Album Review: Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun

When reviewing artists of the caliber of Brian Wilson I am walking on sacred ground. Few musicians have had more commercial success and reached the icon status that Wilson now enjoys. Since being the backbone of The Beach Boys Wilson has recorded and released enough music to fill up its own record store. Some of it good, some of it bad, and some of it legendary that our children's children will no doubt be exposed to.

The question is - how does "That Lucky Old Sun" stack up to Wilson's catalog?

If the scale was a 10 being "Pet Sounds" and a 1 being his 2004 flop "Gettin' In Over My Head" I would rate his latest release a 5.

"That Lucky Old Sun" includes masterful melodies found on tracks such as "Forever She Will Be My Surfer Girl" and "Going Home" But it also includes forgettable tracks including the first three songs "That Lucky Old Sun" "Morning Beat" and "Good Kind of Love."

An interesting element to the album is Wilson's narrative tracks that contain some clever and some really bad rhymes.

This album shows Wilson's genius and his struggles.

Did you see that?

Last night Brian Wilson performed on The Tonight Show in support of his latest release "That Lucky Old Sun." I have much respect for Wilson and have been an avid Beach Boys fan during certain times in my life, but who was that? He sat in front of a keyboard that he never played, and during parts of the song he simply stopped singing. His voice was rough and contrasted greatly with what I hear on the album. Has he always performed like this, or is this a recent development?