Music / No Pier Pressure

Photograph taken by Brian's daughter Daria.

No Pier Pressure is an album by American artist Brian Wilson. It was released in 2015 and was initially planned as a new album for The Beach Boys.

In 2013, three major projects were announced on Brian Wilson's website: a Wilson/Jeff Beck collaboration (consisting of instrumental rock tunes), a pop album and a suite of songs (based on the last four tracks off The Beach Boys' That's Why God Made the Radio). After a successful summer tour between Brian and Jeff, some songs were recorded but left unfinished. The project was aborted and Brian went on to what would turn out to be No Pier Pressure.

The album features a variety of young artists as guest stars (ranging from She & Him to Kacey Musgraves) and also brings back fellow Beach Boys such as Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin. Brian's co-producer on the album is Joe Thomas (infamous for his work on Imagination who had already returned when That's Why God Made The Radio was recorded. One of the album's songs, "One Kind Of Love" was also featured on the movie Love & Mercy.

Reception to the album was mixed, with most critics pointing out the use of autotune and the Adult-Contemporary approach (two elements which were also present and criticized on Imagination).

Tracklist:

1. "This Beautiful Day"
2. "Runaway Dancer"
3. "What Ever Happened"
4. "On The Island"
5. "Half Moon Bay"
6. "Our Special Love"
7. "The Right Time"
8. "Guess You Had To Be There"
9. "Tell Me Why"
10. "Sail Away"
11. "One Kind Of Love"
12. "Saturday Night"
13. "The Last Song"

This album provides examples of:

• Album Closure: The soberly titled "The Last Song".
• Award-Bait Song: "One Kind Of Love" was nominated for an oscar for Best Original Song (but lost).
• Break Up Song: "Tell Me Why":
  Kinda funny but mostly sad
  Kinda good but mostly bad
  I really miss that thing we had
  Until you went away
• Genre Shift: Due to the presence of Sebu on the track "Runaway Dancer", it is a House Music beat which you totally wouldn't expect from Brian Wilson who is known for his Surf-Rock and Art Pop tunes.
• Instrumentals: "Half Moon Bay"
• Longest Song Goes Last: The appropriately titled "The Last Song" clocks in at four minutes and 36 seconds.
• Limited Lyrics Song: "This Beautiful Day"
  Life goes on and on
  Like your favorite song
  What we feel inside
  On this wayward drive
  If we could find a way
  If you would only stay
  If we could hold on to this feeling
  And this beautiful day
• Location Song: "Half Moon Bay", located in California.
• Odd Ball In The Album: The Dance/House track "Runaway Dancer", easily.
• Pun-Based Title: No Pier/Peer Pressure. Brian said he called the album that way because he felt no pressure making it.
• Special Guest: Quite a lot, and most of them are from a more modern pop era (Brian and Joe relied on their children and cross checked who could be on the album).
  • Beach Boys Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin appear on "What Ever Happened", "The Right Time", "Tell Me Why" and "Sail Away".
  • Kacey Musgraves, She & Him, Sebu Simonian, Nate Ruess and Peter Hollens are part of the younger generation of artists which took part in the album's making.
  • Lana Del Rey and Frank Ocean were supposed to appear on the album but couldn't (Frank was dismissed after saying he wanted to rap, and Lana cancelled out).
• Tropical Island Adventure: "On The Island"
  We booked a seven day cruise on our summer vacation
  Ended up lost in this island nation
• Updated Re Release: A deluxe edition sold exclusively in Target stores includes an old recording of Brian playing "In The Back Of My Mind" as well as the song "Love & Mercy".