Sunflower - THE BEACH BOYS****

Slip On Through/This Whole World/Add Some Music To Your Day/Got To Know The Woman/Deirdre/Its About Time/Tears In The Morning/All I Wanna Do/Forever/Our Sweet Love/At My Window/Cool Cool Love

By the early 1970s The Beach Boys had become uncool and dated. Although Sunflower was a flop commercially it helped restore the group's creative reputation. (US:151 UK:29)

"This is one of those albums people got to know after the fact. The Beach Boys were as un-hip a property as ever there was in 1970, so hardly anyone heard this LP at the time. It’s actually quite a strong little album, featuring a solid set of little pop gems that beg for repeated listening."

"It is sadly ironic that this excellent album was originally one of the poorest sellers in The Beach Boys history. It was their first album on their own Brother label for Warner Bros. after parting ways with Capitol. Unfortunately this ambitious and adventurous set of songs, with plenty of writing participation from all members of the group, failed to generate much interest with the public, with virtually no radio play on any of the songs. Sunflower flows very well for an album with so many different writing contributions coming at you from seemingly different directions."

"Easily their best album since Pet Sounds, Sunflower made up for lack of sales by gaining The Beach Boys critical respect for the first time since the mid 60s. Unlike certain other releases from them around this time, this sounds like a proper album and not just a compilation of new songs mixed with unfinished old ones from the Smile era."

“All the Beach Boys are writing here, so it's not the Brian show anymore although he still contributes quite a few tracks. This is simply one of the band's finest moments; it's just excellent pop music from top to bottom."

"The balance between mainstream commercial rock and gorgeous vocal harmonies is surprisingly pleasant. However, it is difficult to say much of Sunflower has the inspiration of The Beach Boys at their very best. Songs penned in whole or in part by Brian Wilson are still well worth hearing for their explorations of the human capacity for love. Overall, this is a very mellow effort that has held up reasonably well."

"Sunflower is the best Beach Boys album for fans who want to hear contributions from other group members, although Brian again turns out the best songs."