Brian Wilson -- No Pier Pressure

When the question of the greatest artist of all time is brought up, there are certain names that come up every time. Bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin often get tossed around. Artists such as Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley also get thrown into the mix. One of the biggest dark horses in this great debate, in my opinion, is the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys were the biggest band in the 60s surf rock scene -- and for good reason. They were the source of some of the catchiest songs ever, from "Surfin' USA" to "Barbara Ann". Also, their artistry went much deeper than most know. The Beach Boys' 1966 album "Pet Sounds" is regarded by many, including me, as one of the best albums ever released. The group's mastery of Phil Spector's "wall of sound" technique, coupled with their knack for experimentation at this point in their career, made for an amazing record.

The mastermind behind all of the Beach Boy's music was lead singer and songwriter Brian Wilson. He occupied the lead role in the band for a long time, until a mental breakdown caused him to contribute less and less to the band up to his eventual departure. Ever since, he has gradually attained a better mental state, and has been releasing solo projects here and there. "No Pier Pressure" is one of a string of solo records released by Wilson, and is his most recent.

Upon listening, I immediately recognized Wilson's famous voice, despite his trademark falsetto being mostly missing. Old age has done nothing to take away this man's vocal prowess -- he is as good as ever in that regard. What is interesting is that, in his solo work, Wilson uses multiple tracks of his own voice to create the vocal harmonies that are such a huge part of his music. With the Beach Boys, he obviously had his other bandmates to sing harmony. This exemplifies how much of a solo artist he really is. Although his bandmates are missing, their metaphorical sound is not. Many of the tracks on this album sounds like they were written on the deck of Sloop John B itself. However, the novelty and excitement that was captured in Beach Boys records seems to be missing here, leaving a slightly boring vacuum in its wake.

Something that sets this record aside from Wilson's other solo work is the use of featured artists -- ten out of the thirteen tracks on the album feature some other artist in some shape or form. These features range from underground country star Kacy Musgraves to fun. vocalist Nate Ruess (who is actually my least favorite singer in the business). Even controlling for my biases, these guest appearances are wholly uninteresting, and really don't add much to the album at all. In fact, after the first song, Wilson himself is rarely heard for the rest of the album. The only time this comes off as appealing is when actress Zooey Deschanel chimes in on the track "On The Island", but I usually am automatically interested in things when Zooey is involved, so this may not mean much.

There has been much speculation that this may be Brian Wilson's last album before his retirement from music. His extensive use of guests, along with the fact that the last song on the album is literally called "The Last Song", this theory is pretty darn plausible. If this is the case, then this will have ultimately been a boring, sad way for this monster of pop music to have left the industry. Here's to hoping that Wilson has at least one more good album left in him.

SCORE: 2.5/5

HIGHLIGHT: "On The Island"