That Lucky Old Sun (CD/DVD) Reviews

• A modern classic.

  
  By A23US54A0OILE4 on 2008-09-03
  After listening to the album That Lucky Old Sun by Brian Wilson I am reminded of a brighter time and an optimism that filled my world of the 60's and 70's. I am also more of the opinion that Brian Wilson was the heart and soul behind the Beach Boys as we came to know them; a point many believe but some argue with. The naysayer's need to hear this music! Listening to the songs on That Lucky Old Sun is like listening to the Beach Boys of years ago and yet there is something new here; something richer than before. Perhaps the music on this CD reflects a life full of creativity and full of pain. This music just makes you feel good.
  
  One aspect of this CD that I truly like is the short narratives that run less than a minute each. They add an interlude in the flow of the music, though they are musical also.
  
  The additional DVD provides information on the making of the album along with two live performances. A great one-two punch!
  
  I'm hoping that some of these songs get picked up for "air play" on the radio though stylistically this CD is from another era. "Venice Beach", "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl," and "Mexican Girl" are my favorites. The short narrative "Cinco de Mayo" is wonderful with the Latin beat. Ah, forget it. The whole CD is a treat.
  
  Recommended without reservation.
  
  Peace forever.
  
  
  

• 4 1/2 stars-- the modern Brian Wilson album we've been waitiing for.

  
  By A18IZ5QX2PRB3C on 2008-09-03
  Brian Wilson is a man with a large reputation to live up to-- to be fair, taking the next step for the guy who wrote, arranged and produced arguably the greatest album of his generation (the incomparable Pet Sounds) must have been exceedingly difficult, and with resistance from the band, it took 37 years for its followup, the magnificent SMiLE, to surface. But Wilson's career during that 37 year window was largely hit or miss-- while Beach Boys fans, myself included, will speak lovingly of many of the later Beach Boys records, many of them were true group efforts, and Brian's "comebacks", 15 Big Ones/Love You and his debut solo album Brian Wilson, while endearing and engaging, were uneven and at times felt propped up. In recent years, as his solo career took off, barring the completion of SMiLE, Brian's records have sounded like forced attempts at adult contemporary-- much as I enjoy Imagination and Gettin' in Over My Head, they've felt like someone else's idea of how Brian should grow old.
  
  Enter "That Lucky Old Sun".
  
  My expectations were a bit low, I figured on either a continuation of the adult contemporary sound or a thoroughly retro record. What I got instead is what I'd hope it'd be-- Brian Wilson getting older gracefully. Conceived as a thematic suite, "That Lucky Old Sun" is a meditation of sorts on the life of Brian Wilson in Los Angeles. Like his best records from the old days, it's full of swagger (the superb "Going Home") and melody ("Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"), with subtle arrangements and fantastic vocal harmonies. Ably executed by an ensemble largely drawn from Brian's touring band, the album is quite engaging and entertaining and while it feels more mature than, say, "Surfin USA" or "Wouldn't It Be Nice", it doesn't feel forced.
  
  So is this another Pet Sounds)? Not really. There's some many tracks that just didn't engage me at all ("Mexican Girl"). But is it really, really good? Definitely. And certainly, it's got some of the best songwriting that Wilson's done in a long time.
  
  This edition comes with a bonus DVD featuring a brief (20 minute) documentary about the making of the album, filmed during the recording sessions, is enlightening and feels quite personal. In addition, we get treated to a couple in the studio performances from the record.
  
  Bottom line is-- "That Lucky Old Sun" is a fun record. It's not the best of the best of Wilson's catalog, but it's a fine followup to SMiLE, about as high praise as I can offer.
  
  

• A "song cycle" with narrative looks back on a "Beach Boys" life

  
  By ASEBX8TBYWQWA on 2008-09-06
  Okay, let's admit it: No one has listened to a Brian Wilson record (even with the Beach Boys) - since at least the 70s - for his voice. It certainly was distinctive, but like Tom Waits and Rod Stewart, it lost it's lost its melodic quality years ago.
  
  We anticipate Wilson's recordings for the "soundscapes" he creates. Every once in a while there's a "hit single" which you can repeatedly play and even sing all the way through on your own. The Smile album was his triumph. It had the soundscape as well as those songs like "Good Vibrations" that are imbedded in our brains. How was Wilson gonna top this?
  
