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Sunflower/Surf's Up

The Beach Boys - Sunflower/Surf's Up Audio CD

A fair review of the The Beach Boys "Sunflower/Surf's Up" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Beach Boys reviews here, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs.

Band: The Beach Boys
Title: Sunflower/Surf's Up
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-07-18
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Slip on Through 2: This Whole World 3: Add Some Music to Your Day 4: Got to Know the Woman 5: Deirdre 6: It's About Time 7: Tears in the Morning 8: All I Wanna Do 9: Forever 10: Our Sweet Love 11: At My Window 12: Cool, Cool Water 13: Don't Go Near the Water 14: Long Promised Road 15: Take a Load off Your Feet 16: Disney Girls 1957" 17: Student Demonstration Time 18: Feel Flows 19: Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song) 20: Day in the Life of a Tree 21: 'Til I Die 22: Surf's Up

Surf's Up!
I like this one over Pet Sounds big time. . the Boys were definitely in their groove for this one. . . I have a bootleg copy of Wild Honey with outtakes of the Boys smoking hash. . . it's a riot! .

The Beach Boys start off strong in the 70s
" I just made that up, so don't bother trying to talk to your friends about it. In the years after Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys became the kings of an almost non-existent genre that may as well be called "post-sunshine pop. Unless I'm a friend of yours, which is unlikely because I have many friends. In any case, by "post-sunshine," I mean sweet and innocent 60s pop, but with a sense of irony, a desire for lyrical depth, and a more complex approach to musical composition (or slightly longer songs. Whatever). Post-sunshine is basically the springboard for indie-pop, with all its wistfulness, hookage, and postmodern ooo-eee-oooing. So, in a sense, albums like Sunflower and Surf's Up may very well stand in a strong paternal relationship to The Soft Bulletin and If You're Feeling Sinister.

With multiple Beach Boys contributing songs, these two albums allow us to hear just how varied and and three-dimensional post-sunshine pop could be; while Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Dennis Wilson dig into various forms of ecological worry, political anxiety, and romantic disappointment, Brian Wilson retreats deeper and deeper into the shelter of California mysticism, childlike naivet�, and impressionistic dreaminess. The ghost of SMiLE (which would've been the ultimate post-sunshine record) haunts both of these albums, its cartoonish glee and loopholing melodies refracted in the petroleum haze of the rest of the band's paranoia.

Of the two albums found here, Sunflower is the lighter, poppier, and more upbeat one. Its second side is quite strong, with some remarkably beautiful ballads tinged by psychedelia and soul. The bitter desperation of "Tears In The Morning" dissolves into the sweet haze of "All I Wanna Do. " After that come the swooping polyester perfection of "Forever," the almost deliriously gorgeous "Sweet Love," and the delicate atmospherics of "At My Window. " The resident SMiLE leftover is "Cool, Cool Water," and it closes the album with an impressionistic rush of beachside meditation and criss-crossed barbershop harmonics. It's a sweet, sumptuous, swirling suite, and everybody oughtta hear it.

A telling, interesting, and entirely coincidental effect produced by this twofer CD is that "Cool, Cool Water" is followed by a song called "Don't Go Near The Water," the first track on Surf's Up. This nifty bit of sequencing highlights the distinction between Sunflower and the darker, more sober concerns of Surf's Up. It also says a lot about Brian's fragile optimism, and the marked contrast in which it stands to his bandmates' mounting social anxiety. The two impulses do battle on Surf's Up, with "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" and "Student Demonstration Time" breathing bitter air down the cartoon neck of "Take A Load Off Your Feet" and the freaky metaphysics of "'Til I Die. " Brian surrenders to ecological paranoia on "A Day In The Life Of A Tree," but holds his ground on the gorgeous title track, which is melancholic but in an abstract and poetic sort of way, so that the listener experiences shade upon shade of meaning bubbling under a fistful of melodic left turns and lush piano figures.

As far as quality goes, neither album is perfect. The first side of Sunflower suffers due to Dennis' turgid "Got To Know The Woman" and the treacly "Add Some Music To Your Day. " A few songs (such as "It's About Time" and "This Whole World") come off as mediocre at best, with only Bruce Johnston's lilting "Deirdre" being a true classic.

The better of the two, Surf's Up offers the monumentally creepy "'Til I Die," the previously discussed title track, and another Johnston classic by the name of "Disney Girls (1957)," in which Bruce yearns for a simpler time. Carl's "Feel Flows" is remarkable for being a wonderful SMiLE -esque tune not composed by Brian, and "Long Promised Road" is rousing and soulful. But "Student Demonstration Time" has aged like a peach, "Take A Load Off Your Feet" is stupidly annoying, and "A Day In The Life Of A Tree" is undercooked.

Each album feels underrated, and Surf's Up may even be a classic. Oh, how I love post-sunshine.

All the right ingredients
Such is the music of The Beach Boys after 1966. It's funny how the greatest of music can be overlooked because of popular stigma. . . and what a pity that is. After the meteoric crash of of unquestioned frontman and musical genius Brian Wilson, the band instantly fell into the category of 'culturally insignificant'. But the switch from Capitol Records to Warner Music in 1970 was supposed to help remedy that situation-- a new start with a fresh look. What followed were perhaps some of the most creative and inspired sessions The Beach Boys ever participated in. The result was Sunflower, an album that, despite its commercial failure, can hold the title of 'The Beach Boys' Best Album', even over Pet Sounds.

