M.I.U. Album

Bruce Beatlefan (April 4, 2009)

When the Beach Boys are at the absolute top of their creativity (Today, Summer Days, Pet Sounds, Sunflower), their music provides a sterling mixture of exuberant joy and belief, sonic perfection in the vocals and the orchestration, and songwriting craft which is tuneful and innovative. Other albums of theirs provide striking examples of excellence in one or two of the above characteristics while being woefully deficient in the third. These albums are the ones that divide the opinions of fans of the Beach Boys, who place their personal priorities in differing areas. Hence, The Beach Boys Love You is treasured by many Beach Boys fans because the joy/belief is present while the songwriting is rather bizarre and poor. Wild Honey is a favorite of many in spite of the ragged, thrown-together sound of the one-off productions, because the songwriting is good and the joy is present.

M.I.U. Album is the Beach Boys album most often singled out as the nadir of their career, but I see this album as an improvement over Beach Boys Love You...but I understand where those fans/reviewers are coming from. It is in this 1978 album where lovers of the Beach Boys have realized that without a doubt, the Beach Boys have given up. In spite of the fact that there are some well crafted songs in M.I.U., and the vocals are up to the expected level of professionality, the inner fractures within the group (Dennis and Carl have virtually no involvement in this album, and every subsequent Beach Boys album has at least one member noticeably AWOL) have finally reached a place where the fan's sense that the Beach Boys believe in what they're singing has bottomed out. For the fans whose love for Beach Boys depended on this earnest belief, M.I.U. may as well have been titled D.O.A.

Hence, in spite of songs which sound superficially nice ("Sweet Sunday", "Kona Coast", "Pitter Patter", "Winds of Change") and a couple of juiced up oldies covers ("Come Go With Me" and "Peggy Sue"), the hollowness and recycled feeling of the remaining tracks--and of the album altogether--have won the day and caused this album to be an object of derision for Beach Boys fans.

It is possible to find some nice sounds and even enjoyment for the M.I.U. Album. But it is not a good idea to play this album, and then to play one of their aforementioned classics in close proximity!