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Brian Wilson has died
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y agoRIP. What a creative titan/genius. When these giants pass away who replaces them? Who are the Brian Wilsons of today?
- freedomben 1y agoJust a theory, but given how much fracturing/variation of music tastes people have developed in the last 50 years, I'm not sure there's enough of an audience for any of those mega bands to get to that level anymore (except for a few pop artists here and there). I also suspect discoverability is a lot more of a challenge now too given the saturation of content out there and the small market. I've discovered some excellent bands (for my musical tastes of course, which are Rock & Metal) that I can't believe aren't bigger. These Four Walls and Thousand Needles In Red come to mind. Like Thieves is pretty decent too, nice music to put in the background on a drive through the canyon or while working. All of those bands are on Bandcamp btw.
- mensetmanusman 1y agoUhh Taylor Swift is the titans of titans now.
- blahpro 1y ago"except for a few pop artists here"
- MomsAVoxell 1y agoDisclaimer; this is clearly going to be about personal tastes. However, it has to be argued: Taylor hardly breaks through genres to create entirely new ones, as Brian Wilson or Sly Stone did. Taylor is a ‘safe’ songwriter whose market is intolerant of exceeding the limits of her chosen genre - Brian and Sly, however, can be perceived as being far more progressive as artists, willing not only to break the conformity of their extant music market, but to excel at creating entire new genres on their own. What is Taylors “Pet Songs”? Taylor Swift is the least likely of the three to have created her own genre of music outside market expectations. While she’s undeniably innovative, her contributions largely refine and personalize existing genres (country, pop, indie-folk) rather than inventing entirely new ones. Both Wilson and Stone created groundbreaking sounds—Wilson with orchestral pop and Stone with funk/psychedelic soul—that were more radical departures from their era’s commercial norms. Between Wilson and Stone, Stone’s creation of funk and his influence across multiple genres (funk, soul, rock, hip-hop) arguably had a broader impact, but Swift’s work, while transformative, operates more within established frameworks.
- vintermann 1y agoWe won't really see until in retrospect. Something that today is "some little thing that one band does" may turn into something that gets seen as a whole genre tomorrow. Case in point: I recently listened to "Tracks and Traces", a compilation of things Brian Eno did with Harmonia in 1976. It IS "post-rock". You could slip some tracks from that album onto Mogwai's albums from the 2000s, and you would hardly notice something is amiss. And you know it wasn't a direct influence, because the recordings were only released 30 years later.
- mahanji 1y agoI don't feel that Taylor Swift's songs go deeply within the soul.
- hajile 1y agoReal great performer that one.... https://www.reddit.com/r/travisandtaylor/comments/1ew4iqo/my_friends_cousin_is_a_sound_engineer_and_she/ https://www.reddit.com/r/travisandtaylor/comments/1ew4iqo/my... It's a good thing that her mic is always off in concert (apparently she's been using the same "live" soundtrack for a while at her concerts). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rMNMURShM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8rMNMURShM I just can't believe someone that tone deaf could write good music.
- freedomben 1y agoWow, that is wild! The video was very interesting indeed
- bongodongobob 1y agoShe certainly makes a lot of money. Brian Wilson was a writers writer. Taylor Swift isn't writing anything interesting that makes any song writer go "holy shit, that's genius". Music theorists don't study her music, she's not doing anything groundbreaking or new. She writes catchy songs for sure, but a lot of people do that.
- tilne 1y agoMatt Jardine sang his parts I believe when I saw his band play a few years back.
- MPSimmons 1y agoI think Ben Folds is underrated for what he's produced. I think people who listened to him in college write him off as being frat-rock but his stuff is actually super interesting, the more you dig.
- donnachangstein 1y agoBen is a hipster Elton John. To put him in the same league as Brian is insulting.
- micromacrofoot 1y agocalling someone Elton John also seems like a compliment?
- khazhoux 1y agoWTF, it's not insulting at all. Ben is a master writer of story-driven songs, with a very wide range and top-notch musicianship. There is definitely a similarity. Perhaps you're not familiar with his full catalog?
- donnachangstein 1y agoI never said Ben wasn't talented. He's very talented. I like Ben. That said, they are leagues apart. It's like claiming Eric Clapton is as good as a guitarist in some shitty bar band. Perhaps you're not familiar with who Brian was and what he's done.
