Love You

Bruce Beatlefan (August 29, 2008)

Hardcore Beach Boys fans (particularly Brian Wilson fans) are very shrill in their praise for the 1977 album Love You. They are quick to point out (truthfully) that this is the last album in which Brian Wilson had full control to exercise his genius with the Beach Boys, writing, arranging, and producing the songs. They further point out (truthfully) that some of the songs contain the same vocal and orchestral creativity that is uniquely Brian Wilson's. Finally, they point out (unfortunately truthfully) that the song ideas in Brian's head cannot be reproduced anywhere else. These truths cannot hide the fact that there are simply too few good songs and way too many embarrassing and bizarre songs to recommend Love You to anyone but the Beach Boys fan who probably already has it.

Hardcore Beach Boys fans tend to be very protective of Brian Wilson...in fact downright parental. That feeling was particularly appropriate at this stage of Brian Wilson's life, when his mental stability was at a very low ebb and he was, frankly, thinking and behaving very much like a child. Love You was his offering from this period, very much like the drawing of a bright four-year-old which the parent lovingly attaches to the refigerator door, overlooking the fact that the trees are shaped like lollipops and the people's legs are attached to their heads. But only a deluded parent would contend that the picture is worthy of being compared to the paintings of Rockwell or Rembrandt--and that is where I separate myself from my fellow Beach Boys fans.

There are some legitimately enjoyable, well-written songs in Love You. I like "Let Us Go On This Way", "Good Time", "Ding Dang", "I'll Bet He's Nice", "Let's Put Our Hearts Together", and "Love is a Woman". There are those smiley moments which are treasured as uniquely Brian Wilson vignettes, like "Roller Skating Child" (well oh my oh gosh oh gee), "Mona" (I know you're gonna love Phil Spector), "Honkin' Down the (gosh-darn) Highway", and "Ding Dang". But even the very best track (which is "The Night Was So Young") cannot hold a candle to Brian's finer work from days past (and it doesn't have to be "Good Vibrations", it could be "This Whole World" or "Spirit of America" or "I'm So Glad"). And in considering these mildly good tracks, it would be wrong to ignore songs which are among the most awful/weird/disturbing that I've ever heard: "Johnny Carson", "Solar System", "I Wanna Pick You Up".

There are many criteria for determining a great album or a poor album. The primary criteria that I use is that a good album has a lot of very good songs. For honesty and creativity and quirkiness Love You passes the mark, I grant. But Love You is a long long way from being a great album. Or even a good album.