OT: Re: (TV) Chris Bell

["Philip P. Obbard" <pobbard@yahoo.com>]

--- Maurice Rickard <maurice@mac.com> wrote:
> There are a lot of classic rock (maybe, but not necessarily "Classic 
> Rock") moves in it.  If I have a quibble, it's that some of the 
> rhymes and lyrics are obvious, but few people can make obvious rhymes 
> and lyrics *work* the way Bell and Chilton can.  And dig that super 
> radio-friendly solo on the title track!

I like, but don't love, this record. Some of the production is pretty muddy. At
its best, however, I AM THE COSMOS sounds a lot like ALL THINGS MUST PASS - a
compliment of the best kind. The title track is a great example. But it doesn't
hold up against any Big Star record.

> BTW, I'm also listening--thanks to the wonders of the 'net--to some 
> of what has leaked out of the Beach Boys' _Smile_.  Man, if Brian had 
> completed the thing...there's just some amazingly gorgeous stuff in 
> there.

...and thanks to the Internet and the relative inexpensiveness of good audio
manipulation software, fans have been able to create/recreate/rearrange all
sorts of interesting SMILE "what-if" compilations. I am always looking for new
attempts.

However, after listening to this stuff since 1993, I'm much less convinced that
a finished SMILE would have been the ultimate pop record - while there are some
amazing songs, qualitatively it is weaker than PET SOUNDS and a lot of other
records made by Wilson's contemporaries. At best, it would be seen as a flawed
masterpiece or an audacious but overly pretentious opus. On the other hand, it
beats anything the Beach Boys did after 1967, much as I enjoy SUNFLOWER.

(I've been away from a computer for five days, and I can hardly type anymore,
and all of my spelling looks lousy. My apologies.)

--Philip


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