Artist Rating: 97%
Peak Album Score: 25
Average Album Score: 23
Development Score: 10
- That Brian Wilson managed to go from "Surfin' Safari" to Pet Sounds in four years simply blows my mind.
Originality Score: 10
- Certainly the early, early work deserves a far lower grade, but there exists very little 60's music more original than Pet Sounds and the SMiLE remnants (not to mention that the ingenuity of Brian's songwriting had blossomed at least two albums prior).
Personal Bias Score: 29
- While it's easy to be deterred from the band's work because of the superficial stupidity associated with it (you mean your favorite band is The Beach Boys? That's lame!), or because Mike Love is a giant douchebag, or because of "Kokomo", those are all completely missing the point. The only reason it isn't a '30' is because it took them six albums to figure out what they were good at and what they weren't.
Surfin' Safari (1962) - 72%
This is one of those early 60's releases padded with (relative - it's better than Kinks) shit to sell more copies of a pretty good single. Yes, the title track is a pretty good song. Not brilliant - the harmonies are still a long ways away from even "Surfer Girl", and the melodies are as simplistic as can be... but heck, that chorus is pretty catchy. The album's other single, "409", really bothers me. For some reason, Mike sounds real tired, and the harmonies are (what?!) a little out-of-tune. Virtually every other song is a totally lame early 60's surf thingy, with "Heads You Win, Tails I Lose" slightly distinguishing itself with amusing lyrics and a minor key chorus. I don't really even feel the need to mention other tracks, since they're practically inconsequential.
- Highlights: "Surfin' Safari"
Surfin' USA (1963) - 68%
God, this album sucks! The opening title track, as you probably know, is literally Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" with new lyrics, and he was ultimately given credit for the theft. It's still a catchy enough song with nice energy and harmonies, but it's hard to enjoy the song too much knowing it's full o' shit. Thankfully, the following "Farmer's Daughter" is rather pretty, and shows Brian's falsetto for the first time. The melody is nice enough, too. A whopping five tracks are taken up by mediocre surf instrumentals, only two of which are originals. Both suck, though. Actually, almost all of them suck. "Misirlou" is pretty cool, but considering it's a worse-played rehash of Dick Dale's cover (from like two years prior) of the ol' Greek tune, it's pointless. The others are pretty much just lame blues instrumentals with nearly no melodic value and virtually no improvisational value (come on, I don't even like Eric Clapton's blueswailing, what might I think of Carl Wilson's?). In the song department, "Lonely Sea" is okay, as a ballad, but still has nowhere near the melodic value of those on the next album, and "Shut Down" is another original surf tune. It's pretty good, I guess. I prefer it to the title track, if only because it isn't a blatant theft. The closing "Finders Keepers" is only worth mentioning for the rather interesting idea of changing time signatures in the chorus - were they listening to Brubeck? Or was this a more common thing than I've thought at the time? Other than that the song is pretty dumb, though. Like the album as a whole.
- Highlights: "Farmer's Daughter"
Surfer Girl (1963) - 84%
The Boys' third album finally shows hints of the genius they (or rather, Brian) would ultimately grow into. Perhaps the most impressive fact about the album is that eleven of the album's twelve tracks are credited to Brian Wilson and co. - a feat not even nearly equaled by The Beatles at the time (even if their originals were a good deal more original and, generally, better). There's still a good deal of faux-rock 'n' roll shit - "South Bay Surfers", the relatively useless instrumental "Rocking Surfer", the totally useless instrumental "Boogie Woodie" (why would they put that as the only cover on the album?), and the somewhat non-descript blues tune "Our Car Club" - and some songs, despite the arrangements being rather beautiful, have such idiotic lyrics that they don't fulfill their potential ("Hawaii", which may overdo the falsetto, however nice it is - and "Surfer's Rule", which is a little faux-rock 'n' roll'-ish, but not too bad). The other half of the album is stunning, though. The title track, although it borrows heavily from "When You Wish Upon a Star", is an undeniably moving classic, with Brian's best harmonies to date and a really beautiful bridge (that isn't stolen). "Catch a Wave" and "Little Deuce Coupe" show that the band can write surf rockers that don't suck. On the contrary, they're quite catchy and make a point of highlighting the great background harmonies ("ooh ahh ooh ahh..."). "Surfer Moon" is a somewhat generic ballad of the day, but the group's harmonies are so well-tuned here that I can't help but swoon. The other two real shockers are "Your Summer Dream" - a surprisingly complex little ballad with a beautiful vocal performance by Brian - and, of course, "In My Room", the true predecessor to Pet Sounds. The melody is charming, the harmonies are chilling, and the arrangement accentuates them perfectly. Perhaps most notably, the lyrics are nothing like the rest of the album's songs (or anything else they'd written prior), praising the loveliness of isolation in one's room. It's a near-melancholy tune from which one can draw a direct link to "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times", and boy do I love that song!
