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Adding a plaintive beauty and combining it with coke-ravaged, mid-Seventies, Spector-ish AOR and some playful studio trickery, the album is a raw, introspective and melancholic delight.
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Full of lush harmonies, grandiose orchestrations and poignant lyrics, these ambitious songs have lost none of their innocent melancholy over the last three decades.
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Unavailability has also played its part in pumping up the myth – so much so that you wonder if, heard in 2008, these songs stand to disappoint. In fact, key moments of Pacific Ocean Blue square dramatically up to your loftiest expectations.
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FilterThis is one of the quintessential L.A. albums, for its fireworks of fame and celebrity are stripped naked and left to wander. [Spring 2008, p.94]
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The new Pacific Ocean Blue: Legacy Edition corrects that [being out of print] while confirming the rumors of the album's greatness.
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Beautiful, sprawling, peaceful, wise, and as tenderly romantic as the world is round, these Dennis Wilson gems are as revelatory as they are stunning.
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It's also a meditation on a complex world, one devoid of the nostalgic innocence preached by the Mike Love-fronted Beach Boys of late, and its remastered, 2xCD Legacy Recordings release- the first CD release of the album since 1991--is astoundingly refreshing.
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The album manages to co-opt elements of the Beach Boys - soaring harmonies, tack piano, orchestral arrangements - yet doesn't particularly sound as if it were recorded by the group.
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This double-disc set includes the first official release of Pacific’s follow-up Bambu, a harder-rocking but weaker set that Wilson never finished. Yet the reissue’s heart lies in tracks like “River Song” and the rollicking “What’s Wrong” — two raw, emotional highlights that are as moody as anything Brian ever composed.
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The raw-throated, harmonically rich ballads transcend the occasionally schmaltzy production [June 2008, p.119]
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Though at times difficult to listen to, the effect is a clear view of an artist's process. Herein lies the true value of Dennis Wilson's legacy: an open invitation to simply listen.
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BlenderPacific Ocean Blue [is] a moody, groovy and deeply congenial solo album. The earthier Banbu. regularly rises to the Malibu heights of the first album. [July 2008, p.79]
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The WirePacific Ocean Blue has aged well, considered over 30 years later. [July 2008, p.46]
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Pacific Ocean Blue makes a strong case for Wilson's skill as a songwriter and arranger.
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Q MagazineIn the end, though, to fixate on these 33 songs' serial flaws and occasional bad odours is to miss the essential point. The music amounts to a compelling period piece. [July 2008, p.116]
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Under The RadarUnfortunately, the all-star collaborators mire Wilson’s primary-colored tunes in pointless excess and self-indulgence. Point being, some albums are lost for a reason and Pacific Ocean Blue is overwrought yacht rock schlock. [Summer 2008]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 29 out of 38
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Mixed: 4 out of 38
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Negative: 5 out of 38
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Apr 29, 2016
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MarkK.Jun 21, 2008I've had the bootleg for years - love the new deluxe package. Wonderful!
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DavidS.Jun 20, 2008