The Smiley Smile Message Board

Is there anything else out there yet apart from the UNCUT review?
Wouldn´t it be nice....:smokin to collect them all in one place?

It would have been nicer had there been an actual review to kick the thread off with.  :-[

I tried to find some but... well.. :(

This reminds me of my "Smile Sessions Spoliers" thread  :lol

That said, it would be good to keep track of all the reviews in one thread and this as good a place as any.

So, Uncut: 5 stars.

Metacritic also have the release listed in their upcoming section so it will be fascinating to see how it fairs overall once the reviews begin tricking in.

Short review in Tone Audio magazine.  No ratings.  No new information other than one quote from Alan Boyd (from his notes in the book), which may rankle some...not me.  Issue #40 available to download at their website.

If it's just one quote, do you mind transcribing it?

I really only care about Pitchfork's review

They know SMiLE

From Uncut:

So here it is: such stuff as dreams and bootlegs are made on. Brian Wilson’s unfinished symphony was in production at the same time as Disney’s The Jungle Book. It finally emerges, with a little computer-generated assistance, in the same year as Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Preposterously late, The Smile Sessions fits into no present-day category, context or franchise. How could it? Wilson’s carnivalesque music and Van Dyke Parks’ flabbergasting libretto share a sophisticated naiveté, a corny profundity, unrecognisable in the world today.

Greet the morning, sunny side up (“I’m In Great Shape”), rustle up some breakfast (“eggs and grits and lickety-split”), and sally forth, hat tilted at a carefree angle. This isn’t the hip 1966 humour of Lenny Bruce; it’s the broad, big-boned comedy of Oliver Hardy. Laughter breaks out in a cantina. A red-faced man throws away a candy bar and eats the wrapper. A swanee whistle – the whoopee cushion of musical instruments – romps goofily alongside fruity clarinets and marimbas. Smile was envisaged as an LP that would make the population grin; but it was also an odyssey on a vast scale – a journey both coast-to-coast and backwards in time – so you might encounter a widower talking proudly of his children (“head to toe, healthy wealthy and wise”) or a family of 19th century Midwesterners bewildered by the railroad (“Who ran the iron horse?”) cutting through their meadows. Wilson’s genius was that he could turn the mood from burlesque to eeriness, and then back again, without undermining his concept. A key passage begins with a baroque ballad for harpsichord (“Wonderful”) and ends in some of rock’s most aristocratic wordplay (“Surf’s Up”) with vocal harmonies so resplendent that ships should be named after them. But phantoms live here. Wilson’s piano chords (“Look”) are peculiar, spooked by their own shadows. An unusual metaphor (“the child is father of the man”) keeps recurring. Inside the belly of Smile, in the heartland of America, the humour has gone awry.

Wilson was unable to complete Smile at 24, and at 69 he’s unlikely to be much help in an editorial capacity. Mark Linett and Alan Boyd, two experienced Beach Boys producers and archivists, deserve serious credit for The Smile Sessions. They’ve assembled a plausible, honourable, 19-track, monaural Smile, tracing an arc from “Our Prayer” to “Good Vibrations”, via “Cabin Essence” and “The Elements: Fire (Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow)”, deviating only slightly from the roadmap of the acclaimed Brian Wilson Presents Smile (2004). Picking and choosing from the original session masters, Linett and Boyd’s 49-minute ‘approximation’ (their word) of the cancelled 1967 album dominates all five formats of The Smile Sessions – 1CD, 2CD, 5CD deluxe box set, vinyl and download.

