Dennis Wilson
Pacific Ocean Blue [Reissue]
Release Date: Jun 17, 2008
Genre(s): Rock, Pop
Record label: Sony Legacy
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: Pacific Ocean Blue [Reissue] by Dennis Wilson
Exceptionally Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
Though the roots of this 1977 album go back to the early '70s, Dennis Wilson's one issued solo project, Pacific Ocean Blue, is certainly a product of its time, both musically and texturally. The set's 12 songs reveal a songwriter who was looking to stretch out on his own and engage a vision of music that stood far outside what the Beach Boys were capable of handling or executing. Wilson himself panned the album, claiming it had no substance, and looked forward to the release of Bamboo, a record that remained unfinished and unreleased at the time of his death.
Based on rating 8.0/10
Everyone that first came upon Dennis Wilson's 1977 solo record, Pacific Ocean Blue, had the advantage of context. The handsome and charismatic drummer for the Beach Boys was often viewed as the band's poster boy, as exemplified in signature songs like "Surfin' Safari" and "Fun, Fun, Fun." However, many were understandably surprised, because the album defied expectations. Instead of rehashing the three-chord surf pop he was so strongly identified with or mimicking his brother Brian's baroque pop, Dennis found inspiration elsewhere.