Track Listing

1. That Lucky Old Sun
2. Morning Beat
3. Room With A View
4. Good Kind Of Love
5. Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl
6. Venice Beach
7. Live Let Live/That Lucky Old Sun
8. Mexican Girl
9. Cinco De Mayo
10. California Role/That Lucky Old Sun
11. Between Pictures
12. Oxygen To The Brain
13. Can't Wait Too Long
14. Midnight's Another Day
15. That Lucky Old Sun
16. Going Home
17. Southern California

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29727 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-01
• Number of discs: 1

Uncut, September 2008 issue
There are few other albums this year with as much force, verve and sheer musical imagination as 'That Lucky Old Sun'.

Mojo, September 2008 issue
It is a measure of the artistic triumph of 'That Lucky Old Sun' that it's such an utter pleasure, an album of sunshine...

CD Description
After a tumultuous career in and out of the limelight, legendary producer, songwriter and all-round music legend Brian Wilson's follow-up to the much-delayed 'Smile' album arrivesin the shape of 'That Lucky Old Sun'. Using the Louis Armstrong song of the same name as a thematic device, 'That LuckyOld Sun' is an exercise in melancholy and nostalgia, as might be expected from a man still recovering from personal demons. Notably, the song 'Forever My Surfer Girl' shows the closest link to the Wilson of yore, a clear lyrical extension of the 1962 Beach Boys number 'Surfer Girl' (also written byWilson). This release will delight fans, retaining the orchestral intricacy and lush arrangements that has made its composer one of the most influential figures in modern pop music.

Customer Reviews

A return to form for the Beach Boys genius!
Brian Wilson's solo career has been a fairly mixed affair with the triumphant return of Smile or the likes of Rio Grande mixed in with some poor (by his standards) album tracks.

Lucky Old Sun, however, is a great return to form for pop music's greatest composer. First performed at the Royal Festival Hall, the album version is solid from start to finish from the instant classic of "Midnight's another day" to the Beach Boys-like "Morning Beat". The spoken narratives (written by Van Dyke Parks) don't detract from the music and instead complement Brian and Scott Bennetts creation.

This is probably more accessible than "Smile" was as it's a much more coherent piece where Smile was such a leap that nobody has done anything like it since.

Brian's & Beach Boys fans will love this album and it deserves a listen or two from everybody else to.

That Lucky Old Sun (Brian Wilson)
The unimaginable has happened, and Brian Wilson has created a new masterpiece, with his latest album (a heartfelt tribute to the mythic Los Angeles of his youth). "That Lucky Old Sun" is a worthy successor to both "Pet Sounds" and "Smile", and contains the familiar layered harmonies and glorious melodies of Brian's previous greatest works, plus some as the same quirkiness as "Smile". Those unfamiliar with Brian's recent work, may need a couple of plays to adjust to the current sound of his voice, and the brief narrative sections that were written by "Smile" co-creator Van Dyke Parks. However, everything flows together well, and the album is Brian's most accessible and tuneful creation since the beginning of his solo career. The resulting effect is extremely uplifting. Much of the success of the album is due to Brian's supremely talented backing band - most especially lyricist Scott Bennett (who also helped with the production). As far as the songs go, there is not one weak link, and a wide variety of musical styles are incorporated. Personal favourites include "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl" and "Good Kind of Love" on which blonde vocalist Taylor Mills particularly shines (in 2007 Taylor released a fine solo album of her own, titled "Lullagoodbye"). A real highpoint of "That Lucky Old Sun" is the stunning "Midnight's Another Day" - a powerful and moving ballad, which many consider to be Brian's greatest song since "Surf's Up". The album concludes with the sublime harmonies of another true gem in "Southern California". "That Lucky Old Sun" is an album to purchase and treasure, and one to listen to regularly in its entirety.

Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
Brian Wilson followed his 2004 album Gettin' In Over My Head with the 2008 disc That Lucky Old Sun. The album was a collaboration with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, who he had worked with on the legendary aborted Beach Boys project Smile. Both artists are on fine form throughout this album, with Brian performing some terrific melodies, and Parks turning in some great lyrics, with typical dimensionality ("First love is the moment/You can never repeat, but you'll always own it"). Brian's band, The Wondermints, help out on harmonies, creating something akin to a Beach Boys album - and creatively, this is maybe circa 1970.

Nostalgia features heavily on this disc, and although it doesn't suffocate it, the past is definitely the central concept here, with songs like "Morning Beat", "California Role" and others providing not so much an accurate portrait of the past, but a distorted view of the fabled American Dream. This is most certainly Brian in his comfort zone - and that doesn't matter, as it also provides comfort of the familiar variety to the listener too.

Although his voice isn't as strong as it once one - health problems have, after all, been a consistent feature in Brian's life - this is most certainly the same guy who gave us so many classics: pivotal musical moments immortalised both on dusty vinyl and shiny disc. That Lucky Old Sun does, says Brian, consist of "five rounds", interspersed with occasional narrative passages. There are no gaps in between songs, and as such, the album stands unavoidably as a body of work, although songs like the jubilant "Good Kind of Love" and "Forever My Surfer Girl" can be placed on their own as marvelous pieces of highly orchestrated, big production pop.

Often, the disc sounds like a Beach Boys record, and those Wondermint harmonies are so precise, it's hard not to believe that Carl and Dennis aren't on backing (and on "Can't Wait Too Long", you'll be swearing they are). References to his late brothers abound, even if the nods are mostly celestial ("I had a dream/Singing with my brothers/In harmony/Supporting each other").

In the final analysis, That Lucky Old Sun is, at the very least, a good, solid fifth album (that's including the Smile revival), chock full of fabulous songs ("Mexican Girl, "Going Home" to name two of many) and even if it proves to be his final work - which is always likely, as Imagination looked that way for six years - then it will be a most satisfying curtain call indeed.