The five CDs in the deluxe box, like the four in The Pet Sounds Sessions (1997), take a forensic look at how the music was built. Arranged chronologically for each song or section – for example, a track might be listed as “My Only Sunshine: Part 2 (Master Take With Vocal Overdubs) (2/10/67)” – these stereo discs are packed with individual verses, choruses, inserts and overdubs, allowing us to eavesdrop on the intricate draughtsmanship of Wilson’s music; virtually every bar of it. On CD2, we watch “Heroes And Villains” advance episodically in structure between October 1966 and June 1967. It seems to mushroom in ambition before our very eyes. On CD5, devoted entirely to “Good Vibrations”, we scrutinise the song’s mind-boggling architecture for 79 minutes from every angle. Do 24 versions of “Good Vibrations” become repetitive? Less than you’d think – though you get used to Hal Blaine clicking his drumsticks each time the musicians stop and restart. “It feels like you’re way behind the whole thing,” Wilson admonishes the flutes. “Try to get that quarter-note feel as perfect as we can.” Partly because the Smile sessions ended so sadly with Wilson’s breakdown, the bittersweet moments tend to come when he’s marshalling his troops, sounding confident and focused. Then again sometimes he’s alone (“Surf’s Up 1967 Version”, CD1), or in smaller groups, shepherding them through “Wonderful” (CD3) or “Wind Chimes” (CD4). Progress can be slow. “Carl is having a big hang-up at home and says he’ll be late,” someone butts in.

When Carl and the others are present, it’s illuminating to witness them at work. They struggle at first with “Our Prayer”, a fiendishly tough a capella piece, hesitating and false-starting like Spinal Tap at Elvis’s graveside. They also take a while to nail “Heroes And Villains”, entertainingly. However, CD1 has an eight-minute montage of their backing vocals from various sessions, which could be bottled and sold as an amazing new psychoactive drug.

Fans unwilling to pay £120 for The Smile Sessions (the package includes a double vinyl LP, two singles and a 60-page book) should consider the 2CD edition, featuring the mono album and 93 minutes of highlights from the box (“Our Prayer”, “Heroes And Villains”, “My Only Sunshine”, “Cabin Essence”, “Surf’s Up”, “Vega-Tables”, “The Elements: Fire”, “Cool, Cool Water”, “Good Vibrations”). Retailing at £11, it’s a top-value, bang-for-buck, pragmatic alternative. Wilson, meanwhile, releases an album of Disney tunes this month. For him, clearly, the magic has never faded.

I don't have it up any more.  If I remember correctly, he says that this was the hardest project that he's ever worked on, and that some of the songs were like Frankenstein, put together with parts from Dr. Linett's audio laboratory.

