Vivien Goldman of Sounds found the album to be "magic" and added that she "played it non-stop, even if it seemed a baffling sconed adolescence" before concluding, "If there weren't some weirdo psychological reason, how could I get so involved with lyrics that one part of mind is consciously stating: this is moronic drivel?" Richard Williams, who had championed the Beach Boys' work in the 1960s, wrote a negative review in which he surmised that Brian was "obviously encouraged to deliver the adolescent pap of 'Hey Little Tomboy', so that the dark emotions and warm textures of 'Diane' are thrown into higher relief."
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's John Bush stated, "The mainstream late-'70s production techniques are predictable and frequently cloying. M.I.U. Album also included several of the worst Beach Boys songs ever to make it to vinyl. [...] Compared with what had come before, M.I.U. Album was a pathetic attempt at music making; compared with what was to come however, this was a highlight."
Legacy
Reflecting on M.I.U. Album in a 1992 interview, Mike Love opined that "there's some neat gems there but there wasn't a coherence." Asked about the album in a 1979 interview, Dennis Wilson said, "I hope that karma will fuck up Mike Love's meditation forever. That album is an embarrassment to my life. It should self-destruct."
Track listing
Track details per 2000 CD liner notes and the Winter 2023 issue of Endless Summer Quarterly.
The Beach Boys
- Al Jardine – lead (2, 4, 5, 9, 12) and backing vocals (all but 3), electric (4, 9) and acoustic guitars (2, 8), tack piano (2), bass guitar (2, 3?, 10?), handclaps (1, 2, 5), fingersnaps (2), glockenspiel (2), vocal arrangements
- Mike Love – lead (1–4, 6, 8, 9, 12) and backing vocals (all but 3), handclaps (1, 5)
- Brian Wilson – lead (1, 3, 6, 11) and backing vocals (all tracks), piano (1, 6–8, 10, 11), tack piano (3), electric piano (9), electric harpsichord (5), handclaps (1, 5), vocal and horn arrangements
- Carl Wilson – lead (3, 7) and backing vocals (2, 3, 5, 9, 10), 12-string electric guitar (1, 6, 9), electric guitar (3), handclaps (1, 5)
- Dennis Wilson – lead (10) and backing vocals (3, 10), drums (3, 5, 10), additional drums (1)
Touring musicians
- Michael Andreas – saxophone (1, 6, 11), flute (1, 12), horn arrangements
- Ron Altbach – piano (12), electric piano (1, 4, 6–9, 11), accordion (6), ARP Omni (1), vibraphone (3, 4, 10, 11), xylophone (4), trombone (1, 12)
- Lance Buller – trumpet (12)
- Gary Griffin – electric piano (4), organ (1, 6, 7, 11), Minimoog (3, 6), tubular bells (1), string arrangements
- Ed Carter – electric (1, 6, 7, 11) and acoustic guitars (8), bass guitar (3?, 4, 8, 9, 10?)
- John Foss – trumpet (1, 12), flugelhorn (12)
- Billy Hinsche – backing vocals (10), electric guitar (10)
- Mike Kowalski – drums (1, 3, 4, 6–9, 11, 12), congas (1, 11), bongos (1), sleigh bells (1, 3, 4, 6, 9), tambourine (7, 10), shaker (3, 11), guiro (3, 11), wood block (12), tubular bells (8), mark-tree (9, 11)
- Charles Lloyd – flute (12)
- Charlie McCarthy – flute (12)
- Rusty Ford – bass guitar (1, 7, 11)
Additional players
- Chris Midaugh – steel pedal guitar (4, 9)
- Marilyn Rovell – backing vocals (6)
- Diane Rovell – backing vocals (6)
- Jay Graydon – electric guitars (5)
- Frank Marocco – accordion (5)
- Ray Pohlman – bass guitar (5)
- Ricky Fataar – drums (2)
- Julius Wechter – sleigh bells (5), vibraphone (5)
- Matt Jardine – handclaps (2), fingersnaps (2)
- Michael Sherry – handclaps (2), fingersnaps (2)
- Richard Hurwitz – trumpet (6)
- Raymond Brown – trumpet (6)
- Vincent Fanuele – trombone (6)
- Steve Douglas – tenor saxophones (5)
- Jay Migliori – baritone saxophones (5)
- William Collette – saxophone (6)
- Bill Green – saxophone (6)
- Maureen Love – harp (10, 12)
- Roberleigh Barnhardt – string arrangements
- Bernard Kundell, Alfred Breuning, Thomas Buffum, Herman Clebanoff, Cynthia Kovacs, Jay Rosen – violins (6, 8, 10, 12)
- Rollice Dale, Mark Kovacs, Linda Lipsett – violas (6, 8, 10, 12)
- Marie Fera, Igor Horoshevsky, Victor Sazer – cellos (6, 8, 10, 12)
- Unknown – saxophones (2), strings (7, 11)
Recording engineering personnel & assistants
- Al Jardine – producer
- Ron Altbach – producer
- Brian Wilson – executive producer
- Diane Rovell – music coordinator
- John Hanlon – recording engineer
- Earle Mankey – recording engineer
- Stephen Moffitt – recording engineer
- Jeff Peters – recording engineer, final mixdown producer
- Bob Rose – recording engineer
Artwork
- Dean O. Torrence – album design, graphics
- The Beach Boys – album design, graphics
- Warren Bolster/Surfer Magazine – front cover photography
- Guy Webster – back cover photography
Charts
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Chart (1978)
!Peak<br/>position
|-
| US Billboard Top LPs & Tape
| style="text-align:center;"|151
|}