Last year, Al Jardine, member of The Beach Boys announced that the band would continue their process of releasing new box sets containing previously released albums, along with session recordings for those albums, and planned to release a box set in 2026 containing 3 albums, 15 Big Ones (1976), The Beach Boys Love You (1977) and the infamous unreleased album: Adult/Child which was planned to be released the following year in 1978, but was vetoed by two of the band members, including Al Jardine, in fears that it would further alienate their listeners.

There has been a lot of mystique surrounding the Beach Boys’ Discography, specifically around unreleased tracks and albums, such as the infamous SMiLE album which was to be the follow up to the legendary Pet Sounds (1966). The Smile Sessions, a box set released in 2011 was the proper official release of the album, which contained hours of session recordings from that specific era. And though Adult/Child nearly did not have the same infamy as SMiLE, it was still an album hardcore Beach Boys fans were waiting for an official release.

Over the years some material has leaked of Adult/Child, there have been bootlegs and small snippets saved from the recording sessions, varying in quality, though most were intelligible, they didn’t sound all that good. So when I heard that they would finally be releasing this specific album in high quality, I was absolutely ecstatic, as I, and other Beach Boys fans had only experienced this album through second hand bootlegs and snippets I found online. I pre-ordered the physical box set as soon as it went up online and have been playing the records nonstop.

I will be reviewing the two full albums included in the box set, The Beach Boys Love You (1977), and Adult/Child (1978). A few session recordings from 15 Big Ones (1976) were included, but as this specific record isn’t the full album, I won’t be reviewing it.

The Beach Boys Love You Review.

1. Let us Go on This Way (4/5)
2. Roller Skating Child (4.5/5)
3. Mona (5/5)
4. Johnny Carson (4.5/5)
5. Good Time (3.5/5)
6. Honkin’ Down The Highway (4/5)
7. Ding Dang (5/5)
8. Solar System (3.5/5)
9. The Night Was So Young (4.5/5)
10. I’ll Bet He’s Nice (4.5/5)
11. Let’s Put Our Hearts Together (5/5)
12. I Wanna Pick You Up (2.5/5)
13. Airplane (3/5)
14. Love is a Woman (3.5/5)

The Beach Boys Love You has been described as A Brian Wilson Solo Project, in that, Brian Wilson had large involvement in producing this specific album, much like Pet Sounds.  Love You’s songs range in themes and lyrical styles, most are written from the perspective of a teenage protagonist, similar to their earlier work in the 60s. And most of the songs are about love and girls, like Roller Skating Child, or Good Time. Though it can be somewhat comical (and creepy without context) to hear these songs about girls and high school be sung by men in their mid 30s–though that was intentional for Brian Wilson, to recapture that campy style they once had, in a new weird, but fun, direction.

Then there are just plain weird songs, like “Johnny Carson”, a tribute to American Television host, and comedian Johnny Carson. The song itself is weirdly earnest, as Brian Wilson himself thought highly of Him. When Johnny Carson heard the track he disregarded it as a weird experiment, saying it was “Not a work of art”. To more peculiar songs such as the infamous “Ding Dang”, a simple 58 second song about loving a girl who treats the singer wrongly despite loving her so badly, and “I Wanna Pick You Up”, which I mean, just listen to it, it’s unnerving.

The fascinating part about Ding Dang isn’t necessarily about the song itself but because of Brian Wilson’s obsession with it, he was absolutely obsessed with the specific chord progression of the song. Roger McGuinn of The Byrds recalls a story where Brian Wilson allegedly played the same song for hours all night, all the way into the morning. This particular progression would also appear in Adult/Child in the song Shortenin’ Bread.

I really love The Beach Boys Love You, it’s a fascinating album. And though some of the members of the band by this time may not have the voices they once did have, the harmonies and singing are still just as beautiful as they were in their early days.

Adult/Child Review:

1. Life is For the Living (5/5)
2. Deep Purple (3.5/5)
3. It’s Over Now (5/5)
4. Still I Dream of It (5/5)
5. Everybody Wants to Live (4/5)
6. Lines (4/5)
7. It’s Trying To Say (5/5)
8. Shortenin’ Bread (5/5)
9. New England Waltz (4.5/5)

The musical style is very different from the previous LP’s, where Love You’s instrumentals relied heavily on synths and bass, Adult/Child is very Frank Sinatra-esce, relying on a lot of trumpets, trombones pianos drums and violins. The Album sounds very unlike the sounds we associate with The Beach Boys.

The official release of Adult/Child however, is missing a few songs that would’ve appeared on the original 1978 album, such as “H.E.L.P. Is On The Way”, “Games Two Can Play” (These two songs have appeared on previous box sets however), and “Hey Little Tomboy”, an utterly abysmal song, which I am somewhat thankful is not on the official 2026 tracklist.

However I don’t think these missing tracks take away from the listening experience of Adult/Child.

Adult/Child is certainly one of my favorite Beach Boys albums, right behind SMiLE and Pet Sounds, it’s simply beautiful, in a very special way, a very Brian Wilson way. The Songs on the album can vary in themes and topics, such as the album’s opening track “Life is For the Living” encouraging the listener to eat healthy, exercise and live life to the fullest, “It’s Over Now”, a song about the flame of love between the singer and his lover that has died between them and “Lines”, a song literally about standing in line for a movie. Like with most Brian Wilson songs, he likes to take very mundane and observational situations, and put them into

songs, which are most times, not always lyrically poetic or absolutely mind-blowing, but their earnest, and real, which is something I’ve always loved about Brian Wilson’s writing in the Beach Boys.

Despite being the shorter of the two, I definitely prefer the sound and lyrical style of Adult/Child, and I consider it to be one of my favorite albums of all time.

Overall, this box set was a delight to listen to, and I am happy I no longer have to experience Adult/Child through bootlegs anymore, and now I can finally listen to it in full high quality. And despite the high price…I do enjoy having the physical box set and I can listen to these great albums on my record player.