C&P'ed from the pdf..... Sorry about the formatting

You want what he’s having? Why, of course. Upon listening to the bizarre,
eccentric, neurotic, enigmatic, imaginative, acid-drenched, peerless SMiLE
Sessions, it’s easy to understand why
anyone might desire the spiritual nutrition
and drug diet that fed Beach Boys leader
Brian Wilson during the ensemble’s 1966-
67 recording period. While previous efforts
contain snippets of the fabled material—
and Wilson finished SMiLE in 2004 with a
different cast—collectors, fans, and folks
curious about the most mythological album
(n)ever issued have clamored for its release
for decades. Everyone finally gets his or her
wish—mostly.
Available in multiple configurations, The
SMiLE Sessions 2CD version boasts an
estimation of the abandoned SMiLE album
as well as a disc of session highlights; the
extravagant 5CD box features the aforementioned and three additional discs of session material. (A 2LP edition contains only
the album and five bonus cuts.) Again: The
19-track SMiLE included here is not considered a technical album as Wilson and company never completed audio’s equivalent
of the Loch Ness Monster. Hence, what’s
presented equates to a semblance agreed
upon by group members Wilson, Mike Love,
and Al Jardine. All were involved in a painstaking project that demanded producers
Mark Linett and Alan Boyd consult upwards
of 70 master reels of tape while tackling the
mind-numbing tasks of putting the group’s
sonic “modules” in a sensible order as well
as piecing together fragments into coherent
songs. In that simply hearing the constant
fits and starts occasionally feels infuriating,
it’s relatively impossible to imagine the patience Linett and Boyd employed to bring
The SMiLE Sessions to light
Indeed, one of the more illuminating
aspects of the 5CD collection has little to do
with the music. Rather, enlightenment stems
from spying on Wilson’s studio banter and
recognizing the ad-infinitum degree to which
the obsessive-compulsive tunesmith forced
his mates and Los Angeles’ finest studio
hands to stop/repeat/stop/repeat/stop in
a quest for “perfect” takes and sounds he
envisioned in his mind. Gorgeous baroque
melodies, heavenly harmonies, psychedelic
freedom, experimental techniques, humanist
spirituality, and sophisticated concoctions
of pop, choral, jazz, cabaret, and R&B on
SMiLE aside, insight into both Wilson’s
methods and madness in the recording
studios proves most compelling.
While certain camps maintain that label
politics and contract disputes accounted for
the collapse of SMiLE, The SMiLE Sessions
confirms otherwise. Consider: The fifth disc
contains nothing but renditions of the 1966
stand-alone single “Good Vibrations,” two
dozen in all, the labors ultimately yielding an
indisputable slice of modular-constructed
pop genius and, unfortunately, triggering
within the tormented Wilson an insatiable
thirst to make every subsequent Beach
Boys song as glorious, symphonic, and
grand.
And so there are vocal coaching
lessons, trials of members crooning
while lying on their back, playful moans,
microphones dropped into water. There are
fades, preludes to fades, verse remakes,
alternate introductions, barbershop vocal
sections, chorus vocal sections, overdub
mixes, and acapella takes devoted to one
tune—each separate track lasting between
25 seconds and several minutes. Wilson’s
mind keeps changing. So too, then, do his
instructions and inclinations. (continued)
How nobody managed to sock him out
of frustration remains a marvel on par
with the composer’s finest arrangements. It all leads one to believe that
Wilson, particularly in his compromised
mental state, never would’ve arrived at
a point he would’ve deemed satisfying.
SMiLE was destined to be incomplete.
Moreover, the set’s tremendously
informative essays expounds upon the
notion that, recalling the era’s technological limitations associated with
tape splicing, executing the countless
sequencing and re-sequencing duties
in the face of tireless re-recording and
editing burdens would have likely taken
years—especially given Wilson’s propensity for fixes and alterations, which
generally required having to again start
a mix from scratch. To wit: “Good Vibrations” required almost six months
to finalize. In his notes, Boyd, a veteran
documentary filmmaker, calls the fromthe-vaults reissue “the hardest project
I’ve ever worked on” and observes
“many of the songs were like little Frankenstein monsters, musical beings built
from the spare parts in Dr. Linett’s audio laboratory.”
To that extent, the presence of a
definitively researched SMiLE Sessions Sessionography guides listeners
through the creative practices and vast
sources. Undoubtedly, it also stands to
rankle those who believe their bootleg
versions to reflect the correct details.
Sonically, the main album is presented
in mono and the session contents in
stereo. In preparation for HDCD, the
original analog 4-track and 8-track
session tapes were transferred to highresolution digital, with the final masters
created at 88.2kHz. What a trip. 
—Bob Gendron

SMiLE is a musical Frankenstein so that doesn't bother me either.

Anyone wanna guess what type of bs pitchfork will put in their review? I'm sure they'll knock off a few points because the reviewer thinks there are too many boxsets coming out.

You must have missed the memo: Pitchfork doesn't actually know anything about anything.

And the fact that the box set documents some output from a non-British group.

Here's that second review again, for the weirdos who LIKE formatting:

You want what he’s having? Why, of course. Upon listening to the bizarre, eccentric, neurotic, enigmatic, imaginative, acid-drenched, peerless SMiLE Sessions, it’s easy to understand why anyone might desire the spiritual nutrition and drug diet that fed Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson during the ensemble’s 1966-67 recording period. While previous efforts contain snippets of the fabled material -- and Wilson finished SMiLE in 2004 with a different cast -- collectors, fans, and folks curious about the most mythological album (n)ever issued have clamored for its release for decades. Everyone finally gets his or her wish -- mostly.

