The Beach Boys - Shut Down Volume 2 Album Review

"We'll have fun, fun, fun..."

Hola, amigos! It's been a while, but The Beach Boys album review series in finally back! I'm covering Shut Down Volume 2.

HISTORY:

You're probably wondering about the title. Well, in 1963, Capital (The Boys' record label) released a compilation of hot rod songs called Shut Down. This compilation included Shut Down (obviously) and 409, which were included without the Boys even knowing. So, for some reason, they called this album Shut Down, Volume 2. I don't really know why. All new songs were written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, with the excecption of Denny's Drums, which I'll expand on later. The album was produced by Brian Wilson, and was released in 1964.

GENERAL OVERVIEW:

This is a decent album. It's got great songs, and it's got filler. That can be basically be used to describe all albums from this period, I know, but that's what it is. Brian's songwriting and production takes a notable increase in quality here.

SONG-BY-SONG BREAKDOWN:

Fun, Fun, Fun: The big hit from this album, and understandably so. It's fun, catchy, and commercial, but still manages to be a good song. Though I find it a bit grating. 4/5

Don't Worry Baby: Stunning; a great song, with amazing vocals. One of Brian's first real, sophisticated masterpieces. The lyrics are a bit silly, but that doesn't hurt it at all. 5/5

In The Parkin Lot: This song has good vocals. That's really the best I can say. Unlike Don't Worry Baby, the lyrics, about making out in a car, do hurt the song quite a bit. 2.5/5

"Cassius" Love VS "Sonny" Wilson - An incredibly stupid spoken word track, this scripted "arguement" between Brian Wilson and Mike Love features put downs that were outdated in 1964. Still, it's oddly enjoyable in all it's stupid glory. Still sucks though. 1/5

The Warmth Of The Sun - A gorgeous ballad. Stunning vocals and production. Truly a magnificent song; another early masterpiece. 5/5

This Car Of Mine - A boring, plodding song that just goes nowhere. A real stinker. 1/5

Why Do Fools Fall In Love - A cover of the classic Frankie Lymon hit, and a dang good one at that. Fantastic production. 4/5

Pom Pom Play Girl - The existence of this song baffles me. It's mind-numbingly dumb. 1/5

Keep An Eye On Summer - A quite pretty ballad, though Brian could've written songs like this in his sleep by now. That doesn't diminish it, though. 4/5

Shut Down, Part II - An instrumental that really only exists to justify the title. It's not bad, actually. 3/5

Louie Louie - A rather vanilla cover of the Richard Berry classic, though the most famous version is by The Kingsmen. Unlike the Kingsmen's version, though, you can understand all the words. So that's something. 3/5

Denny's Drums - Dennis Wilson (though some people suspect it's session drummer Hal Blaine) pounding away on drums for three minutes. Yeah. 1/5