Pacific Ocean Blue/Bambu (The Caribou Sessions): Legacy Edition [Enhanced, Original recording remastered]

'Pacific Ocean Blue' is a cult classic which lives up to it's reputation. It's lush, heartfelt, emotionally stirring and unique. This superb re-release does justice to an extraordinarily good album which has been commercially unavailable for a surprisingly long time.

The packaging is lavish - a fold-out digipak style slipcase which reproduces all the original artwork including inner pictures and lyric sheet. To this is added a substantial booklet including a great deal of information and many rare photographs. If that's not enough for you, there's a pdf file on one of the discs with more.

'Pacific Ocean Blue' comprises the first 12 tracks on the first disc - for my money it's up there with 'Astral Weeks' by Van Morrison as amongst the top 10 indispensable albums. A previous reviewer criticised the sound quality of this release: I don't believe such criticism is justified. An A-B comparison with the original (long deleted) CD release, whose quality was perfectly acceptable, reveals a very similar tonality. In places the new release is somewhat clearer and certainly offers greater dynamics - but overall the original feel has been respected and reproduced. As ever, those migrating from vinyl might take a few listens to readjust.

What of the 21 'bonus' tracks? I have always had the impression that the legendary 'lost' second solo album 'Bambu' was lost somewhere within Dennis Wilson rather than in the sense of a lost tape. There's nothing here to change my mind on that score. There are at most half a dozen tracks which hold a candle to Pacific Ocean Blue, of which about three are really magnificent. The remainder either deserve their status as out-takes, or are promising tracks so unfinished as to even, in several cases, lack all vocals.

Other reviewers have mentioned the lack of the single releases "Lady" and "Sound of Free". I can see how they might have been welcomed, but they originated many years before the first solo album, so I feel there's a rationale for omitting them. Neither do I hold these rare tracks in the high regard others seem to...

If I were to have a gripe it's that the extra tracks on disc one break the mood at the end of the original album. I'd have sacrificed an instrumental or two to keep that disc to the original running order. That said, whilst I generally have very little sympathy for record companies, on this occasion I feel Sony deserve the applause to overwhelm the criticism (however constructive it may be). They have released this album into the wild again, and the team who put the release together evidently did it with care and with love.

When Dennis Wilson became the first Beach Boy to release a solo album everybody raised a flabbergasted eyebrow , especially the other Beach Boys. The notoriously party hard beach bum( he was the only Beach Boy to actually surf) seemed an unlikely candidate to get an album out first but he had been working on the album for most of the 1970,s but in 1976 he made a concerted effort to record an album proper and Pacific Ocean Blue finally saw the light of day in August 1977. What may have been even more surprising was just how emotionally broad and how superb the album was. Under any criteria Pacific Ocean Blue is a classic.
Its been unavailable for ages but not only has someone had the good sense to re-issue this great album they have done a superlative job of it too. There are loads of photo's, a booklet explaining the albums conception and execution and an extra disc with tracks from the never released follow up "Bambu " also dubbed "The Caribou Sessions". Disc one also has four bonus tracks all previously unreleased and unlike a lot of un-released material these are well worth hearing.
Anyone unfamiliar with this album may be shocked by Dennis Wilson ,s voice a cracked slightly husky instrument , light years away from the sweet harmony dripping tones of the Beach Boys. The thing is though his voice suit's the rather introspective melancholic and reflective nature of much of the material on Pacific Ocean Blue .A touching song like "End Of The Show" wouldn't be the same without that vulnerable lived in quality his voice suffuses the words with.
The music in this album has been called "California gospel" and that in many ways makes sense .There is copious use of choral vocals courtesy of The Double rock Baptist choir but the songs are usually arranged around guitar, keyboards, bass and percussion with some horns and reeds. The scope of sounds, textures and nuances Wilson and producers John Hanlon( The extra tracks) and Gregg Jakobson evince from this is truly staggering. It helps that these are such tremendous songs of course . Most of the songs are co-written with either Jakobson, Mike Love , Karen Lamm-Wilson or Carl Wilson with Jim Dutch and Steve Kalinich also contributing .
What songs they are too -from the throat tightening choral magnificence of "River Song" to the boogie woogie tones of "What's Wrong" to funk/blues hybrid "Friday Night" to the gorgeous ballad "Thought Of You" , "Time" "You And I" this is a flawless album . They even carry off the loose funk grooves of the title track and "The Rainbow " is just a great pop song. And the bonus tracks are a genuine bonus . I especially love the instrumental "Mexico " and the choral magnificence(again) of "Tug Of Love"
And as a bonus to the material that is already a bonus there is the extra disc which again is well worth hearing. While not as essential as the main album "Bambu" still has stellar moments of radiating virtuosity. "It's Not Too Late" is a heart-rending wracked ballad ,"School Girl" has a gulping choral majesty , "Love Remember Me" is bordering on the ecstatic but is still underpinned with an affecting melancholy ."Constant Companion" exudes such a rich multi-dimensional harmonic magnificence I had to keep checking to see a choir hadn't moved into the attic and started practising . "Time For Bed" is what I imagine would have transpired had Harry Nilsson gate crashed the Sgt Pepper recordings after a night out with Lennon. "Album Tag Song" could be off Dion,s "Born To Be With You" with it's broiling fat piano notes .
Pacific Ocean Blue is a seminal album up there with "No Other", "Bryter Layter" , "Berlin " .Albums that aren't just tremendously rewarding to listen to but seem to have an intangible extra element that transports the music into realms of artistry we hadn't heard before. It's been way, way overdue a release so not only is it justice that this is out but that so much love and attention hads gone into the final result. Very much like the album that inspired it.

Heard the hype, read the reviews. Never listened to one single track until now as didn't know how to get the bootleg and didn't want to pay 100 quid for the vinyl. Now got the re-issue on cd with Bambu included and it's simply staggering in its beauty - I can't get it off the hi-fi. The only comparisons I can draw are with 'Pet Sounds', perhaps Dion's 'Born to be with you', and maybe Gene Clark's 'No other', but in truth it's better than all three put together. Astonishing piece of work.