Brian Wilson- In The Key of Disney

5.5/10

Ahhh Disney movies. You don't see a Disney movie with a bad soundtrack but this was different. Making cover songs is one of the special talents that Brian Wilson had. With The Beach Boys we heard famous covers like Barbara Ann that were better than the original and more famous. This album was different. There was a deal between Wilson and Disney to produce two albums. The first one was Reimagines Gershwin wich I will review later, and this one. This one was an album of cover of old Disney songs but with a Beach Boys sound. Yep that's what Disney expected to hear, a combination between Toy Story and The Beach Boys. But there's no magic in this album. A lot of Disney songs are famous for their unique sound that reminds you of your childhood and happy moments. This album have  The Beach Boys sound present but the harmonies sometimes sounds strange. The backup vocals aren't very good and Brian's vocals aren't perfect neither. In the song Can You Feel The Love Tonight? the song is ruined by unnecessary high backup vocals. The original is a beautiful song singed by Elton John for The Lion King movie. Anyway, this album worth the price is not that bad but don't expect to hear the best cover of Disney songs.

 Song Reviews:

1. You Got A Friend in Me- ** "Everyone loves the original but this cover it's not so good" 
2. The Bare Necessities- ** " o.0 " 
3. Baby Mine- **** "Reminds me of those Beach Boys ballads like "In my Room"
4. Kiss the Girl- ***** "My favorite of the album. This sounds more like BB's"
5. Colors of the Wind- *** "Reminds me of the 70's Beach Boys songs"
6. Can You Feel the Love Tonight- *** "A beautiful songs but the backup vocals are too high"
7. We Belong Together- *** "Nice cover!"
8. I Just Can't Wait to be King- **** "One of the best of the album"
9. Stay Awake- *** "Beautiful Brian Wilson vocals" 
10. Heigh-Ho/Yo Ho (a pirates life)- *** "Pretty Fun"
11. When You Wish Upon A Star- ***** "Excellent track" 

The Beach Boys- Still Cruisin' Review

6/10

By Javier Torres

This is the easiest album to review cause there are only 7 songs that basically all are good. The only problem in this album is that the songs are not great except for Kokomo. The album was released in 1989 after some recent hits that the band in those years on the Billboard US top 100 Chart such as the #1 Kokomo, #12 Wipe Out #93 Still Cruisin'. But obviously the song that made that this album was an hit was Kokomo. Some people don't consider this an oficial Beach Boys Studio Album cause is more like a compilations of recent hits but also is one of the most successful late Beach Boys albums cause it went Gold in the US. Anyway, the album starts in a good way with the title song Still Cruisin' followed by the great Somewhere in Japan that is one of the best songs on the album. Al Jardine's Island Girl is next that is a Caribbean style song. Is not bad. Brian Wilson's In My Car was made for a car commercial. Is a good song that was Co-Written by Wilson, Dr. Landy and Alexandra Morgan. Then Kokomo starts and makes this album better and cool followed by a good Wipe Out cover ft. The Fat Boys. Finally the bad lyric, god music Make it Big. In overall this album is good. I didn't find a bad song on this one. Let's see a close look at my song reviews:

1. Still Cruisin'- *** "Nice way to start the album"
2. Somewhere Near Japan- **** "Great vocals by Bruce, Carl and Alan"
3. Island Girl- *** "Makes me wanna play limbo"
4. In My Car- *** "Great Rock song!!"
5. Kokomo- ***** "An Instant Classic"
6. Wipe Out- ** "The less good from the album"
7. Make it Big- *** "Bad Lyric, Good Music"

Other Reviews:

All Music- ^[1]

Rolling Stone- ^[2]

