2009-10-10

The Beach Boys 專輯 Sunflower (1970) 賞析

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緣起
Sunflower 專輯是 The Beach Boys(海灘男孩)在 1970 年 8 月 31 日發行的專輯。是我很喜歡的唱片,今天特地把樂評人 Jim Miller 在 39 年前,也就是 1970 年 10 月 1 日,為滾石音樂雜誌所寫的本專輯樂評找出來,加以翻譯,希望能略盡推介的效果。樂評原文鏈結

時代背景介紹:

Sunflower 專輯發行之前,The Beach Boys 自從在 1966 年發行了搖滾音樂史上評價極高的 Pet Sounds(和聲、編曲均備極複雜)之後,歷經 Smiley Smile (1967)、Wild Honey (1967)、Friends (1968)、20/20 (1969) 等專輯之後就沒能再突破。古往今來,歷史告訴我們,一部顛峰級的作品對一位文藝創作者不見得是好事,成名隨之而來的壓力可能隨時扼殺他/她的創作力,而這一點也是當時對 Beach Boys 有殷切企盼的樂迷與樂評人所關心的,由 Jim Miller 這篇樂評看來,Sunflower 的發行讓大眾鬆了口氣,而隨者時光的流逝,歷史也證明這張唱片的確是僅次於 Pet Sounds 跟 Today!(1965)的 Beach Boys 第三佳的作品。(PS.: Sunflower 專輯是滾石音樂雜誌評選「史上五百大最佳專輯」(500 Greatest Albums of All Time) 中第 380 名。)

=====================樂評譯文開始=====================

經過長時間的休養、深入簡出的生活,以及人生十常八九的不如意之後,海灘男孩總算作出了一張可以與 Pet Sound 專輯 (註1) 媲美的唱片了。在 Sunflower 專輯中,我們聽到,海灘男孩往日的歌聲與複雜的編曲又回來了。結果是,這張 Sunflower 專輯為我們對於海灘男孩的荒謬信念提出了強有力的佐證,什麼樣的荒謬信念呢?就是相信海灘男孩確實仍能製作出一流的搖滾專輯,或者更貼切地說,是一流的 muzak (註2) 專輯。如同曲目三 "Add Some Music to Your Day" 所揭示的理念 – 為你的日子添加點音樂吧!時髦的超級市場大概會設定播放這張專輯,以便顧客自在悠游於冷凍食品區/罐頭食品區參觀、選購…




作為一個令人放心的佐證點是,在 Sunflower 專輯中,海灘男孩絕大部分的溫柔抒情特質仍在,雖然不如在前一張 Friends 專輯 (註3) 中那樣突顯。但是在 Sunflower 這樣一張主要只不過是情歌集合的唱片中,Dennis Wilson 卻探索了節奏藍調的若干面貌,而 Brian Wilson 則在他自己獨一無二的架構中繼續努力著。因此,我們聽到了像曲目六 "It's about Time" 跟曲目一 "Slip on through" 這樣一點點軟式硬搖滾混合一些當代 Motown 音樂 (註4) 的曲目。Dennis Wilson 甚至勉力完成了一首令人發笑的曲目四 "Got to Know the Woman" 聽來就像 Dennis Wilson 在模仿 Barry Melton (註5) 在學著 James Brown (註6) 唱靈魂樂似的。這些曲目都透露了海灘男孩的音樂在 "Good Vibrations" (註7) 之後所缺乏的某程度的沉著與泰然自若,以致讓人感覺,他們彷彿已再次克服這種求同存異的新嘗試之自覺,製作出一張新唱片。也是因為這原因,本專輯中,海灘男孩音樂中純真的一面似乎更勝以往,我是說,天呀,今年是 1970 年,而我們有了個又新又優的海灘男孩的鉅作,這怎能說不重要呢?








不管怎麼講,Brian Wilson 的新作還是很棒,尤其是曲目二 "This Whole World" 以及曲目八 "All I Wanna Do",這兩個曲目的錄音工程及製作是本專輯中值得一提的,若是考量它們重疊灌錄的次數,簡直可說完美無暇了。它們的立體聲中有一種溫暖、浮動的特質,遠遠超越了…這樣說好囉,遠勝 Abbey Road (註8) 中的混音。它們的音響效果是很細緻微妙的,不過曲目八 "All I Wanna Do" 中的回音除外,它實在令人討厭。除了這些以外,Sunflower 專輯中還有曲目十二 "Cool, Cool Water" 這首 Brian Wilson 為「水」這題材所精雕細琢的頌歌,這首歌跟曲目三 "Add Some Music to Your Day" 一樣,都能小題大做,自一些日常的題材中如數家珍,說得落落長… 這可是比先前的失敗之作 Smiley Smile 專輯 (註9) 更能使聽眾發出會心的笑了。






本專輯當然免不了有許多打翻糖罐子的甜蜜歌謠,這是海灘男孩的傳統強項,像曲目五的 "Deirdre",或者尤其是曲目十 Brian Wilson 所作的 "Our Sweet Love", 儘管它還是與 Pet Sound 專輯的情懷接近點兒,但卻其實延續了 1963 年的前作 "Surfer Girl" 的傳統。此外,我們還有像曲目十一 "At My Window" 這樣的小品。無論如何,整體來看,Sunflower 無疑是海灘男孩近期最好的專輯,一張風格上相當協調的傑作,這將使你我思考,到底現在是否還有人聽海灘男孩的音樂,或是否還可能有人鳥他們?因為在我們可以取用更多的「解放音樂管弦樂團 (Liberation Music Orchestra)」 (註10) 之時,這張專輯可能一時會被視為墮落的靡靡之音。的確它是使人墮落的靡靡之音,但卻是熠熠生輝的靡靡之音。海灘男孩們是塑膠 (註11) 瘋子,但也是石頭(搖滾)天才。塑膠不該迴避塑造它的天才們啊。









