The Beach Boys '85

Actually entitled just The Beach Boys, this album is generally known among Beach Boys fans as 'the '85 album' or BB85. The years between this and the previous album, 1980's Keepin' The Summer Alive, had not been good ones for the group. Brian Wilson had fallen under the control of evil Svengali psychiatrist Eugene Landy, Carl Wilson had quit the band for a brief solo career (he rejoined within a year), Mike Love had released Looking Back With Love - the worst album in history - Dennis Wilson had been fired (so at one point the touring band consisted only of Love, Bruce Johnston and Al Jardine), and worst of all, in 1983, Dennis had drowned.
The band really needed, then, to create a new album to show they were still relevant, and they almost succeeded.
This album (Produced by Steve Levine, the then producer of Culture Club) woul have made a great EP. Getcha Back (by Mike and Terry Melcher) is a great single, California Calling (featuring Ringo Starr) is pretty good, and Carl's Where I Belong and Bruce's She Believes In Love Again are beautiful ballads. The rest of the album is dross.
Passing Friend and I Do Love You are both other artists' songs and backing tracks (respectively Culture Club and Stevie Wonder) with vocals added by Carl Wilson, who contents himself with impersonating their authors rather than singing in his own voice. Carl's own songs are typical 80s AOR nonsense, Brian's songs, co-written with Landy, are second rate, and the whole project has a digital sheen that dated it within about 5 seconds of the album's release. The band were not even allowed to do their own backing vocals - these were all sequenced.

Track listing:

1. Getcha Back
2. It's Gettin' Late
3. Crack At Your Love
4. Maybe I Don't Know
5. She Believes In Love Again
6. California Calling
7. Passing Friend
8. I'm So Lonely
9. Where I Belong
10. I Do Love You
11. It's Just A Matter Of Time
12. Male Ego (CD versions only)

The album is currently available on a Capitol records twofer with Keepin' The Summer Alive
Band line-up for the album - Brian Wilson, Carl Wilson, Al Jardine, Mike Love,Bruce Johnston
Produced by Steve Levine
Previous album - Keepin' The Summer Alive
Next album - Still Cruisin'