Overall, I'm glad to see the band gradually ditching the surf rock shtick in favor of beautiful, personal ballads, but the album is still somewhat entrenched in Murry Wilson's tyrannical grasp (we'll call it that).
- Highlights: "Surfer Girl", "In My Room", "Your Summer Dream"
This is an extremely frustrating album, and, thankfully, the last before the group's career (in my eyes, not in the eyes of the sales charts - they'd already conquered that beast multiple times over) took off. See, it's got easily the best songs to date, but also some of the worst. And the worst are made even worse because they sit next to the best. To throw some names into that equation, "Fun Fun Fun" is easily the crowning achievement of the Boys' series of early 'cars and girls' surf-rock songs. Forgetting that the intro is yet another Chuck Berry cop, the verse is quite a bit catchier and better harmonized than any before, and the chorus is simply awesome. A classic. Perhaps better are the two ballads. "The Warmth of the Sun" doesn't really excel "Surfer Girl" and the like, but certainly equals them, and with an original melody (also, augmented chord!). The feel is lovely, and Brian's falsetto dominates. I'm really blown away by it, but not as much as I am by "Don't Worry Baby", which is simply a masterpiece. The melody, again sung in Brian's beautiful falsetto, is probably the group's best and most cathartic yet (and that chord progression is actually quite moving in itself). The harmonies in the chorus are stunning, too. The third ballad, "Keep Your Eye on Summer", is a little less stunning than the other two, but still quite pretty and worthwhile. So why does the album still suck? Well, mostly the presence of two tracks: "Cassius Love vs. Sonny Wilson" is an unbelievably stupid dialogue of traded 'insults' between Brian and Mike. Also, it's the longest track on the album. Total buzz kill. Just as bad, perhaps, is the two-minute drum solo that closes out the album. I hate drum solos as is, but Dennis Wilson isn't even a decent drummer! This is two minutes spent on a truly horrible drum solo, and I can't forgive them for sticking that thing on here. Furthermore, the solo is preceded by two practically useless tracks - a limpid cover (aren't they all?) of "Louie Louie", and yet another dumb blues instrumental, "Shut Down, Part II" (what??). So, they blew it again, but thankfully for the last time. Get the three or four classics on a compilation.
- Highlights: "Fun Fun Fun", "Don't Worry Baby", "The Warmth of the Sun"
All Summer Long (1964) - 89%
While this album is no great shakes when seated next to A Hard Day's Night (poor Brian will just never escape those types of comparisons...), All Summer Long is a serious step up for the Boys. The opening "I Get Around" is an all-time classic even better than all the great songs Brian had spread over the last five albums. The verses, with their hilariously dumb lyrics (don't they sound sort of like a white-Malibu-boy-from-the-50's version of modern gangsta' rap, in terms of subject matter?), are extremely catchy (hand claps!!), and the chorus, I suppose, is one of the best and most defining things the group ever wrote. The title track is easily its equal, though, with augmented chords, beautiful melodies and middle-part harmonies, a dang catchy chorus, a flute solo, and more! Perfection. For some reason, Brian brings covers back with "Hushabye", though I can hardly complain - it's a beautiful piece, and the harmonies are as good as they get. "Little Honda" is similar to "Catch a Wave" in that it manages to be dumb fun while maintaining melodic and rhythmic interest (come on, that chorus is pretty great). "Wendy" and "We'll Run Away" are as Pet Sounds as this album gets - especially the latter, whose lyrics are essentially a preview of "Wouldn't It Be Nice". Beautiful songs, the both of them. Unfortunately, "Carl's Big Chance" fills up some space with a completely useless blues instrumental, and "Our Favorite Recording Session" fills up some space with no music at all (It's some amusing chatter, but really? On such an otherwise good album?). "Girls on the Beach", though it's sort of a throwback to "Surfer Girl", sports a more original melody and a very interesting harmonic progression - a really moving song.
