Album Review 382: The Beach Boys - SMiLE

[@anthonymagkno]

The Brian Wilson version is played regularly when I'm around, truly one of the greatest albums of all time.

[@Giggens]

Truly!

[@sunshinecoolwater9528]

If you think hearing the Fire recordings wigged Brian out, just imagine how freaked out he'd be if he listened the new "Fun, Fun Fun" remix. 😉

[@lowenbad]

What’s this? I wanna hear it!

[@Blend42]

It's in the first Barbie film trailer - kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHeYqZpph8hgadU

[@lowenbad]

@@Blend42 I heard it… it’s so bad. I’m not anti dance/ edm mixes, but that is wretched.

[@carriedairy]

I didn't think it was too bad

[@franciscrisp6245]

Yep. Absolutely horrible.

[@davidleaf3744]

Giggens never disappoints. After Good Vibrations went to #1, music fans were ready for it. An album with Surf's Up, Wonderful, Good Vibrations, Cabinessence, Wind Chimes, Our Prayer and, of course, Heroes and Villains, would have been mind-blowing. Artists leap forward. As Sir George Martin said, "You don't listen to scared members of the band." Brian sacrificed SMiLE to keep the Beach Boys together. (One small note: We should have heard that neither "Gee" nor "I Wanna Be Around" are BW compositions.)

[@Giggens]

Excellent points my friend!

[@tylergalindo1278]

Masterful, Giggz. You do the fans and The Boys such honor and justice with these reviews. Smile is the madic gift that keeps on giving. It will never grow old or sound out of date. May it continue to inspire for generations to come. That's MY Prayer.

[@Giggens]

Well said Tyler!

[@coffeetablevinyl7955]

Well done Giggens. Perfectly done. You more than did it justice with this review. You managed to articulate exactly what makes this album so unique, interesting and important. Be proud of this one 🙌🏻

[@Giggens]

Thanks man, it only took 4 years to get to haha!

[@nazfrde]

I was lucky enough to see and hear Brian and his band play the whole thing live in 2004. What an experience.

[@Giggens]

It was, I was there too!

[@Shikta-poobah67]

I will forever kick myself for not attending one of those concerts. In my defense though, that particular era (early-mid oughts) was an intensely chaotic and turbulent period in my life. Still, the sense of regret over missing out on that is very real.

[@GamerNRetro]

Very well done sir. I know you've been waiting on this one so you could do it justice and you did. I became aware of SMiLE from my best friend and then kind of went from there. This has become one of my favorite albums. It really covers the human experience. Innocence, love, sadness, fear, etc). Such a masterpiece that will be talked about hundreds of years from now.

[@Giggens]

Well said for sure!

[@TommyT6219]

Wow…you really outdid yourself with this review, Giggens! Great job! I can imagine this had to be a hard review to do, especially as a Beach Boys fan, but you did it justice! Such a fantastic album! It would have been nice had it come out in 1967, but at least we finally got it in 2011! I agree about each time you listen to it, I think Pet Sounds is that way too.

[@Giggens]

Thanks Tommy!

[@murdockreviews]

Great review and appreciation of the album and Brian Wilson's work. One of the most astonishing (and frustrating) pieces in rock/pop history.

[@ronsaunders7294]

I have always envisioned Heroes and Villains as a Quentin Tarantino movie

[@NathanielAhart]

I could just hear this album play in my head as you went along taking about it. One of the most incredible pieces of pop music ever composed, and I can’t imagine what would have happened to the music industry if this had come out in 1967. Hope it shows up on your list for the greatest albums of the 21st Century! 😉

[@Giggens]

For sure man!

[@joelgoldenberg1100]

To me, along with the Who's Quadrophenia, Smile is the greatest album of all time, for songs, musical ambition and emotional effect.

[@Giggens]

I can dig it!

[@burlingtonbill1]

Love, Reign O'er Me !

[@UsualmikeTelevision]

Great Review Giggens. This album changed pop music forever, as it was not just music but a work of art!

[@Giggens]

Well said man!

[@JohnnyManThan]

Such a timeless, beautiful piece of music. To roughly quote Bruce Johnston “Forget about selling things, in terms of pure art, it would’ve been a one-two punch, it would’ve been great.”

[@ronsaunders7294]

for me Surf's Up is right up there with Nights in White Satin and Bohemian Rhapsody as an absolutely original and unforgettable song

[@andylove9961]

Great review Giggens - you need to take it on tour 👍

[@Giggens]

Thanks Andy!

