10 Terrible Albums By Legendary Music Bands

Most of the genius that comes from the Beach Boys' early records is thanks to what Brian Wilson did for the genre. Not really looking to write surf music for the rest of his life, some of the most mind expanding rock records of the '60s came from Brian trying to defy conventional song structures, like the different episodes of Good Vibrations or the weird chords that pop up on songs from Pet Sounds. This was the '80s though, and everything fell on Mike Love to deliver what he called the ultimate soundtrack of summer.

While Mike has been known as the main spirit of their live circuit for years, he is far from the best songwriter in the band by a mile. When his one off song Kokomo took off though, Summer in Paradise became his baby, and the world was greeted with one of the most middle aged sounding rock albums ever produced. For all of the fun in the sun songs of their early years, there's a certain ick factor with Mike trying to sound hip among the new rock scene, especially on songs like Summer of Love where he makes terrible attempts at rapping.

Since this album has minimal involvement from Brian on account of his struggles with mental health, this is a shell of what a Beach Boys album should be, either trying to redo Kokomo one minute or trying to coax off of nostalgia until the album is over. Mike Love may be the cheerleader for everything great about his band, but the fact that he has said little to nothing about this album in the years since its release speaks volumes.