As the inner artwork banner reads, "Ingredients" are what make this album work; no one factor makes Sunflower a success. A great collection of songs to begin with, each one is well-sung and well-written, and impressively produced. From the opening jubilance of Dennis Wilson's "Slip on Through" to "Our Sweet Love", a tune beautifully sung by Carl, Sunflower achieves a sort of energy whose presence was not seen on an album since the early-era LPs of Surfer Girl or All Summer Long. Dennis is the bloomer, of course, producing four diverse tunes ranging from the playful "Got to Know the Woman" to the aching "Forever".

I tend to disagree with the notion that Brian's presence was severely diminished on Sunflower. That statement can be more attributed to the group's later work of Holland-- Sunflower is not Brian-absent nor is it 'saved' by him, but certainly his songs are highlights. "Add Some Music to Your Day" has his trademark quirky, childish lyrics but is catchy enough to make you smile, and "This Whole World" is a stunning testament to Brian's real genius: it is a musical journey less than two minutes long and one of his greatest achievements. His co-writes with his other bandmates triumph as well, with "All I Wanna Do" yielding a gorgeous Mike Love lead vocal and "Cool, Cool Water" evoking tantalizing SMiLE-era creativity.

This is not a perfect album. One's acknowledgements of 'good' and 'bad' songs will vary depending on one's tastes. Bruce Johnston's songs may be too schmaltzy or histrionic for some. The twee charm of "At My Window" may please or disgust you; "It's About Time" may rock for you or fall flat as a mediocre, overproduced attempt at relevancy. With that said, there are really no bad efforts on Sunflower, just varying degrees of quality. Personally, I enjoy each and every offering on the album. And unlike Pet Sounds (which I still appreciate), there is no sleepy, weighty, Sunday afternoon feeling cast over the album. On the contrary, Sunflower is very much alive and appealing.

Surf's Up is an entirely different story. The hiring of Jack Rieley as manager signaled an attempt at being 'relevant' to the early political 70s, a strategy which missed more than it hit. There is a lot of strange stuff here, but the album comes through with two very good songs and two masterpieces: "Disney Girls (1957)", "Feel Flows", "'Til I Die," and "Surf's Up", respectively. "A Day in the Life of a Tree" is significant just for Brian's mental state in 1971: lonely, confused, and suicidal. Unfortunately, not much can be said about the rest of Surf's Up. There's some good effort, but junk like "Student Demonstration Time" almost justified the Beach Boys' commercial failures at the time.

One more note-- the sound quality of this two-fer is excellent. Andrew Sandoval did a minimalist yet noticeable job on both albums' remasterings. The only complaint is the use of Noise Reduction on "Surf's Up"; Sandoval has stated that he had no control over this. Really, it is rare that an officially released "remastered" product sounds very good, but indeed, this is one of those releases. This is one CD you should not pass up.

A Post-Brian Twofer to Die For

"Sunflower" has a load of pop gems - democratically written and performed by the band's various members and "Surf's Up" - thanks in large part to Brian's album-ending contributions ('Til I Die & the title track) ranks as one of the Beach Boys most artistic and poignant releases ever. Finally, as Capitol buddies-up the Beach Boys catalogue for re-release, a twofer that, for the most part, matches up to the band's best early work.

Littered with more-than-listenable music over the course of the disc, Beach Boys fanatics have known about these two albums for years. With awesome sound and neat packaging, this is a great twofer for anyone curious about the Boys' best work minus Bian's domination. .

their best album ever
Here, he is more prominent than he ever was, or will be. I always found, contentiously, that Bruce Johnston did my fave songs, in the beach boys. He sings lead vocal on the beautiful 'tears in the morning', which has gorgeous melodies and piano chord sequences. He also sings on his co-write with Brian, 'deidree', a beautiful happy number. I am also convinced, although the liner notes don't say, that he is singing lead on the beautiful 'at my window'.
Dennis is the most prominent lead vocalist, contributing the melodic 'slip on through', where he acutally sounds more melodic and less gruff. Indeed, 'forever' is an exceptional ballad and deeply heartfelt, although his voice just isn't that fantastic. His other two contributions just feel out of place here, and should have been replaced with other songs that were ultimately rejected from the album. 'Got to know the woman' is funky, but goes nowhere, and 'it's about time', is just horrible.
Mike Love's vocal contributions are virtually non existent, he sings a nice vocal on 'all I wanna do', but that is it, apart from 'add some music to your day', which they all sing. Things have certainly changed from the days when he was the dominant singer.
Carl sings the beautiful 'our sweet love' another positive ballad and the Brian Wilson penned 'this whole world', which is also a winner.
'Cool cool water' is somewhat progressive in approach and sounds like a 'smile' track. Really like this ending to the album.
'Surfs up' is nowhere near as consistent, but I think to give the album less than five stars, just does not do sunflower justice. All the tracks are at least acceptable, with the strongest being 'disney girls', Bruce's best song ever, 'till I die' a heartfelt and beautiful Brian ballad, and 'Surf's up' a nice mutli part song. The only absolute rubbish is 'student demonstration time', dreadful.
Highly recommended to hear the Beach Boys at their ultimate best.

You can see a complete list of all The Beach Boys discography, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.