1977, the media hype ahead of the "Brian's Back" campaign from the previous year had dissipated. As Love You approached completion, band manager Stephen Love arranged negotiations for the band to change labels with CBS Records once the group had fulfilled their contractual obligations to Warner Bros. Gaines writes, "Warner Brothers knew of the CBS deal by January 1977... Warner was so disgusted with the Beach Boys at this point that the group members were convinced the company was doing very little to promote the album." Released on April 11, Love You reached number 53 in the U.S. during a seven-week chart stay. One single, "Honkin' Down the Highway", was issued several weeks later with no chart showing. Members of the group, including Mike Love, attributed the album's poor sales to Warner's lackluster promotional efforts. Gaines countered that, despite what the group thought of the company, "the best promotional campaign in the world couldn't have helped The Beach Boys Love You". Critical reception Contemporary Love You was met with polarized reactions from the public. Schinder cited a "sharp divide" between fans and critics, some of whom saw the album as a work of "eccentric genius" whereas others "dismissed it as childish and trivial". Some listeners viewed the album as a near-punk rock statement and felt that it had been a refreshing change of pace given the dominance of progressive rock and "overproduced" pop that had dominated the mainstream for several years. Generally, the reactions from record reviewers were positive. Writing in his 1978 biography of the band, John Tobler said that Love You was "in the author's estimation and that of several critics... the best released by the group since the '60s." Favorable reviews were penned by numerous esteemed critics, including Circus Lester Bangs, Creems Mitchell Cohen, NMEs Nick Kent, The Village Voices Robert Christgau, and Rolling Stones Billy Altman. Bangs said it was the Beach Boys' "best album ever" and described them affectionately as a "diseased bunch of motherfuckers" who exhibit "a beauty so awesome that listening to them at their best is like being in some vast dream cathedral decorated with a thousand gleaming American pop culture icons." Altham's review stated that the album was "flawed but enjoyable. Brian Wilson still isn't singing as well as he used to, but his playing and composing talents have certainly returned from wherever they've been the past few years." Patti Smith,