CARL & THE PASSIONS/

2 LPs on 2 discs: CARL AND THE PASSIONS: SO TOUGH (1972)/HOLLAND (1973). This reissue of HOLLAND also includes the limited-edition 7" EP MOUNT VERNON AND FARAWAY that was included with the original LP. The Beach Boys: Dennis Wilson , Al Jardine, Mike Love , Ricky Fataar, Carl Wilson , Blondie Chaplin, Brian Wilson . Liner Note Authors: Tom Petty; Elton John; Scott McCaughey. These two albums, criminally underrated in their day (1972-3), make their long-overdue CD debuts in stunningly remastered versions. Even if you think you know this material, you'll still be picking up fresh instrumental and vocal details. Musically, this ranges from the merely charming to the seraphically beautiful, and the amazing thing is that Brian Wilson wrote so little of it and that the individual band members produced. Obviously there was more than enough talent in the band by this time to go around. High points include "Make it Good" and "Cuddle Up," two stunning orchestral love songs from Dennis Wilson (liner note writer Scott McCaughey accurately compares them to Richard Strauss and Scott Walker); "Marcella," one of the band's all-time best and most infectious rockers; the semi-hit "Sail On Sailor," and Carl Wilson's astonishing "Trader," which begins as a chugging blue-eyed soul number ala "Wild Honey" before switching gears into a haunting piece of minimalism with ravishing group harmonies. As a bonus, this also features the CD debut of Brian's charming little children's fairy tale "Mt. Vernon and Fairway" (originally packaged as a seven-inch bonus EP); it's deliberately slight, but the instrumental snippets that gird it have an undeniable magic.