| this album's pretty sweet, of course. the wondermints do a good job recreating these sounds, but there's no way it's gonna really sound like it's from 1967, cuz that year was so special. a couple spots maybe could have used a little sprucing up, a few places he would have probably perfected had he completed it back then. but of course you should own this if you don't already, it's got a few of the best songs ever. |
| A modern-day miracle, the appearance of Smile in a complete, recorded form can be heralded by both Beach Boys fans and pop music affeciandos alike. It's not too much to say that this is the most complex, ambitious pop album ever produced; in form and content Smile eclipses albums by Brian's contemporaries and challenges artists today with a standard of excellence most will be hard-pressed to match. The fact that it took nearly forty years to finally see the light of day makes its release a watershed moment in rock history. Smile is, in its finished form, a three-movement cantata with a through-composed, all-encompassing Americana as its raison d'etre. And hearing it now, it's clear that this album is completely Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks' baby. Brian's constantly shifting musical motifs and VDP's thick, condensed imagery are miles away from the simple sentiments generally associated with the Beach Boys. The vast array of moods here is a marvel, from the whimsy of "Holidays" to the dark rush of the "Fire" theme, or the mini-epics of "Surf's Up," "Cabin Essence" and "Heroes and Villains." Each section paints a panoramic soundscape reminiscent of Charles Ives, Stephen Foster, George Gershwin and Burt Bacharach, yet at the same time sounds like nothing else. Repeated listenings only reinforce my belief that Smile is a completely new form; far more complex than the Who's Tommy, light-years more daring than Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, far more cohesive in it's execution than I ever dared hope for, Smile is a staggeringly daring and brilliant work of art. If you've read my previous review of bootleg versions of Smile that have surfaced, you'll know that I've never been a die-hard fan of the bits and pieces I've heard; but now Smile makes sense - it has ebb and flow, form and function - it truly is complete, and it's revealed itself to be far greater than the sum of its many parts. The recording itself is glorious, with a rich burnished glow evident throughout, and the performance, by Brian and his touring band is perfect, carefully matching the original ambience of the 1967 tapes. To be honest, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the presence of this album - promised, rumored, teased and leaked out in bits and pieces for nearly forty years, Smile is here at last. Wow. |
brian wilson roolz
Made me SMILE
Strange and very werid
