Customer Reviews

M.I.U. / L.A. Album

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Panned by critics, these two albums are usually mentioned whenever the subject of "worst Beach Boys album" comes up. It's really not a surprise with M.I.U., perhaps the group's most bland effort they've ever done. Rough production and tired songs; even the cover of this album is boring. Only a few slight gems which includes the light-hearted "She's Got Rhythm", the fairly dark "My Diane" and Al Jardine's covers of "Come Go With Me" and "Peggy Sue". On the other hand, L.A. ALBUM is surprisingly not as bad as some critics (and even Beach Boys fans) might make it to be. The production is solid and sounds great, and the singing and harmonies in particular are quite good. Perhaps the biggest reason this album is slammed so much is because of the embarrassing 11 minute disco-fied remake of "Here Comes The Night". Not even the nice swirling harmonies can make up for this mistake. However most of the rest of the album fairs pretty well, including the fantastic opener, "Good Timin'". Featuring some wonderful harmonies and a crowd-pleasing melody, "Good Timin'" is one of the Beach Boys finer songs. "Baby Blue", Dennis Wilson's last contribution to the Beach Boys is also one of his best; right up there with "Forever". Also of note is Carl Wilson's "Full Sail", one of the most solid songs he ever wrote, as well as "Angel Come Home", featuring a gruff-voiced Dennis singing lead. It's a shame this album is so unappreciated.

These albums generally get a bad press as the editorial review testifies. They certainly don't match the standard of "Pet Sounds" or even "Sunflower", but there are some magic moments here. One of the advantages of the "two-fer" format is that you can edit out some of the weaker moments and still have quite a bit of really good music.

MIU certainly sees a retreat in Brian's involvement from "Love You!", and can be seen as a re-action to that album's rough edges. Some of it is too slick, smooth and bland, but there are some strong tunes shining through, especially on the second half of the album. "My Diane" is the highlight, but (especially if you discount the lyrics a bit), songs like "Sweet Sunday Kind Of Love" and "Matchpoint of our Love" can captivate with their strong melodies. All of the tunes mentioned were at least co-written by Brian, who is certainly around much more than his brothers.

LA does see Brian in retreat, Bruce back in the group and the producer's chair, and Carl and Dennis back as songwriters, as well as singers. Much of LA is acceptable to really good, just programme out "Sumahama" and the failed disco megamix of "Here Comes The Night." It really is Carl and Dennis's show, my favorites being Brian and Carl's "Good Timin'", a real late-era piece of magic, Carl's powerful "Full Sail" and Dennis's "Baby Blue", an emotional song which was one of the last he wrote.

All in all, 3 1/2 stars would be about right, but since we aren't allowed 1/2 stars, I'll round up.

