Carl And The Passions- So Tough
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Title
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Carl And The Passions- So Tough
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Trivia
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- Released on Brother-Reprise on May 15, 1972
- Top chart position #50 in the USA, spending 20 weeks on the chart
- Top chart position #25 in the UK.
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Review
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It was all-change compared to the previous album, Surf's Up, when this album, partially named after a high school band name Brian toyed with, was released. Bruce Johnston was temporarily gone, while the band was supplemented with two South Africans from the group Flame, Rikki Fataar and Blondie Chaplin. The result was a more soulful, edgier sound. The other key factor for this album was Brian's continuing reduction in output. The other band members fill in admirably, but the Dennis's songs are also not as strong as on Sunflower although Cuddle Up is still a worthy contribution to the late night romantic genre...
There are moments of magic, of course, most notably on All This Is That , one of the strongest Beach Boys songs with no input from Brian. Brian's main contributions You Need A Mess Of Help To Stand Alone and Marcella are rockier and rougher than much of his material, but still worthy additions to his canon. The two Blondie/Ricky songs also bring an interesting soul/country edge.
This album is light years away from the surf of Malibu or the hot rod circuit, but still stands as a solid 70s effort from the band, although with only 8 tracks, fans may have left a little short-changed (although the original release saw a bizarre pairing with Pet Sounds!).
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Rating
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7 / 10