- Highlights: "I Get Around", "All Summer Long", "Little Honda", "We'll Run Away", "Wendy", "Girls on the Beach"
Today! (1965) - 94%
What nobody seems to be able to admit about this 'in-betweener' album is that almost every song on it is as good as Pet Sounds. Yes, call me crazy, but to me, Today! sounds like Pet Sounds without the genius orchestration and a little bit more fun. When the only song that falls short from perfect is "Help Me, Rhonda" (not that the song isn't brilliant, but this version has this awful dynamic effect in the chorus that makes it sound monumentally stupid and dated), you know something good is up. The only disappointing aspect is that two of the album's highlights, "Do You Wanna Dance" and "I'm So Young", are covers of old tunes. That said, the arrangements and performances are so dang original and so dang Brian Wilson that I hardly mind. Side one consists of six of the group's best-ever upbeat pop tunes: "Do You Wanna Dance" is stuck halfway between boogie and grandiosity, "Good to My Baby" between boogie and Gershwin-style chord changes (soon to take over...), "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" is a great falsetto showcase, "When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)" has got these great rhythmic drops and changes, and "Dance Dance Dance" could hardly be more fun. But the true gems of this album are on side two, which is basically a collection of superb ballads. The best is the opener, "Please Let Me Wonder", with a heartbreaking chorus as good as anything on that other album that I've already over-namedropped here. "I'm So Young" captures the 'I want to be older' mentality that pervades all of Brian's best work, and is also beautiful. I don't really have a better way to characterize the other three ballads that follow, but they're all just as good. As if to remind you that this still wasn't Pet Sounds, the album closes off with another total waste of time - two minutes of (this time less entertaining) studio chatter. Why would they do that? In any case, though, this album deserves more reverence from the Beach Boys' fan club (though it already gets a lot) - it's basically Pet Sounds with no orchestration, more pop, and a stupid closing track. Not too shabby.
- Highlights: "Do You Wanna Dance", "Good to My Baby", "Don't Hurt My Little Sister", "When I Grow Up (to Be a Man)", "Dance Dance Dance", "Please Let Me Wonder", "I'm So Young", "Kiss Me Baby", "She Knows Me Too Well", "In the Back of My Mind"
Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!) (1965) - 90%
This album is an unfortunate victim of sequencing. The first four tracks are easily the weakest on the whole album. None are bad (and the first is quite good, if insignificant in comparison), but they all would belong more on the group's early albums than here. The immediate improvement, though, is that there's no more of those bullshit session tracks. Gone. Seemingly, the overbearing influence of Murry Wilson has been shaken for good (which also might account for Brian's bitter and rather funny "I'm Bugged at My Ol' Man"), and the result is great. Tracks 5-12 are the makings of an album as good as or better than Today!, including such slices of genius as "Let Him Run Wild", a melodically complex thing with a pretty unusual chorus hook for the Boys (Brian getting slightly gruff in his falsetto), "You're So Good to Me", yet another flawless pop tune with one of their best chorus hooks ever ("And I love you, yes I love you"), and "Summer Means New Love", finally an instrumental worth listening to (and more than that - this is brilliance). "Help Me, Rhonda" makes a reappearance in much improved form here, and ends up one of the album's highlights. But the great masterpiece here is undoubtedly "California Girls", which perfectly fuses the early and late styles of the group. The opening itself is monumental - a twenty second, somewhat orchestrated introductory sequence that has little to do with the rest of the song, rhythmically or melodically (innovation! innovation!) - but the rest of the song is just as great. The chorus is among the group's most cathartic and memorable (you know it). The album closes off with "And Your Dreams Come True", a one-minute á cappella track - the way I wish they ended all of their albums thus far. It's simply beautiful, and sort of even foreshadows SMiLE. But maybe I'm over-reading that one.