Available in multiple configurations, The SMiLE Sessions 2CD version boasts an estimation of the abandoned SMiLE album as well as a disc of session highlights; the extravagant 5CD box features the aforementioned and three additional discs of session material. (A 2LP edition contains only the album and five bonus cuts.) Again: The 19-track SMiLE included here is not considered a technical album as Wilson and company never completed audio’s equivalent of the Loch Ness Monster. Hence, what’s presented equates to a semblance agreed upon by group members Wilson, Mike Love, and Al Jardine. All were involved in a painstaking project that demanded producers Mark Linett and Alan Boyd consult upwards of 70 master reels of tape while tackling the mind-numbing tasks of putting the group’s sonic “modules” in a sensible order as well as piecing together fragments into coherent songs.

In that simply hearing the constant fits and starts occasionally feels infuriating, it’s relatively impossible to imagine the patience Linett and Boyd employed to bring The SMiLE Sessions to light. Indeed, one of the more illuminating aspects of the 5CD collection has little to do with the music. Rather, enlightenment stems from spying on Wilson’s studio banter and recognizing the ad-infinitum degree to which the obsessive-compulsive tunesmith forced his mates and Los Angeles’ finest studio hands to stop/repeat/stop/repeat/stop in a quest for “perfect” takes and sounds he envisioned in his mind. Gorgeous baroque melodies, heavenly harmonies, psychedelic freedom, experimental techniques, humanist spirituality, and sophisticated concoctions of pop, choral, jazz, cabaret, and R&B on SMiLE aside, insight into both Wilson’s methods and madness in the recording studios proves most compelling.

While certain camps maintain that label politics and contract disputes accounted for the collapse of SMiLE, The SMiLE Sessions confirms otherwise. Consider: The fifth disc contains nothing but renditions of the 1966 stand-alone single “Good Vibrations,” two dozen in all, the labors ultimately yielding an indisputable slice of modular-constructed pop genius and, unfortunately, triggering within the tormented Wilson an insatiable thirst to make every subsequent Beach Boys song as glorious, symphonic, and grand.

And so there are vocal coaching lessons, trials of members crooning while lying on their back, playful moans, microphones dropped into water. There are fades, preludes to fades, verse remakes, alternate introductions, barbershop vocal sections, chorus vocal sections, overdub mixes, and acapella takes devoted to one tune -- each separate track lasting between 25 seconds and several minutes. Wilson’s mind keeps changing. So too, then, do his instructions and inclinations. How nobody managed to sock him out of frustration remains a marvel on par with the composer’s finest arrangements. It all leads one to believe that Wilson, particularly in his compromised mental state, never would’ve arrived at a point he would’ve deemed satisfying. SMiLE was destined to be incomplete.

Moreover, the set’s tremendously informative essays expounds upon the notion that, recalling the era’s technological limitations associated with tape splicing, executing the countless sequencing and re-sequencing duties in the face of tireless re-recording and editing burdens would have likely taken years -- especially given Wilson’s propensity for fixes and alterations, which generally required having to again start a mix from scratch. To wit: “Good Vibrations” required almost six months to finalize. In his notes, Boyd, a veteran documentary filmmaker, calls the from-the-vaults reissue “the hardest project I’ve ever worked on” and observes “many of the songs were like little Frankenstein monsters, musical beings built from the spare parts in Dr. Linett’s audio laboratory.”

To that extent, the presence of a definitively researched SMiLE Sessions Sessionography guides listeners through the creative practices and vast sources. Undoubtedly, it also stands to rankle those who believe their bootleg versions to reflect the correct details.

Sonically, the main album is presented in mono and the session contents in stereo. In preparation for HDCD, the original analog 4-track and 8-track session tapes were transferred to high-resolution digital, with the final masters created at 88.2kHz. What a trip. 