- cess11 1y agoTo me Wilson and Clapton are in the same league mainly due to rather unpalatable personalities, Wilson insisting on breaking the boycott of an apartheid state and Clapton throwing racist tantrums and profiting off a tragedy in his family.
- 100pctremote 1y agoBen is eminently and deeply talented, but it's just a different aesthetic that is mostly very literal and conventional. Brian Wilson's songwriting and production technique was a one-of-a-kind imprint.
- xeromal 1y agoI think Tyler Childers is pretty talented.
- Alex3917 1y agoThe ambient soundscapes of Burial's self-titled album have some similarities to the sonic soundscapes of pet sounds.
- gabriel666smith 1y ago+1 - when I read GP's comment, and thought: "who composes music that it sounds like to be alive right now?", Burial was my first thought. Maybe this opinion is a little dated - Burial started a couple of decades ago now - I'm sure there's someone smart and younger capturing the sonics of our current moment accurately. But Burial is a truly great composer. I really despise the (unintentional, totally forgivable) YouTube-comment-vibe of "When these giants pass away who replaces them? Who are the Brian Wilsons of today?" - it's very "Like this comment if you like REAL music, not [young pop star]." It takes decades and decades to understand who captured a time period accurately, and whose work anticipated and influenced the art that was to come. Burial is probably the wrong answer! It takes so much time for an artist to become revered as a "giant". It requires deep historical understanding and deep critique. There is plenty of very beautiful music being made. Naturally none of it sounds like Brian Wilson's - it isn't Brian Wilson's. I don't think anyone wants to see Burial inducted into the "Rock n Roll Hall of Fame" at this time, or playing the Sunday Afternoon Legends slot at Glastonbury. Ditto for (most of) the other names mentioned in response to GP. Innovative and masterful craft rarely makes itself immediately apparent to its audience - it's not an instant-gratification commodity - the audience must also work to reveal it. Takes time!
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 1y agoYeah, I didn't mean to turn the thread into a measuring contest. When people come and go I think of a forest in constant renewal. Things die and they're replaced by new growth. When a visionary like Brian Wilson dies where is the renewal? It only feels like loss and I was trying to articulate that.
- micromacrofoot 1y agoed sheeran
- some-guy 1y agoQuite a few exist, there are just so many more of them, and most of them aren't making the top of the billboard charts. Sufjan Stevens comes into mind for me as a songwriting workhorse with a wide array of styles but with a central theme, and amazing poetry / lyricism.
- skyyler 1y agoSOPHIE was definitely in the running for being another Brian Wilson type. Her immense creativity was best when channeled through others, just like Brian's. She enjoyed some widespread success during her short life, but since her death, the style of music she helped pioneer has exploded in popularity. The extremely popular "brat" album from last year contained both explicit celebration of her name and homage to her style. But she's dead now. Her music still inspires me. He's dead now, too. His music will continue to inspire me.
- pimeys 1y agoAlso her peers from the PC Music label: A. G. Cook, Hannah Diamond, QT...
- Tainnor 1y agoI absolutely adore Sufjan Stevens but at least around here barely anyone's heard of him.
- mosburger 1y agoI think it'll be someone pushing the boundaries of hip hop/rap/etc., it feels like there's still a lot more experimentation and unexplored stuff that can happen there. And most of the people on HN probably won't really appreciate it much, just like the general population didn't quite fully appreciate Brian Wilson's genius back when he was doing his best work. I'm not super close to that genre so I wouldn't dare hazard a guess who that might be.
- Tainnor 1y agoOne person who comes to my mind who is a) arguably a creative boundary-breaking genius and b) has some degree of success within mainstream pop is Rosalía. But she's more of an "artist's artist". A lot of modern pop icons cite her as an influence, but she's not nearly as well known as those are.
- perfmode 1y agoJustin Vernon of Bon Iver Sufjan Stevens
- toomuchtodo 1y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Wilson https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933092/ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0933092/ https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.brianwilson.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.brianwilson.com/
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- toomuchtodo 1y agoRelated: Brian Wilson, visionary creative spirit for the Beach Boys, dies aged 82 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44249510 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44249510 - June 2025
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- 100pctremote 1y agoHe understood and created music as a true genius. What a remarkable talent.
- alexjplant 1y agoI'm convinced that "Pet Sounds" is lyrically a proto-emo album dressed up in an instrumental psychedelic doo-wop trenchcoat. For years I dismissed it as one of those albums that people pretended to like to seem smart until I was mature enough to understand it. Now it's one of my favorites. RIP.