- Highlights: "Help Me, Rhonda", "California Girls", "Let Him Run Wild", "You're So Good to Me", "Summer Means New Love", "And Your Dreams Come True"
Pet Sounds (1966) - 100%
Ah. Say what you want - say that the production is slushy, the arrangements overwrought, the lyrics naïve, the melodies corny - if you don't like Pet Sounds, you haven't listened to it with the right ears. As a skeptical and eye-rolling critic-gone-blabbering fanboy, I'll take the authority to assure you of that. The production might sound slushy, but once the melodies sink in it becomes a beautiful, reverb-drenched wash of harmonies and colors (I'd even say that I couldn't possibly imagine these songs produced any other way); the arrangements are dense, yes, but each listen reveals more small delights, which can either stand out as their own delightful pieces, or sink into the 'slushy', gorgeous whole; the lyrics might be naïve, but they aren't contrived in the slightest - Brian's head was full of a teenager's hope, and you'll feel it if you listen enough; and the melodies... well, there you're just wrong. Pet Sounds is probably the most melodically and harmonically stunning album I've ever heard, and don't be fooled into thinking it's simplistic. Take one look at a chord chart for the majority of these songs (okay, not "Sloop John B"), and you'll be bowled over as I am at Brian's ingenuity for modulating, for fitting very, very strange chords to very, very natural melodies, and finding changes that crush you time and time again. I hope it doesn't seem like a cop-out, but I don't think talking about individual songs here could be helpful. Just drown yourself in this album; I promise it'll prove itself worth the effort.
- Highlights: "Wouldn't It Be Nice", "You Still Believe in Me", "Don't Talk, Put Your Head on My Shoulder", "God Only Knows", "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times"
This is a hard album to review for two reasons: I'm very, very familiar with Brian's 2004 completion of SMiLE, and so these songs can't help but wallow in the shadows of their completed versions, and simply that the wild genius of these compositions is tempered by their zany presentation. At times the album sounds like a madhouse, at times like a glimpse of perfection, and at times like a eulogy for SMiLE, for what could have been Brian's ultimate triumph (though Pet Sounds wasn't a bad crowning achievement, if you ask me). What isn't hard to see is that the versions of "Heroes and Villains" and "Good Vibrations" on here, while not the best versions I've ever heard, aptly represent just how brilliant these two songs are. Indeed, these are two of the best songs I've ever heard in my life. The winding melodies, the perfectly fluid sections and transitions, the harmonies, the orchestration - everything's utterly brilliant. Everything else is a struggle. To take it from the SMiLE remnants: "Vegetables" is stripped down to bass, vocals and sound effects, and ends up sounding much eerier than it was intended to be (perhaps the irony is integral to this album - the song is one of the most uplifting on SMiLE); "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter", the unfinished version of "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow", lacks most of the terror and power of the final version (and lacks most of the instruments), and ends up not really going anywhere; "Wind Chimes" is the most successful, to my ears - the softly groovin' backing track of the final version is stripped into this ethereal, funereal chant with organ (it perhaps best captures the mood of the album in conjunction with the band's state); and "Wonderful" succeeds in a similar way, but is perhaps more saddening, only because the final version is so stunning (the "One, one, wonderful" chorus here is terrifying, though). Of the other tracks, "She's Going Bald" is a bunch of fun (with a whole spoken mid-section, manic laughing, etc), "Little Pad" is a diverse little tune (perhaps a vague, first-stage sketch of "In Blue Hawaii") drowned in laughter and studio distraction, "With Me Tonight" is a relatively finished á cappella jam sort of similar to the final "Gee" (from "Our Prayer"), and "Getting Hungry" is kind of a mess. This album is fascinating on one end as a portrait of a genius gone off the deep end, but on the other hand is just remains of what could've been. Define it as you will.
- Highlights: "Heroes and Villains", "Good Vibrations"
This album's a bit of a mystery to me. In the wake of SMiLE's abortion, Brian seems to have given up his grandiose notions and contented himself to being the songwriter in a band. I'm not sure what inclinations that reveals here, though, as Wild Honey sounds nothing at all like anything else the band had done before. The album is divided between spare 'rock' (not quite) songs that are almost transformed into soul by Carl Wilson's newfound vocal style (which flat-out rules), and odd little songs that can hardly be characterized either as rockers or ballads. The opening title track kicks butt in a way The Boys had never even attempted to before, with Carl practically yelling the lyrics over bangin' piano and theremin (whaaat?). "Darlin'", reportedly an outtake from the early days, sounds quite a bit better than that, with some really intelligent horn arrangements and a vocal performance pre-dating (but quite similar to) Chicago. In fact, the whole song reminds me of what Chicago would sound like if they knew when to stop playing. The rest is kind of a sprawl of styles, from the acoustic pop-ballad "I'd Love Just Once to See You" and the somewhat eerie "Country Air". The album concludes with the first in a long line of SMiLE snippets to make their way onto later Beach Boys albums, "Mama Says" (a short melody that would make its way into "Vegetables"), and it's quite cute. This album is something else, and a good part of the argument against the perceived silliness of the Boys' (especially post-Pet Sounds) career.
