That Lucky Old Sun
by Brian Wilson
  • Record Label: Capitol
  • Release Date: Sep 2, 2008
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 26
  3. Negative: 2 out of 26
  1. Slant Magazine
    90
    In many ways, Wilson updates his style, while still paying tribute to the things he loves.
  2. Mojo
    80
    That Lucky Old Sun is easily Brian Wilson's most consistently enjoyable, moving solo albums; indeed you have to go back to "Surf's Up" itrself to hear a Beach Boys long-player as good. [Spe 2008, p.99]
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  3. Uncut
    80
    There are very few other albums this year with as much force, verve, and sheer musical imagination as That Lucky Old Sun. [Sep 2008, p.84]
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  5. PopMatters
    80
    That Lucky Old Sun, then, is easily Wilson’s best collection of new material since, well, the original SMiLE sessions.
  6. Billboard
    80
    After taking care of some unfinished business in recent years, Brian Wilson shows he still has the stuff of conceptual brilliance on his eighth solo album.
  7. Boston Globe
    80
    What makes the record work, though, is Wilson's ability to create melodies that blend the childlike and enthusiastic with the melancholic and nostalgic.
  8. Rolling Stone
    80
    That Lucky Old Sun lacks the magnificent shock of SMiLE, Wilson's 2004 completion of that '67 album. But it has a natural, hopeful flow that leaves you warm all over.
  9. Spin
    80
    Sweetly and unmistakably, That Lucky Old Sun limns the sunset of Wilson's career, while still showing how California is at its most beautiful through his eyes.
  10. Pitchfork
    78
    "But now I'm back." And he is, with his finest non-"Smile" album since the golden age of the Beach Boys. Lucky us.
  11. Austin Chronicle
    78
    Whereas 2004's epic completion of "Smile" allowed the Beach Boy to rewrite (and right) history, his follow-up plays like the ultimate product of that self-examination.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    The sunniness can feel strained, and 'Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl' is as unnecessary as sequels get. But when Wilson is on his game, you feel lucky to still be soaking up his rays.
  13. The A.V. Club
    75
    The album pays wistful, hopeful tribute to the place he's long called home, and in spite of hard years and losses, now wants to enjoy for a while.
  14. cokemachineglow
    71
    Though absent any truly great songs, That Lucky Old Sun is the most engaged and consistent effort from pop’s lonely genius in decades.
  15. Dot Music
    70
    Not only an opportunity to look back, then, but a joyous reminder that, when at his lowest, Brian Wilson stepped up and did the unthinkable.
  16. Hartford Courant
    70
    His sun-and-fun lyrics can be saccharine and anachronistic, but his complete lack of artifice helps to sell the sticky likes of 'Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl.'
  17. Observer Music Monthly
    60
    The concept of LA as a 'Sunblessed City of Angels' is trite, co-opting another's song for the theme tune lazy, and much of what follows resembles a Beach Boys tribute band.
  18. AllMusic
    60
    That Lucky Old Sun rarely approaches the subtleties of the classic Beach Boys sound. What it evokes instead is the driving '70s productions on latter-day Beach Boys albums like "15 Big Ones" and "Love You."
  19. The New York Times
    60
    For all its determined optimism That Lucky Old Sun ends up as more an affirmation of Mr. Wilson’s legacy than an expansion of it.
  20. musicOMH.com
    60
    That Lucky Old Sun is a brave but failed attempt to add a new chapter to the ongoing story of a pop legend.
  21. Hot Press
    60
    This album leaves no doubt that the former Beach Boy is now fully recovered from the 1967 nervous breakdown that effectively stalled his career for decades.
  22. Blender
    50
    Sadly it's undercut by music that tirns Brian Wilson into merely another Brian Wilson imitator. [Sep 2008, p.85]
  23. The Boston Phoenix
    50
    Brian Wilson and his karaoke-smooth backing band the Wondermints have instead given us something on par with 1970s Beach Boys--kinda bloated, kinda silly, mostly out of date, but with enough earnestness and pop intuition to be so, so, so puerile that hating it would be like hating Raffi.
  24. NOW Magazine
    40
    It appears that Wilson came up with a couple of tunes about his own troubled life but realized it might be too much of a bummer, so he tacked on a few happy-sappy Beach Boys throwbacks to make for a sunny little song cycle about a magical place filled with sun, sand and surfer girls.
  25. Prefix Magazine
    40
    Some of it works--'Southern California' 's honey-harmony’d and piano-led wistful look at the history of the Beach Boys in specific and SoCal in general is rather touching. But the rest of the album, especially the overwrought spoken-word interludes, remains a series of harmonized thuds and (however pretty) blank-eyed lobotomy-pop.
  26. The Guardian
    20
    Every single note feels forced, in hock to a sound and a set of attitudes that date from a time before many of us were born.
  27. Tiny Mix Tapes
    20
    Wilson continues to rehash southern California culture with increasingly less perspective, further eschewing the untamed adolescent aesthetic by including stuffy musical theater elements and a top-down point-of-view that’s more clumsy analysis than sincere memoir.

Awards & Rankings

86
#86 Most Discussed Album of 2008

User Reviews

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User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 42
  3. Negative: 6 out of 42
  1. BrendanD.
    Sep 13, 2008
    1
    Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. Brian has, unfortunately, lost his ability to produce. Since his third comeback began around 1996 with the Dreadful, dreadful, dreadful. Brian has, unfortunately, lost his ability to produce. Since his third comeback began around 1996 with the awful Don Was documentary "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," Wilson's sound has become sanitized and boring, as if his orchestral overtones are being channeled through Oxycontin rather than LSD. The lyrics are, to be nice, tepid. The spoken-word interludes are embarrassing. The music has been done better by Brian, let alone about eighty other bands currently out there trudging along every day. It is a shame that Brian and WilsonCo. continue putting out record after record of schlocky, over-produced, nostalgia-laden manure like this. I'm thrilled that Brian has been able to overcome such adversity and mental illness; he's a great guy and one of the true heroes for any modern musician. But this record is crap.… Full Review »
  2. Bill107
    Mar 6, 2013
    10
    This is possibly Brian's best work. As always, it takes a number of listens. Why? Anything that simple is not. It is a simple lyric line.This is possibly Brian's best work. As always, it takes a number of listens. Why? Anything that simple is not. It is a simple lyric line. However, the melody is rich and complex. Just try to follow the chord progressions. They are more that great. They are spiritual. Additionally, there is a story line that loosely puts it the concept album category. Honestly, I like the album, but hate California.… Full Review »
  3. KentG.
    Sep 19, 2008
    10
    Easy to listen to........updated, reflective semi beach boy sound...........real nice to hear new stuff from Brian Wilsin.
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