Music: New Vibrations

He's already vanquished countless demons. Now Brian Wilson battles stage fright on his first-ever solo tour

Brian's back," the publicists say every time the famously elusive Brian Wilson surfaces with a new project. Has the phrase become the pop-cultural version of an idle threat? Of course, it's hard for anyone to live up to his own legend, and Brian Wilson is in the unusual position of having to cope with two. As the composer and producer for the Beach Boys, he is responsible for some of the most ethereal and sophisticated pop of the classic-rock era, as well as some of its most purely joyful and (we must be honest) embarrassingly goofy. A recent four-CD boxed set...

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