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List Price: $11.94 | | Label: Capitol
Salesrank: 10104
Released: July 18, 2000 |
| Our Price: $7.66 |
| Used Price: $6.25 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Sunflower/Surf's Up Track Listing:
1. Slip on Through
2. This Whole World
3. Add Some Music to Your Day
4. Got to Know the Woman
5. Deirdre
6. It's About Time
7. Tears in the Morning
8. All I Wanna Do
9. Forever
10. Our Sweet Love
11. At My Window
12. Cool, Cool Water
13. Don't Go Near the Water
14. Long Promised Road
15. Take a Load off Your Feet
16. Disney Girls 1957"
17. Student Demonstration Time
18. Feel Flows
19. Lookin' at Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)
20. Day in the Life of a Tree
21. 'Til I Die
22. Surf's Up
Editorial Review:
After an acrimonious split with their original record label at the end of the 1960s, the Beach Boys moved over to Warner Bros., ostensibly to capitalize on their phenomenal early successes. But the move also coincided with band founder/creative genius Brian Wilson's burgeoning health problems and subsequent artistic abdication. That the boys were able to come up with what remain two of their more interesting albums is an enduring testament to the band's willpower. Sunflower, originally released in 1970, was a drastically revamped version of an unreleased album called Landlocked, and has an upbeat consistency that both built on the band's vocal strengths and somehow overcame schmaltzy pop and even the embarrassing, halting espanole of "At My Window." Perhaps the album's greatest revelation is the brief flowering of Dennis Wilson as a writing and singing talent, especially on the lovely "Forever." With Dennis largely succumbing to older brother Brian's demons, '71's Surf's Up is marred by cloddish efforts at agit-prop hipsterism (Mike Love's "Student Demonstration Time") and a nascent environmentalism that ranges from the naïve ("Don't Go Near the Water") to the bizarre ("A Day in the Life of a Tree"). Carl Wilson rescues the collection somewhat with "Long Promised Road" and "Feel Flows," but the album's twin jewels are both salvaged Brian Wilson efforts--the title track was one of the centerpieces of the unreleased Smile (cowritten by lyricist Van Dyke Parks and here given that album's "Child Is Father to the Man" as a glorious coda), while "Til I Die" hails from the scrapped Landlocked and remains one of Brian's most hauntingly introspective works. Both albums have been remastered on a single disc and include new liner notes by Wilson biographer Timothy White. --Jerry McCulley
Sunflower/Surf's Up Reviews:
sunflower is one of my all time favorite albums 
2009-12-26 - the album sunflower originally released in 1970 is an incredible disc. only one of a handful of albums released by the bb's post 1970 to feature significant contribution from bb's resident musical genius, mr. brian wilson...add some music to your day, this whole world,all i wanna do & cool cool water are all standout tracks. also, the main difference between this disc and their other magnum opus, pet sounds, is that sunflower actually has significant contributions from the rest of the group especially dennis wilson who contributed three fantastic tracks to this collection (forever, slip on through, and got to know the woman). even the marginal tracks (deidre, at my window, tears in the morning) are not bad at all and are masterpieces when compare to any wack music you care to mention. surf's up is pretty cool too, just not as strong a release as i feel sunflower is. standout tracks on surf's up are till i die, disney girls, day in the life of a tree and the title track. as a twofer, this is a fantastic buy.
Surf's Up! 
2009-08-28 - I like this one over Pet Sounds big time... the Boys were definitely in their groove for this one... I have a bootleg copy of Wild Honey with outtakes of the Boys smoking hash... it's a riot!
The Beach Boys start off strong in the 70s
2009-07-03 - In the years after Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys became the kings of an almost non-existent genre that may as well be called "post-sunshine pop." I just made that up, so don't bother trying to talk to your friends about it. Unless I'm a friend of yours, which is unlikely because I have many friends. In any case, by "post-sunshine," I mean sweet and innocent 60s pop, but with a sense of irony, a desire for lyrical depth, and a more complex approach to musical composition (or slightly longer songs. Whatever). Post-sunshine is basically the springboard for indie-pop, with all its wistfulness, hookage, and postmodern ooo-eee-oooing. So, in a sense, albums like Sunflower and Surf's Up may very well stand in a strong paternal relationship to The Soft Bulletin and If You're Feeling Sinister.
With multiple Beach Boys contributing songs, these two albums allow us to hear just how varied and and three-dimensional post-sunshine pop could be; while Mike Love, Al Jardine, and Dennis Wilson dig into various forms of ecological worry, political anxiety, and romantic disappointment, Brian Wilson retreats deeper and deeper into the shelter of California mysticism, childlike naiveté, and impressionistic dreaminess. The ghost of SMiLE (which would've been the ultimate post-sunshine record) haunts both of these albums, its cartoonish glee and loopholing melodies refracted in the petroleum haze of the rest of the band's paranoia.
Of the two albums found here, Sunflower is the lighter, poppier, and more upbeat one. Its second side is quite strong, with some remarkably beautiful ballads tinged by psychedelia and soul. The bitter desperation of "Tears In The Morning" dissolves into the sweet haze of "All I Wanna Do." After that come the swooping polyester perfection of "Forever," the almost deliriously gorgeous "Sweet Love," and the delicate atmospherics of "At My Window." The resident SMiLE leftover is "Cool, Cool Water," and it closes the album with an impressionistic rush of beachside meditation and criss-crossed barbershop harmonics. It's a sweet, sumptuous, swirling suite, and everybody oughtta hear it.