—Bob Gendron

All these reviews seem like they could've been written without actually having listened to the box.

Just got the latest Rolling Stone with Steve Jobs on the cover and there is nothing about SMiLE!! ??? ??? ???

This one will probably get a 10 or a good review.  They pull out surprisingly knowledgable reviewers for certain things, like some of the reviews for the REM reissues.

Must have been a very rushed issue..

Possible SMiLE cover story next month  8)

Thanks Sean, I was in a rush this evening ;D

I'm still waiting for a track-by-track breakdown of the box set from someone who really knows their Smile s*it.  :P

I thought the same thing..maybe even a cover!! :happydance :happydance

What's this in reference to??

"Brian Farts Into His Piano"

Very interesting, actually the Tone Audio article. One thing bothers me though.

'...in preparation for HDCD...'  I guess many here won't know what that is. HDCD was a system invented about 15-20 years ago by Pacific Microsonics to increase the available resolution on a CD from 16 to 20 bits. In order to make this work, a decoder circuit needs to be designed into the CD player. Compatability is ensured so that HDCDs will play on a non-HDCD player.

However -
a) there are now hardly any HDCD players available worldwide (after a flurry about 10 years ago), and
b) in my (humble) experience, HDCD-encoded discs played on a 'normal' (non-HDCD) player tend to sound worse than an ordinary CD (subjective, but technical reason = more digital noise caused by the wider bandwidth).

Mark Linnett seems to have been on an HDCD hobbyhorse since BWPS, as the Classics and Summer Love Songs discs are both HDCDs. I was hoping he'd left it behind for Smile, but it seems not....

Much earlier… the PS box was HDCD as were the second batch of two-fers (but not, apparently, the 70s/80s Brother two-fers {which I don't think Mark remastered}, Endless Harmony or Hawthorne CA).

As long as we see it released alongside a standard 16 bit CD, I don't see the problem.

Alternately, go the 24 bit lossless files on a special (!) flash drive route ala the Beatles box set. imo.

You've misunderstood - the point about HDCD is that it's additional data encoded onto the CD, not an alternative format.

AH BALLZ *tries to break MP3 over his desk*

I want 32 bit floating point and nothing else.

Blu-Ray…  I see Jethro Tull are getting on board the Blu-Ray bus.

I want the whole BB cataloge in DTS 5.1 sound on blu-ray!  ;D :3d

I want their entire catalogue in raw PCM format. Come on Linett!

I guess we can expect The Guardians review soon


alexispetridis Alexis Petridis (twitter)

Oh wonderful - what could be more fun that reviewing a five CD box set via an online stream? That's bound to be a fun-filled few hours.

Still, I get the need for high security around a Beach Boys' Smile box. It's not like it's been repeatedly bootlegged FOR 40 SODDING YEARS.

*continues moaning* Y'know, without the high level security, bootlegs of it might end up all over the internet (links to google search of smile bootleg)

Alexis is bit of an idiot but I'm very interested in his review

Classic Rock review is out

9/10

"Featuring five CDs, double vinyl, two seven-inch singles and a book, it couldn't be any more comprehensive - there are 25 variations, out-takes and snippets of Good Vibrations alone. Elsewhere Surf's Up is the type of pure golden Californian pop that would be ubiquitous in so many hit singer-songwriters of the 70s, while Vega-tables and Do You Like Worms? display a surreal sense of humour offset by haunting melodies that manage to recall both Spector and Mozart. Every home should have one."

Great review, can't wait for the box to come and listen to it myself!

"Every home should have one!"

One for the boxset sticker, imo  ;D

Thanks for posting the classic rock review, slim shady - great stuff. Also looking forward to Petridis' review - Ejjoyed his bw interview recently. Let's hope the frustrations of the secure stream don't cloud his judgement!

How is that a great review?  It's three sentences.

And yet it's more informative and intelligent than the one page blurb in last month's Rolling Stone.

