Website Comments and Review

This album is a stellar step upwards in Brian and the Beach Boys' musical progression, being the first officially produced by Brian. There is a definite step up in the complexity of the arrangements, both instrumentally and vocally. Also significantly, while songs such as Little Deuce Coupe and Hawaii are up-tempo classics, it is the quartet of ballads that are the meat of the album. Surfer Girl was Brian's first song, and is beautifully innocent. Surfer Moon sees strings used for the first time for the Beach Boys, while Your Summer Dream is wonderfully romantic, with a great Brian vocal. Finally, In My Room shows both the beauty as well as a deep pain and loneliness that is the hallmark of Brian's best music.

As with most early Beach Boys albums, there is some filler, but there is nothing unlistenable here, and this album certainly put out a strong challenge to the Beatles, who were already making artistic statements through the medium of the long playing record. Overall, the first really good Beach Boys album, and one that includes some great songs.

RATING: 8.5 out of 10