If "M.I.U. Album" is among The Beach Boys' worst albums, it's just a testament to how great the band really was (yes, WAS). "M.I.U." is easy to bash. It followed "The Beach Boys Love You," a fantastic BrianWilsonFest that was an impossible act to follow, and Brian's involvement dropped in "M.I.U." as the authority of his considerably less talented cousin, Mike Love, came to rule the roost in The Beach Boys' camp. However, Brian still is all over this disc, salvaging it from the depths of "15 Big Ones," "Keepin' the Summer Alive" (these two tie for the worst Beach Boys Album Award), "Holland" (take off the hastily assembled "Sail on Sailor" and you've got a real corker), "Carl and the Passions" and "L.A. Light Album." Let's review the tracks on "M.I.U." First is the catchy "She's Got Rhythm," featuring Brian's soaring falsetto and songwriting. An OK cover of "Come Go with Me" follows, but at least the version included on these reissues is snappier and better than that included on the Caribou/CBS reissues that came out 10 years ago. That's right, they used THE WRONG MIXES in not one, but several "M.I.U." songs when the album fist came out on CD. Somebody fell asleep at his or her post. Anyway, the third track, "Hey Little Tomboy," again features great songwriting by Brian - I defy anyone to not enjoy its melody - and vocals between Love and him. Tracks 4 and 5, "Kona Coast" and "Peggy Sue," are the blandness that everybody else keeps talking about. But the disc jolts back to life with "Wontcha Come out Tonight," another Brian-penned song in which a great melody rescues a cheesy hook. Four more great songs follow: "Sweet Sunday," again written by Brian and sung beautifully by Carl Wilson, "Belles of Paris," another sharp Brian tune, "Pitter Patter," a strong song with music from Brian and Al Jardine, and the beautiful, Brian-written "My Diane," sung with tremendous emotion by Dennis. "Match Point of Our Love," yet another Brian tune, follows, and it would be listenable if not for Mike's horrible lyrics, drawing parallels between a tennis match and a relationship. "Winds of Change" is a decent end to the album, though no Beach Boy had anything to do with its writing. Add 'em up and you've got some great songwriting from our hero, Mr. Wilson, on "M.I.U. Album." The low point is the lyrics. "Hey Little Tomboy" is lecherous enough, but its original version, in which an excited-sounding Brian implores a girl to "shave your legs for the first time," can induce nightmares, nausea and pancreatic illness. And nobody denies that "My Diane" is about Brian's relationship with his wife's sister, whom he was quite fond of and apparently sometimes wished he'd married instead of Marilyn. However, at least Dennis sings the lead, and it's no more disturbing than "The Night Was So Young," a great "Love You" track in which Brian sings about a female companion sneaking up to his window at night. Let's just say that song wasn't fiction.

"L.A. Light Album" finds The Beach Boys at their worst: recycling old material and throwing together songs that will sell on "The Beach Boys" name alone. "Good Timin' " is a great first track and a rare collaboration between Brian and Carl, but Al's "Lady Lynda" doesn't make any secret about where its melody came from (Bach). Carl's slowies, "Full Sail" and "Goin' South," are just that - slowies - but their intentions can be appreciated. As a Floridian from up North, I can relate to the desire to "go South" for the winter, and if "Full Sail" is about Dennis' boat, The Harmony, the song becomes a bit more sentimental. Dennis' "Angel Come Home" is unspectacular. These are the only tracks not torn off the shelves for hasty preparation in this album. Dennis' decent "Love Surrounds Me" and great "Baby Blue" were intended for his second solo album, the never-completed "Bamboo," and the group persuaded him to part with them because they had no material. The same goes for "Sumahama," a hugely underrated track that many people dislike for the same reason they dislike "Brian's Back": Mike Love wrote the music as well as the lyrics. It was intended for "First Love," a solo album that Mike shopped around in the late '70s while Dennis was scoring solo success. "Here Comes the Night" should have been called "Here Comes the Nightmare" - not so much for the song's lack of artistic merit, but for the reaction it would get. Many people write this lackluster album off for the wrong reasons, citing their dislike for "Here Comes the Night" and "Sumahama." Actually, these are two of the most interesting, different and satisfying tracks on the album. This disco remake of the "Wild Honey" song (which was underproduced and could have sounded a lot better) is about five minutes too long, suggesting that it is indeed little more than filler, but the other several minutes or so are quite entertaining. The album closer, "Shortenin' Bread," is pathetic, and once again was picked up and dusted off from earlier in the decade. A superior, Carl-sung version (Brian sings the "L.A." version) was to have gone on the "Landlocked" album, but what gave the group the idea to remake this song is beyond me. That's the feeling you'll get as L.A. Light Album ends: confusion. Why did the group once again have to raid its pantry in search of album filler? Why switch from the slow, peaceful atmosphere of the first six tracks to the disco thump of "Here Comes the Night"? Why choose Bruce Johnston as producer after he's been out of the band for six years? Try not to let these questions cloud your head, as there is a bigger one left to answer: Why do people hold this album in higher regard than its predecessor, the solid "M.I.U. Album"?

