Sweet Insanity (deluxe edition?)

I thought I'd make my own Sweet Insanity disc - there are a countless amount of them about already and it's horrifically confusing, so here's another one. I like this album, I'm sorry to say. The obligatory defensive paragraph follows:

Sweet Insanity is more of a mixed bag than Brian Wilson '88, and definitely 'poppier' than its predecessor. There's certainly nothing here that scales the heights of "Melt Away", but it's a different beast altogether - the lead-off track, "Someone to Love", is an utterly infectious pop tune (with a chord progression inspired by Dennis Wilson's excellent "San Miguel"), and most everything else here has a similar sense of hook-filled fun. What lets this album down are the lyrics; where 1988 saw the presence of Andy Paley and David Leaf to prevent Landy's timeless words of "love attacks" from sabotaging the songs, this time around there was no-one to stop him, and as a result we must endure Brian singing of the "crazy beatings" he received from his father, ruining what is otherwise a fine composition ("Brian"). Two versions of this album exist (both were rejected by the label); this is the superior revised cut.

Regarding the bonus tracks, obviously not everything could be squeezed into one disc, so I ensured the stuff I left out was really the material that absolutely no-one should ever be forced to listen to (i.e. "Living Doll", "Spirit of the Forest" - you can find all that elsewhere...) - and trust me, I would've loved to have "Smart Girls" wiped, but since it's part of the 'official' tracklist I couldn't do that. Ah well.

01. Concert Tonight
02. Someone to Love
03. Water Builds Up
04. Don't Let Her Know (She's an Angel)
05. Do You Have Any Regrets (I Do)
06. Brian (Thank You)
07. The Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll (with Bob Dylan)
08. Rainbow Eyes
09. Love Ya
10. Make a Wish
11. Smart Girls

Bonus tracks:
12. Hotter
13. Country Feelin'
14. Daddy's Little Girl
15. Metal Beach
16. Goodnight Irene
17. Turning Point
18. Heavenly Bodies
19. Fantasy is Reality/ Belles of Madness
20. Concert Tonight (First Version)
21. Someone to Love (First Version)
22. Don't Let Her Know (She's an Angel) (Demo)
23. Sweetie (Demo)
24. Black Widow (Demo)
25. Harmonies

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Come Back, Brian!

I'm sorry you had to see that cover.

This is a Vigotone boot from 1994. It's got alternate versions of Brian Wilson '88 tracks (including the horrendous Landy-penned 'love attack' version of one of my absolute favourites from that album, "Meet Me In My Dreams Tonight"), a few highlights from the first version of Sweet Insanity, and other assorted live performances, outtakes, and demos (plus a very underrated Brian demo, "Black Widow").

01. Intro

02. Turning Point

03. Heavenly Bodies

04. Black Widow

05. In The Nighttime

06. Love and Mercy (live)

07. Walkin' the Line (live)

08. Melt Away (live)

09. Baby Let Your Hair Grow Long

10. Little Children

11. One for the Boys

12. Up in the Sky

13. Meet Me in My Dreams Tonight

14. He Couldn't Get His Poor Old Body to Move

15. Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel (demo)

16. Someone to Love

17. Water Builds Up

18. Don't Let Her Know She's an Angel

19. Let's Get Together

20. Smart Girls

21. We Love You

22. Fantasy is Reality/ Belles of Madness

23. Outro

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Still I Dream of You: Rare Works of Brian Wilson

An out-of-print collection of early Brian Wilson productions, including lesser-known versions of Beach Boy-related tracks (including "I Do" by the Castells, "Thinkin' Bout You Baby" by Sharon Marie, and "Vegetables" by Laughing Gravy), the excellent Glen Campbell track "Guess I'm Dumb", and a few cases of Brian singing lead (as in "Pamela Jean" by the Survivors and "Barbie" by Kenny & the Cadets, the latter of which features the man struggling to pull off the falsetto).

01. Kenny & the Cadets - Barbie
02. Kenny & the Cadets - What is a Young Girl Made Of
03. Rachel & the Revolvers - The Revo-Lution
04. Rachel & the Revolvers - Number One
05. Bob & Sheri - The Surfer Moon
06. Bob & Sheri - Humpty Dumpty
07. Timers - No-Go Showboat
08. Sharon Marie - Run-Around Lover
09. The Survivors - Pamela Jean
10. The Castells - I Do
11. Paul Peterson - She Rides with Me
12. Nodaens - Beach Girl
13. The Honeys - He's a Doll
14. Gary Usher - Sacramento
15. Gary Usher - That's Just the Way I Feel
16. Sharon Marie - Thinkin' 'Bout You Baby
17. Sharon Marie - The Story of My Life
18. Hale & the Hushabyes - Yes Sir, That's My Baby
19. Basil Swift & the Seegrams - The Farmer's Daughter
20. Annette Funicello - The Monkey's Uncle
21. Glen Campbell - Guess I'm Dumb
22. The Blossoms - Things are Changing
23. Bob & Bobby - Twelve-O-Four
24. Bob & Bobby - Baby, What You Want Me to Do
25. Laughing Gravy - Vegetables
26. Ron Wilson - I'll Keep on Loving You
27. Ron Wilson - As Tears Go By
28. Dino, Desi & Billy - Lady Love

Bonus tracks:
29. Kenny & the Cadets - Barbie (Take 2)
30. Dante & His Friends - Miss America
31. Joey & the Continentals - She Rides with Me
32. The Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari (ARIOLA Version)
33. Various Artists - Karen

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