Brian Wilson’s eponymous solo debut for Sire in 1988 launched an extended period of renewal for the iconic Beach Boys songwriter. Rhino revisits Wilson’s solo career with a new 18 song collection that mixes studio and live recordings with two previously unreleased tracks “Run James Run,” a new song Wilson wrote and recorded for this collection, and “Some Sweet Day,” an unreleased gem he wrote with Andy Paley in the early 1990s for an unfinished recording project.

Playback: Brian Wilson Anthology covers more than 30 years of music with selections from nine of Wilson’s solo albums and will be released September 22nd on CD, double LP, on digital download and streaming services. Tickets are also available now to see Wilson perform live as he continues the Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Final Performances World Tour, which was recently extended due to overwhelming demand.

The collection opens with “Love And Mercy,” one of the four songs on Playback taken from Wilson’s self-titled debut. The song has become one of Wilson’s most beloved classics, a regular closer to his live concerts, and was adopted as the title of the acclaimed 2015 biopic that saw the Beach Boy memorably played by both Paul Dano and John Cusack.

Several tracks on Playback come from the two albums Wilson released in 2004, Gettin’ In Over My Head and the Grammy-winning Brian Wilson Presents Smile. The most poignant of these is “Soul Searchin’,” a song Wilson built around a vocal track left behind by his brother Carl, who passed away in 1998. The celebrated orchestral masterpiece, Smile is represented by “Heroes And Villains,” and the timeless classic, “Surf’s Up.”

Those back-to-back releases ushered in a sustained burst of creativity for Wilson that includes four acclaimed albums. They’re represented on the collection by “Midnight’s Another Day” from 2008’s That Lucky Old Sun, “The Like In I Love You” from 2010’s Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin), “Colors Of The Wind” from 2011’s In The Key Of Disney and “One Kind Of Love” from 2015’s No Pier Pressure.

Tucked in with these studio classics are two live performances from Wilson’s 2000 concert recording, Live At The Roxy Theatre. Included here are “The First Time” and “This Isn’t Love,” a charming collaboration with Wilson’s Pet Sounds lyricist Tony Asher.

Playback: The Brian Wilson Anthology includes a selection of classic photos from throughout Wilson’s solo career, in addition to a candid shot taken in the studio in 2017 during the recording of “Run James Run.” The album also includes liner notes by David Wild, and features a previously unseen picture of Wilson on the front cover, taken by legendary rock photographer Robert Matheu.

CD | 2 LP

1. Love And Mercy
2. Surf’s Up
3. Heroes And Villains
4. Melt Away
5. Let It Shine
6. Some Sweet Day*
7. Rio Grande
8. Cry
9. Lay Down Burden
10. The First Time
11. This Isn’t Love
12. Soul Searchin’
13. Gettin’ In Over My Head
14. The Like In I Love You
15. Midnight’s Another Day
16. Colors Of The Wind
17. One Kind Of Love
18. Run James Run*

* previously unreleased