The Smiley Smile Message Board

...um, I did the dishonest thing, and copied and pasted Bret Wheadon's short essay of the album. Here goes:

REVIEW:  Brian Wilson has finally reclaimed his zeitgeist.  For much of Brian's solo output, his albums have carried the weight of his reputation with them, with most of them sounding as if they were programmed to sound like 'Brian Wilson albums' should, but lacking the easy soul that informed his epochal songs like "California Girls" and "Surfer Girl".  The naivety of these early sentiments got swallowed up in the celebrity of "Brian Wilson."  But with Lucky Old Sun, Brian sounds as if he's rediscovered his innocence.  It has a purity of sound, of intent, that recalls nothing so much as Brian Wilson, circa 1966.  That's not to say that it's a return to that early sound - Brian still carries the weight of his years with him, sounding wistful on the poppy "Forever My Surfer Girl" and darkly powerful on the album's masterpiece: "Midnight's Another Day".  But the album is far sunnier than those two tracks - it sounds like pure, distilled essence of California; there's a sweetness, like distilled orange juice, bouncing around in "Good Kind Of Love"; rippling with that almost indefinable touch that will remind listeners that it was Brian Wilson who single-handedly invented the soundtrack for the "California Myth".  The surprises on the album are numerous, and pleasant - from the wonderful south-of-the-border production touches of "Mexican Girl" (with Brian showing off his Spanish language skills), to the beautiful, shimmering "Southern California" where he recalls his early harmonizing with his two brothers, to the rip-snorting (I've always wanted to use that term in a review) high of "Oxygen To The Brain", Brian carries the bulk of vocal duties, including the spoken interludes which connect the various snapshots of Southern California living, and ties it all together in a loose collage of images, moods, and feels which is uniquely his.  His band is once again completely up to the challenge of interpreting Brian's complex vocal and musical wishes into reality, and the production is marvellous, full of delightful bits and pieces that shine and sparkle throughout.  How appropriate that Brian should pay homage to his home state, and return once again to the Capitol label to celebrate this album.  No one else could have created Lucky Old Sun - I was left feeling absolutely wonderful after hearing it.  Brian Wilson has come home.

Your comments?

This is, of course, another, totally different version of "Mexican Girl" than the one released on the album.  :)

Oddly enough, that's the version I have, too.

Me too.

Though actually, the Spanish parts are in the VDP piece immediately following.

I cant say enough about the cd..One of the most original + fresh sounding music ive ever heard.!

This pretty much sums it all up for me.