CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92)

The idea of releasing a collection of Jimmy Webb's best known songs sung by the author himself may seem like a no-brainer, but it's taken 20+ years for it to happen, apparently mostly because Webb needed to put some distance between himself and most of these numbers, in order to approach them in a fresh manner that makes this disc more than a mere exploitation effort. The result is the best and most accessible of all Webb's albums, featuring his 1990s' takes on "Galveston," "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," "Didn't We," "MacArthur Park," "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress," "Wichita Lineman," and "All I Know," amongst others. His voice is more expressive than ever, and the performances are generally grittier, with more raw emotion than the better known hit versions display. The arrangements are generally very simple and straightforward, with Webb's piano the primary instrument, and several of the songs are performed in a deeply personal manner, more akin to home recording for Webb's own pleasure than to a commercial release -- "Wichita Lineman," in particular, sounds here like the most personal and private of performances, filled with wrenching loneliness at which the Glen Campbell version only hints. The notes are very personal and revealing as well. © Bruce Eder /TiVo

There's more to the Beach Boys than Pet Sounds! Feel Flows – The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 (Super Deluxe) proves it, with a monster close-up on a period which is very dear to fans but less so to the general public. And this is a box set of 133 tracks boasting over 6 and a half hours of music! In 1970, the Beach Boys' star had dipped somewhat. After the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds, rightly considered one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, the Californians had been busy but they had not managed to create a whole album of the quality they were after. So we find some beautiful passages on Smiley Smile (1967), Wild Honey (1967), Friends (1968) and 20/20 (1969), but there was a lack of consistency. With clashing egos, internal dissension and growing competition on the planet of pop and rock, the new decade promised to be full of uncertainties. Especially given the growing psychological chaos in the head of the brains of the whole outfit, Brian Wilson. To top it all off, the Beach Boys left their old Capitol label and had wound up at Reprise. Their spell there was kicked off by Sunflower, which is revered by many aficionados. This 16th studio album already has the merit of being a truly collective work. With This Whole World, Brian Wilson created a magnificent multi-layered theme; the same goes for the marvellous Cool, Cool Water. Dennis Wilson wrote four songs (including the brilliant Forever), and with At My Window Al Jardine composed a touching miniature.Once again, the Beach Boys had made an Eden of vocal harmonies, bright ideas and melodies of great finesse. While the public was increasingly going in for high decibel counts and walls of amplifiers, the Beach Boys went against the grain, going deeper into what they knew best. Released a year later, the album Surf's Up is a step down but includes some great stuff like the opening Don't Go Near the Water (prescient given that Dennis Wilson would drown 12 years later), the enchanting 'Til I Die, another Brian Wilson masterpiece, as well as the title track, Surf's Up, co-written with Van Dyke Parks. In the end, Feel Flows - The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 is the perfect way to immerse yourself, body and soul, in the output of these three fruitful years. In this impressive Super Deluxe version, the original albums have been completely remastered and over 100 new tracks have been added. Live performances, radio commercials, alternative takes, alternative mixes and even a cappella versions. It's all there, and it makes it clear that between 1969 and 1971, the Beach Boys still had something left to say. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

There's more to the Beach Boys than Pet Sounds! Feel Flows – The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 (Super Deluxe) proves it, with a monster close-up on a period which is very dear to fans but less so to the general public. And this is a box set of 133 tracks boasting over 6 and a half hours of music! In 1970, the Beach Boys' star had dipped somewhat. After the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds, rightly considered one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, the Californians had been busy but they had not managed to create a whole album of the quality they were after. So we find some beautiful passages on Smiley Smile (1967), Wild Honey (1967), Friends (1968) and 20/20 (1969), but there was a lack of consistency. With clashing egos, internal dissension and growing competition in the pop and rock world, the new decade promised to be full of uncertainties. Especially given the growing psychological chaos in the head of the brains of the whole outfit, Brian Wilson. To top it all off, the Beach Boys left their old Capitol label and had wound up at Reprise. Their spell there was kicked off by Sunflower, which is revered by many aficionados. This 16th studio album already has the merit of being a truly collective work. With This Whole World, Brian Wilson created a magnificent multi-layered theme; the same goes for the marvellous Cool, Cool Water. Dennis Wilson wrote four songs (including the brilliant Forever), and with At My Window Al Jardine composed a touching miniature.Once again, the Beach Boys had made an Eden of vocal harmonies, bright ideas and melodies of great finesse. While the public was increasingly going in for high decibel counts and walls of amplifiers, the Beach Boys went against the grain, going deeper into what they knew best. Released a year later, the album Surf's Up is a step down but includes some great stuff like the opening Don't Go Near the Water (prescient given that Dennis Wilson would drown 12 years later), the enchanting 'Til I Die, another Brian Wilson masterpiece, as well as the title track, Surf's Up, co-written with Van Dyke Parks. In the end, Feel Flows - The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 is the perfect way to immerse yourself, body and soul, in the output of these three fruitful years. In this impressive Super Deluxe version, the original albums have been completely remastered and over 100 new tracks have been added. Live performances, radio commercials, alternative takes, alternative mixes and even a cappella versions. It's all there, and it makes it clear that between 1969 and 1971, the Beach Boys still had something left to say. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

