That Lucky Old Sun - My quick, calls 'em as I sees 'em review...

[Awesoman]

Thought I'd just give a quick run-through review of the album now that I've heard it enough.  I think this is easily Brian's most ambitious solo project to date.  Not counting SMiLE for obvious reasons, it's not hard to see why.  It definitely is far and away better than the horribly uneven Gettin' In Over My Head.  I think the songs on this album work best as they are being tucked into a suite, as admittingly some of them really don't stand up well on their own.  And I really don't see the whole point of the narratives; they really don't add anything to the album and Brian doesn't exactly deliver Van Dyke Parks' babbling lines all that well.  And speaking of Brian, his vocals on the album range from satisfactory to so-so.  Can't help but wonder how some of these songs would have sounded had Carl, Al or Mike had sang lead on them.  Here's a quick runthrough of the tracks (excluding the narratives):

"That Lucky Old Sun"/"Morning Beat" - A nice intro for the album.  I kind of like the theme of the album starting out in the morning progressing into the night.  The beginning of this album kind of stumbles a little with "Morning Beat"; a song that while not bad, is kind of generic and lightweight and doesn't really suck me in as much as I would have liked it to.

"Good Kind of Love" - I said in another post that this sounds like the theme to a really cheesy 80's sitcom and I stand by that comment.  That being said, this is still a really fine, catchy tune.  Nice hook and an animated lead vocal by BW.  Really makes up for what "Morning Beat" sort of lacked.

"Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" - One of my favorites.  Very much a Brian Wilson song.  Although Brian's vocals don't really shine much on this album, I kind of wished he had kept his backing vocals from the demo on the parts that his band comes in on.  They had a bit more punch. 

"Live Let Live" - Possibly my favorite track on the album.  It's kind of a toss up on whether I prefer this version of the song or the one on that Arctic Tale soundtrack.  Not a big fan of the lyrics of either version, whether they be a preachy ramble on global warming or about, um, saving whales but the music more than makes up for it.  I think the TLOS version is a better production but is rather short and Brian's vocals aren't as good as they were on Arctic Tale.

"Mexican Girl" - I suppose one could argue that there is some considerable racial stereotyping going on with this song but for people that have better things to do this is a pretty catchy, if slightly uneven, tune.  Quite a lot of fun actually.

"California Role" - The swell pacing of the album skewers somewhat with this rather average, lightweight song.  The band certainly makes its best effort to make this one interesting.  Charming but one of my least-favorites.

"Oxygen To The Brain" - Didn't really like this one at first but it has grown considerably on me.  There are some rather brilliant moments in this song caked between some half-baked ones.  Throwing in those California references weren't necessary. 

"Can't Wait Too Long" - Oh, what a tease!  How I would have *loved* for them to have done more with this!  It would have been great to hear a fully-realized version of this song as the "musical theme" of the album.  I think I would have probably even preferred if they replaced all those "That Lucky Old Sun" appearances throughout the album with snippets of this song.  Still, it's a nice cameo appearance to a song that never was completed and should have been.  But I wanted more.

"Midnight's Another Day" - The big crowd pleaser.  Everyone hails this one as one of the best songs Brian has written in years and I would agree.  There are definitely some powerful moments in here and Scott Bennett proves to be a capable lyricist.  Yet dare I suggest that this one is a *tad* overrated?  Just a tad?  You sort of feel left hanging as they inexplicably segue this one into another "That Lucky Old Sun" tag. 

"Going Home" - Another big, dumb "rocker" in the same vein as "Morning Beat".  Not a bad song but comes off rather generic.  And it's been done before with his superior "Back Home".  Brian certainly seems to be enjoying himself and delivers some rather lively vocals. 

Southern California - A pretty nice album closer; yet it seems to be missing something.  Can't really pinpoint what that is.  Still pleasant.  Wraps things up nicely.