The Beach Boys-Summer in Paradise Review

5/10

By Javier Torres

The Beach Boys last studio album with some new material (before That's Why God Made The Radio 2012) came up with a little of good material but is not that bad. After listening a couple of times, I realize that if we analyze the album lyrics instead of music, I would rate this album 1/10 'cause I mean that is bad. When I mean bad is that is bad haha, the lyrics are terrible. Oh but what can you expect of an album with new lyrics written by Mike Love without Brian Wilson supervision? But anyway, skiping the no-Brian Wilson problem, the music is not that bad. The album begins with a cover song Hot Fun in the Summertime. Nice cover, very nice cover song. Then comes a cover from an original song Surfin' that was realized in their first album Surfin' Safari. Ok this cover is not bad. It would be better if this cover was only instrumental cause the guitars sounds cool, but Mike Love vocals kills it. Carl vocals make you feel more secure about it but is bad thanks to Mike. Then comes a sexual-lyrics song from the incredible Mike Love: Summer of Love. I hear this song when I'm bored and I don't feel like to hear some of the Beach Boys hit. What can I say? If the song is bad, just see the music video -_- The next song is as Mike Love said in the album Production Notes, the cousin of Kokomo!, Island Fever. I cannot cricticsize this song, I like it. Actually is my favorite pick from the album. I like it. Then a good song Still Surfin'. Slow Summer Dancin' (One Summer Night) is one the best songs on the album. It has excellent vocals by Bruce Johnston and Al Jardine. Mike Love hit down with the next song Strange Things Happens that is the perfect example of the good music bad lyrics on the album. The next two songs are very energetic and with great Carl Wilson vocals, Remember and Lahaina Aloha, a song that I consider the best of the album. A decent Mike Love song that makes it good just because Carl Wilson vocals again: Under the Boardwalk. Then comes the title song that sucks very hard. The worst lyrics on a Beach Boys songs ever is this one. I hate it. The Live version of it is great but the Album version sucks!!!!. The last song, a cover of them... again this time Forever one of the best Dennis Wilson songs covered by John Stamos? John is a great drummer, has good vocals but I don't know is strange to hear his vocals on a song like Forever. Any way the song isn't bad. The album in general is not that bad but you can't say either that is a great album. Is good but not great. Let's see the song reviews:

1. Hot Fun in the Summertime- **** "One of the best late covers of the band"
2. Surfin'- ** "It would be better instrumental cause Mike vocals kills this song"
3. Summer of Love- ** "The song is worst than the bad music video"
4. Island Fever- **** "Nice tropical song, actually Mike said that is the cousin of Kokomo"
5. Still Surfin'- *** "The song is not bad, one of the best from the album"
6. Slow Summer Dancing- ***** "If your a fan of Bruce and Al, this song is perfect"
7. Strange things Happens- ** "Good music, bad lyrics"
8. Remember- **** "Excellent vocals by Carl"
9. Lahaina Aloha- ***** "The best song from the album"
10. Under the Boardwalk- **** "This is a Mike Love song"
    
11. Summer In Paradise- * "The worst song of the album"
12. Forever- *** "Not bad but not even close to Dennis' version.

Other Reviews:

All Music- ^[2]

Mike Love- Catch A Wave

Catch a Wave 3/10

By Javier Torres

After listening to various Beach Boys and Brian Wilson albums, I wonder how Mike Love albums sounds like. Well the first one I picked was this one that was produced by Adrian Baker and you noticed his voice on the background vocals. The album is only of old Beach Boys songs covered by Mike and Adrian on the vocals and it begins with a great Catch a Wave cover. Then Do it Again it's another good cover. I get Around is a little bit good. Then a great California Girls cover. The rest of the album sounds terrible in my opinion, except for Hawaii that is the last attempt of a good cover. My final opinion is that what Mike Love was thinking while recording this album?

Let's see my song reviews:

1. Catch a Wave- ***** "Great Cover"
2. Do it Again- **** "Nice and soft"
3. I get Around- ** "Bad cover, the drums are just too bad"
4. California Girls- **** "Good!"
5. Fun, Fun, Fun- * "-_-"
6. Surfin' Safari- ** "They ruin one of the classic Beach Boys songs"
7. Hawaii- **** "Good attempt to balance the album"
8. Surfin' USA- ** "Isn't the worst but isn't good."
9. Surfer Girl- * "The worst of the album, why Mike is singing Brian part?

