Album Review 381: The Beach Boys - Adult Child

[@Lambert1386]

This was the album I was expecting, only to find the M.I.U, album in the record section at Woolworth. I still have the cassette tape. I love listening to it, it brings back fond memories. I just lived and breathed Beach Boys back then. My wife thought I had Asperger's.

[@Gabriel2oh6]

I’m 26 and my wife thinks I’m Asperger’s about my Beach Boys fandom too lol

[@hectorf4610]

@@Gabriel2oh6 i am

[@vickielawson3114]

6:32 - I’m so sick of all the hate for “Hey, Little Tomboy”. It’s almost like people think that’s the attitude they’re “supposed” to have and go with it. I love that song.

[@jonathanhawkins3837]

I've had a bootleg cd of the album for years. I would love a official polished release someday. This album is in my top 10 beach boys albums.

[@Giggens]

Hopefully an official release someday!

[@lowenbad]

If they re-release this one, I hope “Rollin’ up to heaven” is a bonus track. 😁

[@finkaiser3994]

Gigs, we love the longer videos! Great work as always, I appreciate the effort and passion you put into these reviews. Can’t wait for Smile 😁

[@karstenpost1477]

100% agree 👍🏻

[@ShaNaNa242]

Awesome! Would love to see more bootleg reviews. There are so many on vinyl, cd, and even still on KZbin.

[@Giggens]

I can do more for sure!

[@knockedoutloaded279]

Cud you do long promised road cd

[@superlove35]

love the long videos!

[@chrismcgovern1647]

I'm totally intrigued, I wanna hear it, I've only heard the tracks on the 30th AV box. Great video Giggens!!

[@myopia2020]

"Still I Dream Of It" is one of Brian's best. You're probably right that Adult Child just wasn't made for those times. At least Sinatra was trying to keep up with the times. He did a disco version of "Night and Day"🤣

[@tommoore525]

the hypnosis of our minds can take us far away...

[@lewistyler462]

I've been listening to this quite a bit over the last few days. Great stuff, good timin' Giggens. Hey little Tomboy is too catchy, too catchy a predator. I do like it though I must admit. Shortnin' Bread is legendary, Carl's vocals are hilarious.

[@THECLARENCES]

“Adult Child” & “The Beach Boys Love You” are masterpieces!!! xoxo The Clarences

[@Giggens]

Absolutely man!

[@THECLARENCES]

@@Giggens Gggrrreat minds think alike!!! xoxo The Clarences

[@anikulap0x476]

Very thoughtful and educated review thanks. I will consider Deep Purple and It's Over Now a pair now, love that. As a long time fan, discovering this was a massive revelation that took me back to the feeling of discovering Sunflower for the first time again. One of my all time fave albums now - depending on the tracklist maybe, I've seen so many. The bootleg I listen to includes Our Team which I hope would be included on an official release, it fits perfectly (also it's already part of the concept in my mind now haha).

[@Giggens]

Our Team is such a great song!

[@joelgoldenberg1100]

Funny how this album makes two references to buttocks- "Don't sit around on your ass, smokin' grass" and "Doughy lumps, stomach pumps, enemas too..." That's our Brian!

[@tuomas_aho]

Don't forget cigarette butts!

[@paladin1726]

Stop by the Radiant Radish!

[@NoMoreHeroesPunkPostPunk]

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to this album in the future. I agree, that it needs a freshen-up and polish for release, but after the last boxsets’ performance .. will ‘Adult Child’ remain in the vault? I don’t know .. I hope it comes out officially in some form soon.

[@paulharvey7223]

Great review and summary of a very strange Beach Boys album! Strange even compared with the wonderful “Love You”. I like it but I think if it was released it would have bombed big time and I can just imagine the popular press reviews saying it was the Beach Boys worse album. I hope they officially release it one day, as there are plenty of hidden gem’s especially “Still I dream of it”, “lines” and Al’s version of “Broadway”. Plus the best Beach Boys version of “Shortening Bread” 😃I bought “Love You” on release day and on first listen I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing but if they had released “Adult Child” i probably would’ve thought it sounded somehow more conventional but overall even stranger, if that was at all possible 😂.

[@GamesWithBrainz]

just listened to the album for the first time today. Cant say I loved it but I agree Still I Dream of It and a few other tracks are pretty great. Hey Little Tomboy is weird and yes creepy asf. For me its definitely not a lost masterpiece like smile was

[@bennyscomin]

I have this vinyl since '77, and probably haven't listened to it since.....I do distinctly remember cringing at the forced-sounding over-emoting vocal on "Still I Dream of It", and was probably the main reason it went into the closet for the next 40-something years.......by the way, I remember reading an interview with Brian where he said he wanted the song to go to Sinatra, who probably would have killed it and Brian would still be cashing royalty checks from it............after watching this, should probably give the whole album a fresh listen with the benefit of hindsight and a lifetime in between

[@ilovecarlwilson]

i didn’t know adult child was A thing until now omg

[@joelgoldenberg1100]

It's Over Now was Brian's best song since 'Til I Die, in my opinion, and some harmonies would have been nice (maybe that could be an AI project!). I love the lyric "I need to take this fear and force it down."