There's more to the Beach Boys than Pet Sounds! Feel Flows – The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 (Super Deluxe) proves it, with a monster close-up on a period which is very dear to fans but less so to the general public. And this is a box set of 133 tracks boasting over 6 and a half hours of music! In 1970, the Beach Boys' star had dipped somewhat. After the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds, rightly considered one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, the Californians had been busy but they had not managed to create a whole album of the quality they were after. So we find some beautiful passages on Smiley Smile (1967), Wild Honey (1967), Friends (1968) and 20/20 (1969), but there was a lack of consistency. With clashing egos, internal dissension and growing competition on the planet of pop and rock, the new decade promised to be full of uncertainties. Especially given the growing psychological chaos in the head of the brains of the whole outfit, Brian Wilson. To top it all off, the Beach Boys left their old Capitol label and had wound up at Reprise. Their spell there was kicked off by Sunflower, which is revered by many aficionados. This 16th studio album already has the merit of being a truly collective work. With This Whole World, Brian Wilson created a magnificent multi-layered theme; the same goes for the marvellous Cool, Cool Water. Dennis Wilson wrote four songs (including the brilliant Forever), and with At My Window Al Jardine composed a touching miniature.Once again, the Beach Boys had made an Eden of vocal harmonies, bright ideas and melodies of great finesse. While the public was increasingly going in for high decibel counts and walls of amplifiers, the Beach Boys went against the grain, going deeper into what they knew best. Released a year later, the album Surf's Up is a step down but includes some great stuff like the opening Don't Go Near the Water (prescient given that Dennis Wilson would drown 12 years later), the enchanting 'Til I Die, another Brian Wilson masterpiece, as well as the title track, Surf's Up, co-written with Van Dyke Parks. In the end, Feel Flows - The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 is the perfect way to immerse yourself, body and soul, in the output of these three fruitful years. In this impressive Super Deluxe version, the original albums have been completely remastered and over 100 new tracks have been added. Live performances, radio commercials, alternative takes, alternative mixes and even a cappella versions. It's all there, and it makes it clear that between 1969 and 1971, the Beach Boys still had something left to say. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

There's more to the Beach Boys than Pet Sounds! Feel Flows – The Sunflower & Surf’s Up Sessions 1969-1971 (Super Deluxe) proves it, with a monster close-up on a period which is very dear to fans but less so to the general public. And this is a box set of 133 tracks boasting over 6 and a half hours of music! In 1970, the Beach Boys' star had dipped somewhat. After the 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds, rightly considered one of the greatest albums of the 20th century, the Californians had been busy but they had not managed to create a whole album of the quality they were after. So we find some beautiful passages on Smiley Smile (1967), Wild Honey (1967), Friends (1968) and 20/20 (1969), but there was a lack of consistency. With clashing egos, internal dissension and growing competition in the pop and rock world, the new decade promised to be full of uncertainties. Especially given the growing psychological chaos in the head of the brains of the whole outfit, Brian Wilson. To top it all off, the Beach Boys left their old Capitol label and had wound up at Reprise. Their spell there was kicked off by Sunflower, which is revered by many aficionados. This 16th studio album already has the merit of being a truly collective work. With This Whole World, Brian Wilson created a magnificent multi-layered theme; the same goes for the marvellous Cool, Cool Water. Dennis Wilson wrote four songs (including the brilliant Forever), and with At My Window Al Jardine composed a touching miniature.Once again, the Beach Boys had made an Eden of vocal harmonies, bright ideas and melodies of great finesse. While the public was increasingly going in for high decibel counts and walls of amplifiers, the Beach Boys went against the grain, going deeper into what they knew best. Released a year later, the album Surf's Up is a step down but includes some great stuff like the opening Don't Go Near the Water (prescient given that Dennis Wilson would drown 12 years later), the enchanting 'Til I Die, another Brian Wilson masterpiece, as well as the title track, Surf's Up, co-written with Van Dyke Parks. In the end, Feel Flows - The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions 1969-1971 is the perfect way to immerse yourself, body and soul, in the output of these three fruitful years. In this impressive Super Deluxe version, the original albums have been completely remastered and over 100 new tracks have been added. Live performances, radio commercials, alternative takes, alternative mixes and even a cappella versions. It's all there, and it makes it clear that between 1969 and 1971, the Beach Boys still had something left to say. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz

Upon leaving the Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle felt no compunction in leaving behind the band's energetic new wave. On her own, she dove right into the mainstream with the assistance of producer Michael Lloyd, embracing the big radio-ready sheen of the mid-'80s on her 1986 debut, Belinda. The album's lead single (and album opener), "Mad About You," celebrated this shift and she was rewarded with a huge hit, one that went all the way to number three in the U.S. Behind the gloss, however, lay some elements of the Go-Go's, which shouldn't be surprising, considering how Charlotte Caffey wrote half of the record -- more songs than Carlisle herself. Often, these songs suggest that Caffey and Carlisle were picking up where Talk Show left off, particularly with the infectious Motown bounce of "I Feel the Magic" and the power pop insistence of "Gotta Get to You." These songs, along with the Bangles leftover "I Need a Disguise" (another entry in the wannabe Motown hit parade) and a nicely moody reading of Tim Finn's "Stuff and Nonsense," have aged better than a ham-fisted cover of Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" and the neon synths of "Shot in the Dark," and they're also the reason why Belinda will be the solo Carlisle album that will appeal the most to Go-Go's diehards. [Edsel's 2014 reissue of Belinda contains an expanded CD plus a DVD. The first disc contains a remastered version of the proper album, plus five bonus tracks; three of these are versions of "Band of Gold" featuring Freda Payne, then there's an expanded version of "Mad About You" plus the non-LP "Dancing in the City." The DVD contains videos for "Mad About You" and "I Feel the Magic," then the entirety of a live concert filmed and released on home video in 1986.] © Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Download not available