe in Kid A.

lolololol

Jackson Browne/Doobies/Talking Heads/Dennis Wilson = cokeheads

I dunno about tom yorke

I suppose you guys are gonna diss Oar now?

OK, I'll step up to the mark. Not that good, is it? Frankly.

i like oar and POB and no other - oh no, i am beardo cliche

I put Am The Cosmos on the other day after this thread and turned it off again after two songs. Uergh.

"I Am the Cosmos" isn't really considered in the same class as "POB", "Oar, "No Other" etc - by "beardo cliche" critical consensus, I mean

Southall my office tomorrow 9 am sharp

Big Star's 3rd album, fer sure (xp)

On the bright side, I look forward to reading James Masterson's chart commentary when Buckley's Starsailor gets reissued and goes straight in at number one.

Shame Jimmy Saville's not around, there's that track on where Timbo impersonates him after all

The Traveling Wilburys albums, for instance, are regarded considerably better now than they were back then.

What on earth are you talking about? Volume One got overwhelmingly positive.

"but the full-page review in the current Wire puts it in the lineage of Remain in Light and Kid A"

Just read that yesterday. Listening the album now for the first time, and fortunately The Wire's review is bullshit.

What a surprise. Who wrote it?

Just checking the Wire website, see our very own (How hot is) Dominique Leone (in person?) is reviewed in this issue. Must get a copy.

Richard Henderson writes it.

He also sez that POB is like a Bill Laswell production from the last ten years. WTF x 1000?

okay yeah I don't hear that at all

This re-issue sounds amazing to my ears thusfar! Definitely better than my Australian boot CD or Bambu randoms culled from internets.

yeah, my bambu boots were abysmal, great to really hear this stuff now

yeah the low quality of the stuff I have is kinda the only reason I may get this... not to be a broken record here but can someone post a tracklist for the reissue? I can't find one online.

Disk: 1
1. River Song
2. What's Wrong
3. Moonshine
4. Friday Night
5. Dreamer
6. Thoughts Of You
7. Time
8. You And I
9. Pacific Ocean Blues
10. Farewell My Friend
11. Rainbows
12. End Of The Show
13. Tug Of Love - Previously Unreleased
14. Only With You - Previously Unreleased
15. Holy Man - Instrumental, Previously Unreleased
16. Mexico - Previously Unreleased

Disk: 2
1. Under The Moonlight - Previously Unreleased
2. It's Not Too Late - Previously Unreleased
3. School Girl - Previously Unreleased
4. Love Remember Me - Previously Unreleased
5. Love Surrounds Me - Previously Unreleased
6. Wild Situation - Previously Unreleased
7. Common - Previously Unreleased
8. Are You Real - Previously Unreleased
9. He's A Bum - Previously Unreleased
10. Cocktails - Previously Unreleased
11. I Love You - Previously Unreleased
12. Constant Companion - Previously Unreleased
13. Time For Bed - Previously Unreleased
14. Album Tag Song - Previously Unreleased
15. All Alone - Previously Unreleased
16. Piano Variations On Thoughts Of You - Previously Unreleased
17. Holy Man - Taylor Hawkins Version

no "quad symphony"!

still, a bunch of stuff I don't have - must get then.

(thx btw)

just ordered the triple vinyl(!) from Sundazed

there is an hour-long NPR produced special about the album playing right now on WBEZ in chicago (you can listen online):

http://www.wbez.org/Program_SS.aspx

POB and Bambu are tolerable (sometimes barely), rarely superb ("River Song")

Take all the songs Dennis contributed to the Beach Boys proper between 1968 and 1974, put them together, and you'd have an album 100 x better than either POB or Bambu.

somewhere betwixt rong and challops

velko otm

lolz they excised the "erection" line out of "Wild Situation" on the reissue!

honestly with all the unreleased stuff I can kinda hear the Remain in Light comparisons - the walls of ominous synths + the odd foray into non-rock rhythms (ie, Jamaican or New Orleans funk or whatever) do make for some kind of (albeit dubious) parallel. I dunno about Kid A, I never listen to Radiohead.