I was thinking, what if Landy made Brian finish SMiLE in the late 80s?

[BergenWhitesMoustache]

It would've been awful and the same people who hate BWPS would've found something irksome about that too. No-one's SMiLE is as good as the one in their head. Probably not even Brian's.

If SMiLE had been released in the 60s, it would've been done and there would've been none of this 'hate, hate, hate' stuff. Except there would've. Look at the way people still bitch about the inclusion of Sloop John B oPet Sounds despite the fact that, lo and behold, it was meant to be on there.

I dunno...I'd like to clarify that I'm generally against after the fact quibbling...up til LA Light album I enjoy EVERYTHING they did.

Just think the sequencing on TSS is particularly heavy handed and the pitch shifted fly-ins and stuff? So unsubtle. Dunno. It seemed like a pretty easy task to me- compile the best versions of songs we'd already heard, stick 'child is father of the man' on there, even though it was just BVs...start side one with Our Prayer/Heroes and side two with GV end with surfs up. Make each side 20 or under minutes.

[hypehat]

If Mark and Alan did that there'd always be the question of that sequences' 'legitimacy' - like it or not, the BWPS sequence that TSS mostly follows is the only one one BW and VDP have signed off on for that material. And you'd have to leave a lot of things off to make it 20 minutes a side! I certainly wouldn't be happy about that.

I do think you have a point about the fly-ins though. Mostly unnecessary, but what are you gonna do? The only one that actively annoys is the 'whispering wind' section.

IMO Brian was a better singer "under" Landy, he was a better composer under Landy...but they obviously worked with a S***-producer for the self-titled.

You mean... Eugene Landy?

The reports from everyone else who worked on the record (you know, hacks like Lenny Waronker and Russ Titleman) seem to suggest that any production choice that sounded good on the finished product was done without Landy knowing. There were big rows about Landy producing Brian, as Landy was a talentless buffoon. And he got his way in the end, with Sweet Insanity. Now THAT'S a crappily produced record.

[Matt Bielewicz]

To return to the question in the original thread title:

"I was thinking, what if Landy made Brian finish SMiLE in the late 80s?"

Isn't there a guy goes by the name of 'egon spengler' on this board? 'Cause I think his original Ghostbusting namesake had a quote that answers this question perfectly.

"...it would be bad."

I love that quote. Spengler says "Don't cross the streams", Venkmann asks "Why?", and you just think we're gonna get this huge, technobabble explanation from Spengler. Instead, it's just "...it would be bad."

Anyway, to return to the matter in question... ach, can you imagine? 'Surf's Up' with the production values of 'He Couldn't Get His Poor Old Body To Move'? 'Wonderful' sounding like 'Don't Let Her Know She's An Angel'?

"Nooooooooooooo...!!!!!!!!!!!!" [wakes up bolt upright in bed, bathed in sweat]

"AAAarrrrgggghhhh!!!!! Whew, woah... [breathing begins to slow] ...OK, OK. [Sees SMiLE Sessions box set on the shelf on the other side of the room] It's OK, it's OK. It's just a dream. Just a dream..."

[sees gold Sweet Insanity bootleg lying on the floor]

"Aaaaaarrrrghhhhh!!!!!!!!!"

[Mike's Beard]

Landy and Smile = Oil and Water. It would have been a mess.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I think it would have been better. Probably done with a lighter touch

I hate, hate, hate, hate the sequencing on the 'finished Smile'.  The running of the tracks into each other blows, the 'fly ins' blow. The mastering sucks. The crossfades suck.

Suspect in '88 they'd have been more inclined to just mix what was there, do a couple of blunt edits like on the '93 set and be done with it. If Brian had called Carl and Al in to do a couple of leads here and there, that could have worked...

I disagree that it would've been better, but I also hate TSS/BWPS sequence and I was beginning to feel like the only one so, thanks for that.

[Lonely Summer]

I think it would have been better. Probably done with a lighter touch

I hate, hate, hate, hate the sequencing on the 'finished Smile'.  The running of the tracks into each other blows, the 'fly ins' blow. The mastering sucks. The crossfades suck.

Suspect in '88 they'd have been more inclined to just mix what was there, do a couple of blunt edits like on the '93 set and be done with it. If Brian had called Carl and Al in to do a couple of leads here and there, that could have worked...

I disagree that it would've been better, but I also hate TSS/BWPS sequence and I was beginning to feel like the only one so, thanks for that.

I suspect there are many fans that feel similarly. Beach Boys fans are typically unhappy with anything that gets released.

[Mujan, 8@$+@Rc| of a Blue Wizard]

I think it would have been better. Probably done with a lighter touch

I hate, hate, hate, hate the sequencing on the 'finished Smile'.  The running of the tracks into each other blows, the 'fly ins' blow. The mastering sucks. The crossfades suck.

Suspect in '88 they'd have been more inclined to just mix what was there, do a couple of blunt edits like on the '93 set and be done with it. If Brian had called Carl and Al in to do a couple of leads here and there, that could have worked...

I disagree that it would've been better, but I also hate TSS/BWPS sequence and I was beginning to feel like the only one so, thanks for that.

I suspect there are many fans that feel similarly. Beach Boys fans are typically unhappy with anything that gets released.

I'm actually very happy with my purchase of the boxset. It's right up there with the ol' Super Nintendo as the most precious thing I own. I *do* have 3 major complaints tho:

1-No involvement from VDP? Absolutely inexcusable.

2-I feel a whole Disc of GV sessions was a repetitive, indulgent waste. After 5 or 6 highlights I think we get the idea. I wouldve preferred more sessions of the other tracks, some "pseudo-SMiLE" songs like Can't Wait Too Long, Little Red Book and the Smiley songs.

3-the BWPS sequence which sounds awful listening the whole way through, includes various fragmentary songs that slow things down (and should've been cut), ruins Surf's Up by having Vega-Tables come after, ruins Workshop by not placing it after Fire, lumps a bunch of unrelated tracks together as the elements...and overall tries to turn SMiLE into something it isn't (a three movement symphony.) This order isn't historically accurate, isn't creative, isn't musically pleasing and just straight up doesn't work. I'd almost prefer another disc of sessions instead of this haphazard mess being passed off as SMiLE forever more.

[Magic Transistor Radio]

Ah, see, I thought Surfin' Safari was his creative peak, it was all downhill from there.

I think that he peaked with Marilyn until the 70s, when he stopped peaking.