The LP was originally packaged with a bonus EP, Mount Vernon and Fairway, which consisted of a 12-minute fairy tale written and produced by Brian and Carl Wilson.

Per its title, Holland was recorded over the summer of 1972 at a barn in Baambrugge, near Amsterdam, where the band members and their entourage had decamped for several months in the pursuit of creative inspiration.

Holland received generally favorable reviews and came to be viewed by many fans as the Beach Boys' last great album.

In late December 1970, the Beach Boys played three concert dates in Amsterdam as part of a short European tour.

[4] On the first date, which had been scheduled to begin at 12:30 a.m., the band arrived four hours late due to a missed flight, and were surprised to find that the concert hall venue, the Concertgebouw, was still packed with attendees.

"[5][nb 1] Reports from this period suggested that the group were planning to move from Los Angeles to Britain once their recording commitments were finished.

"[8][nb 2] During the recording of Carl and the Passions – "So Tough", in late February 1972, the band returned to the Netherlands to film a promotional clip for their forthcoming single, "Marcella", and play a televised concert at the RAI Congrescentrum.

[8] A few days later, the band announced drummer Ricky Fataar and guitarist Blondie Chaplin as new additions to their official line-up.

[8][13] To get around this, the group commissioned their engineer, Steve Moffit, to design and construct a portable mixing desk – something which had never been done before – and have it shipped to their Netherlands base.

[15][nb 3] Later, at the end of May, Moffit discovered a barn in Baambrugge, within 10 miles of Amsterdam, that housed an existing recording studio, which he then converted for the band's own purposes.

[19] Members of the group and their entourage – which included several wives, girlfriends, and relatives; Rieley and his dog; engineers Moffitt, Gordon Rudd, and Jon Parks; assistant Russ Mackie, and secretary Carol Hess and her husband – took residence at various locations within a 30-mile radius of central Amsterdam.

[21][nb 6] Initially, the studio was in a non-functioning state, as there was not enough time to test the equipment shipped from Los Angeles before the group were due to record.

This ruined the touring schedule the Beach Boys expected to keep in Europe, severely limiting the needed income to cover the expense of living in Holland.

"[20] Biographer Peter Ames Carlin writes, Most days [Brian] avoided making the drive over to the studio in Baambrugge, choosing instead to sit in his house while peering out at the countryside, often dulling his senses with pot and glasses of hard apple cider.

[29] It was expected that the album would be released on November 5, but this motion was halted by Reprise/Warner Bros. executives who felt that the LP was a weak effort and lacked a hit single.

'"[18] "Sail On, Sailor" was written primarily by Van Dyke Parks and Brian Wilson with Rieley, Tandyn Almer, and Ray Kennedy.

[35] Carlin states that the song was essentially co-written by Wilson and Parks in 1971, with Kennedy and Almer's contributions dating from impromptu sessions at Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton's house during the epoch.

[38] Carlin described the song as "a dreamlike journey back to the mythic heart of Mark Twain's America, borne by the insistent chug of an actual steam engine, hurtling keyboard glissandos, and a wonderfully bluesy slide guitar break".

[39] Musician Scott McCaughey wrote, "the chugging, almost industrial rhythm bed sounds like a modern sampled tape loop or a latter-day Tom Waits creation.

[23] "Big Sur", an acoustic number about rural life in Northern California,[41] is the first song in which Mike Love wrote both the words and music.

Brother Records archive manager Alan Boyd said, "We also felt a little uncomfortable with the idea of at this point in time of Dennis singing (recites lyrics), 'Please God don't let me die'.

[32] The EP represented a compromise, as Brian had wanted Mount Vernon and Fairway featured on the album, a proposal that his bandmates had vetoed.

[56] From March 7 to May 17, the Beach Boys embarked on a ten-week U.S. tour with a supporting band that included guitarist Billy Hinsche, keyboardist Carlos Munoz, drummer Joe Pollard, bassist Ed Carter, and percussionist Richard "Didymus" Washington.

[57] According to music historian Keith Badman, critics noted "some unusually long pauses between each song and the group's sometimes negative reaction to any audience requests for oldies.

"[55] Brian Wilson, who last appeared with his bandmates in concert in 1970, briefly joined them onstage during their encore at the Hollywood Palladium on April 20.

[58] On November 19, Warner/Reprise issued The Beach Boys in Concert, a live double album that became the band's best-selling release on the label.

[59] It included live performances of "Sail On, Sailor", "The Trader", "Leaving This Town", "Funky Pretty", and the Holland outtake "We Got Love".

[32][36] Rolling Stone's Jim Miller, who was displeased with Carl and the Passions, praised Holland for its "occasionally unnerving simplicity of viewpoint [and] its frequently ornate perfection.

[3] Music journalist Peter Doggett opined, "After the false start of Carl And The Passions, Holland proved that the Beach Boys could function as a creative rock band beyond the self-imposed limits of their 60s hits.

"[67] Mojo's Danny Ecleston referred to Holland as his favorite Beach Boys album, as well as their "least-heard (and certainly last) great record.