- sndean 1y agoJust related to Pet Sounds, I remember God Only Knows has been cited by Paul McCartney and others as their favorite song of all time. Even though the song is very odd in many ways.
- soulofmischief 1y agoIt's definitely one of my all-time favorites. It's literally a perfect song in every respect. Wilson was a songwriter's songwriter
- daveevad 1y agoYou reminded me that one of Brian Wilson's favorite songs was "Be My Baby" by The Ronettes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wilson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_My_Baby#Effect_on_Brian_Wil...
- hansthehorse 1y agoI'm not sure he loved the song as much as he loved the production.
- steeleduncan 1y ago> Even though the song is very odd in many ways I suspect it is precisely because the song is very odd in many ways that it is so interesting
- insaneirish 1y agoHere is a great analysis of God Only Knows from the podcast “Strong Songs”: https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows-by-the-beach-boys https://strongsongspodcast.com/blogs/episodes/god-only-knows...
- jihadjihad 1y agoDamn. I was literally thinking about the following quote from Dennis Wilson while I was getting ready this morning: "Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. He is the band. We're his fucking messengers. He is all of it. Period. We're nothing. He's everything." [0] It was just a random thought I had this morning, related to how his brothers and father are depicted in Love and Mercy. For all their abilities and talent, I think Dennis had it right. Brian was the Beach Boys. RIP. 0: https://books.google.com/books?id=eYyovo_AbqAC https://books.google.com/books?id=eYyovo_AbqAC
- JKCalhoun 1y agoYeah, older me was surprised that The Wrecking Crew performed on so many of their albums. The singing was all Beach Boys ... but yeah, I think the song-crafting, that was all Brian.
- KerrAvon 1y agoThere's a hilarious-in-retrospect interview where McCartney praises the unusual placement of notes in a particular bassline on a particular song and attributes it to Brian Wilson's genius. Later it was revealed to be entirely due to Carol Kaye, the bass player on that session. (Not to take anything away from Brian's actual genius!)
- brandall10 1y agoJust a note on how this came to be - Phil Spector's "Be My Baby", released in '63 became an obsession for Wilson upon first listen. This obsession led to him sitting in on studio sessions w/ Spector, and of course, that was his introduction to the Wrecking Crew and that style of working.
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- kylebebak 1y agoAdiós Brian, thanks for the music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wWBV3QCbGE&list=PLhinduWcIKtFcHEDIQPXXdbFGT8gxTKF1&index=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wWBV3QCbGE&list=PLhinduWcIK...
- Lammy 1y agoTragic life story w/r/t Eugene Landy, but some truly amazing music. I'm glad his career bounced back in recent decades and he was able to die widely-loved instead of in obscurity. I will watch Norbit (2007) tonight in his honor.
- hinkley 1y agoWhat does Norbit have to do with Brian Wilson?
- skyyler 1y agohttps://www.spin.com/2017/05/its-been-ten-years-since-brian-wilson-said-his-favorite-movie-was-norbit/ https://www.spin.com/2017/05/its-been-ten-years-since-brian-...
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- Lammy 1y agoNorbit review: it was absolutely awful lol
- automathematics 1y agoMy wife took me to see him a few years ago and I'm so glad. One of the most influential people in rock and roll for sure and I hope in time more people realize that. RIP to a real one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZjIdyWu-U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-ZjIdyWu-U
- soulofmischief 1y agoThis deserves a black bar. Brian Wilson touched so many lives. God only knows what I'd be without you...
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- kapitanjakc 1y agoThe big bang theory series episode was the one that introduced me to Brian Wilson through Darlin. RIP
- nonameiguess 1y agoFirst concert I ever went to in 1988 with my aunt. Wouldn't it be Nice was my first "song" with my first girlfriend in high school. You gave so much to all of us, Brian. You earned the rest. People ask who the current version of this kind of genius is for pop music, and between the one man band element, turns as a composer, and general weirdness and reclusiveness, Trent Reznor is probably who comes to mind for me, but even his heyday was 30 years ago. I have no idea who in their 20s might have this kind of impact. Let us appreciate these people while we can.
- mzg 1y agoIn a lot of ways, Frank Ocean feels like the millennial Brian Wilson. Not sure if any zoomer musicians have had enough time in the spotlight to develop that sort of persona.
