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LOUIS HAUA look at some new music
BRIAN WILSON, GETTIN' IN OVER MY HEAD (BRIMEL/RHINO) Blind faith. It's what coaxes the garden slug from its protective lair after a hard rain. It's what makes Boston Red Sox fans count the days until October.
And it's what prompts diehard devotees of the Beach Boys to eagerly await every new album from Brian Wilson, in the hope that this at long last will be that one final masterpiece they always prayed he still had in him. "Hey," we tell ourselves. "You never know."
Well, that loud thud you may have heard was the sound of a thousand hearts sinking after hearing Wilson's new disc, Gettin' In Over My Head, the disappointing followup to his surprisingly strong 1998 solo effort, Imagination.
With his sense of melodic invention seemingly all but dried up, Wilson falls back on hackneyed, good-time rock 'n' roll numbers, such as the insufferable How Could We Still Be Dancin', a perplexing choice to open the album, given that Elton John sings lead, and City Blues, which rips off Roy Orbison and features Eric Clapton peeling off superfluous guitar licks.
The parade of musical guests hits an absolute low point with A Friend Like You, a horrid, cringe-inducing paean to Paul McCartney, who gamely joins in on vocals. One can only imagine what the ex-Beatle is thinking as Wilson sings, apropos of nothing, "You have courage/You risk it all." Huh?
Wilson magnifies the album's weaknesses by making explicit musical references to his classic Pet Sounds peak. Vibraphone, flute, sleigh bells and bass harmonica pop up everywhere, serving as sad reminders of a glorious past before drug abuse and mental illness left Wilson hurt, lost and damaged.
Yet, amid the enveloping gloom, there are the occasional moments on Gettin' In Over My Head that the truly masochistic Wilson fan might point to as evidence the musical gears inside the man's frazzled brain are still turning. The lovely title track, the falsetto bridge on Make a Wish, the awkward but weirdly compelling Rainbow Eyes - could it be? Could the Brian of old still be with us?
Guess we'll just have to wait for his next album. Hey, you never know. C-