  Well, he hasn't quite "topped" Smile. But he's created a new genre for Wilson music: the Wilson bio-cantata. First and foremost this is Wilson's giving us his life story from his earliest days of singing, though his drug and depression years to finding himself through his new wife and family, all the time being based in Southern California. Then it's the cantata with four spoken narratives (which rarely rhyme), connecting the songs. When you listen you will note that there is practically no space between the tracks. This is one fluid 38-minute piece. This is not unexpected, because the album was not the initial concept for this music. As you will learn on the 18 minute "Making of..." short on the accompanying DVD to this edition, the piece was commissioned by London's Royal Festival Hall to commemorate it's re-opening. The album was recorded AFTER the premiere. (Why is it Wilson's recent work - such as the complete Smile - debuts on the OTHER side of the Atlantic, far from California?).
  
  As expected, Wilson's vocals are getting rougher on each release, but you know it's Brian, and his back up band recreates much of the Beach Boys sound.
  
  The songs were mostly written with Wilson's keyboard player, Scott Bennett, and the narratives are co-written with Wilson's Smile collaborator, Van Dyke Parks. The only song that stood out for me as "single", which would become as popular as his BB hits is "Good Kind of Love", which a "Good Vibrations"-style chorus. Creatively, I like "Goin' Home" which has this absolutely beautiful Four Freshman (a large influence on Wilson's early work) break in the middle of a basically "rock and roll" song.
  
  I've given this disc a few plays already and enjoy it but, as you'll find, the Narratives - though less than a minute in length, keep breaking the mood. (The reason for four instead of five stars.) Still, this is a must for Wilson fans (of which I'm one!) and it may even convince folks to check out Frankie Laine's original of the title track from the 1950s. (On the DVD Wilson refers to Louis Armstrong's version, but Laine had the major hit.)
  
  So now what can the Brits come up with to commission another piece from the number one Beach Boy? His creative juices are still flowing and there's got to be more wonders to come.
  
  Steve Ramm
  "Anything Phonographic"
  
  
  

• Brian's solo masterpiece

  
  By A2RVOYU7753BR7 on 2008-09-06
  I've been waiting for an album like this one for years. It was something that I dreamed the Beach Boys would attempt, a concept album about California and their rise to fame. They came close on the great album "Holland" but not close enough for me. Carl, Al and Dennis, I know would have been game for it and they could of recruited Brian easily. Then Dennis and Carl died. The band under the commercial control of Mike Love turned into an oldies machine and even Al left disgusted. Like a Phoenix risen from the ashes Brian not only resurrected and completed Smile but he has followed it up with "That Lucky Old Sun", my old dream realized at last. I field tested this disc on my walkman this past week during a walk along the Atlantic ocean. Talk about background atmosphere! Later that evening I listened to it again with my wife and parts of it brought tears to my eyes, it's one of those albums that get better with every listen. I won't do a track by track critique, the other reviewers here have already done that, but as a lifelong Brian Wilson Beach Boys fan I'll just call it a masterpiece!
  
  

• Brian still has IT

  
  By A3TSXGCOICM1Z4 on 2008-09-09
  I have now listened to this cd 3 times after having just seen Brian and his Ever Talented Band perfom it in concert last night. It knocked me out the first listen and only gets better each time plus-seeing/hearing the whole cd live adds an extra dimension to it. That Lucky Old Sun is a 'story' of California through Brian's eyes and life experiences.
  
  Brian can be fun/nostalgic/wistful, sad, and very honest. The man has been to Hell & Back and seems to found Peace. There is lots of joy in this cd to me.
  While I like every cut I have to single out Midnight's Another Day's haunting feel which goes right into the upbeat Going Home which shows this Band at their best. Southern California ends up the 'tale' with that wistful yet postive feeling.
  
  Yet while Brian is in his element here Extra Kudos has to go to Scott Bennett for his co piloting of this project. How he got into Brian's head lyric wise is amazing.
  
  The short dvd not only shows the "how it was made' but clearly shows the Respect his band members have of Brian and his Work.
  "The Magic" one calls it and he is right.
  