- weakfish 1y agoReznor is still highly active in scoring, I’d say his heyday is now depending on definition. The Social Network score is absurdly good. Also, second time I’ve mentioned Reznor in context on HN today. Weird.
- vorador 1y agoNot to detract from your point but the movie was (already!) 15 years ago
- TeaBrain 1y agoI don't think this is pertinent to their point at all. They were just referencing the quality of one of the scores Reznor has done. Reznor has continued to score movies nearly every year since. I'd agree with them that Reznor's career heyday probably is now. He's writing scores for multiple productions a year while still playing stadiums with NIN.
- dessimus 1y agoHe was nominated in 2020 for an Academy Award in Best Original Score for both Mank and Soul, winning for Soul, plus a slew of other award ceremonies that season. Challengers in 2024 also had nominations in a bunch of awards.
- maxfurman 1y agoI never realized Brian Wilson and Sly Stone were the same age. Small world
- josh2600 1y agoYeah what a week to lose two giants. Both were great in very different but resonant ways.
- oldpersonintx2 1y ago[dead]
- JKCalhoun 1y agoTwo albums (vinyl) my mom got for me when I was maybe 9 years old — "Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits" and "The Beach Boys — High Water". What a wild thing to get a 9 year old kid. Music. Both albums formed who I am today musically. When YouTube came around I was able to find out that Brian often was the one singing the amazing falsetto parts. "I get around / From town to town / I'm a real cool head / I'm making real good bread" On the Ed Sullivan show on bass: https://youtu.be/ruKCw797JM4 https://youtu.be/ruKCw797JM4
- scop 1y agoWouldnt it be nice is such an amazing piece of art. Grew up hearing it, never listening to the lyrics. Thought it was fun. As an adult finally paid attention to the lyrics one day and they knocked me off my feet. The happiest most upbeat song is really singing about something not quite there, an ideal, but real, something to be grasped and lost…or let go… What a genius to be able to pull that song off.
- perrygeo 1y agoAs a young kid, I loved the Beach Boys, mostly associated it with cars and surfboards and silly love songs. It hits different a few decades later, especially that song. "Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray, it might come true"... oof.
- andy_xor_andrew 1y agoI encourage everyone to listen to his 1988 solo album self named “Brian Wilson”. It’s brilliant. Frequently called “Pet Sounds ‘88” since many fans consider it to be a spiritual sequel. The 80s synth dressing might seem off putting at first but the songwriting and musicality of it is just amazing. Also, give a listen to Smile! - not Smiley Smile, or The Smile Sessions, but the 2004 recreation. It's quite mindblowing. If you close your eyes you can hear it as a true symphony. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNwhm2EX8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UbNwhm2EX8
- Flatcircle 1y agoIt's unbelievable how much every aspect of older art was outsourced. The album cover of that self titled album is wild.
- JKCalhoun 1y agoDoleful Lions a huge Beach boys fan: Surfside Motel: "And I've been in this town so long that I'm back in the city... And don't you know it was the government stopped the Beach Boys from releasing 'Smile'...." [1] [1] https://dolefullions.bandcamp.com/track/surfside-motel https://dolefullions.bandcamp.com/track/surfside-motel
- andy_xor_andrew 1y agoif we're sharing tunes from lesser-known artists on Bandcamp- the clever timpani line in this track will sound familiar to anyone who has ever heard Pet Sounds :) I thought it was a very appropriate appropriation of a famous Brian Wilson track. https://willyrodriguez.bandcamp.com/track/rosemary https://willyrodriguez.bandcamp.com/track/rosemary (for anyone listening who is not versed in Pet Sounds, it's the famous drum line from "I'm Waiting For the Day")
- lurk2 1y ago[flagged]
- EA 1y agoBrian Wilson was an industrious and creative engineer that shipped products which touched generations.
- efdee 1y agoFrom the same rules: "Please don't complain that a submission is inappropriate. If a story is spam or off-topic, flag it. Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead. If you flag, please don't also comment that you did."
- telesilla 1y agoGod Only Knows is the perfect song. Thanks Brian for bringing it into our lives. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NADx3-qRxek https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NADx3-qRxek and this beautiful film, very touchingly explores his life with the always-excellent Paul Dano. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lioWzrpCtGQ
- qingcharles 1y agoIf one day humanity is long gone, I'd be OK with that as long as God Only Knows is out there in the ether waiting to be found.
