Another Beach Boy not meant for his times?

The word on the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson is that he was ahead of his time or at least, as he himself sang it, he "just wasn't made for these times." While I do love the music of the Beach Boys, and I'm pretty sure Brian was a musical genius, their music strikes me as very much of its time. Brian released "Smile," the lost 60's Beach Boys masterpiece, in 2004 and, while much of it was interesting, it wasn't particularly impressive--I suspect it would have sounded much better in the mid-60's, though even then its musical inspirations were more from the past than the future.

But Brian's brother Dennis, Beach Boys drummer, singer, and occasional songwriter, may have truly been ahead of the musical pack. His only solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, came out in 1977 to modest success, but his personal problems stopped him from releasing any more music. He died of an accidental drowning in 1983 and his album eventually went out of print. It was reissued last month to immediate critical acclaim. I bought it and tried not to expect too much (I felt a little burned by Smile, which the critics also loved), but this album is truly a work to behold.

Dennis Wilson's voice was not a pristine instrument in 1977, due perhaps to his prodigious drug and alcohol use. His vocals are scratchy and gruff, but quite listenable; he brings to mind Randy Newman or late-70's Harry Nilsson. His lyrics are adequate, mostly about love or grief or nature or partying, but where this music really shines is in the arrangements, by Wilson and Jimmie Haskell, and song construction. He was a restless composer, with some of the songs here not much more than fragments. Other songs, like much of Brian's Smile, feel like stop/start fragments pasted together, in particular the excellent "Time." In any case, almost everything here works quite well. The opener, "River Song," has a glossy gospel sound; the too-short "Friday Night" has a spooky Rolling Stones "Gimmie Shelter" vibe; "Dreamer" could be an Eagles outtake. Considering Wilson's background, it's a little surprising that the Beach Boys influence is not omnipresent: "What's Wrong" starts with a "California Girls" riff, and the title track partakes of some of the Boys' summery harmonies, but that's about it. His ravaged voice gives a depth of feeling to his softer, sadder songs ("Thoughts of You," "Farewell My Friend"). Only the closing song, "End of the Show" is disappointing.

The reissue includes an entire second disc of the songs that were meant to make up his next album, Bambu. These mostly unfinished songs aren't as impressive, but a few would surely grow on me if I didn't keep playing the first disc so much. The album's instrumental mix is superb, and Wilson's piano playing is often gorgeous, though the vocals sound a little muddy, I assume because they did on the original release. To call this album ahead of its time might not be totally accurate, but it sure doesn't sound thirty years old either. A beautiful pop gem which I highly recommend.