That Lucky Old Sun is a work of pure genius. This isn't Wilson's best solo work, the honor still goes to Smile, but it is close.

Conceptually (not sonically) it calls to mind Days of Future Passed and John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band. The concept and the mixture of spoken words and music call to mind The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed.

On Lucky Old Sun, Brian Wilson speaks directly to the listener and shares what is going on in his life just as John Lennon did on songs like Mother. There is a tremendous honesty here. The message is that Brian is back, mentally as well as physically. When he first started touring again he didn't looked very rigid and it was clear he wasn't entirely comfortable. The video in the deluxe package shows Brian smiling, animated, and looking fully engaged. It is miraculous and joyful.

This is a very emotionally powerful work. I was touched by his memories of his brothers:

I had this dream
Singing with my brothers
In harmony, supporting each other
Tail winds, wheels spin, down the pacific coast
Surfin' on the A. M., heard those voice again

and by his description of his own struggles:

At 25 I turned out the light
Cause I couldn't handle the glare in my tired eyes

This is a beautiful release. Very highly recommended. It is worth purchasing the Best Buy version with three bonus tracks including a duet with Carole King on I'm Into Something Good. King co-wrote the Herman's Hermits hit with Gerry Goffin.

The deluxe version contains a DVD with a 19 minute making of feature (I think this is identical to the special broadcast on VH-1 Classic) and two live performances in the studio. The making of film and the live performances are interesting but probably essential for casual fans.

Brian Wilson is a man with a large reputation to live up to-- to be fair, taking the next step for the guy who wrote, arranged and produced arguably the greatest album of his generation (the incomparable Pet Sounds) must have been exceedingly difficult, and with resistance from the band, it took 37 years for its followup, the magnificent SMiLE, to surface. But Wilson's career during that 37 year window was largely hit or miss-- while Beach Boys fans, myself included, will speak lovingly of many of the later Beach Boys records, many of them were true group efforts, and Brian's "comebacks", 15 Big Ones/Love You and his debut solo album Brian Wilson, while endearing and engaging, were uneven and at times felt propped up. In recent years, as his solo career took off, barring the completion of SMiLE, Brian's records have sounded like forced attempts at adult contemporary-- much as I enjoy Imagination and Gettin' in Over My Head, they've felt like someone else's idea of how Brian should grow old.

Enter "That Lucky Old Sun".

My expectations were a bit low, I figured on either a continuation of the adult contemporary sound or a thoroughly retro record. What I got instead is what I'd hope it'd be-- Brian Wilson getting older gracefully. Conceived as a thematic suite, "That Lucky Old Sun" is a meditation of sorts on the life of Brian Wilson in Los Angeles. Like his best records from the old days, it's full of swagger (the superb "Going Home") and melody ("Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl"), with subtle arrangements and fantastic vocal harmonies. Ably executed by an ensemble largely drawn from Brian's touring band, the album is quite engaging and entertaining and while it feels more mature than, say, "Surfin USA" or "Wouldn't It Be Nice", it doesn't feel forced.

So is this another Pet Sounds)? Not really. There's some many tracks that just didn't engage me at all ("Mexican Girl"). But is it really, really good? Definitely. And certainly, it's got some of the best songwriting that Wilson's done in a long time.

This album is also available in a deluxe CD with bonus DVD edition-- for the few extra bucks, the DVD is worth checking out, it contains an entertaining, brief documentary and a couple live in the studio pieces.

Bottom line is-- "That Lucky Old Sun" is a fun record. It's not the best of the best of Wilson's catalog, but it's a fine followup to SMiLE, about as high praise as I can offer.

This is just fantastic - Brian Wilson is in better form vocally than in many many years (to my ear anyway) - perhaps its that his pronunciation just sounds totally relaxed and unforced. That alone makes this an enormous pleasure to listen to again and again. Now I admit, I'm "programmed" to respond to the sound of that voice with a big smile and feelings of great joy - but it is soooo easy to do so with material as strong as this.

The band is impeccable as always and Brian's music is (not so simply) brilliant (ok , sorry, I'm stating the obvious). The narratives (written by Wilson and Van Dyke Parks) connecting the songs are just perfect and could only have come from the two of them.

To top it off the mastering, engineering and pressing of this first vinyl edition are excellent.

Lucky old me: I'm really in heaven listening to this!

Saturday morning A&E ran a Beach Boys bio from several years back, surely hoping to pick up a little bump from the all the media surrounding the release of That Lucky Old Sun. As usual, I couldn't switch the channel even though it covered old ground. The insiders interviewed all said the same thing, running along the lines of 'good to see Brian beating back the demons', 'Brian's finally found some peace', etc. Except for one guy, and this is what he said (paraphrased):

"The Brian you see now, the Brian that smiles and talks about how he's finally found his way - that's not the real Brian. That's the tamed Brian. They've tamed him, or he's tamed himself, but what you're seeing now is not the real Brian Wilson."

I thought that was an odd thing to say, maybe even a little cruel. But...listening to That Lucky Old Sun, I think I might know what he means. Wilson hasn't lost his arranging touch, his ability to manipulate the elements (although his partner and producer in this production played a large role), but...and I don't like saying this...there's almost none of that inventiveness that used to take my breath away. 2004's 'Smile' was really 1967's 'Smile', as far as originality goes, and the last thing I really, really liked by Brian was 'Imagination', from some years back. That one had some of the old magic.

At his best, Brian conjured up incredible musical ideas - gorgeous melodies, rich, compelling vocal tracks, combinations of instruments that defied not only convention but even common sense and made it seem (like all good art) perfectly inevitable. Like it had been lying there for anyone to see, and all he did was just pick it up and show everyone. It's just not apparent, in my opinion, on That Lucky Old Sun. Well...'Midnight Is Another Day' gets partway there, and 'Southern California' is fun.

I'm truly happy for the guy. If he's found peace, if he sleeps at night and looks forward to the next day, well, he has that right. He doesn't owe me anything, and I'll be happy to listen to the old stuff. Listening to That Lucky Old Sun feels to me like a letter from one of my daughters, saying "Dad, I know I'm not doing what you think I should, but I'm happy."

I'm not complaining - I'll take whatever he's offering, and gladly. I just want one more "Let Him Run Wild".

So, today I finally got my grubby hands on it.

After all the talk about it, I was expecting the mastering to be horrible, instead it's just as bad as in all the other Cds in creation (yes, including classical music, and believe me as I have quite a lot of them). That means that if you are accustomed to that kind of sound as you probably are by now, it won't trouble you.

In any case, actually opening a package, putting a physical disc into a slot and pressing PLAY feels so much better than listening to streams!

As for TLOS itself... I already knew the piece from said streams, but my first Cd listen has been actually better than I had expected. I don't know (nor care) how it compares to Pet Sounds and SMiLE... but the simple fact that it's COMPARABLE to them is an absolute miracle.

TLOS has "genius" stamped everywhere.