Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson

The days of California's golden beaches gently touched by the Pacific Ocean breeze are now gone. The Beach Boys, often mistakenly considered the bards of that US coast, have long been trapped in a creative crisis, imprisoned by tired clichés well documented in the "M.I.U Album" of '78 and "L.A. (Light album)" of '79.

However, in '77, brother and drummer Dennis Wilson stepped away for a moment from the usual "light singing" routine and released "Pacific Ocean Blue," a difficult yet splendid testament to an artistic soul that had never before received proper prominence within the band. With the group already stifled, in '81, Carl Wilson also released the first of his only two solo works. Just like his brother Dennis's previous work, Carl's first LP was unsuccessful and largely lingered at the bottom of the American charts, in positions close to the 200th spot. While "Pacific Ocean Blue" will eventually be rediscovered and reissued in collector's editions, the guitarist's debut will end up in the most absolute oblivion. Listening to it plunges you into music far removed from the contemporary Beach Boys, an adult rock (if it can be defined as such) that nods to Robert Palmer's blue-eyed soul current, "Hold On" and "What You Gonna Do About Me", with pleasing results but ones that, in an early '80s music scene, would hardly have fared better than they did.

The record is good, flows well, and the production by James William Guercio is excellent. The gritty "The Right Lane" features a rock-solid guitar riff in the forefront, "Hurry Love" and "Heaven" are ballads that hark back to the atmospheres Carl breathed in the Beach Boys' better days, and "Seems So Long Ago" is the fitting closure: soft, sweet, offering a beautiful sax at the end for a touching farewell.