Best Of The Beach Boys 1970-1986 (The Brother Years) - Beach Boys (The) > Reviews > Older, more mature, but less creative

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Lacking inspiration
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Unmemorable
Value for Money

Advantages:	Well - packaged
Disadvantages:	Shows the band past their prime  -  for diehard fans only

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

Having made their name with Capitol Records, at the end of 1969 the Beach Boys signed with Reprise (US and Canada) and Stateside/EMI (rest of the world), while providing for the records to be released with their own 'Brother Records' imprint or logo. (A new deal at the end of the decade saw them switch the parent company to CBS Caribou, but that's another story).
Having dominated the music of the 60s in a way that few other bands did, the 70s sadly found them almost a spent force. Brian Wilson's drug abuse and fragile temperament, and growing ill-feeling between the other Wilson brothers and Mike Love, cost them dearly. There were to be no more ground-breaking singles, though they came up with some passable efforts. "California Saga" was the closest they got to a good commercial pop tune, and "It's OK", based on an instrumental track laid down with Roy Wood of Wizzard who was touring the US in 1974, had the makings of a good song, though it was only a fraction over two minutes long and never really developed properly. Brian produced some more interesting introspective songs in "Add Some Music To Your Day" and "Til I Die", and Bruce Johnston's "Tears In The Morning" was pleasant enough, but - hey, guys, cheer up. Do you have to be introspective if not downright miserable all the time? "Here Comes The Night", their answer to "Saturday Night Fever" and an attempt to show that the Wilson brothers could take the Gibb brothers on at their own white suits and medallion man game, may have been much derided, but at least it had some life in it. Otherwise they had to fall back on endless cover versions of songs like "California Dreamin'", "Peggy Sue" and "Rock'n'Roll Music", and they're not that good.
Maybe the Beach Boys were a classic example of a band who failed to quit while they were still ahead. This may be a less than inspiring collection, but at least the booklet notes are first-rate.