Beautiful Light

Recorded in Athens, Georgia, the album was produced by Peter Buck.[6][7] Buck had wanted to produce the band since 1986.[8] He played guitar on the album; Mike Mills played organ.[9] "Whistling Past the Grave" was cowritten by Michael Stipe.[10]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[11]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[12]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide	[13]
Orlando Sentinel	[9]
The Tampa Tribune	[14]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that the band, "with the help of lean, rootsy production by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, crafted their most earnest release."[12] Trouser Press noted that "'Mushroom Cloud' reconnects the band to the organ-powered psychedelia that has served it well in the past."[15] The Vancouver Sun panned Buck's "thin and even" production work.[16]

Stereo Review determined that "the Fleshtones rise to the occasion with a hunka-hunka burning blues/psych originals and enough garage-bred mustiness to keep things honest."[17] Rolling Stone concluded that "when the Fleshtones resist the archness that sometimes infects their artful trash, they deliver grins."[18] The Tampa Tribune lamented the "somber mood" of Beautiful Light.[14]

AllMusic called the album "a solid record," writing that "Pickin' Pickin'" "features a fast, scale-climbing bass guitar rounded out by a slick horn section and barroom piano."[10] MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide deemed it "a pure pop record."[13]