It was exactly 40 years ago that Brian Wilson wrote and produced The Beachboys' I Get Around, the first of a succession of timeless classics that suggested that Wilson had a musical hotline to heaven.

God Only Knows, Heroes And Villains, Good Vibrations, I Just Wasn't Made For These Times, Wouldn't It Be Nice and Help Me Rhonda possess an innocent majesty which has rarely been surpassed.

Wilson's decline, ironically caused by the massive chemical intake which originally unleashed his genius, has been well documented and today he looks like Michael Palin's wasted elder brother. His music, sadly but unsurprisingly, is a pale shadow of what it once was.

There are tantalising glimpses of a long-awaited renaissance in Getting' In Over My Head, his first studio album for six years, but ultimately this album disappoints - despite guest appearances by Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney and Elton John.

The lyrics are dangerously trite, while those multi-layered musical hooks, once the stuff of dreams, now seem hackneyed and contrived. Never mind, Wilson is still with us and, miracle of miracles, is touring. I hope Gettin' In Over My Head won't be featuring too heavily in his repertoire.

Updated: 08:31 Thursday, July 01, 2004