Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue

i hear the cymbal thing deej's friend is talking about but i wouldnt have picked up on it otherwise and i dont think it's really a distraction or anything

smile is way better than this fwiw

I'm certainly not trying to ridicule Smile. I think Brian Wilson and Dennis Wilson's songs have a core sadness about getting older. Brian's Smile-era music sounds like someone struggling to be a child again. Dennis' POB/Bambu music sounds like someone heartbroken over time lost, people lost, not being young anymore, the finality of the choices you make, and what's left for you. That's the kind of sadness I connect with, and POB/Bambu nails it.

i understand the impulse to compare this album to smile but its going after something pretty different, i think

I was hoping it would include a song called Carry Me Home ...Anyone know this song, or know what album it appears on? Thanks.

this song was never officially released afaik it exists only in demo form. I got it on some bootleg of unreleased/Bamboo stuff a few years ago. Kinda surprised it isn't on the reissue - speaking of which, can someone post a tracklisting? I'm curious if there's anything on there I don't have. Is "He's a Bum" on there? "Wild Situation"?

Max, you're right. They are both different, and both very good.

Surely an excellent album, and wonderful to finally have it available on CD.

BUT. I feel like the praise these days has become exaggerated in a few ways.

For starters, it is being marketed as "possibly the best solo album by a Wilson". Hello? "Smile", anyone??? And even if that doesn't count (largely old material), I would still say that "Brian Wilson" is better.

I have also seen it described as re-release of the year. Now 2008 has seen and will see lots of excellent re-releases, but it could be argued that this is more important than those Genesis, Cure, U2 or Bee Gees titles because it has been unavailable for so long. Yet, still, "Jesus Of Cool" was also unavailable for ages, and that album is definitely a better album than "Pacific Ocean Blue".

But don't misunderstand me. Again, this is a wonderful album.

And even if that doesn't count (largely old material), I would still say that "Brian Wilson" is better.

I confess the first s/t Brian Wilson album is a lost gem but its lows are worse than the lows on POB (of which there are few).

Shakey, that's the disc with Love And Mercy, One For The Boys, Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long and Melt Away, right?

Heresy, I guess, but I return to that album much more than I do Smile.

I remember the press going crazy for that first Brian solo album (I was reading a lot of Rolling Stone then, I guess). It was called an extension of Smile, basically picking up where he left off in the 60s. I listened to it so much in 1988, just non-stop rotation. Wonder how it would sound to me now.

the synth patches on it are alternately great and hilariously bad

its more like an extension of the sound of "Love You" than "Smile". I think the "Smile" talk was mostly due to "Rio Grande" (which recycles some "Smile" melodies/material - incidentally it also quotes Dennis' "River Song")

that "Little Children" song on it tho = ugh.

and don't forget Terence Trent D'Arby and Christopher Cross

okay I'm breaking out my cassette of this right now lolz

and don't forget Terence Trent D'Arby and Christopher Cross

What songs are they on? I may have to break out my CASSETTE of this, too. If it was released a few years earlier, I'd have to break out my 8-TRACK ot it.

Rolling Stone four star roflz

I never trust Rolling Stone reviews, unless they reinforce my preexisting beliefs. Then they're okay.

"Brian Wilson is a stunning reminder of what pop's been missing all these years." lol.

Had Rolling Stone not heard of A Flock Of F--g Seagulls by 1988?

(j/k about the Flock Of Seagulls part. Still, lol at that line from the review).

This is so going to end up top of the Metacritic table for 2008 come December. Serious bummer. But look at what it's got in its favour! He's dead! He was a Beach Boy! It was unavailable long enough to become mythologised! Beatles catalogue still not remastered!

Why a bummer, Nick? You don't like the disc?

I've not got it, to be honest; I have heard it, a few years ago when I was downloading like mad, but like I Am The Cosmos and Starsailor I was left pretty non-plussed by it. 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. But then again I'm not a Beach Boys fan by any stretch of the imagination.

Understood. FWIW, I actually do think I Am The Cosmos was epochal, criminally overlooked mountain of genius (like POB), but I can't stand one minute of Starsailor.

I love all 3 personally. Starsailor is especially fantastic.
I suppose you guys are gonna diss Oar now?

or Gene Clark's "No Other"?

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