A telling, interesting, and entirely coincidental effect produced by this twofer CD is that "Cool, Cool Water" is followed by a song called "Don't Go Near The Water," the first track on Surf's Up. This nifty bit of sequencing highlights the distinction between Sunflower and the darker, more sober concerns of Surf's Up. It also says a lot about Brian's fragile optimism, and the marked contrast in which it stands to his bandmates' mounting social anxiety. The two impulses do battle on Surf's Up, with "Lookin' At Tomorrow (A Welfare Song)" and "Student Demonstration Time" breathing bitter air down the cartoon neck of "Take A Load Off Your Feet" and the freaky metaphysics of "'Til I Die." Brian surrenders to ecological paranoia on "A Day In The Life Of A Tree," but holds his ground on the gorgeous title track, which is melancholic but in an abstract and poetic sort of way, so that the listener experiences shade upon shade of meaning bubbling under a fistful of melodic left turns and lush piano figures.
As far as quality goes, neither album is perfect. The first side of Sunflower suffers due to Dennis' turgid "Got To Know The Woman" and the treacly "Add Some Music To Your Day." A few songs (such as "It's About Time" and "This Whole World") come off as mediocre at best, with only Bruce Johnston's lilting "Deirdre" being a true classic.
The better of the two, Surf's Up offers the monumentally creepy "'Til I Die," the previously discussed title track, and another Johnston classic by the name of "Disney Girls (1957)," in which Bruce yearns for a simpler time. Carl's "Feel Flows" is remarkable for being a wonderful SMiLE -esque tune not composed by Brian, and "Long Promised Road" is rousing and soulful. But "Student Demonstration Time" has aged like a peach, "Take A Load Off Your Feet" is stupidly annoying, and "A Day In The Life Of A Tree" is undercooked.
Each album feels underrated, and Surf's Up may even be a classic. Oh, how I love post-sunshine.
All the right ingredients
2008-11-22 - It's funny how the greatest of music can be overlooked because of popular stigma. Such is the music of The Beach Boys after 1966... and what a pity that is. After the meteoric crash of of unquestioned frontman and musical genius Brian Wilson, the band instantly fell into the category of 'culturally insignificant'. But the switch from Capitol Records to Warner Music in 1970 was supposed to help remedy that situation-- a new start with a fresh look. What followed were perhaps some of the most creative and inspired sessions The Beach Boys ever participated in. The result was Sunflower, an album that, despite its commercial failure, can hold the title of 'The Beach Boys' Best Album', even over Pet Sounds.
As the inner artwork banner reads, "Ingredients" are what make this album work; no one factor makes Sunflower a success. A great collection of songs to begin with, each one is well-sung and well-written, and impressively produced. From the opening jubilance of Dennis Wilson's "Slip on Through" to "Our Sweet Love", a tune beautifully sung by Carl, Sunflower achieves a sort of energy whose presence was not seen on an album since the early-era LPs of Surfer Girl or All Summer Long. Dennis is the bloomer, of course, producing four diverse tunes ranging from the playful "Got to Know the Woman" to the aching "Forever".
I tend to disagree with the notion that Brian's presence was severely diminished on Sunflower. That statement can be more attributed to the group's later work of Holland-- Sunflower is not Brian-absent nor is it 'saved' by him, but certainly his songs are highlights. "Add Some Music to Your Day" has his trademark quirky, childish lyrics but is catchy enough to make you smile, and "This Whole World" is a stunning testament to Brian's real genius: it is a musical journey less than two minutes long and one of his greatest achievements. His co-writes with his other bandmates triumph as well, with "All I Wanna Do" yielding a gorgeous Mike Love lead vocal and "Cool, Cool Water" evoking tantalizing SMiLE-era creativity.
This is not a perfect album. One's acknowledgements of 'good' and 'bad' songs will vary depending on one's tastes. Bruce Johnston's songs may be too schmaltzy or histrionic for some. The twee charm of "At My Window" may please or disgust you; "It's About Time" may rock for you or fall flat as a mediocre, overproduced attempt at relevancy. With that said, there are really no bad efforts on Sunflower, just varying degrees of quality. Personally, I enjoy each and every offering on the album. And unlike Pet Sounds (which I still appreciate), there is no sleepy, weighty, Sunday afternoon feeling cast over the album. On the contrary, Sunflower is very much alive and appealing.
Surf's Up is an entirely different story. The hiring of Jack Rieley as manager signaled an attempt at being 'relevant' to the early political 70s, a strategy which missed more than it hit. There is a lot of strange stuff here, but the album comes through with two very good songs and two masterpieces: "Disney Girls (1957)", "Feel Flows", "'Til I Die," and "Surf's Up", respectively. "A Day in the Life of a Tree" is significant just for Brian's mental state in 1971: lonely, confused, and suicidal. Unfortunately, not much can be said about the rest of Surf's Up. There's some good effort, but junk like "Student Demonstration Time" almost justified the Beach Boys' commercial failures at the time.
One more note-- the sound quality of this two-fer is excellent. Andrew Sandoval did a minimalist yet noticeable job on both albums' remasterings. The only complaint is the use of Noise Reduction on "Surf's Up"; Sandoval has stated that he had no control over this. Really, it is rare that an officially released "remastered" product sounds very good, but indeed, this is one of those releases. This is one CD you should not pass up.
A Post-Brian Twofer to Die For
2008-07-14 - Finally, as Capitol buddies-up the Beach Boys catalogue for re-release, a twofer that, for the most part, matches up to the band's best early work.
"Sunflower" has a load of pop gems - democratically written and performed by the band's various members and "Surf's Up" - thanks in large part to Brian's album-ending contributions ('Til I Die & the title track) ranks as one of the Beach Boys most artistic and poignant releases ever.
Littered with more-than-listenable music over the course of the disc, Beach Boys fanatics have known about these two albums for years. With awesome sound and neat packaging, this is a great twofer for anyone curious about the Boys' best work minus Bian's domination.
