Way back in January last year, I posted a piece entirely created by AI. and asked what you thought was going on. After a few comments that missed the mark, someone guessed the image was AI, but the text passed the test. Nobody got that the whole thing was artificially generated from prompts by bots. To be fair, AI images and text weren't as widely used as they are now - this may have been one of the first blog pieces to be created by algorithms - one of the many Blog Firsts initiated by th' groundbreaking IoF©!
With the advances in AI capability, it's time to try the exercise again, to the same prompts. The difference is immediately apparent. The image, at first glance, looks like a real album. A shit design, maybe a Russian knock-off, it doesn't stand up to more than a moment's examination. But the improvement over the first attempt [left - Ed.] is startling. For one, the group name and album title is spelled correctly, which was absolutely beyond dumbass AI back then. For another, the font is a slightly warped Cooper Black, as used on the Pet Sounds cover. There are six members of the group, so they've reinstated Bruce for the album, which is a thoughtful gesture, even if it makes the Olympic Rings a tad inaccurate.
The text is an improvement, too. There's more detail, and it's more authoritative. It could be a typically anodyne review written by (say) an Allmusic or Rolling Stone reviewer. There's nothing brilliantly perceptive or original or witty about it, no sense of character, idiosyncrasy, or insight, but it's perfectly acceptable internet-corporate content for the undemanding phone gazer.
We'll do this again in another 20 months - if we're still around - and see how we stand. Be afraid. Be very afraid. We can shrug it off, but unlike AI use in music, its appropriation by evildoers to form opinions and incite action seems nothing but bad news. What, me worry?
AI Album Review: 15 Big Ones by The Beach Boys
Released in 1976, 15 Big Ones marked a significant moment for The Beach Boys, primarily because it marked the return of Brian Wilson to a more central role in the band’s recording process after years of being largely absent due to personal struggles. The album features a blend of classic pop standards and new compositions, and while it doesn’t achieve the critical acclaim of their earlier groundbreaking works, it offers a nostalgic look at their musical roots, mixed with the distinctive Beach Boys charm.
One of the most interesting aspects of 15 Big Ones is its dual nature. Nearly half the album is composed of cover versions of 1950s and 60s pop standards, with tracks like “Rock and Roll Music” (a Chuck Berry cover) and “In the Still of the Night” giving the group a chance to revisit the music that originally inspired them. While these covers may not be as innovative as their earlier material, there’s a sense of fun and energy, as if the band is rediscovering the joy of making music, with Brian Wilson’s production touches subtly evident.
On the other hand, the album’s original compositions are a mixed bag. Songs like “It’s O.K.” and “Had to Phone Ya” feel like attempts to merge their past sound with more contemporary sensibilities, but they don’t quite reach the same emotional depth or complexity of their peak period. Still, these tracks show glimpses of the Wilson brothers’ songwriting magic, especially when harmonies soar as they did in their heyday.
Brian Wilson’s return is, of course, the headline here. His presence on 15 Big Ones is palpable, but it's clear he's still finding his footing after years of absence from the band's creative process. His vocals are rawer, and his arrangements less polished than fans of Pet Sounds might expect. But there’s an undeniable emotional weight to his return, as though he’s trying to regain his place both within the band and in the musical world.
While 15 Big Ones isn’t among The Beach Boys’ best albums, it holds a certain charm, especially for longtime fans. It’s a nostalgic mix of old and new, with the band revisiting their roots while Brian Wilson steps back into the spotlight. Though not a return to form, it's a testament to the enduring spirit of a group that helped define a generation of music.
This is off-topic, but 15 Big Ones id one of my most-played albums, according to the person in my computer who counts stuff. I added an xtry track (the splendid session recording of Come Go With me, not the later MIU version), jigged the track order a little, and called it 16 Big Ones, because I can. By any technical and even artistic standards, this doesn't make a Perfect Ten, but it's a pleasantly stupid and undemanding album that never, ever, fails to make me feel good, and to let the back story spoil the party is senseless. Love this album.
ReplyDeleteDespite not looking anything like the late 70s Beach Boys, this album cover kicks the original to the curb. Even Al's original attempt is better than the actual cover, gibberish and all. Al's review is certainly more flattering than AllMusic's. I've never listened to it personally and AM doesn't make me want to but Al makes a pretty compelling case for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not the best source of dispassionate Beach Boy opinion. Ever since I Get Around and California Girls they've knocked me out or left me feeling puzzled and even betrayed. At the time, 15 Big Ones made me feel like a dupe for buying it - I should have known from the cover (perhaps the worst of any world-class major group, ever) that this wasn't going to be the artistic advance I'd hoped for three years after the sublime Holland. It was like listening to a badly-tuned car radio playing a medley of outtakes. What the actual??? But the years have been kind to it - kinder than they have to me, the vicious bastards - and it's snuck up on me to the point where if I see it, it's hard not to play it. Like "Love You", I accept its faults as character traits, like you should in a person, at least in me, and understand that the perceived faults arise purely from disappointed expectations. The Beach Boys always lurched from album to album, rarely making what we'd think of as smart creative decisions, and some of their least expected (and most disappointing) albums now seem like interestingly flawed jewels in a glittering crown.
