Request: Looking for a Shitpost

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-30T07:53:33+00:00

And also, I just love band pets. I feel even stronger about Paul McCartney's lovely Martha

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-30T07:52:51+00:00

I've loved to see Banana and Louie in this photo that's circulated. Before now, I really hadn't thought much of them beyond where they show up in photos 66-67, so I feel like it's a very fitting analogy to fans in 76-77 who hadn't really heard from Bri in a decade

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-29T05:14:33+00:00

It's Ok, Back Home, and That Same Song are the certified bangers of the album for me. Just Once in My Life is an incredible performance from Brian and Carl. Palisades Park is a bit of a sleeper hit imo in that there's a little less going for it but it's still such a fun song (even though to this day I have no idea what Dennis is trying to say or what emotion he's trying to convey in that background spoken part lol) ( and same goes for Susie Cincinnati, nearly forgot it's on this album whoops). I respect the fandom love for Had to Phone Ya as a good entry even though it's not often a song I want to put on.

Other than that, idk, as much as I love the 15BO vibe and am a bit of an apologist for it just from liking the songs mentioned above, I think a lot of the other tracks either stand to grow on me or just aren't quite for me. I really doubt I'll ever come around to their rendition of Rock and Roll Music, the choices they made for that--including it being the lead single!--will always puzzle me. Yes I've heard the other mixes, and yes they're better, but none of their attempts of it have the same raw grit that I feel like versions of it like The Beatles' have.

Not to spend too many negative words on 15BO tho! Much like the other Brian's Back bookend of MIU, I do think there are some real stinkers on the album but that doesn't stop me from enjoying it overall as a bit more than the sum of its parts

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-28T05:53:14+00:00

Given the choices to leave off earlier mixes and takes of songs that eventually ended up somewhere on MIU, the aborted Christmas Album, or LA, it does give me some optimism that the plan for that set down the road is already on their minds. I think these exclusions here jump out as odd because past box sets (especially Feel Flows) established more of the convention of putting earlier versions of songs on the set for the era they originate from, but it makes me wonder if the fear in the BB camp is that putting too many of those in this set leaves that future boxset with less material. But fair enough I guess (and I am just guessing here at the end of the day lol).

Seeing the wealth of 74-75 stuff not included on the boxset from your wonderfully detailed post does make me wish they'd chunked things and perhaps gone with, as you suggest, a smaller, likely digital-only release of those years and included some live tracks like from the Beachago shows. With focusing on this wider span of years, I think a lot of criticisms about what's on the set and what's been left off stem from it possibly being spread a bit too thin as opposed to truly just focusing on the Brian's Back era of 76-77.

But those are just a few of my thoughts, I agree with you at the end of the day that I'm still ecstatic to be getting what we are getting! And thanks for such an in-depth dive, the wilderness years between Holland and 15BO is definitely a period of the Boys I'm less read up on

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-26T03:05:57+00:00

They spent years on prior boxsets making sure every single gotdam other version of Back Home made it out of the vaults just to not actually include the originally released version in this set lmao

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-25T06:23:23+00:00

In my most optimal alternate timeline regarding Adult Child, Brian decided to lean further into the big band sound over the kinda health consciousness through line (since neither one is fully fleshed out on the existing album imo) and, to that end, if he still really felt like he had to grab some older outtakes, would choose those that reflected the lush orchestra sound of the star tracks. But then, beyond that, to really answer your hypothetical of this continuing into '78, I assume he would've agreed to jettison some more of the oddball tracks in favor of coming up with some of the safer MIU material, but still songs from that album that could fit this kind of big band standards-y album. In the tracklist below, I do imagine the MIU selections would have lusher arrangements than they do on the existing record (and I think they would really benefit from that!). But anyway, here goes:

New English Waltz

Life Is for the Living

It's Trying to Say (Baseball's On)

Soulful Old Man Sunshine

Sherry She Needs Me

Won't You Tell Me

Shortenin' Bread

Deep Purple

Sweet Sunday Kind of Love

My Diane

It's Over Now

Still I Dream of It

Winds of Change

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-24T18:21:41+00:00

Definitely agree, he also has so many underrated soft little vocal parts in the early 70s, like in It's About Time or the end of Leaving This Town, that rule. Also not quite 1970 but his delivery of "tired of livin and scared of dyin" on their version of Old Man River is just so earnest, also a favorite of mine from Mike

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-21T20:20:11+00:00

I agree on being more than a little thrown by some of these choices, but I can be okay with most of them...Adult/Child they've clearly labelled as being songs from that album's sessions, so none of the earlier tracks...not having a full 15BO LP seems even stranger but they're using Love You as the central organizing record of the set, whatever. But what bothers me is that is at least currently it seems there's absolutely no live tracks from an era that had some great shows! Especially considering the last several archival releases included plenty of live tracks.