  
• Another miracle!
  By A9Y3ZF6EQD5LX on 2008-09-03
  The unimaginable has happened, and Brian Wilson has created a new masterpiece, with his latest album (a heartfelt tribute to the mythic Los Angeles of his youth). "That Lucky Old Sun" is a worthy successor to both "Pet Sounds" and "Smile", and contains the familiar layered harmonies and glorious melodies of Brian's previous greatest works, plus some as the same quirkiness as "Smile". Those unfamiliar with Brian's more recent work, may need a couple of plays to adjust to his current sound, and the brief narrative sections that were written by "Smile" co-creator Van Dyke Parks. However, everything flows together well, and the album is Brian's most accessible and tuneful creation since the beginning of his solo career. The resulting effect is extremely uplifting. Much of the success of the album is due to Brian's supremely-talented backing band - most especially lyricist Scott Bennett (who also helped with the production). As far as the songs go, there is not one weak link, and a wide variety of musical styles are incorporated. Personal favourites include "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" and "Good Kind of Love" on which blonde vocalist Taylor Mills particularly shines (in 2007 Taylor released a fine solo album of her own, titled "Lullagoodbye"). A real highpoint of "That Lucky Old Sun" is the stunning "Midnight's Another Day"- a powerful and moving ballad, which many consider to be Brian's greatest song since "Surf's Up". The album concludes with the sublime harmonies of another true gem in "Southern California". "That Lucky Old Sun" is an album to purchase and treasure, and one to listen to regularly in its entirety. The accompanying DVD includes interviews with Brian and all of the long-term male members of his highly likeable band. It also contains live performances of two of the album tracks, "Good Kind of Love" and "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl".
  
  
• Like A Letter From Home
  By A1O0LI4451ERDQ on 2008-09-04
  Saturday morning A&E ran a Beach Boys bio from several years back, surely hoping to pick up a little bump from the all the media surrounding the release of That Lucky Old Sun. As usual, I couldn't switch the channel even though it covered old ground. The insiders interviewed all said the same thing, running along the lines of 'good to see Brian beating back the demons', 'Brian's finally found some peace', etc. Except for one guy, and this is what he said (paraphrased):
  
  "The Brian you see now, the Brian that smiles and talks about how he's finally found his way - that's not the real Brian. That's the tamed Brian. They've tamed him, or he's tamed himself, but what you're seeing now is not the real Brian Wilson."
  
  I thought that was an odd thing to say, maybe even a little cruel. But...listening to That Lucky Old Sun, I think I might know what he means. Wilson hasn't lost his arranging touch, his ability to manipulate the elements (although his partner and producer in this production played a large role), but...and I don't like saying this...there's almost none of that inventiveness that used to take my breath away. 2004's 'Smile' was really 1967's 'Smile', as far as originality goes, and the last thing I really, really liked by Brian was 'Imagination', from some years back. That one had some of the old magic.
  
  At his best, Brian conjured up incredible musical ideas - gorgeous melodies, rich, compelling vocal tracks, combinations of instruments that defied not only convention but even common sense and made it seem (like all good art) perfectly inevitable. Like it had been lying there for anyone to see, and all he did was just pick it up and show everyone. It's just not apparent, in my opinion, on That Lucky Old Sun. Well...'Midnight Is Another Day' gets partway there, and 'Southern California' is fun.
  
  I'm truly happy for the guy. If he's found peace, if he sleeps at night and looks forward to the next day, well, he has that right. He doesn't owe me anything, and I'll be happy to listen to the old stuff. Listening to That Lucky Old Sun feels to me like a letter from one of my daughters, saying "Dad, I know I'm not doing what you think I should, but I'm happy."
  
  I'm not complaining - I'll take whatever he's offering, and gladly. I just want one more, "Let Him Run Wild".
  
  www.thesundaymusician.com
  
  
• A work of art from a true artist
  By A4E9X3FT5S034 on 2008-10-16
  Simply put (with the exception of the resurrected "Smile"), this is, by far, the best of Brian's solo CDs. From the stellar songwriting to the heavenly harmonies, to the brilliant, inventive production, this song cycle, a sun-splashed celebration of Southern California, is a work of genius. And by "genius," I don't mean "surprisingly good for a guy of his age." I mean real genius, truly emblematic of Brian at the height of his abilities. It can't be overstated: Many of these songs can proudly stand alongside the best of Brian's sixties' output and still shine as brightly as, well, the titular sun. "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl," "Live Let Live," "Midnight's Another Day" and the delicately gorgeous "Southern California" are particular standouts. The backing vocals and instrumentation provided by Brian's touring band is never less than perfection; equal to or surpassing the Beach Boys and the best session musicians Brian recorded with in his glory days. The completion of "Smile" seems to have sparked a resurgent confidence in Brian, not only in songwriting and production, but also in his own vocals. This is Brian's best singing since the early seventies; he largely eschews the multi-tracked lead vocals of his earlier solo work to sing gloriously and earnestly unadorned, with a directness of emotion that is a Wilson trademark. Never one to hide behind the trendy post-modern irony so prevalent in today's popular music, Brian bares his emotions freely and honestly; his music pours from the depths of his heart and his soul. That's the lifeblood of his work and his fans love him for it. And, after all these years, Brian's creativity, astonishingly, continues undiminished. This is a work of art from a true artist. I can't recommend it highly enough.
  