Surfin' USA- Review

Surfin' USA 7.5/10

By Javier Torres

After the reales of the single Surfin' USA/Shut Down single wich peaked #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, The Beach Boys were the #1 Surfin' band on US. Brian Wilson started to be more creative than in the first album. This album contains some great material that continues to be legendary for almost all the fans. Some great songs in this album includes Surfin' USA, Farmer's Daughter and Shut Down. To be honest, this should be considered the first album of the band. This one in difference of Surfin' Safari, it's more complete. The songs are better and in this case the album reached #2 in US for 78 weeks. This album is complete of Surf Rock songs. In my opinion this is the best Surf Rock album released in history. Let's see the songs reviews:

1. Surfin' USA (B. Wilson/C. Berry) ***** "One of the BB's biggest hits"
2. Farmer's Daughter (B. Wilson/M. Love) **** "One of Wilson/Love best songs"
3. Misirlou (N. Roubanis/F. Wise/M. Leeds/B. Russell) **** "Great instrumental cover"
4. Stoked (B. Wilson) ***** "The first and one of the best BB's Brian Wilson intrumental"
5. Lonely Sea (B. Wilson/G. Usher) ** "The harmonies in this one are not so good"
6. Shut Down (B. Wilson/R. Christian) **** "A BB's classic"
7. Noble Surfer (B. Wilson/M. Love) *** "A good song that makes you SMiLE"
8. Honky Tonk (B. Doggett/C. Scott/B. Butler/S. Sheperd/H. Glover) *** "Good Song"
9. Surf Jam (C. Wilson) **** "The first and great Carl Wilson songwriting"
10. Let's Go Trippin' (D. Dale) *** "Great Dick Dale cover"
11. Finder's Keepers (B. Wilson/M. Love) *** "Great rip-off of Big Girls Don't Cry"

Other Reviews:

All Music- ^[1]

Surfin' Safari- Review

Surfin' Safari 5.5/10
By Javier Torres

Hi, thanks for reading this review. First of all this is the first review that I'm making and I wanted to start with the first Beach Boys album. The Beach Boys released Surfin' Safari on 1962 being the era of the new Surf Rock that was taking the world. After the succes on the single Surfin', the Boys decided to make their first album but it really failed on UK charts. The album only reached #32 on the Top 100 albums and didn't make into the UK charts. The album has great tunes that are classics to The Beach Boys fans such as Surfin' Safari, 409 and Summertime Blues. Also it has a great instrumental song called Moon Dawg that was the beginning to see that the Beach Boys was a strong instrumental band. Some other good songs include Head Wins, Tails I Lose and Little Girl (You're my Miss America) that was the first song to include Dennis Wilson as the Lead Vocals. I enjoyed this album because two things: It's the first BB's album and it was my Graduation Gift. Let's see the songs reviews:

1. Surfin' Safari (B. Wilson/M. Love) ***** "Great Song"
2. County Fair (B. Wilson/G. Susher) * "Totally waist of time"
3. Ten Little Indians (B. Wilson/G. Usher) ** "Strange"
4. Chug-A-Lung (B. Wilson/G. Usher/M. Love) ** "I disliked the lyrics"
5. Little Girl (V. Catalano/H. Alpert) **** "Dennis makes it a worth of time"
6. 409 (B. Wilson/ G. Usher/M. Love) ***** "Classic"
7. Surfin' (B. Wilson/ M. Love) *** "It's the beginning of the Surf Era"
8. Heads Wins- Tails I lose (B. Wilson/G. Usher) *** "It's fun to heard it"
9. Summertime Blues (E. Cochran/J. Capeheart) **** "Great guitar"
10. Cuckoo Clock (B. Wilson/G. Usher) ** "The chorus ruined the song"
11. Moon Dawg (D. Weaver) **** "I Love instrumental"
12. The Shift (B. Wilson/M. Love) *** "Good Song. It could be better"

Other Reviews:

All Music- ^[1]

Rolling Stone ^[2]

Welcome to the blog

Welcome to The Beach Boys Reviews blog. Here I am going to review a lot of cool things about this great band. From the Surfin' Safari album to Stars and Stripes vol. I would try to review every album from The Beach Boys studio discography. Also, I would like to review some Solo Albums. And for the Fans, please let me know your feelings about The Beach Boys in the comments. Surf's Up and enjoy the blog.