There\u2019s an old saying. \u201cOnce is chance, twice is coincidence, third is a pattern.\u201d L.A.<\/i> (Light Album) <\/i>would reflect the second portion of that phrase; signaling that the mistakes and poor quality of M.I.U Album<\/i> were trends that refused to dissipate with time. While marginally superior to its predecessor, The Beach Boys were clearly running on fumes, content to strike out wildly at the latest musical trends in the hopes of scoring commercial success again.<\/p>\n
While M.I.U. Album <\/i>had seen limited involvement from certain members of the group, LA (Light Album)<\/i> was the first record for The Beach Boys new label, CBS Records. As such, the previous holdouts returned to the fold, a somewhat disheartening fact considering the quality of the record that ensued.<\/p>\n
By this point in time, Brian Wilson clearly had fallen further than ever before, rendered incapable of handling any sort of production duties. His sole original contribution to the record, \u00a0the minor hit \u201cGood Timin\u201d had been sitting on the shelf since the mid 70s. \u201cShortnin\u2019 Bread\u201d had become legendary as a song Wilson would lead group sing-along for hours on end, reflecting the mental ills he was suffering from. On one occasion, the punk rocket Iggy Pop would attempt to keep up with Wilson, only to exclaim something along the lines of \u201cThat guy is nuts!\u201d It\u2019s presence on LA (Light Album)<\/i> demonstrates that Wilson had nothing left in the tank at this point in his career.<\/p>\n
As Brian was reaching rock bottom, his brother Dennis had come into his own, musically. His solo release Pacific Ocean Blue<\/i> had garnered critical acclaim, if not commercial. A follow-up record, Bambu<\/i> was in the pipeline, yet never came to pass. Two songs from that record are included on LA (Light Album)<\/i>, and they are the true highlights of the album. \u201cLove Surrounds Me\u201d and \u201cBaby Blue\u201d showcase a mature songwriter, as well as one who picked up a few tricks from his older sibling. Wilson\u2019s rugged vocals reflect his take-no-prisoners lifestyle, yet there is a tenderness that shines through the smoke. These would be Wilson\u2019s final songs on a Beach Boys record.<\/p>\n
The other members of the group gamely attempted to keep up with the Wilsons, only to fall short. \u201cSumahama\u201d is the Japanese equivalent to \u201cBelles Of Paris\u201d from M.I.U., <\/i>and somehow manages to be even more stereotypical. \u201cGoin\u2019 South\u201d attempts to evoke the old Beach Boy motif of seeking warmer climate; despite Carl Wilson\u2019s honest vocals the track goes nowhere.<\/p>\n
It would be impossible to review this album without speaking of the utter abomination that is the disco remake of \u201cHere Comes The Night.\u201d In what can only be described as a blatant cash grab, The Beach Boys adapted one of their better tracks from Wild Honey<\/i> to better fit the disco trend which was spreading across America like a plague at the time. Completely out of place, destroying the tone of the album, and just embarrassing in all aspects, no discussion of \u201cWorst Beach Boys Song\u201d should go without a mention of this abomination.<\/p>\n
Dennis Wilson singlehandedly kept LA (Light Album)<\/i> from faltering, but his efforts were not enough to overcome the malaise that had settled upon the Beach Boys. Keeping The Summer Alive<\/i> became the final nail in the coffin for the band. Dennis Wilson would depart this earth a few years later, with Brian Wilson subsequently also striking off on his own. LA (Light Album)<\/i> was the last glimmer of a once great American band.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":29949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7136],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-41572","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-beach-boys","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41572"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}