Friends (The Beach Boys album)

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Friends is the fourteenth studio album by the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 24, 1968, through Capitol Records. The album is characterized by its brevity and calm atmosphere, spanning orchestral pop, waltzes, bossa nova, and lounge music, a deliberate contrast to the prevailing rock trends of the time. Five of its 12 tracks run less than two minutes long, and some of the songs were inspired by the group's recent involvement with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his Transcendental Meditation practice. The album was recorded between February and April 1968, primarily at the band's private home studio. Despite crediting production to the group collectively, Brian Wilson actively led the entire project, later referring to it as his second unofficial solo album following Pet Sounds. It continued the lo-fi approach they had pursued since Smiley Smile while returning to the use of studio musicians, albeit in smaller configurations, and Burt Bacharach-influenced compositions. It was...

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