For some obscene reason ”Sunflower” was The Beach Boys first huge flop album, failing to make the HOT (ouch) 100 in America! This is obscene because this is the best Beach Boys album. It exceeds ”Pet Sounds” by miles.

It's like the Beach Boys had reached their Nirvana all at the same time – the harmonies are perfection! They had never harmonised like this before and never quite got there again. But, do not fear, cos I'm not gonna glug over how musically perfect it is cos, to be honest I don't care. What touches me about this album is the complete feeling of love, joy and chilled-outness that exudes from it. So let's start from the beginning (aka – track one)…

”Slip on through”, well, hey, I don’t even know what this is about cos I'm lost in the summer harmonies and the way the verse is gently blended into the rocking chorus taking me to Beach Boys land.

Next ”This whole world” finds them in a thoughtful mood thinking about Love, Love, Love. They are so at one with the superior being that they see fit to do a superbly harmonious ”ommmm” 10 seconds from the end – stopping the song in a higher place and leaving me there for the rest of the album. So it’s fitting that the next song is ”Add some music to out day” which demonstrates their total appreciation for how special music is and how it touches people lives in all sorts of ways. They are thankful for their gift and humble as hell about it.

Before I get too serious and gushy it is time for some Chicken Dancing with ”Got to know the woman”!

”I just met a woman on my way home, she just blew my mind…”

It is unashamedly fun and, well, it just makes me want to dance. You can tell that they were having so much fun recording it because at the end they abandon any sensible lyrics for ”come on, come on and do the Chicken”. And you do – do the chicken that is! It part of the hole listening experience.

”Deirdre” is the chosen girls' name to use as a title for a song on this album. It's a summer stroll of a song about Deirdre (who went away but is back now) and I named my Car after it. Why? Because it's chilled, laid back, sunny and happy – like the way every car journey should be. Rumours that I sing this to my car when it is not working are also true!

Right, don’t dwell on the car thing too long cos the next track is the Best one! ”It’s about time” basically has the best harmony section ever in a song. The song, which is pretty god damn rocking suddenly drops the beat half way through, leaving just the guitar and the harmonies gently singing ”it's about time, it's about time now”. Before rocking out for the finale! Basically it's a lesson every dance track with vocals uses now days. But they did it first. Come to think of it – a dance version of this would probably be a huge hit in the hell they call IBIZA (it would also be a travesty).

After that excitement the kind Beach Boys slow things down with the sound of a French Summer – ”Tears in the morning”. It should be cheesy but it ain't. ”All I wanna do” continues the chilled out vibe with a beautiful song about love. Still the harmonies amaze me!!! How The Beach Boys manage to harmonise on so many levels at once and in so many different ways blows me away. It's a head-fuck, but a beautiful one. And talking of beauty… ”Forever” is the next beautiful ballad… ”I've been so happy loving you”, sings Carl. It transforms you to a place that is higher, that is beautiful… that is pure love.

From this point in the album, I'm at that place the Beach Boys were aiming to take the listener to – to a spiritual plane. To be honest the remaining three tracks just blend into some heavenly sound and in my imagination I'm off in a perfect world where all I hear is The Beach Boys, all the sun does is shine and all I do is smile. It's a nice place to be.

Perhaps my experience at a recent Brian Wilson concert can explain just how powerful this album is. When Brian proceeded to sing a song from ”Sunflower” the man next to me (He was a tough old Scottish guy – not the type to show emotion) literally broke down in tears. He looked up at me and said, ”This is my favourite” before weeping unashamedly for the next 10 minutes.