And there ya go.  The album has its ups and downs but it certainly exceeded my expectations.  Not terribly long ago I thought Brian Wilson was rather washed up but this turned me around.  I will say that I didn't really care for most of Brian's vocals on this album and that they even distracted me somewhat from enjoying this album even more.  But considering he's a guy in his mid-60's with a history of drug problems and mental illness, I won't go too hard on his singing.  I'm just glad that there is still some creative energy there.  Not sure I'm really on board for his "rock" album he keeps talking about wanting to do, but perhaps he can surprise me again.

[carl r]

Nice review! I agree with pretty much all of what you say. I'd also add that the black cab version of lucky old sun shows how good an unplugged gig in Brian's lounge could be. Perhaps thats the place to hear a lot of these songs.

[Dr. Tim]

Long as we're talking merits and demographics here (see also the Mike Bruce & Al thread)....

FWIW, my 8-year old daughter keeps hitting "repeat" on "Good Kind of Love" while playing the CD in the car, and she has the song pretty much memorized.  She likes "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" too, but REALLY likes "Good Kind of Love" (which, odd for a Brian song, reminds me of a Brill Building-type tune in its simplicity and catchiness).

Now, this isn't scientific of course, but since these mid-elementary to tweener kids are THE demographic for everything nowadays, maybe "Good Kind of Love" is the single rather than "Surfer Girl."   And maybe Brian's version can make it.  (Unless they chicken out and give it to the Jonas Brothers or Taylor Swift or that American Idol guy, David Cook, to sing).

[Magic Transistor Radio]

I would disagree on the vocals. Sure, compared to Brian's pre 1973 vocals. But of all the solo work, this is his best vocal effort imo. If he had only sung like this on BWPS, that would've been great!

[matt-zeus]

Good review, I pretty much agree with it all. To me 'Morning Beat' and 'Going Home' are two of the least interesting songs on here, add 'California Role' to that too. I think the much maligned 'Mexican Girl' is fun and has a good beat and nice bassline, of course its stupid but I like it.
'Oxygen to the Brain' didn't have to grow on me though as I always liked that one, i'd put that along with 'Good kind of love', 'Forever she'll be my surfer girl' and 'Live Let Live' as my favourites on the album. 'Midnights another day' is okay but i'm not feeling it like perhaps I should.

[sockittome]

I pretty much agree with the review across the board, although I don't know if I'd go along with MAD being overrated by any degree.  Of course, I haven't heard it enough to have it saturate my brain yet.  That may change my opinion after awhile.  But for now, I'd say it's a beautiful song and deserves all the attention it's getting.

I agree wholeheartedly on the comments regarding Can't Wait Too Long.  In fact, on my first listen, I had the same ideas.  I know, I know...we should be happy with what is offered here, but I can't help but wonder what a full length treatment of this song would be like.

[phirnis]

To me, the narratives add some much-needed lyrical depth to an otherwise occasionally rather dull record (strictly in terms of lyrics, that is). Now Bennett sure did quite a good job with most of his writing, but it's nice that TLOS has just a bit more to offer than stuff like "Hey, mexican girl, with eyes of burning fire" (well, at least they didn't rhyme it with "desire", though it wouldn't have made that much of a difference).

I'm glad it's TLOS being the album's main theme, not Can't Wait Too Long, which would have seemed like Brian relying on former achievements just a tad bit too heavily (not that he doesn't for quite a few songs). That said, they could at least have included the "I miss you darling, I miss you so hard" part, which is my favorite part of the original song.

Still, minor flaws aside, to my ears TLOS still holds up as BW's best set of original songs since BW88.

[lance]

When I first heard the album the spoken word stuff bugged me, mainly because of Wilson's delivery--as pieces of beat poetry I didn't think they were spectacular but they weren't bad too...but when I listened to it later and let the whole album wash over me, it somehow worked for me in a sort of weird, inarticulate way...also...It would be a very short album without them!