[@paulharvey7223]

Giggens, you summed up SMiLe just perfectly 👌🏻🙏🏻

[@Giggens]

Thanks Paul!

[@kjuergens1985]

My favorite album of all-time. But it does have a weak point, which is topical/lyrical cohesiveness/coherency of the album overall (what's the big idea?). But it holds together in spite of this, because each piece is so inventive, creative, and fun--both the music and the lyrics. In other words, something is CLEARLY going on, even if we can't know what it is. And that thing is brilliant.

[@jennyjamball]

Incredible review of this incredible album! Me and my dad have been waiting forever for this review forever and you did it justice 😊 so impressed!! ❤❤❤

[@Giggens]

Thank you sweetheart!! :)

[@skuishy1442]

After all this time, all the buildup! This is the Album Review that I most anticipated! Amazing job as always giggens! Always love your takes on music!

[@Giggens]

Thanks Skuishy!

[@Jason.Brayshaw]

Fantastic appraisal. Some fans and critics have suggested it should've been a solo album for Brian.

[@Giggens]

I can dig it!

[@thomyoung17]

More than an album a true experience nothing like it and never will be

[@Giggens]

Well said!

[@BlueSky...]

Terrific album, one of their best. I think Mike Love's refusal to sing Van Dyke Parks' lyrics helped kill it. He isn't the lead vocalist on any of the tracks, just has limited parts on some of them.

[@TheBroadestBlue]

I got into the Beach Boys in 2004, first picking up "Sounds Of Summer" on CD, then BWPS a few months later...and for the next 12-18 months, I poop you not, I listened to those two CDs almost exclusively. Every day. It became the "Rosetta Stone" of my musical experience in life; every genre of music opened up to me from there, when I realized music could give me these feelings, and that music could be "brilliant". Classical, jazz, [old] country, [some] pop. And I owe so much of that to SMiLE. You mentioned how Cabinessence really creates the feeling of being on a train. Years later, I was researching for an album about the JFK assassination. I came across the story of Eugene B. Dinkin, an army private who worked in cryptographic communications and figured out that a plot was brewing to kill the president. He first tried to warn his supervisors, then RFK directly. He got wind that the army planned to have him institutionalized, so he went AWOL, and fled by train. I was moved by this story, and what music did I hear in my head? Of course, the relentless driving "chugga-chugga" of cellos. But now with a little more desperate urgency: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5LFfHSeZ9udpbc Surf's Up is my favorite song ever written, and my preference for Brian's lead has grown to the point where I really see it as a missed opportunity. I suspect the public would have "gotten it" more, if that's the version they had heard (as they did on Leonard Bernstein's TV special). It was Brian's emotion, dare I say it was Brian's "prophecy" and we see it playing out every day. How strange to realize that the guy who wrote "Surfer Girl," "Surfin' USA," "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations," and "Surf's Up," finally won a grammy for...Mrs. O'Leary's Cow. Obviously it's a great work, it's just a total diversion. Anyway, long story short...this is my favorite album ever made (and not made).

[@impalaman9707]

I like the way Capitol at least "pretended" Smile was a normal 60s release, by packaging it in such a way that it just looked like another Beach Boys album from the era---right down to the label on the record itself!

[@lowenbad]

You GOTTA do the remix/ fan made show, man. It’s such a HUGE part of the story. 🙂

[@Giggens]

For sure!

[@markgaines6904]

Always enjoy your perspective on Beach Boy's musical journey. Wondering how much of Brian's method of composition had on Van Dykes "Song Cycle" 1968, a much misunderstood piece of magical mystery.

[@Giggens]

Great question!

[@jamiebrewstersmusicalheroe7156]

A wonderful review of one of the most important albums ever!

[@ErsatzMcGuffin]

Van Dyke Parks knew the work of the Beats VERY well. Most of what the Beach Boys recorded from the get go was a reflection of what The Beats , especially Kerouac wrote about. Everyone was doing it! If you never read On the Road or Big Sur or Maggie Cassidy then I can understand how it all seems so mysterious.

[@finkaiser3994]

Thanks for the review Giggens!

[@Giggens]

Thanks for watching!

