YMMV / Brian Wilson

---

• Awesome Music: Brian's raison d'être! Has his own page. For specifically Beach Boys-related works, see here.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Of Brian's regular studio and touring musicians, Darian Sahanaja is well-loved among the fans for playing an instrumental part (no pun intended) in Brian's resuscitation of SMiLE, being referred to as Brian's "musical midwife."
  • Jeff Foskett is also much beloved because of his near-flawless replication of Brian's falsetto.
  • Scott Bennett has gained a following due to serving as Brian's lyricist on That Lucky Old Sun and the two finished Gershwin tunes.
  • Matt Jardine mostly for the same reason as Jeff Foskett. Like Foskett, he'd also performed and recorded with The Beach Boys years before touring with Brian. It also helps that he's Al Jardine's son.
• Epic Riff: "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow". It didn't win a Grammy for nothing!
• Friendly Fandoms: He shares one with Daniel Johnston, who was frequently nicknamed "the Brian Wilson of lo-fi music" by various music publicators during his life. Ironically while he would eventually become a Beach Boys fan, Daniel admitted to have never listened to a single album of theirs until sometime after he was given this title.
• Most Wonderful Sound: Brian's voice. It doesn't matter what period you're listening to, you'll know it's him by his clear tones and serene passion.
  • Wilson himself considers The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" to be this. He's famously obsessed with it and The Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby" was specifically written by Wilson as an answer song.
• Memetic Mutation: After r/beachboyscirclejerk found this interview◊, the fact that Brian's favorite movie is apparently Norbit has become one.
• Narm: "Runaway Dancer" from No Pier Pressure is one of the strangest and downright jarring songs Brian has ever recorded. Really, Brian? Techno dance pop!?
• Signature Song: "Love and Mercy" has become one for his solo career, notably being the namesake of his biopic.
• The Scrappy: Eugene Landy, and for good reason.
  • Apart from Landy, most Brian fans can't stand Mike Love.
• Tear Jerker: "Lay Down Burden", dedicated to beloved brother Carl.
  All of my life spent running away / so many times I wished I could stay / So much emotion, a hole in my heart...
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: There is a contingent of fans out there who don't appreciate the mostly minute changes made to the original concepts in Brian's re-recording of SMiLE.
• Vindicated by History: SMiLE. His so-called failure haunted him for decades. Once released, critical and public reaction was very much akin to what was expected of the legend it had amassed through the years. On a more personal note, Mike Love seems to have come to appreciate it, as well.

---