- Highlights: "Wild Honey", "Country Air", "Darlin'"
Another 25-minute album in the late 60's, Friends is a heartwarming little thing. Not in the same way Pet Sounds is (there I go with the comparisons, again), but perhaps warmer and less universalist. The opening duo of "Meant for You" (a 40-second introductory ballad) and the title track (a crazily sweet waltz with lovely melodies and that background harmonica I love so dearly) make me want to get under the covers and have someone read me a book. "Wake the World" is another swaying beauty loaded with optimism, and "Be Here in the Morning" is... pretty much the same as "Friends". Much as I like both. This album is, perhaps, a little too spare, especially given that two tracks are instrumentals (both of which are lovely, nonetheless - "Passing By" and "Diamond Head") and one is "Transcendental Meditation" (shit). Dennis makes his first songwriting contributions here, and they're pretty good. One is a short meditation with vocal and organ ("Be Still" - a little lacking in hooks), but the other is a rather splendid song. In fact, "Little Bird" is easily an album highlight for me, with a great descending minor-key melody in the verse and an awesome harmonized chorus bit that apparently was nicked from SMiLE's "Child Is Father of the Man". Still, Dennis would improve in the years to follow.
- Highlights: "Meant for You", "Friends", "Wake the World", "Little Bird"
This album probably should be a disaster - Brian takes a bigger step back than before in songwriting and production, once again co-writing with Love, allowing Dennis three slots this time, and even giving Bruce Johnston an instrumental slot. Nonetheless, the album is really dang good. That said, five of the songs are covers, which bothers me slightly. It would bother me more if they were lame, which they aren't. "I Can Hear Music", by Phil Spector and his posse, is beautiful, and so drowned in sweet harmonies that it might as well be a Beach Boys original. "Bluebirds over the Mountain" is quite a bit lamer, but still bouncy enough to get by. "Cotton Fields" sucks, but Dennis' two contributed covers are quite interesting. Both were written by Charles Manson, at the time a friend and guest of his (before the insanity, murders and incarceration), and reworked by Dennis. "Be with Me" is a moody little thing with a nice, hushed main melody and cool orchestration, and "Never Learn Not to Love" (lyrically rewritten from Manson's "Cease to Exist") is turned into a beautiful stomping epic (with somewhat out-of-place distorted guitar in the choruses). Dennis' original, "All I Want to Do", features Mike Love sounding scarily like Alice Cooper (I'm not exaggerating, believe it or not) and manages to be pretty hard rocking with being totally banal. Johnston's instrumental, reportedly imitating Brian's from Pet Sounds, is quite pretty throughout and adds a good deal to the album's aural palette. The other five are primarily Brian's contributions, and are all brilliant. The opening "Do It Again" is one of the band's best-ever light rockers, a pure nostalgia piece that works in spite of itself (and Mike's lyrics manage to sound less banal because they're in past tense.. whatever works, man). Musically, its harmonic simplicity and the irresistible cuteness of the harmonies remind me of parts of SMiLE. Brian's two new ballads are straight off Friends, in a good way, "I Went to Sleep" a floating waltz with lovely major-7th harmonies adorning a pretty melody, and "Time to Get Alone" a sweeter, more grounded waltz. The harmonies build as the song grows. The big killers are, as always, the SMiLE remnants shoved to the end. "Our Prayer" is 1:10 of cathartic, ethereal harmonized á cappella vocals. Simply stunning. "Cabinessence" ("Cabin Essence" on the final release of SMiLE) is easily one of the best songs from the sessions, alternating between an intimately beautiful verse part (with one of Brian's best melodies ever) and a harder-hitting 'chorus' section (which is hardly intelligible, in this version - he's saying "Who ran the iron horse?"). The song's finale is a one-chord crescendo with vocal harmonies flying up and down scales and what sounds like a tuba adorning a mantric vocal part. The album makes no sense within itself, but is virtually enjoyable from start to finish, and that's more than one can say about almost every other post-Pet Sounds release.
