The Beach Boys – Love You (1977/2015) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

The Beach Boys – Love You (1977/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:29 minutes | 1,32 GB | Genre: Pop Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Capitol Records

Love You (also known as The Beach Boys Love You) is the 21st studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on April 11, 1977. Originally conceived as a Brian Wilson solo album entitled Brian Loves You, the album is almost entirely written and performed by Wilson, with the other band members mainly serving as additional lead vocalists. Peaking at number 53 on US record charts, the album was received with a sharp divide between fans and critics. One single was issued from the album: “Honkin’ Down the Highway” backed with “Solar System”.

Penned during a process of mental and drug rehabilitation for Wilson, Love You has been praised by reviewers for the album’s honest, unpretentious lyrics, and has been described as a portrait into his sense of self in 1977. Heavily reliant on 1970s analog synthesizers, the album has been recognized as an early work of synthpop, a forerunner to new wave experiments, and an idiosyncratic and creative oddity in the Beach Boys’ canon. After being asked where somebody should begin with the Beach Boys discography, Wilson answered: “Pet Sounds first, then listen to The Beach Boys Love You.” A follow-up album, Adult Child, was completed by the group, but left unreleased.

Judging by the title and the quilted design on the cover, Love You would appear to be an album of ballads or romantic tracks, maybe ’70s remakes of “Surfer Girl” or “In My Room.” But from the brutal synthesizer stabs and Carl Wilson’s throaty yell, “Harrahhh!” on the opening track, it’s clear this is no ordinary Beach Boys LP. Besides several hard-charging pop songs (“Honkin’ Down the Highway,” “Roller Skating Child,” “Let Us Go On This Way”), there are a couple of baffling but ultimately endearing tracks whose titles (“Johnny Carson,” “Solar System,” “Ding Dang”) are good indicators of the amateurish lyrics and subject matter. What makes Love You one of the best Beach Boys LPs of the 1970s, though, is the return to an uncommonly Brian Wilson sense of romantic naïveté and “adult child” wonder at the world. “The Night Was So Young,” “I’ll Bet He’s Nice,” and “Let’s Put Our Hearts Together” form a suite during the middle of side two that rivals Pet Sounds for breadth of emotional attachment. Originally slated to be a Brian Wilson solo album (titled Brian Loves You), it shows the aging genius with many of his pop smarts intact, his wildly eccentric lifestyle tweaking his sense of songcraft in an intriguing direction. ~~AllMusic Review by John Bush

Tracklist:
01. The Beach Boys – Let Us Go On This Way (02:00)
02. The Beach Boys – Roller Skating Child (02:18)
03. The Beach Boys – Mona (02:08)
04. The Beach Boys – Johnny Carson (02:48)
05. The Beach Boys – Good Time (02:50)
06. The Beach Boys – Honkin’ Down The Highway (02:48)
07. The Beach Boys – Ding Dang (00:56)
08. The Beach Boys – Solar System (02:47)
09. The Beach Boys – The Night Was So Young (02:15)
10. The Beach Boys – I’ll Bet He’s Nice (02:38)
11. The Beach Boys – Let’s Put Our Hearts Together (02:15)
12. The Beach Boys – I Wanna Pick You Up (02:45)
13. The Beach Boys – Airplane (03:02)
14. The Beach Boys – Love Is A Woman (02:53)

Personnel:
Al Jardine – vocals
Mike Love – vocals
Brian Wilson – vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, drums
Carl Wilson – vocals
Dennis Wilson – vocals

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