Brian Wilson Sessions (FLAC)

Here's a lovely boxset from 1994 of Brian Wilson tidbits, mostly Landy-era. Some of these tracks aren't as great-sounding as you'd find on more recent boots (especially the case with Sweet Insanity), but this is worth having for anyone wanting to hear this stuff in flac.

Disc 1: Sweet Insanity + more Landy productions
Disc 2: Sweet Insanity outtakes
Disc 3: Outtakes (incl. alternate versions and Adult/Child tracks)
Disc 4: Demos + London '77 and LA '85 live tracks
Disc 5: Still I Dream of You: The Rare Works of Brian Wilson
Disc 6: Radio interview + more BW productions
Disc 7: 'Words and Music' promo CD + radio and TV interviews

Download here

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

Download here (320kb/s mp3s)