[@bundttrundler]

I love how "Look" not only foreshadows "Child Is Father Of The Man" but also the "Nah-nah-nah" vocal tag at the end of "Good Vibrations which begs the question: Would Look have been included on the original 1967 SMiLE if Brian left Good Vibrations off SMiLE like he originally wanted? There's NO way Capitol would have let that happen either way.

[@saborlord123]

Look would not have been on it, most definitely. It wasn't on the 12 tracklist that Brian turned into Capitol to create album art. Brian also abandoned Look pretty quickly, much like he did Trombone Dixie on Pet Sounds.

[@NOWtheband]

My thoughts are that it's a good bunch of demo's and almost-finished's but I don't consider The Beach Boys version as a proper album. It's a nice listen but ultimately a bit frustrating for me due to it being unfinished and the track order being a mix of Wilsons 2004 version (which I don't think it would have been like, had it been properly released in 1967) and total guesswork. I much prefer Smiley Smile (although Good Vibrations sounds out of place on it for obvious reasons). However, I'm very glad the sessions were finally released! (I'm happy when any outtakes and previously unreleased stuff by our Boys comes out!). Had it come out in 1967, I think other musicians and some critics might have liked it but I don't think it would have been commercially successful. 🙂

[@lucaspage3538]

Wonderfull Review :) Thank you for it!

[@Giggens]

Thanks Lucas!

[@NEILHIGGINS765]

My favourite Beach Boys Album & top 3 of all time. Songs like Heroes & Villains, Windchimes, Vege-tables, Surfs Up, Good Vibrations (this albums version) Wonderful, Cabin Essence are all in daily listening music never tire of it

[@Giggens]

It's incredible!

[@adkinstudio]

I’d like to think SMiLE was the birthplace of progressive rock. I could be wrong, I just see how it could have inspired long prog epics/albums had it been released in 1967.

[@bobsbigboy_]

Nah the songs are too short. Abbey Road is more apt

[@ronsaunders7294]

Love to Say Dada, LSD, love that song, it was perfect just as they left it, didn't need words

[@muggsyaxton8085]

always loved that cover

[@Giggens]

It's incredible!

[@davidg7273]

Hey there, I love Smile very very much. That said, I feel like the sound on this album is not great. I always go to Brian’s solo record because of sound. Does anyone else feel this way? The tracks feel muffled rather than pristine. Is there a reason for this?

[@Giggens]

Could just be how the tapes got used to add more tracks on them back in the day, not sure!

[@pippywondergirl]

it sounds better

[@Logan912]

Oh, I could use a drop to drink right now.

[@disappointmentpotato9408]

It's a real shame that Smile isn't seen in the same light as Pet Sounds, or just as one of the greatest albums of all time. If this version of Smile would have been releazed in the 60s it would be haled as one of the greatest works of art ever made but just because it came out later it hasn't had the chance to be viewed like that in the public eye. I think something that plays a part in this viewing is how it didn't get the chance to influence other artists like Pet Sounds did. Imagine what whacked out shit The Beatles would make if they got to hear this. With that said, most people that have heard it does view it as one of the greatest albums of all time. So it's not the albums fault at all

[@impalaman9707]

Having listened to it all the way through, my impression of Smile is not as Dennis famously said, "Its so good it makes Pet Sounds stink". But rather, a sequel, or a companion, to Pet Sounds. as the bulk of it was recorded in the same year (boy, 1966 sure was a busy 12 months for Brian!) Basically, if you like Pet Sounds---Smile, at least to me, is a continuation of the story

[@doctorinsomnia5410]

SMILE when you say that.....

[@ambikawolf664]

As a kid then I wouldn't have cared because we listened to whatever came out. At top volune too.

[@ronsaunders7294]

I've always said that in order to truly appreciate this album and really "hear it" you have to be under the influence of either marijuana, shrooms or acid

[@rodneygriffin7666]

They would've blown everybody's minds. Including The Beatles 🍏.

[@Giggens]

For sure!

[@jdd3786]

On top of everything else that was going on in Brian's life, the final nail in the coffin was when he heard Strawberry Fields Forever on the radio. That was the moment he lost interest in completing Smile.

[@Giggens]

That's one of them for sure!

[@stephenfernald2490]

Great review. Question: which is the definitive vinyl version of Smile? Thanks.

[@Giggens]

Probably BW Presents Smile because he finished it haha!

[@burlingtonbill1]

I think the main reason Brian quit working on Smile is pretty straightforward: Mike hated it, and sandbagged it. Brian himself has said so, several times. You did a superb job reviewing it!