[@Doctor_Rockter]

Thanks, Gigs. Great review. I was so excited to hear this album after Love You. (In recent years, mind you, not back in the 70s.) It took a while to grow on me. Now I find it's another perfect Beach Boys diptych with Love You the year before. Like Sunflower/Surf's Up. The Beach Boys so often spike and then drop into a super interesting uncanny valley (again, Pet Sounds/SMiLE into Smiley Smile). Glad you clocked the cigarette "pssst!" on "Everybody Wants to Live" and the outsider and Smiley Smile qualities of tracks like "Lines". I agree that "It's Over Now" and "Still I Dream of It" are absolute classics. (And agree that "Tom Boy" is gross - this version is much worse, and that's saying something! Too bad it's kinda interesting musically.) I actually like this version of "Shortenin' Bread" better than the one on L.A. Very cool to consider this an overall "therapy record" - a helpful lens to pull it all together. And good to hear the historical context with what others were doing in other studios, etc. SO agree that Brian was so often making stuff that the rest of the world would have to catch up to. Always a pleasure, brother.

[@Giggens]

Truly an interesting album!

[@ronsaunders7294]

I love this album,. I hate that this was scrapped, nothing they put out after this can touch it

[@emanuelebelle3943]

Good time is my favourite song from I love you 😅😂

[@Giggens]

Awesome!

[@vickielawson3114]

That’s also my favorite from “Love You”. I like that whole album, but that song is just great.

[@paladin1726]

That’s because it was recorded before Brian’s voice went to shit, well before Love You

[@phillipanderson7398]

It does not mention on the cover if it is a Beach Boys record or a Brian Wilson record. I think it is much more a Brian Wilson record. And a third of the album has already been officially released. Games Two Can Play, H.E.L.P. is on the way, It's Over Now and Still I Dream of It. Also two alternate recordings of Hey Little Tomboy and Shortnin' Bread have been officially released. That's half of the 12 songs on Adult Child. But the question remains- will the album " Adult Child " ever be released and does it have Brian's and the other beach Boys' approval ?

[@jdd3786]

This would have been an amazing follow-up to Love You. Anything that's creative or different runs the risk of not selling well. But that's way better than sounding safe, boring, and dated. (MIU).

[@betamaxblocker]

I'm surprised how little of this we've gotten over the years- a few things on MIU and the 30th anniversary boxset and that's about it. Not giving up hope for a 2027 deluxe boxset though!

[@Giggens]

Hopefully 2027 will be good to us!

[@arcadiajeff]

Life is For the Living!

[@brentbeck9880]

Loved the video! I've been looking for this mythical album for many years. How did you come upon it? How can I get a copy? Some information PLEASE!

[@Giggens]

I found it at a record store! They pop up every once in a while!

[@notanotherjamesmurphy5574]

Aw yeah

[@Giggens]

Agreed!

[@cultofbunny]

Another great review Giggens! How did you come to own this rare record? I have heard a couple versions of this album that have an instrumental song at the beginning, which then leads into Life Is For the Living. Do you know anything about that song? Thanks! Please say Hi to Jenny for me.😉

[@Giggens]

Found it at a local record store, been hoping to find one for years!

[@elmostachorizo9440]

I'm waiting till my 26th birthday if they release this ❤

[@zedxxx9]

I think your objection to the song "Hey Little Tomboy" may be your own hangups. It's just intended to be an amusing song and it's quite catchy and well done. Calling it "gross" and "creepy" is quite a spin to be putting on it. Aside from that, you seem like a cool and reasonable guy making good observations. Lots of great songs on this record.

[@chrismcgovern1647]

Where'd you get your copy?? I like that cover better than the Brian-in-the-fire-helmet pic from the Smile sessions.

[@Giggens]

A used record store!

[@quietjarvis]

Talking about "lines" I always thought about other lines that are not queues...

[@chrisschram6525]

Lets face the truth ......the reason it didn't come out was because of Mike Love ,,,,,as usual , but maybe he was right some of it is not really up to snuff .

[@waynebileski9526]

Can a copy be had?

[@glennandadriansrocktalk]

Mike Love generally had low regard for anything Brian did, and I can't ever forgive him for firing Brian from the Beach Boys right after their 50th anniversary tour.

[@waynebileski9526]

How can I get a listen?

[@Giggens]

I think it's on youtube!

[@dadjacobs8977]

Where can i get this ?

[@Giggens]

Used record stores most likely!

[@dadjacobs8977]

@@Giggens I've looked for decades.. to no avail. Someone needs to bootleg this

[@omnifuturistic]

How much for your copy?

[@Giggens]

$100,000,000, or so

[@omnifuturistic]

@@Giggens How about $50?