 | |||
| There are basically no uploads of this cover in good quality :( |
Hello! I am sufficiently awake now that I am able to return to my self-imposed duties of reviewing the Beach Boys. Today I have something sacrilegious to announce - I've never actually heard this one (until today, that is)! You see, I always feel distressed listening to Christmas music, because when it's not December it feels wrong and when it IS December I'm so inundated with the stuff it feels ridiculous to voluntarily listen to more when it's being beamed directly into my frontal lobe from every direction.
That and I'm a fake fan.
Anyways this album was mostly recorded in the span of about two weeks soon after All Summer Long was completed. In June. So that's fun and not terrifying.
Now that I've actually heard this one I feel like I have wispy memories of hearing a few of these songs on Christmas radio stations, obviously including Little Saint Nick - which is unsurprising considering the radio DJs have to get tired of playing the same 3 songs over and over. It also might just be because half the songs sound the same. Overall this album isn't a major artistic statement or anything. But I'm not the literal fucking Grinch, so I will acknowledge this is a Christmas album and that is categorically not the point.
This album is divided neatly into two parts. Side A is original Christmas songs by Brian & Mike, Side B are standards with the Boys' voices and arrangements by Dick Reynolds, arranger for the Four Freshman, a vocal group Brian famously idolized and most other people don't really care about at all. And when I say these arrangements are schmaltzy you best believe that they are SCHMALTZY. It's a little bit funny hearing the Boys sing on something so blatantly schmaltz! Hearing the mid-60s Beach Boys on anything other than Brian Wilson's arrangements feels a little bit uncanny and evil, especially hearing them try to sing old religious Christmas standards. You'd think maybe these two things would end up working and it'd be enjoyable to listen to but there's a reason why people remember Little Saint Nick and not the Boys trying to do We Three Kings Of Orient Are for 4 minutes. The discrepancy in length is a little bit funny considering literally all of the originals clock in at under 2 minutes.
I don't really see much of a point in going track by track because the two sides are pretty uniform. Side A is fun but bare-bones original songs that don't have much in the terms of fleshed out arrangements, Side B is schmaltz which is good if you somehow like Christmas schmaltz and pretty uninteresting to anyone except the most devotee superfans if you don't. I will say that Mike Love singing "He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake" makes an already pretty scary song terrifying.
The last track, Auld Lang Syne, contains what I'm pretty sure is an attempt to wake the listener back up when Dennis randomly jumps in to wish everyone a merry Christmas. Thank you, Dennis, I guess?
I'm going to slap a 5/10 on this one because it's not currently December and I don't know why you'd seek this one out versus the previous Beach Boys record or the next Beach Boys record. If it is currently December, then adjust this score up to a 6 because the originals are decently fun. Especially Little Saint Nick.
Anyways, see you next time for The Beach Boys Today!, a significantly better record.
No comments:
Post a Comment