The Beach Boys: Sunflower - 1970

After an album that I enjoy a lot personally in Wild Honey, the slightly duller Friends and the also enjoyable 20/20, The Beach Boys continued rediscovering their mojo with this greatly underrated classic from 1970. You can stick your vegetables and wind chimes, this is an eminently preferable Beach Boys album. The harmonies in here are perfect, as is the backing. The songs are full and back to being perfectly constructed. 

The instantly catchy This Whole World, the quirkily appealing Add Some Music To Your Day and the uplifting, thoroughly beautiful Forever are standouts. the rocking Got To Know The Woman is both powerful and harmonious and Deirdre is a throwback to their best early-mid sixties material. 

It's About Time is a rocky number with some decidedly un-Beach Boys style percussion and a big rumbling bass line in the middle. Even a bit of rock guitar. I love this one. It is so different to pretty much anything they had done before. As indeed, is Tears In The Morning which somehow has echoes of John Lennon, I think, anyway. 

The catchy All I Wanna Do has a Beatles-ish drum sound too. Our Sweet Love is just beautiful. The songs on here are what Smile should have sounded like, in my opinion. They are considerably better than any of that drug-addled, half-baked drivel. Mind you, At My Window has uncomfortable echoes of those bad, indulgent days though. The same applies to Cool, Cool Water too, but it is redeemed  by some intoxicating parts. 

Apart from these two late, slight aberrations, however, this is just a perfectly constructed, laid back, beautiful album. It is a mature, adult offering that rarely gets mentioned, like the equally underrated Holland and the remastered sound is very good too. Well worth a listen. Of this run of comparatively low-key albums (in terms of critical reaction) from Wild Honey to Holland, it is probably my favourite.

Secondary, 2 of 17

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