Pacific Ocean Blue

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Apart from the non-release of Smile, the biggest lament of hardcore Beach Boys fans is that Bruce Johnston aside, none of the non-Brian Wilson solo albums are available on CD. But now, for fans of late drummer Dennis Wilson, there's reason to celebrate as his only-released solo album gets the reissue it deserves. Widely acknowledged as the finest Beach Boys solo effort, it's now presented with clarity, allowing the full sonic palette--the punch of opening "River Song" for example--to be heard in its intended glory. Wilson's raspy vocal may have been past its prime, but it's still affecting and ably supported by the sumptuous production values he gave the album. With high quality tracks such as the funky "Dreamer" and the poignant "Farewell My Friend", this will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in The Beach Boys, as well as a delight for hardcore fans as the unreleased tracks (from the unfinished follow-up Bambu), easily match the original's quality.

While the disappointing absence of earlier singles ("Lady" or "Sound of Free") prevents this from being a definitive career anthology, this is as essential a Beach Boys artefact as Pet Sounds or Sunflower/Surf's Up. --Thom Allott

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Customer reviews

review by: Pip date: 2008-07-03 rating:
I will never tire of it..........................
Pacific Ocean Blue is without doubt the most honest, powerful and most staggeringly beautiful album I have ever had the pleasure to hear. I challege anyone not to be moved to tears by Dennys voice on "thoughts of you" or indeed filled with hope and joy in the middle eight section of "The River". He was every bit the composer Brian is and could easily hold his own next to the angelic voice of his late brother Carl.

If Denny had still been alive today I'm sure he would have been moved himself to see that the tunes and words he gave life to all those years ago are finally getting the recognition they deserve.

Denny Forever............................................

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review by: ADB date: 2008-07-01 rating:
I was surprised by the quality of it... probably not for everybody.
I assured myself I will not indulge in writing music reviews anymore.
Perhaps because been born in the early fifties I was treated to probably what was the best period of pop and rock music as the soundtrack of my life... so I guess I am much prejudiced against today standards (very much lower in my humble opinion...).
Surfing through amazon I was once intrigued by reviews (and also outrageous prices of the second hand market... glad I passed... and waited for this) about this album.
In one word AMAZING.
I always thought he was much underrated... but now this is the understatement of the year... listen to it before buying (NO BEACH BOYS SOUND AT ALL IT IS DIFFERENT AND VERY GOOD)... but I fell in love with it with only ONE listening session. What great keyboards too!
So, here you have it IT WAS WORTH MY TIME AND MONEY.

GOOD FOR HIM!... (somehow drummer's always surprise me...)

ADB

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review by: yskar2001 date: 2008-06-28 rating:
Put it on - you won't take it off
As an original English punk brought up on a strict diet of Mozart and Hendrix the Beach Boys were a joke to me until I dropped my prejudice in the mid-1980s and listened to what they did. This isn't the Beach Boys but I can appreciate it for the same reasons.

I bought this at the same time I bought Coldplays much hyped 'Viva La Vida'.

Guess which one I will keep.

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review by: stipesdoppleganger date: 2008-06-28 rating:
Overdue re-issue for some "California Gospel "
When Dennis Wilson became the first Beach Boy to release a solo album everybody raised a flabbergasted eyebrow , especially the other Beach Boys. The notoriously party hard beach bum( he was the only Beach Boy to actually surf) seemed an unlikely candidate to get an album out first but he had been working on the album for most of the 1970,s but in 1976 he made a concerted effort to record an album proper and Pacific Ocean Blue finally saw the light of day in August 1977. What may have been even more surprising was just how emotionally broad and how superb the album was. Under any criteria Pacific Ocean Blue is a classic.
Its been unavailable for ages but not only has someone had the good sense to re-issue this great album they have done a superlative job of it too. There are loads of photo's, a booklet explaining the albums conception and execution and an extra disc with tracks from the never released follow up "Bambu " also dubbed "The Caribou Sessions". Disc one also has four bonus tracks all previously unreleased and unlike a lot of un-released material these are well worth hearing.
Anyone unfamiliar with this album may be shocked by Dennis Wilson ,s voice a cracked slightly husky instrument , light years away from the sweet harmony dripping tones of the Beach Boys. The thing is though his voice suit's the rather introspective melancholic and reflective nature of much of the material on Pacific Ocean Blue .A touching song like "End Of The Show" wouldn't be the same without that vulnerable lived in quality his voice suffuses the words with.
The music in this album has been called "California gospel" and that in many ways makes sense .There is copious use of choral vocals courtesy of The Double rock Baptist choir but the songs are usually arranged around guitar, keyboards, bass and percussion with some horns and reeds. The scope of sounds, textures and nuances Wilson and producers John Hanlon( The extra tracks) and Gregg Jakobson evince from this is truly staggering. It helps that these are such tremendous songs of course . Most of the songs are co-written with either Jakobson, Mike Love , Karen Lamm-Wilson or Carl Wilson with Jim Dutch and Steve Kalinich also contributing .
What songs they are too -from the throat tightening choral magnificence of "River Song" to the boogie woogie tones of "What's Wrong" to funk/blues hybrid "Friday Night" to the gorgeous ballad "Thought Of You" , "Time" "You And I" this is a flawless album . They even carry off the loose funk grooves of the title track and "The Rainbow " is just a great pop song. And the bonus tracks are a genuine bonus . I especially love the instrumental "Mexico " and the choral magnificence(again) of "Tug Of Love"
And as a bonus to the material that is already a bonus there is the extra disc which again is well worth hearing. While not as essential as the main album "Bambu" still has stellar moments of radiating virtuosity. "It's Not Too Late" is a heart-rending wracked ballad ,"School Girl" has a gulping choral majesty , "Love Remember Me" is bordering on the ecstatic but is still underpinned with an affecting melancholy ."Constant Companion" exudes such a rich multi-dimensional harmonic magnificence I had to keep checking to see a choir hadn't moved into the attic and started practising . "Time For Bed" is what I imagine would have transpired had Harry Nilsson gate crashed the Sgt Pepper recordings after a night out with Lennon. "Album Tag Song" could be off Dion,s "Born To Be With You" with it's broiling fat piano notes .
Pacific Ocean Blue is a seminal album up there with "No Other", "Bryter Layter" , "Berlin " .Albums that aren't just tremendously rewarding to listen to but seem to have an intangible extra element that transports the music into realms of artistry we hadn't heard before. It's been way, way overdue a release so not only is it justice that this is out but that so much love and attention hads gone into the final result. Very much like the album that inspired it.




review by: Wannabe Housewife.... date: 2008-06-24 rating:
Sumptuous on vinyl
My vinyl triple LP arrived in the post from Sundazed this morning; wonderful music, great cohesive sound (I doubt the CD will come close), Pacific blue vinyl, and packaging that a CD can never even attempt. If you still have a record deck and want this, don't worry about the extra cost, because you'll certainly not be disappointed with this glorious vinyl edition.

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