  
• 5 Stars. He did it! Another masterpiece!
  By A1I0YIKQW36T31 on 2008-09-23
  If your're a Brian Wilson fan, this is the album we've been waiting for since "15 Big Ones".
  
  While each subsequent release showed flashes of his brilliance, they also had some inconsistencies. After a while I decided that although Brian still had the ability to make great music, we probably would never get another true masterpiece from him.
  
  "That Lucky Old Sun" is such a masterpiece. Perhaps finally getting "Smile" released lifted a burden, but for whatever reason, "BRIAN IS BACK" in a big way.
  
  The music is simply incredible, with the chord changes and vocal arrangements that made Brian a legend in the 60's. To top it off, its also fun!
  
  The DVD is a nice compliment to the CD. You can see the band members as excited as the rest of us. They realize they are part of something special and seem to be enjoying what's about to come.
  
  Thank you Brian.
  
  
  
  
• Heart Warming
  By A2DXYBNGX27K6C on 2008-09-24
  If you're a Brian Wilson fan you likely already own this disc...
  if you purchased his last few releases and were diappointed you might do well to give this one a try...there are some wonderful moments and it's great to start the day with...do yourself a favor and program track #13 to repeat over & over...healing harmonies from Brian Wilson!
  The dvd was worth watching and it's clear that he has some caring and kind musicians working to help him get his sound across!
  
  
• Music for the time
  By A1ZH15SZ49RDDD on 2008-09-25
  Now this is really music that we need to hear. If you have your shoes on go ahead and get this.
  
  
• Brian Wilson
  By A1Z76PC61FP0OR on 2008-10-02
  Hello,
  Brian Wilsons new production THAT LUCKY OLD SUN is one of Brians
  best music works.
  An excellent sound and many titles with great musicians.
  
  
• Great Song Writer
  By A11Y4DNKO33I67 on 2008-10-05
  If you love the beach boys then you will love the voice behind the group Mr.Brian Wilson's newest cd and dvd set called that lucky Old Sun so go and get one alright.
  
  Rondall Banks
  
  
• Lucky Old Sun
  By A27SLXUSFRSPCH on 2008-10-09
  This album blew me away. I will say that I am already a long time Brian Wilson fan. Over the years he's rarely done anything that I didn't like. Even the least of his works stand head and shoulders above most everything else I hear today as far as melody, lyrics and dynamics (all the things that make a song what it is). This album could be better with the younger Brian Wilson at the top of his vocal powers singing it, but there is something redemptive, true and real about having him do it himself, warts and all, as there always is when the writers get to sing their own tunes. I loved the "narration" between the tunes with the words standing alone as spoken poetry that could be set to a melody, but it sounds remarkably fresh doing it this way, even though it is not a new idea and has been done before. I loved the concept of it being an album about growing up in LA in the late 50's and early 60's. I'm 55 and it really struck a chord with me, though i grew up on Long Island in New York. In many places the sound and feel of the music reminded me of the Beach Boy albums from the early to mid 70's when they were writing and recording incredibly good material only to have no one interested in hearing or purchasing it. THey were relegated to being a nostalgia act way before their time for it was due. It must have been very frustrating to them as viable, creative artists with something to say and people only wanted to hear Sufin' USA. This album is very theatrical sounding and I wonder if Brian is thinking of a Broadway style show with it as the centerpiece. I know the album was performed live in England as a debut performance, but I mean as an actual play. The bottom line with "That Lucky Old Sun" is it is a wonderful recording that warmed my head and heart to listen to and I consider it another triumph in the long and hopefully continuing career of Brian and his collaborators. I'm not highly educated as to how much, if anything Brian has to do with the lyrics to these songs and any of his other songs over the years (I know he writes the music and sometimes both as the credits indicate) but a tip of the cap goes out to the lyricists who complete these wonderful melodies. Instrumental music is in and of itself beautiful to listen to and some people even prefer it. But, the right lyrics set to the right music is the thing that transports us into another world, and conjures up deeply felt emotions and sometimes can bring us right back in an instant to a time and place far removed from the present and make it possible to relive the moment again, or, indeed to experience once more as if for the first time. If you would like a piece of that, get this recording.
  