[Leo K]

When I first heard the album the spoken word stuff bugged me, mainly because of Wilson's delivery--as pieces of beat poetry I didn't think they were spectacular but they weren't bad too...but when I listened to it later and let the whole album wash over me, it somehow worked for me in a sort of weird, inarticulate way...also...It would be a very short album without them!

Same thing happened here...I really love the narrative bits, and how they roll right after the tunes, to carry the vibe of the previous tune alittle longer.  I like Brian's delivery on the first narrative the best, his voice is real convincing here...sounds really into it...his voice kinda growls low too.

Love the muted trumpet on the narrative that introduces "Oxygen to the Brain"...

[37!ws]

I used to kind of cringe at the narratives, but now I'm hooked on 'em!

Really, I'm addicted to TLOS. I even love "Mexican Girl" now (BTW -- what does Brian mispronounce, and how should it be pronounced???), and "California Role" is probably my favorite on the whole thing.

"Going Home" and "Morning Beat" -- yeah, I agree they're pretty "standard," but they still have a great feel. And come on -- how can you not love Darian's synth bends? wow...seriously, I looooove it...

"That Lucky Old Sun" -- if Brian wants to market himself as a singer, this is exactly the type of song he should sing, same with "I Wanna Be Around." These songs suit his voice well, and he does a good job delivering them.

"Good Kind Of Love" -- quirky and upbeat...very Brian...and very enjoyable. Probably the first time I ever thought that Taylor truly added anything of artistic value!

The album as a whole -- I think it's exactly the kind of thing Brian should have been doing all along. "Rio Grande" was a great genre, Smile was fantastic, and TLOS is a worthy follow-up. Brian's style is definitely the most artistically pleasing with a song cycle kind of thing than a 3-minute-song form....mind you, Brian's great at both, but I like the former better.

[dude ll doo]

"Southern California" is easily Brian's best vocal since "Love And Mercy".
He sounds like an old guy, looking back at the past.
Truly heartfelt and believable, at least to these ears.
When Brian sings about himself, it's pure gold.

[Chris Brown]

"Southern California" is easily Brian's best vocal since "Love And Mercy".
He sounds like an old guy, looking back at the past.
Truly heartfelt and believable, at least to these ears.
When Brian sings about himself, it's pure gold.

Agreed, I think "Southern California" is one of the few examples where Brian's old and weathered voice actually adds to the song (usually I find it detracts).  You're right, the song is very genuine and Brian's vocal is quite moving, perhaps even moreso than on "Midnight's Another Day". 

[Shady]

The 'Magical, Glad it happend to me' part always get's me.

What a great song.

[pancakerecords]

"All these people make me feel so alone..."

That one got to me, even more so after seeing it live.

As far as the narrative portion, I would have liked to hear Van Dyke recite them with his twisted cadence.  When I read them, that's the voice I hear in my head. 

[Andrew G. Doe]

I even love "Mexican Girl" now (BTW -- what does Brian mispronounce, and how should it be pronounced???)

Until I saw the lyrics in the booklet, I had no idea what he was singing in the 2nd line, 1st verse. Turns out he's very badly mispronouncing "dahlia" - in fact, he's pronouncing it as it's spelled, and not as it should be, i.e. "day-lee-ah". Odd that no-one picked him up on that... unless that's how they do it in the southland.

[Emdeeh]

In the Southeastern U.S., we pronounce it "dowl-ya." 

And TLOS goes well with an RC Cola and a Moonpie too, y'all! 

[Don't Back Down]

"All these people make me feel so alone..."

That one got to me, even more so after seeing it live.

As far as the narrative portion, I would have liked to hear Van Dyke recite them with his twisted cadence.  When I read them, that's the voice I hear in my head. 

My vote goes to Owen Wilson for narrating. Hey, blond hair, and his last name is Wilson. How can you go wrong?

Alright, maybe not haha. I love TLOS how it is, and seeing it live at the Keswick was fantastic. Would travel to see it again, live experience is better than the album, imo.

[MBE]

Owen Wilson would be super! How about Ozzy Osbourne?