The Beach Boys: The Best Of The Beach Boys 1970-1986 The Brother Years (Capitol)

At the close of the 1960s, The Beach Boys' contract with Capitol was coming to an end, so the group resurrected its Brother Records imprint, and embarked on an earnest attempt to be taken seriously by rock fans in the 1970s. They had already reached a creative peak with Pet Sounds, and, following the disastrous Smile sessions, Brian Wilson was about to begin his own Long Dark Night of the Sandbox. Some remnants of Wilson's glorious song-writing remain, particularly the seaside angst of 'Til I Die and the magnificently maudlin Surf's Up. The rest of this album, however, is a hotch-potch of West Coast AOR fluff, showcasing the increased involvement of Carl Wilson, Bruce Johnson, Mike Love and Al Jardine in the songwriting process. Worse, Brian's latter-day contributions comprise such subsurfer dross as Honkin' Down The Highway and It's OK.

- Kevin Courtney