- gabriel666smith 1y agoThis is hard to take. Unquestionably, to me, Brian Wilson was the greatest composer of pop music we've ever had. Even Wilson's most recent work - when he was very clearly suffering a lot - is so deeply interesting, and weird, and moving, and has a total mastery of his craft. From 2021 - "Right Where I Belong": ''' I get anxious. I get scared a lot. That's what I live with. It should get better, really, any day now - - those were my teenage years. They said: "Go out and get a steady job." That was the worst idea! All night and day, another lonely song - - to get me through again. In my fantasy I'm never far from home. But in reality I know where I belong. For me, the love - that's what the music really is. I know that love is what I rеally want to share. So I went out and got a steady a job - - so many golden years. That rhapsody to me: the music calls - - to ride the wave again. https://youtu.be/FToNl9VyI0g?si=VEIOlTCsbYz2yy7g https://youtu.be/FToNl9VyI0g?si=VEIOlTCsbYz2yy7g ''' He was America. The idealism, the bizarro suburban sincerity, the descent into late-century darkness, the total mastery of the form: the ability to write a two-minute song as if it were a perfectly manicured lawn, capturing all its layered uncanniness. Melodies and harmonies that have beauty beyond language - he really did write for the entire universe. It didn't matter if his songs were to girls, or waves, or particularly quick cars. He was a prophet of his time in the same way that William Blake was. It all feels so incredibly inevitable. I really hope he understood that he was as important as Bacharach and maybe Bach - though I don't get the sense, as much as one can from the outside, as a fan, that he'd particularly care. He had too much love for his work. Surf's up, I guess. Thank you very much for it all, Brian, if you're reading this. Your work makes me believe that you could.
- parpfish 1y ago> He was America. The idealism, the bizarro suburban sincerity, the descent into late-century darkness, the total mastery of the form I often thought that Brian Wilson and David Lynch were like mirror images of each other and now they're both gone
- gabriel666smith 1y agoI typed "Lynchian" then deleted it - it's overused, but, for Brian Wilson (and Lynch - a compliment to them both) I think, in hindsight, it's appropriate, just about.
- mahanji 1y agoI was playing for an event just last night and told the woman tending bar that God Only Knows was one of Brian Wilson's best songs. Ironic.
- BillSaysThis 1y agoThe Beach Boys, on a double bill with Chicago, Madison Square Garden Summer ‘75, were my first concert. No Brian, of course, but all the songs were his. So many amazing tunes! (Note: despite going with my dad, we got stoned out of our gourds from the pot those around us were smoking.)
- gwbennett 1y agoPet Sounds! A fantastic album and group! So many great songs on all their albums. Grew up listening to them.
- cjk 1y agoAbsolutely gutted. I regret never seeing him live. RIP Brian.
- dogman1050 1y agoA childhood memory is hearing Good Vibrations through a crystal radio using my bedframe as an antenna while in a hypnogogic state, supposed to be sleeping. It felt other-worldly.
- parpfish 1y agoCheck out “Magic Transistor Radio” from their album Holland. It’s a story-song about a magic radio that comes alive at night to visit a kid (if I remember correctly)
- timschmidt 1y agoI'll drop a link here to the T.A.M.I. Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdZJ7TkJQU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pdZJ7TkJQU "T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures.[1] It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Free tickets were distributed to local high school students. The acronym "T.A.M.I." was used inconsistently in the show's publicity to mean both "Teenage Awards Music International" and "Teen Age Music International"." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.A.M.I._Show https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.A.M.I._Show It's stacked with amazing performers, most at the beginning of their careers, including a young Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys.
- susiecambria 1y agoI adore God Only Knows - BBC Music https://youtu.be/XqLTe8h0-jo?si=La5oAhF86duVlyQe https://youtu.be/XqLTe8h0-jo?si=La5oAhF86duVlyQe
- perrygeo 1y agoTake care Brian. I hope you've found a place where you can speak your mind.
- throwaway1017 1y agoSweet Mountain - American Spring https://music.apple.com/us/album/sweet-mountain/1102333773?i=1102334069 https://music.apple.com/us/album/sweet-mountain/1102333773?i...
- onecommentman 1y agoSecond-hand story: In the 1960s, California high schools were enlightened enough to play pop music in their cafeterias. Normal pop drivel, while all the jaded teenagers were laughing and talking. One day, “Good Vibrations” starting playing, just after it was released. And I’ve been told everything in the cafeteria just stopped…all these teenagers stopped talking, and just listened. It was that significant a new sound…