I honestly hate myself for this, but SMILE just doesn't do it for me!
My problem with it is that the songs simply aren't there. About 4 songs (Surf's Up, Good Vibrations, Wonderful, H&V) stand up to the greatness that came before and a lot of which came after. I think it's a huge step down from Pet Sounds!..... Sure, Pet Sounds took huge leaps forward in production and insturmentation terms, but it still pulled at your heart in ways that few works of art can manage. Smile doesn't do this ....or anything else really. It just meanders along with vage musical passages that link together some silliness which is interrupted on the odd occasion by something approaching (yet not totally acheiving: Surf's Up excluded) something emotional.... I actually consider BWPS as being more affecting due to the struggle it took Brian to get the thing done and out there, the whole back story, and him being older, which I think works in it's favor.... Van Dyke's lyrics are clever but are like looking at a cleverly built blank wall. You know it took some skill in putting it up, but it's still just a blank wall... I think if Mike (or Tony Asher) had been more involved, there would have been more relatable content for the music to hang it's hat on. This isn't overpraising Mike and Tony though.
I totally understand what you mean. SMiLE doesn't have the emotional "hook" that Pet Sounds does. But, what album does?
SMiLE does have a multitude of other aspects and themes, though, that make it equally great such as humor, childhood, Americana, the outdoors/country feel, a water/nautical feel - and a psychedelic touch!
I agree with you about Van Dyke's lyrics. They are clever, some would say brilliant, and obviously it wouldn't be SMiLE without them. But, you're right, at times they are not relatable. A while back, I wrote a convoluted post about why I thought the brilliance of "Surf's Up" was WASTED - because of Van Dyke's lyrics. I thought/think that such a great song and melody and arrangement and performance should touch me more than "Surf Up" does, and I blamed it on the esoteric lyrics. A simple guy like me could relate to "The Warmth Of Sun" and "Help Me Rhonda", but I struggled with getting enough out of the "Surf's Up" words. I sounded very much like Michael E. Love, but, unlike Mike, I appreciate it anyway, love it, and it might be the best song on SMiLE.
And, that's where I kinda disagree with your assessment of SMiLE a little bit. You wrote that "the songs simply aren't there", and mentioned only four that you felt were truly great. Oooh, that hurts. I respect your and anybody's opinion to like what you like, but I THINK that "Cabinessence", "Our Prayer", "Child Is Father Of The Man" (any version/snippet), "Do You Like Worms", "Wind Chimes" (especially the "Whispering Winds" part) and, yes, "Mrs" O'Leary's Cow" are incredibly great. I'd even throw "Look" in there. Genius. Brilliant. Pull at your heart? Maybe not. Blow your mind? Every time.....
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