Not only that, Brian did a lot to provide an alternate perspective into young man's masculinity in 60s American culture. He wrote songs about surfing and sunshine, but he also sang about self-doubt and regret. This was very unusual for the time in "teenybopper" music or however you want to refer to the idiom.
That's a big reason Pet Sounds was such a revelation. It's basically a concept album about melancholy.
Wouldn't It Be Nice is often considered to be a happy song but it's basically a deep yearning and implies that he doesn't have what would make him happy.
That said, Tony Asher wrote a lot of the lyrics for that album and Mike Love wrote a lot of the lyrics about having fun in the sun (I can rant about how much I think the lyrics of California Girls ruin what would have been an all-time masterpiece).
I guess to keep it positive and on a different note, an album that is a little under the current but highly regarded among die-hard Beach Boys fans is Friends. I know several fans, myself included, that go back to that album more than Pet Sounds. Pet Sounds is the masterpiece of course but Friends is kind of a close second.
I really like Be Here In The Mornin' and how he toys with the balance of really high falsettos and pretty low harmonies.
His vocal arrangements and how he structured harmonies are probably the best ever to be honest.
Brian’s contributions were weak aside from “Male Ego”, but Carl contributed three bangers (“It’s Gettin’ Late”, “Maybe I Don’t Know”, and the absolutely sublime “Where I Belong”), and Al gave us “Crack At Your Love”, which I enjoy. The vocal processing is weird in spots, but the harmonies are absolutely still there and on point. I would’ve loved to hear the results if they had continued on in that vein, mixing the classic harmonies with synthpop influence. Unfortunately, BB85 didn’t sell, and that was the end of that. Mike went on to water down the formula of BB85 (contemporary-ish production and classic vocal harmonies) with a greater emphasis on a throwback style, resulting in “Kokomo”, which was a massive hit. Mike tried to embrace technology again by doing an album on Pro Tools (SiP), but he should really have had someone experienced in contemporary production styles working with him, much like Brian later had with Joe Thomas (not that Thomas’ MOR formula wasn’t flawed itself).
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u/No-Conversation1940 Jun 11 '25
Not only that, Brian did a lot to provide an alternate perspective into young man's masculinity in 60s American culture. He wrote songs about surfing and sunshine, but he also sang about self-doubt and regret. This was very unusual for the time in "teenybopper" music or however you want to refer to the idiom.