[@ratedr7845]

since when mike was the leader?

[@quinnspears3135]

Pet Sounds and SMiLE were the very first Beach Boys records I ever heard.! I fell in love with the album on first listen, wasn’t confused, wasn’t puzzled or anything, heard a few tracks from it, snippets etc, had context of the history of it going in. Totally got Hooked on it on first listen, Pet Sounds and SMiLE are my top two favorite Beach Boys albums, absolutely love Brian and his 65-67 period especially, so amazing and creative and beautiful. Discovered The Beach Boys and Brian through the Love and Mercy film, that totally was my introduction to him and the band. Obviously how and why Pet Sounds and SMiLE were my first two album introductions. Then of course the other albums and all the early big hits came along next, SMiLE would be number two for me I guess, Pet Sounds number one, but all that is top 5 for me. I wish would’ve came out back then, I think it probably would’ve been a little panned at first but would’ve gained status later like Pet Sounds did. But I think it still would’ve been great as we have it now, or in the form of how we have it now. Definitely think having context of the history would help a new listener or fan of the group.

[@Giggens]

Well said Quinn!

[@bluemonsterblake8641]

dae lims just made it 40x better and in my opinion is the definite version

[@famousashtray]

AI as art

[@PapaNicksMusic]

I think you’re on to something with your view that Brian’s isolation from anyone who shared his vision for the album was ultimately what killed it. When Van Dyke Parks left, SMiLE died. That’s a shame, because I think, had they finished and released it, the album would have done well. It would have sold a buttload of copies (Good Vibrations alone would have ensured that), and I think Pet Sounds and Sgt Pepper had broken enough ground that even the 13 and 14 year olds would’ve gotten it. The music on SMiLE is much more extroverted than the stuff on Pet Sounds, so I think it would’ve gone over better.

[@mountart2]

I always found Smile, like Pet Sounds, great, but flawed works that almost hit the mark, but fail to achieve it. I think they both were in reach but circumstances prevented that from being a reality. With Smile, there were a number of reasons, all much discussed ad nauseam, but for me, having Van Dyke Parks leave the project was the biggest. When Brian was losing control, Van Dyke was there to give this project guidance and direction and a proper theme of western Americana. All that went by the way side when Mike Love forced Van Dyke out and things just went downhill from there. Quite a shame. Still a great album, but for me, it never really reaches the peak.

[@Giggens]

To think of what could have been!

[@jimcharles9705]

In The Beatles, there were certainly disagreements. Mostly, they had to do with business matters or personality conflicts. Things that afflict most bands from time to time. But, The Beatles usually supported their bandmates' music. (You see this on full display in the Disney Get Back movie.) Within The Beach Boys, however, you had the Brian camp and the Mike camp. Sometimes, there was an every man for himself format. Then you had Dennis writing more quality stuff in the 70s. Within the group, you didn't really have the guys embracing each other's music as much as you had them barely tolerating it. This was a cancer on the band that resulted in the Smile collapse, the Monterey Pop pullout, Brian's retreat from the band ('67 - '75), and last but not least, the band turning into human jukeboxes on tour ('76 to present). I lay about 80% of the blame on Mike's doorstep. Every time Mike was presented with a decision about the band, there was always a difference between the best thing he could've done and what he actually did. No Mike, and Smile would've come out in 1967.

[@Matasky2010]

I can certainly understand why the entire band was not 'all in' on the Smile concept having done 'Help Me Rhonda' only a year or two before lol...

[@ellabeloungy6869]

Hey Giggens! One of my favorite artists is Tears For Fears, and they wrote a song called “Brian Wilson Said”. I love how it pays tribute to Brian and his music! If you haven’t, you should definitely check it out!

[@Giggens]

Awesome, I'll check it out!

[@crispy4102]

I love the Beach Boys, but I'll never understand the fuss over this record. The music doesn't move me at all -- all the magic of "Pet Sounds" and "Good Vibrations" has vanished overnight. I appreciate that others love it, but to me, this is where Brian lost the plot. I think he was right to abandon the project, despite all the work he put into it.

[@orcapodmedia]

But instead they released Smiley Smile.

[@Gildedowlmedia338]

Another great album in its own right

[@rodriguezthiago318]

This album would have been a classic album in rock history and the Beach boys could have had a completely different career rather than, let's face it, being totally irrelevant in the music scene for decades