- Highlights: "Do It Again", "I Can Hear Music", "I Went to Sleep", "Time to Get Alone", "Our Prayer", "Cabinessence"
Boy, this album is sort of a mess. A third of the songs, for better or worse, were written by Dennis. While his opening rocker "Slip on Through" is made solid by a great falsetto chorus hook (though I don't like his delivery, otherwise), "It's About Time" is a neat attempt at fast psychedelic rock, and "Forever" is a pretty impressive ballad (given he hadn't written much at all), the straight blues "Got to Know the Woman" is easily the worst thing on the album. Just not what these guys ought to be spending album space on. The album's two controversial tracks don't bother me much, actually. Bruce Johnston's strangely multi-cultural waltz "Tears in the Morning" has some pretty decent (if generic) hooks, but is at least augmented by unusual instrumentation and pretty good harmony parts, and "Add Some Music to Your Day", if bogged down by a bit of generic stylizing (and that annoying hippie posturing - though apparently Love bought into it wholeheartedly), is still pretty uplifting and has nice enough counterpoint parts. I like it! The album's highlights, of course, are the Brian-led compositions. "This Whole World" is brief but quite varied in its brevity, with soaring harmonies left and right and even bells! Good stuff. "Our Sweet Love" sounds like a decent Pet Sounds outtake to my ears, if with a little less wild production and orchestration. The hooks are great, though, as are the harmonies, and the adorning string parts practically make it for me. The album's masterpiece is undoubtedly the closing "Cool, Cool Water", which twists and builds upon some SMiLE remnant themes into an enormous, heavily-layered, rather magical composition. It's just harmonies on harmonies, in sections after sections. Heavenly, and as usual, suggestive of what could have and should have been. Oh well.
- Highlights: "This Whole World", "Our Sweet Love", "Cool, Cool Water"
Though it may not appear here in its most potent form, let me announce that this album's title track is my favorite Brian Wilson composition ever, and thus one of my very, very, very favorite songs. It means a hell of a lot to me (even if the lyrics don't mean anything to anybody). It's, sort of like "Good Vibrations", a three-movement symphony of a song in about four minutes. The first is a driving piano and vocal section with an incredible, ethereal hook in the 'chorus' ("Columnated ruins domino", mostly in the first 'o' of "domino") and a generally wonderful, winding melody. The second is a little more ghostly in feel, the piano chords less grounded now with only Brian's beautiful vocal delivery adorning it (and what a melody!). The third is a reprise of another ill-fated SMiLE track, "Child Is Father of the Man", here building upon a series of complex, interweaving vocal harmonies with a great lead melody singing a separate stanza on top. The song is probably the most impressive thing Brian Wilson wrote in his career. Elsewhere, Dennis is nowhere to be found on this album, and Carl actually steps in and writes a few songs. Interestingly (as he hadn't written a thing yet), both of his songs are quite good, "Long Promised Road" having a nicely rhythmic vocal melody contrasting with the spare accompaniment (and a significantly louder chorus), and "Feel Flows" seemingly attempting a Brian-style epic, and not entirely failing. Al Jardine and Mike Love's songs are generally a bit weaker here (especially the utterly awful "Student Demonstration Time", which just rips off some old rock-blues song they used to cover with new, awful lyrics - solely responsible for the loss of many a-point), Johnston's sole contribution is absolutely brilliant. "Disney Girls (1957)" has a delightful main melody, a slow enough tempo and cute enough harmonies to make for a truly beautiful nostalgic experience. As always, the true genius lies in Brian's tracks - here all crammed at the end of the album. "A Day in the Life of a Tree" and "Til' I Die" are unusually harrowing expressions of Brian's mental and artistic isolation. The former sounds like something off Smiley Smile, but with a good deal more intention, and a set of lyrics that manage to avoid sounding like lame anthropomorphic poetry by simultaneously dealing with Brian's loss of productivity. In fact, in context, they're one of his most chilling sets of lyrics ever. "Til' I Die" is a significantly more explicit plea of depression, with vague but scary enough lyrics like "How deep is the valley? It kills my soul." The instrumental backing is also one of the darkest in Brian's career, and the sum of it all is a truly unsettling experience. One of his greatest successes. The album is topped off by the aforementioned title track, and the listener is left with an impression of total genius (forgetting all about "Student Demonstration Time", hopefully... ugh).
- Highlights: "Disney Girls (1957)", "A Day in the Life of a Tree", "Til' I Die", "Surf's Up"
No comments:
Post a Comment