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Brian Wilson
Smile
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Welp...the greatest album that never was, finally is. Supposed to follow-up Brian Wilson's classic Beach Boys' release 'Pet Sounds' in 1966-67, 'Smile' never quite made it due to Wilson's, um, mental setback/emotional breakdown/drug overload (mix'n'match) and rumored obsessive-compulsive quagmire over the album. Apparently, it was never quite"good enough" for dear Brian (nor, sadly, for his family, friends or bandmates!). The project, at his insistence, was abandoned. (Can you imagine having to follow up 'Pet Sounds"? Granted, The Beatles followed 'Sgt. Pepper's' successfully, but there was way more than one of them! Even two with an extremely talented third is lightyears more than one!)
Various bits and pieces have appeared "officially" over the years, specifically: "Heroes and Villains", "Good Vibrations", and "Vegetables" on The Beach Boys' 'Smiley Smile' (1967) and "Our Prayer" and "Cabin Essence" on their '20-20' (1969), so the entirety of 'Smile' won't be new to you, although the all-new 2004 recordings (with Wilson and his "backing band" The Wondermints, et al - not a Beach Boy in sight) certainly are - perfection in every way!. After the 'Smile' tour, performing the work live in London with said backing band to god-like worship in 2003, Wilson hunkered down with original lyricist Van Dyke Parks and Wondermint keyboardist/vocalist Darian Sahanaja and completed and sequenced the work as recorded here in 2004. To the best of Wilson's and Parks' foggy memories, this is the way it would have been done some 38 years ago, with Parks adding some lyrics to what were only instrumentals at the time. The master tracks were recorded "live from the floor", strings and horns included, and the vocal harmonies were recorded utilizing a tube console identical to that used for The Beach Boys recordings throughout the 60s. (Included are decent liner notes by biographer/documentarian David Leaf that fill in alot more detail, so I won't simply Cc those here. Buy the disc, read the notes. All song lyrics are also included. And there's really no sense in listing "highlights" amongst the songs here. You've certainly heard the two best of the above-mentioned as singles and other-album cuts - nothing here betters "Heroes and Villains" or "Good Vibrations".)
There is one HUGE problem I see here...one question that will NEVER be answered: how does TIME affect 'Smile'? How might history have remembered this album had it been released in 1966-67? Sadly, I think its 2004 release, although I am very glad it's finally here, probably diminishes its importance immeasurably. Alas, it's probably more a curiosity now, whereas in '66-'67, it had a damn good chance to be the classic it was rumored to be. All of this, of course, keeping in mind that NO album, no matter how great, could possibly live up to the legend of 'Smile'.
Welp, here it is. Do you want it? If you're breathing, of course you do. Is it the great lost masterpiece? Hard to say. My 1967 mind wants to say "Man, you have never heard anything like it! It's phenomenal! Brian Wilson is THE man!". My 2004 mind (or what's left of it) says "Wow! Finally! There's never been anything quite like it. The amazing harmonies and melodies, the rock and orchestral arrangements, that Brian Wilson slightly skewed genius (there's more than a little bit of
Frank
Zappa in there)...it's certainly all here". But, in context, after all the musical changes we've heard since 1967, it loses its "classic" status. It's not nearly as original in 2004 as it would/could have been in 1966-67. So, my 1967 mind awards 'Smile' 5 stars...my 2004 mind awards 'Smile' 4 stars. 4 1/2 stars sounds like a good compromise. Classic? Not quite. Really good and a wonderful sigh of relief and release? You bet!
Release Date: September 28, 2004
Tracks: 18 - Time: 46:56
Produced by: Brian Wilson
Format: CD
Website: www.brianwilson.com
Track Listing:
Our Prayer -Gee / Heroes and Villains / Roll Plymouth Rock / Barnyard / Old Master Painter - You Are My Sunshine / Cabin Essence / Wonderful / Song For Children / Child is Father Of the Man / Surf's Up / I'm in Great Shape - I Wanna Be / Around - Workshop / Vege-tables / On a Holiday / Wind Chimes / Mrs O'Leary's Cow / In Blue Hawaii / Good Vibrations.
Brian Wilson:
Brian Wilson - Vocals / Keyboards
Guests
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