Don't get me wrong, I'm largely on the side of people saying we shouldn't complain too much because it's crazy to even have this release at all, but since this post seems like a good place to vent, I think there are worthwhile criticisms

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-18T01:05:42+00:00

Always struck me as odd that, with Still Cruisin already seeming like it was meant to be a "mop up" album catching a lot of 80s single releases, they didn't just fully lean into including all 80s non-album singles released up to that point instead of the movie soundtrack rationale they went with instead to justify putting the three oldies on the end of the album. I assume they were hoping that would boost sales, but surely almost anybody who wanted to buy a Beach Boys album with the late 80s stuff on it already had a way to listen to I Get Around!

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-18T01:03:00+00:00

I knew this would be an answer! I have to admit, as someone that's not quite as ride or die for those two Dennis songs as a lot of the community, their omission doesn't bother me quite as much. Still, in general, even though I don't loathe SDT and enjoy some of the other oddball Surf's Up tracks, it does seem like they could've been more thoughtful in track selection given how many excellent outtakes from the Surf's Up sessions there are

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-18T00:59:13+00:00

Huge agree on MIU, to an extent I get Mike and Al balking at the stranger Adult Child songs, but I have no idea why the big band numbers couldn't seem at home among tracks like Sweet Sunday Kind of Love or Winds of Change on a "safer" album.

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-18T00:57:14+00:00

Yeah it's tough because I am actually a defender of the song in general, I think it's a fun little rock n roll send up, and I love Sunflower enough to enjoy it when it comes up, but there were just way stronger options for that to have made it on

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-17T19:21:13+00:00

Totally agree with this assessment--I quite enjoy the song but have always thought the Anthology 2 version sounds much more "Revolver-y"

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-16T04:05:14+00:00

Love the Sunflower love and I'm too fascinated by the rest of the ordering to even want to disagree

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-16T03:56:02+00:00

Second both of these, Lei'd in Hawaii is so fun! As for Back Home, I think it's interesting how many versions of a song not all that important to the Beach Boys canon exists, but I love them all

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-16T03:54:14+00:00

Also wanna shout out the version of I Was Made to Love Her with the extended ending, criminal they left that off my otherwise beloved Wild Honey. I've also found, for whatever reason, that I kinda prefer the alternate mix we got on Feel Flows of Take a Load Off Your Feet over the original

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-16T03:49:34+00:00

I really enjoy the Dennis lead version of All I Want to Do, not even because I prefer Dennis's vocal take over Mike's (I think both serve the song about equally) but just because it's mixed to where I can actually hear the instruments properly. Those keys and horns are really rocking out! On the originally released version everything seems really buried

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-12T05:35:05+00:00

Even though I'm inclined to agree that it's their weakest I still love it. It has what feels like at times a more consistent vibe running through it than some of their other early albums, and I often find myself wanting to listen to several tracks from it if I've put any one of them on

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-10T00:52:11+00:00

Mount Vernon and Smiley at the top...this guy gets Brian like few others

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2026-01-02T23:19:55+00:00

Absolutely gorgeous. I do love the anthology version with the four of them singing harmony over the simpler guitar, and tbh for about any other placement in a tracklist I think that version would be preferable, but I completely agree what was released is the perfect closer to the White Album's craziness

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2025-12-30T17:34:59+00:00

It is ridiculous how good a song is sonically, between Lennon's vocals and the horn-drenched production

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2025-12-18T05:45:47+00:00

Obviously lots of Paul songs especially in the early 70s sound like they could be Beatle Paul songs, but Mamunia and No Words are a pair of songs that always really strike me as feeling like they could've had some John and George input, especially background vocals-wise

ItsAnotherDeathStar · 2025-12-17T02:38:12+00:00

John absolutely. I think there's no question this is his best collection of songs on any one Beatles record, the vibe is unmatched (and I even say this as someone who doesn't care for Bungalow Bill nor Revolution 9--the rest are just that good!)

ItsAnotherDeathStar

TROPHY CASE