註1:The Beach Boys 在 1966 年的唱片,評價極高,在滾石音樂雜誌 (Rolling Stone Magazine) 評選的「史上五百大最佳專輯」(500 Greatest Albums of All Time) 中高居第二名。

註2:"muzak" 是一種常在商場、機場、購物中心播放的背景音樂,有時也稱作 "elevator music",主要用來紓緩氣氛,多屬輕鬆悅耳的音樂,但因為千篇一律而流於單調,因此這個字多為貶義。

註3:The Beach Boys 在 1968 年 6 月 24 日發行的唱片。

註4:Motown 音樂是 1960 年代發源於汽車工業大城底特律 Detroit 的一種節奏強烈的黑人音樂。

註5:Barry Melton 是 Country Joe and the Fish 的主奏吉他手,此團是 '60 年代知名反戰樂團,此團很喜歡靈魂樂歌手 James Brown,常喜用靈魂樂的唱法詮釋搖滾音樂。

註6:James Brown 知名靈魂樂手,請參考。 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLEQB3HS5Hs

註7:"Good Vibrations" 是 Beach Boys 在 1966 年發行的單曲,後來收錄在 1967 年發行的專輯 Smiley Smile 中,這首歌應該是搖滾樂發展到當時為止結構與編曲都最複雜的歌了。


註8:"Abbey Road" 是 Beatles 在 1969 年的錄音室專輯,也是經典。史上五百大排名 14。

註9:"Smiley Smile" 是 the Beach Boys 在 1967 年發行的專輯。

註10:"Liberation Music Orchestra"「解放音樂管弦樂團」是爵士大師 Charlie Haden 所領導的一支左翼立場、關心政治議題的前衛爵士樂隊,它在 1969 年發行的同名專輯主題圍繞著西班牙內戰及越戰參戰等議題。樂評人列舉此團之用意,應該是要與 Beach Boys「言之無物」的「靡靡之音」作對比。

註11:「塑膠」"plastic" 這個詞來自拉丁文 "plasticus",原是「可塑造、可塑型」之意。在反體制的 1960 年代,這個字被賦予了「膚淺 (superficial)」、「不自然 (unnatural)」、「廉價 (cheap)」的意思。


附上樂評原文:
After a long period of recovery, mediocrity, and general disaster, the Beach Boys have finally produced an album that can stand with Pet Sounds: the old vocal and instrumental complexity has returned and the result largely justifies the absurd faith some of us have had that the Beach Boys were actually still capable of producing a superb rock album–or, more precisely, a suberb rock muzak album. "Add Some Music to Your Day"; hip supermarkets might program this album for contented browsing among the frozen vegetables and canned fruit.

As a reassuring note, most of the lyric impotence of the group remains, though not so prominently displayed as on such colorful recent outings as Friends. In what is mainly a simple collection of love songs, Dennis Wilson has explored some aspects of rhythm and blues while Brian continues to work within his own distinctive framework. Thus on the one hand we have "It's About Time" and "Slip on Through," hints of the soft hard rock that marked "I Get Around," "Help Me Rhonda," etc., transferred to the domain of contemporary Motown. Dennis even pulls off a rib-tickling imitation of Barry Melton imitating James Brown on "Got to Know the Woman." All of these tracks are executed with a certain aplomb that often was lacking in post-"Good Vibrations" Beach Boy music, as if the self-consciousness of such homogenizing enterprise as making a new Beach Boy record has been again overcome. As a result, the naivete of the group is more astounding than ever–I mean, good Christ, it's 1970 and here we have a new, excellent Beach Boys' epic, and isn't that irrelevant?

In any case, Brian's new stuff is great, especially "This Whole World" and "All I Wanna Do." Which brings up the engineering and production work on this album: it's flawless, especially in view of the number of overdubs. There is a warmth, a floating quality to the stereo that far surpasses the mixing on, say, Abbey Road. The effects are subtle, except for the outrageous echo on "All I Wanna Do" that makes the song such a mind – wrenching experience. And then there is "Cool, Cool Water," Brian's exquisite ode to water in all its manifestations, which, like "Add Some Music," is encyclopedic in its trivial catalogue of the subject at hand. "Cool, Cool Water" pulls off a Smiley Smile far better than most of the material on that disappointing venture.

The inevitable saccharine ballads are present in abundance. "Deirdre" and particularly Brian's "Our Sweet Love" rejoin the ongoing tradition of "Surfer Girl," although "Our Sweet Love" is most reminiscent of the mood of Pet Sounds. Of course there is some lesser stuff here, like "At My Window." No matter: as a whole, Sunflower is without doubt the best Beach Boys album in recent memory, a stylistically coherent tour de force. It makes one wonder though whether anyone still listens to their music, or could give a shit about it. This album will probably have the fate of being taken as a decadent piece of fluff at a time when we could use more Liberation Music Orchestras. It is decadent fluff–but brilliant fluff. The Beach Boys are plastic madmen, rock geniuses. The plastic should not hide from use the geniuses who molded it.

by Jim Miller, 1 Oct 1970

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