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Amazon.co.uk Review
Married together as a 2-CD package for the first time, these two long-haired, counter-cultural Beach Boys albums (from 1972 and 1973 respectively) make strange bedfellows. For all the cherry-red warmth of the record sleeve, Carl and the Passions comes across as pallid, brittle, sullenly graceful and every bit as introspective as staying in with the lights-out and the curtains drawn on a Saturday night. Respect due, though, to Brian Wilsons' cunningly disguised rocker "Marcella" and Dennis Wilson's ultimate downer; the sparse and mournful "Cuddle Up". Holland, on the other hand, is the Beach Boys "Great Outdoors" record, beating the retreat from the sand and surf of yore to the redwood forests and mountains of "Calfornia Saga" (purists still prefer the unreleased waltz-time version of "Big Sur"), with evocative stories of fur-trappers, traders, Native-American rights and dreamlike, hazy summer afternoons on riverbanks shaded by paddle steamers. It was also their last great studio album. --Kevin Maidment
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
If you were to believe what you were told, Carl and the Passions is a murky, half-finished, unlistenable mess, and Holland is a couple of good songs unfortunately punctuated by a Mike Love-penned atrocity in 'California Saga'. So when I finally got the scratch together to buy this, I was delighted to find that both albums were not only listenable, but very good indeed.
The addition of Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar makes this a different band even from the Surf's Up/Sunflower era (with Bruce 'I Write The Songs' Johnston's occasional twee numbers). It's a rootsy, live sound a million miles away from Pet Sounds.
Carl and The Passions 'So Tough' is a sweet little 8 tracker, bookended by the highlights of Brian's loopy honky-tonk 'You Need A Mess of Help to Stand Alone' and Dennis' string-drenched, emotional monster 'Cuddle Up'. 'All This Is That' is as gentle and moving as anything they did in the 70s. 'He Comes Down' is kind of rotten but you can always put your fingers in your ears during the verses.
Holland is a self-consciously weightier statement, full of tricksy arrangements (if someone told you 'Steamboat' was by some little band on Sub Pop, you'd believe them), great singing and playing. Carl Wilson is a colossus on both these albums and his 'Trader' is the high point - a great shame this was the last time he was in charge. The California Saga is insanely hippy-dippy in places, but if you can't draw pleasure from the amazing voices and melodies then you must be dead from the neck up. And the Van Dyke Parks-assisted 'Sail On Sailor' is a tour de force.
Tacked on the end is Brian's EP 'Mt Vernon and Fairway', which I calculate you will probably listen to once, if you can get through it. It's meant to be cute, I suspect 'harrowing' is a better word.
This isn't the place to start listening to the Beach Boys. If you want to pray at the church of Brian Wilson, these aren't the albums for you. But if you want to hear oddball, melodic, inventive, beautiful American music rich in ideas, I don't think at the price you'll be let down.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Carl and the Passions is criminally underated. I'm so tired of reading reviews of these two albums where everybody tows the line and says "So Tough" has an unfinished feel and that "Holland" is the better of the two albums. Although not the most prolific of writers, both albums are mostly produced by Carl Wilson and contain some real gems. "So Tough" kicks off with a great track from Brian, "A Mess of Help"- although this isn't his only contribution to the album, by now he was in a bad place emotionally and his contributions became sparodic and less involved. The two tracks written by Ricky Fataar and Blondie Chaplin are good but might confuse some by not sounding a lot like the Beach Boys, but don't let that sway you from giving them a fair listening. The last three tracks on "So Tough" are exemplary and deserve a hearing from anybody who considers theirselves to be a Beach Boys fan. Two towering ballads from Dennis and the other track, "All This Is That" is a personal favourite, reminding me in places of "Feel Flows" from the "Surf's Up" album. From the reviews I'd previously read, I was expecting Holland to be a great step forward, but it's very similar in feel and texture to "So Tough". Again Brian pens the first track, and "Sail On Sailor" is a gem. I'm usually keen on any Dennis Wilson track but "Steamboat" has to be one of my least favourite tracks written by him and the albums then wallows as Mike Love and Al Jardine get the "California Saga" trilogy of songs out of their system. Luckily Carl's back to the rescue with "The Trader" which lifts the album again. Blondie and Ricky then return with another cool song to keep the flow going, although come the end of the song, some listeners might think they're listening to Traffic, not the Beach Boys. Believe it or not, there follows a beautiful ballad written by Dennis and Mike Love, before the album proper closes with Brian re-appearing with "Funky Pretty", not one of his best by any means, although the true potential of this track is shown to far greater effect on the live album from the same period. The Holland album originally came with a bonus E.P. called "Mount Veron and Fairway" written by Brian with help from Carl and the bands then manager Jack Rieley when he ran into trouble trying to complete it. These tracks are included on the end of this C.D. Listening to this, it's obviously the work of a deeply troubled man, although it isn't as bad as I feared it might be. All in all these two albums are worth investing in, especially if you enjoy the "Sunflower" and "Surf's Up" period Beach Boys.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Here at long last, after however much wrangling in studios and offices, is the kind of music that the Beach Boys really deserve to be remembered for. Yes, Pet Sounds is very fine, but here are the real highs - still undermined with fay noodlings as always, but that's the price of the process. Make your own edits with the remote, and you won't be sorry to own this, or the sublime melodies and arrangements of the Sunflower/Surf's Up pairing. I'm off down to the beach to play frisbees with the early stuff. Happy listening, George Davis-Stewart.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Pleasant surprise
I only bought this album because I was being completeist but I was very pleasantly surprised.
I'd previously bought their Wild Honey/Friends/20-20 albums and found them... Read more
I'd previously bought their Wild Honey/Friends/20-20 albums and found them... Read more
Published 21 months ago by SiUK
Holland: wa-hooo! Carl & The Passions: uh-oh.
The Beach Boys with two black band members - yep, on both of these albums (plus the great live album of the same era. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2006 by The man from Marazion
Holland is Great/Carl & The Passions-Couple Of Good Songs
'Carl & the Passions' sounds like an unfinished album. The good songs, 'Marcella' a Brian Wilson 'classic' at the time, really shows the group singing and playing very well... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2002
Beach Boys on song again!
For any fan of the Beach Boys who respects or is curious about their progression as musicians from the early Sixties through to the Seventies,these two albums are a must. Read more
Published on 22 May 2001 by kjpbannon@hotmail.com
More Great Music
Close your eyes and listen to the great voices arranged to take you into a wonderland of harmonic peace and tranquility, Don't compare just enjoy.
Published on 18 Nov 2000 by paul.thompson7@ntlworld.com
Not half as good as it's made out to be
Well, these albums aren't really worth 1 star, I just thought I'd try and balance out a few of these five star reviews on here. Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2000 by john_davey@hotmail.com
Al Jardine - Dental hygenes loss; Beach Boys loss
This wonderful double CD package is devalued by the awful California Saga (Holland).
With both Carl and Dennis Wilson on top form & the two recnt additions to the band... Read more
Published on 8 Sep 2000 by M. Oxley
Unmissable
After searching since the days of Radio Northsea International for the track 'Cuddle Up' (which used to be the closing track at 2 a.m. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2000 by Victoria J. Sievey
The most underated of all the Beach Boy albums a must own cd
The great lost Beach Boys album of the 70,s I have been trying toget this album on CD for ages, so imagine my delight when it get rereleased. Read more
Published on 6 Aug 2000
At last the legendary Holland album on CD
This is one of the best albums every. It is one of Mr Wilsons personal favorites. Don't miss it, you won't regret it. Read more
Published on 23 July 2000 by Sj Gj Shepperd
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