DeleteIt's a fine selection of oldies (Come Go With me fit right in), and there's a couple or three originals that, given a more polished performance and production, would be right up there with their best. But it's the sheer listenability that wins me. The album's a lot of fun. It shouldn't be, given a back story that reads like a National Enquirer front page, but the damn thing plays itself on its own terms, regardless of what we think, and it's a blast from start to finish.
The great thing about music is ‘with time’, an album once dismissed can become a favourite years later. I’ve been playing albums recently by artists I thought I would never listen to again and really enjoy them (Phil Collins era Genesis). Conversely about twenty years ago I was playing The Flaming Lips a lot, and buying everything I could find and afford, I haven’t played anything by them in probably five years.
DeleteAvailable time to properly listen to music is becoming a problem at the moment, because of the generosity of people sharing albums, I’ve not been allowing albums enough time to play them a few times. New music needs to be properly listened to (without distraction), the Phil Collins era Genesis I put on when pottering around the house/garden.
Great to see the screed returned Farq, there's not much else on the internets these days.
Thanks for commenting, Bambi, always. Freeload the Chrysalis album, because it's unique and slightly strange. It's what we would have called a "beautiful album, man" at the time and we would have been correct.
DeleteI played around with a several AI art programs, giving it basic prompts like "make a Rolling Stones album cover." The results were pretty funny...I got what a computer "thought" the Rolling Stones look like. As it's based on real photos combined with caricatures and whatever other "garbage in" it hoovered up off the Internet, it was definitely Stonesy, but otherwise useless. AI does think the Stones have a LOT of wrinkles. :)
ReplyDeleteI also had Bing Copilot "write a positive review of a concert by the Jam." Then I reversed it and had it write a negative review. The results (and discussion) are at https://voodoowagon.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-jam-backstage-ltd-100-club-london.html#comment-form
Note the negative review is in the comments.
Great comments. The AI texts are, like Beach Boys, "corporate internet" in tone, and the lack of real insight/wit/character in the writing are major warning signals. But this type of writing will satisfy millions of people who don't think below the surface of what they read - that is, most people. It's also how a lot of writers write already - it's a style established by the writers at Rolling Stone, particularly Ben Fong Torres, a real Artificial Intelligence whose aim is always to fit in with market demands.
DeleteThanks for dropping by the VW. Like you, I will probably do a "let's see what it does this time" post every now and then, and give HAL 9000 or Colossus the reins and see where they ride the prose.
DeleteThere's another issue, too. The computer "reads" existing information and bashes it into readable text, but the opinions are taken from what's already been written. That Beach Boys review reads okay because it's telling me what I already know about that album. Can it write a review of an album that hasn't been released after being given a pre-release copy?
The Jam positive / negative reviews over at VW read like they were real, but there was no actual listening followed by writing. They're good, but they're fakes.
By the way, I see Ben every so often; the Bay Area Radio Museum is here in Alameda:https://bayarearadio.org/
Oh, and as a side note, I like the version of "Rock and Roll Music." I don't like it as much as the Beatles...or Berry's original, but I do like it.
ReplyDeleteIt was, lest we forget, a huge, huge hit. But what does John Q. Public know, th' ignorant slob?
DeleteAbout a year and a half ago I asked ChatGPT to "write a review of Yes' Tales from Topographic Oceans in the style of Dorothy Parker"
ReplyDeleteThe AI came back in 5 seconds with this:
"Yes' Tales from Topographic Oceans is the musical equivalent of being trapped at a dinner party with someone droning on about their esoteric beliefs. The concept may have seemed grandiose in theory, but in practice it's just tedious. One can only take so much tedious instrumentation and pretentious lyrics before desperately reaching for the nearest exit. I'd rather be reading the daily specials at a truck stop diner than sit through this again."
Undeterred by Parker’s dismissal of Yes’ magnum opus, I asked J Edgar Hoover to review "If I could Only Remember My Name"
“In my professional opinion, the album is a reflection of the countercultural and anti-establishment sentiments that were prevalent during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Crosby, a former member of the iconic folk-rock band "The Byrds," incorporates elements of rock, folk, and psychedelic music in his solo debut.
“However, despite its musical innovations, the album is marred by its pervasive use of drugs, as well as its disregard for traditional American values. The lyrics, at times, are cryptic and lack coherent meaning, further perpetuating the album's anti-establishment message.
“It is my belief that this type of music and its associated cultural movements have the potential to undermine the stability and security of our great nation. As such, I would not recommend "If I Could Only Remember My Name" to those who value the traditions and principles that have made America great.
Then surprisingly, Ronald Reagan’s review of Sticky Fingers was enthusiastically positive. And that’s when I got scared and determined to give up using AI.