Archive for Friday, September 19, 2008
CD review for Sept. 19, 2008
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Brian Wilson
"That Lucky Old Sun"
Listening to Brian Wilson's four-decade opus is like the musical equivalent of drinking milk: it's good for you, but consuming too much of it at once isn't going to end well for anyone.
That's the case with "That Lucky Old Sun," a sunny but worn addition to the kind of pop Wilson (thankfully) created with The Beach Boys in the 1960s. Lyrically centered on standard about how fortunate the sun is to scoot up above everyone else's tough times, "That Lucky Old Sun" takes an older man's view to the California so idealized on just about everything that made Wilson famous.
Anything Wilson does is guaranteed to be a master's lesson in arrangement and carefree harmony, even when the subject matter doesn't line up. But the guy has a tendency to overindulge his talents. On "Sun," that can mean hokey scoring ("Mexican Girl") and half-hearted attempts at love songs ("Good Kind of Love").
The most interesting points come with oddly placed narratives, delivered by Wilson and written by "SMiLE" collaborator Van Dyke Parks. "Venice Beach" is a break from the sunny settings The Beach Boys were best known for, and Parks captures Venice - with all its beautiful crazies - in a perfect, honest light: "Home for all the homeless, hopeless, well-heeled and deranged/ Still, nothing here seems out of place or strange."
Even with faults, Wilson proves he can make a concept/theme album like most people never could, and his pioneering skill in pop melodies ties "Lucky Old Sun" together better than any thematic element.
Rating: ''' - Margaret Hair, 4 Points
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