The "M.I.U. album" takes its name from Maharishi International University, the Iowa homebase of the flash-in-the-pan guru, and where the Beach Boys chose to record the 1978 album. It sounds slicker than "Love You" before it, probably because the band was hoping to find a way back onto the charts. While more commercial did mean chart action (the single "Come Go with Me" hit the top 40), it doesn't necessarily mean artistic success.

"L.A. (Light Album)" is presumably a play on the Beatles album "The Beatles", nicknamed the "White album" by fans. Critically, these albums usually get the biggest wallop from critics and while "M.I.U." certainly deserves to be in the lowest third of the band's career, I'd argue "L.A." is the band's last really good album with some great harmony singing, some fine contributions from Dennis and a couple great Carl songs.

HIGHLIGHTS:

While "M.I.U" only has 3 real highlight songs (like "15 Big Ones"), I place it higher in the Beach Boys catalogue because its lows aren't as embarrassing as "TM Song" or the misguided covers on "15BO". "My Diane" is Brian's melancholy tribute to sister-in-law Diane Rovell, rendered by Dennis with a nice ragged tinge in his vocal. "Sweet Sunday Kinda Love" pays tribute to the simple pleasures of goofing off on a lazy Sunday. "Hey Little Tomboy" is sexist, goofy and musically catchy. Just because it's not PC doesn't mean it's not one of the better melody/lyric combos here.

The most "Beach Boys" sounding album from the group in the 1970s (if you believe only the 'sun and fun' sound is the "true" Beach Boys) came with 1979's "L.A. (Light Album)" which featured strong group harmonies on nearly every number. ("Good Timin'" is a fine example). "Full Sail" paid tribute to Dennis' boat. Every snowbound Northerner (like me) can appreciate the sentiment in "Goin' South". "Baby Blue" is probably the best ballad Dennis ever wrote.

VALLEYS:

With "Kona Coast" Al and Mike throw every "sun and fun" cliche against the wall in hopes they'll stick into a hit. They forgot, however, to write a hook for the tune. (Stealing part of 60s track "Hawaii" doesn't count...) "Belles of Paris" does the same thing in French. "Peggy Sue" should've prompted a defamation suit from the estate of Buddy Holly. "Pitter Patter" is rain as a sex metaphor ("like the risin' tides love is growing stronger, Let's ride out the storm just a little longer").

"L.A."'s "Here Comes the Night" disco remake has two big problems: A) too long (long enough for a 12" mix) and B) too late (Disco peaked in 1977. If they wanted to cash in, this should've been on "15 Big Ones" and something more well-known, maybe a medley of the sun and fun stuff, though it probably would have resulted in an even harsher pounding from music critics.) "Sumahama" features hamhanded Japanese singing from Mike. A rocked up nursery rhyme ("Shortenin' Bread") is just beyond the pale.

BOTTOM LINE:

One of the weakest (M.I.U.) paired with a solid effort (L.A.). Don't pay new price but get it used if it's cheap to sample the "L.A." cuts (the best stuff from the album did NOT appear on the box set).

3.5 stars would more accurately reflect my rating, but Amazon doesn't allow 1/2 stars so I'll round up.

These are two much-maligned albums released at a time of turbulent band politics and Brian's second retreat from songwriting and production. MIU is in many ways a reaction to Love You! and a return to slick production and old themes. Brian is in retreat and in many ways, it is Al's album in terms of production, vocals and song selection. But it's not as bad as some might say, "My Diane" is a true highpoint, one of the greatest heartbreak songs where words are just not enough. It's written by Brian and sung by Dennis. Much of the rest is pretty yet unremarkable, but certainly not objectionable.

LA Light sees Carl and Dennis more involved after virtual absence from MIU. The highlights here are Brian's "Good Timing", Carl's pretty "Full Sail" and Dennis's "Baby Blue", all songs showing the full emotional intensity the Wilson brothers can muster. Mike's "Sumahama" is poor, the disco remix is too long and doesn't work and the rest is fair to middling.