  Steve Subject-Rocky Point, New York
  
  
• Continues to amaze
  By AS9B4J5VC15LL on 2008-10-12
  I must admit that I was a bit hesitant to get this cd. I haven't heard the greatest songs on his solo albums and it always seems he/manangement are always trying to be "relevant" in the current musical climate through production, lyrical content, vocalizations, etc. I went to his website in hopes of sampling his new work. The first song that played on the site was "Midnight's Another Day". I got the "Wilson chills" within the first minute. Those hypnotic harmonies swept me off my feet and sucked me in. The following song solidified my purchase of the album, "Southern California". This could've easily been on ANY Beach Boys CD where Brian was the primary songwriter. Mr. Wilson has done it again for me. There are some hints of "eek, that was silly" but that's just my personal tastes. The spoken word elements found on here could be found trite upon first listening but after hearing it a couple of times they let the album pace itself. And Brian has a nice charm to his voice that doesn't tire after repeated listening. I'm sure other reviews are going to hold this up to the Smile legend and blah, blah, blah but I think they're missing the point. He's just making music that he feels compelled to make...and I am certainly most thankful. Great pop, enormous harmonies, ridiculous hooks and the Wilson sound.
  
  
• Brian Scores Again!
  By A2K7XF1NX69QC6 on 2008-10-13
  Do you like the Beach Boys? This CD is probably for you. Do you like Brian Wilson? Then this CD is DEFINITELY for you! Get the CD/DVD combo. I did and listened for a week before catching him in concert at the Hollywood Bowl where he played my 2 favorite songs off the CD, "Midnight's Another Day" and "Southern California." The performances are top-notch and the songs are all Brian! And that's a good thing. And it GROWS on you!
  
  
• Classic Brian Wilson
  By AGGH32A72NVSY on 2008-10-17
  Brian Wilson's "Lucky Old Sun" is a must-have for any of us who were there in the '60s and who loved Pet Sounds. I love Brian's music for his rich use of harmony with unusual progressions and his constant search for new sounds. (I still wonder just exactly what instrument I am hearing in some of the Pet Sounds songs.)
  This set is about 90% brand new material presented as a concert with almost no pause between songs, and everything tied up and wrapped around a common theme, the 40's song Lucky Old Sun. Three of the songs, Forever My Surfer Girl, Midnight's Another Day, and Southern California, easily clear the bar set by Pet Sounds, while three more...Morning Beat, Good Kind Of Love, and Going Home...are just a notch under the first three mentioned, they are in the manner of "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
  I've had the cd for five weeks now, and I'm still moving it from house to car and back every time I go out. After all Brian went through, it's great to hear him sound this cheerful and optimistic...with a bit of retrospect thrown in. If you're a Beach Boys/Pet Sounds fan, buy this cd. You won't regret it.
  
  
• Brian Wilson, without reservation
  By A2H75EU2VTJHJN on 2008-10-21
  Okay, I live in Huntington Beach, California, and one of the stained glass windows in the Catholic church next to my house has a surfer in it. Really. HB, for those of you that don't know, is Surf City. Despite all claims to the contrary, HB is the place, dude.
  
  I grew up here. I remember going to watch my older brother surf at the jetty in 1961, met Corky Carroll and Rick Griffin and even heard the incomparable Dick Dale and the Del Tones. But there were the Beach Boys.
  
  At first, nobody considered the Beach Boys to be serious music. They sang about 'SURFIN' for God's sake, and 'GURLS'. But they hit the mark with deadly accuracy. There isn't a pop band on the charts today that will be able to duplicate the brothers wilson and company back then.
  
  Listen to "In my room" to "409", to "Help me, Rhonda". These are pop masterpieces in their own right, good as Hoagy Carmichael, good as Cole Porter, good as Elvis.
  
  They weren't just musical compositions, they were sound sculptures. They were evocative, they were lovely, with a style and execution not previously seen.
  
  Then things got wierd. Living in surf town in 68 and 69 saw hippies being tear gassed, music becoming the secret language of the young (to a much greater degree than it is today) I remember Jimi playing the Golden Bear, I remember the first FM radio stations, I remember Psychedelia.
  
  And I remember PET SOUNDS. Without losing any part of the Beach Boys sound, it moved into more adventurous territory. About this time or earlier, you started to hear rumors about Brian. He was a hermit, he had a sandbox in his living room with a piano in it, he was making a masterpiece album. You know where this goes--
  
  Album after album came from the Boys, most only had a couple of Brian songs. They got socially conscious, musically and thematically ambitious, then went to kind of a revanchist period. Brian was a confirmed recluse, and many articles were written about the legend of the wounded Fisher King.
  
  Last night I attended a fundraiser at the Roxy ( a rock and roll nightclub in Hollywood) for the Carl Wilson Foundation. Dick Dale The Best of Dick Dale: 15 Classics from the King of the Surf Guitar thundered out his power trio magic. The Wilson girls sang Carl songs and reminisced bout Uncle Carl. The Honeys sang, as did Alan Jardine. Dave Marks showed some serious rock and roll prowess on the Fender Custom Esquire. (all of these acts backed by the very able Adam Marsland Chaos Band) You Don't Know Me This was a big party, and the small audience was full of family members and parts of the Beach Boys organization, and the hardest core of fans (like me)
  
  Then Brian Wilson came out on the stage and blew my mind. (as we were wont to say once upon a time) Brian has serious mileage, and is quirky and sometimes difficult to watch. But Brian's voice is stronger than it has been in years, and his material is moving, insightful, and startling.
  
  I ran right out and bought the album (get the one with the included dvd)
  
  Say what you want. Brian Wilson is a 24 karat honest to god musical genius, and this is his best new work in many decades. The Brian Wilson band (mostly composed of the Wondermints)Wondermints soared and sparkled and shone like the missing ghosts of Brians' absent brothers and his estranged other Beach Boys.
  
  Drug addiction? Legal Problems? Strangeness?
  
  All is forgiven. The Brian Wilson story has always had a full grand opera sweep to it. Many rockers espouse the trappings of a walpurgisnacht, Brian was dragged in by the heels and consumed by one.
  ("I took the diamond from my heart and turned it back into coal" reads one lyric from this album)
  
  And emerges, scarred but unbroken, to do it all again.
  
  This is the best new album I have heard in a while. From anyone. I laughed. I cried. I fell in love all over again.
  
  Persevere,
  
  
• That Luck Old Brian WIlson Fam
  By A11G8QTZ3URKB3 on 2008-10-28
  For someone who has followed the Beach Boys, and specifically Brian Wilson, for forty years, I just couldn not wait for this album to arrive on my doorstep. When it arrived, I certainly was not disappointed in the least. Brian has again enchanted me with another fine product. The music and the harmonies harken back to his production techniques of days past when everything he touched turned to "gold." For anyone who appreciates fine music from one of the true genius' of Rock & Roll, this album will satisfy you immensly. Buy it! Enjoy it! And thank God that this very talented person still walks among us.
  
  
• Brian's back!
  By A12CYU1ZLRU65Q on 2008-11-22
  That Lucky Old Sun is the best work, song in and song out, that Brian has created and produced since Sunflower. This is not a redux of "Gettin' In over My Head" from '05. These songs are full, as are the harmonies, the melodies are irresistable (especially "Southern California") and Brian's band, The Wondermints is well, wonderful!
  Don't let me mislead you however, Brian's voice does not sound like the Sunflower era or the sixties. But what Brian has done though, is manifest his own "California myth" that he so ingeniusly created in the sixties, through his music, and with the help from his literary partner, Van Dyke Park, who crafted the narratives, has given us an updated version that makes the listener yearn for that California lifestyle.
  "Morning Beat" and "Going Home" are the two best uptempo songs I can remember him creating since "Your Imagination" in '98 and before that you would have to go back to the sixties. "Morning Beat" reminds the BW fan a lot of the fun in "Do It Again" with the great rock harmonies and beat changes. Brian and the band just sound like they are having a hell of a lot of fun in "Going Home". "Midnight's Another Day" is the best ballad he has written and produced since "God Only Knows." Really, it is that good!
  So is the entire record!
  
  
  

• Pacific Ocean Blue - Legacy Edition
• That Lucky Old Sun
• Harps & Angels
• Covers
• Tell Tale Signs: the Bootleg Series Vol. 8