All in all, not the band's best work, but there is stuff here you need to have (mentioned above) which you can't get elsewhere.

Although a lot of people are so critical of these albums, I quite enjoy them (although I do think M.I.U. is better overall than Light Album). I think M.I.U. album has a lot beautiful harmonies and instrumentation, which isn't unusual for a Beach Boys record. "Match Point Of Our Love" features what I consider to be Brian's best late-'70s lead vocal. Light Album has several good songs too, though most of them are slow. Although the disco version of "Here Comes The Night" might have appalled a lot of Beach Boys fans when it first came out (and may continue to do so), I actually think it's sort of cool, even though it is VERY long. Like most of the group's post-'60s albums, these may not rank among their very best works, but I think they deserve more appreciation than they seem to get. The thing that REALLY puzzles me is, why is this CD so expensive these days?! The group's other recent "two-fer" album reissues don't cost anywhere near the prices that this one goes for!! Did Capitol for some reason make a lot fewer copies of this one or something? I can't figure out this price thing for the life of me!

"M.I.U." gets a lot of crap because it can be argued it was the album at which point the Beach Boys lost their edge. That's understandable. However, the album contains some undeniably catchy, solid Brian Wilson-penned pop songs, including "She's Got Rhythm," "Wontcha Come Out Tonight," and "Pitter Patter." Yes, the songs for the most part lack an edge, but "My Diane" comes pretty close to having one of its own. In this age of iTunes and media players, it's probably best to come up with your own playlist so that you can truly appreciate the album for what its worth, and realize that individual songs are greater than the sum of its parts. My playlist is as follows: "She's Got Rhythm," "Cruisin'" (from Mike Love's "Celebration" group), "Wontcha Come Out," "Sweet Sunday Love," "Belles of Paris," "Pitter Patter," "My Diane," "Almost Summer" (also from "Celebration"), "How's About a Little Bit" (discarded fro the original M.I.U. line-up), "Lady Lynda" (from the "L.A." album but originally recorded for M.I.U.), "San Miguel" (considered for M.I.U. but recorded during the "Sunflower" sessions), "Our Team" (another unreleased gem from the M.I.U. sessions), and lastly, "Sad, Sad Summer" (from "Celebration"). For those who are less than satisfied by "M.I.U.", try the songs in that order, and you may just find yourself pleasantly surprised.

Enjoyable and still the Original BBs. Yet the good songs are rarer and the production is dated. It's still better than was was to come in the next few years...

I can understand who's mention the fact there not the best effort they done during their magical carriere, but i just want to defend the magnificent piece of music : Lady Lynda, for me the best Al Jardine song for ever, the production is brilliant, and the fact that he was inspired by BacH music put a very good feeling in the song.The chorusin this one is simply beautifull...The version on the live in Knebworth is truly amazing.

The single will peak number 7 in the UK

Al Jardin write it for his wife but he will rerecorded as Lady Liberty after divorced...

Thanks Al for the really nice love song!

MIU is one of the worst Beach Boys albums going I think, but because I love the second album on the CD, LA (Light Album), I have actually thought of this worth buying. LA (Light Album) is the last great Beach Boys albums due in large part to the fact that it is the last Beach Boys album to include the great harmonies that have made them so famous. Included on this album is the great 'Good Timin'' and 'Lady Lynda' one of the best songs on the album. If you are put off by what critics are saying of the ten minute disco version of 'Here Comes The Night' then don't be. It's still an alright song especially since one of Dennis Wilsons greatest songs ever: 'Baby Blue.' It's great because the album also ends with a great rocker: 'Shortin' Bread'. Go on, go and buy it and give it a listen. You will be amazed by the LA (Light Album). Hey you might even go beyond me and like the MIU Album. This album definatly deserves a nine.