"Every home should have one."

OK, my initial review:

It's really, really good. Except for "Teeter-Totter Love". Which sucks.

The review said it had 25 variations, outakes, and snippits of good vibrations, which is amazing.

One of the things i am sincerely looking forward to the most is Teeter Totter Love. Every single aghast description of it almost guarantees that it's going to be good. The description of it in the Leila post was amazing. No, i'm not joking.

Utterly amazing ! I mean, that's EXACTLY the same number as the track listing released over a month ago (plus hidden track) !!! WHOA !!!

Seriously, it's fucking horrible. Wild Man Fischer would be embarrassed...

Oh, be nice.

I know the track listing said that a month ago, I am just excited like crazy and a general great mood right now with the box set release date so close. :)

Remember who you're entreating.  ;D

Seriously, that sounds great. My heart is bursting with excitement and i'm really, really glad--even without hearing it--that it wasn't vetoed for inclusion on the box. That honestly gives me hope for many things in life.

The best domestic digital format ever unleashed was/is DVD-Audio but sadly it didn't catch on.

People are too obsessed with iPods and such now. Digital music, lossy formats etc. definitely have their place, I use them often, but I'm not a fan of how people as a whole are going backwards in terms of quality. Between this and the loudness war, people who even expect reasonable sound quality are let down too often :(

My iPod's Volume Limit Is Set To 50%, so that's as high as the "Volume War" Gets for me!

Mate, you must live in the woods or something. How do you even hear your music?

He must have those "Beats By Dre"

I have perfect hearing, but I actually have some kind of ear-muscle disorder where they don't tighten all the way, so I hear even louder.

A rather sniffy review in WORD magazine. Claims that SMiLE is of a lesser quality to Pet Sounds and the Beatles albums of the time. It also says that a lot of SMiLE is filler, or words to that effect, stating that apart from Wonderful and Surf's Up nothing else on SMiLE comes close to Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains. Personally I think all of the above is garbage - SMiLE is infinitely superior to Sgt Pepper - but each to their own I suppose... Not a big fan of Word magazine anyway.
Looking forward to next issue of MOJO however. They're generally big supporters of Brian and the Beach Boys so hopefully SMiLE will get a cover, feature, interesting review, etc. 

Ok, I'm convinced.

And there's your punk band name right there.

You may prefer SMilE but I can't say it's "infintely superior" to Pepper.  By virtue of the fact that Pepper was completed and released as a tramsformational work speaks for itself.

To the casual listener I can certainly see that much of SMiLE does sound like filler - there's lot's of vocals incomplete or missing entirely or relatively esoteric instrumental tracks.  When I listen to SMiLE - part of my brain is trying to fill in the missing links - non fans can't even begin to go there.  In the end, SMiLE garnered substantial mystique from being unreleased for so long - ironically it does live up to the hype.

And therein lies much of the magic. That's why we're all still here, on this board.

Expect the Sunday papers in the UK will go a bundle on the album this weekend or next (hopefully next).

Well, I wouldn't call it filler, but I don't think it's outrageous to say Wonderful, Surf's Up, Good Vibrations, and Heroes and Villains are the best songs on the album, and arguably the most accessible. I don't listen to anything else unless I'm listening to some version of the album in full.

That an incomplete approximation from a box set of sessions doesn't hold up against a finished and long-critically-acclaimed album is neither unfair nor surprising.

ok so far we've got 5/5 from Uncut and 9/10 from Classic Rock.

Average score do far 4.5/5

Oh Yeah!  ;D

Not a fan of Cabin Essence? That's one of my go-to tracks without a doubt.

I am, but it's just the same reason I don't play "Here Today" without listening to Pet Sounds -- great song, but I don't enjoy it as much standalone.

Here's a question. If Sgt. Pepper is the most critically-acclaimed album ever, why are so few of its tracks hits, or selections you'd find on a compilation? Some tracks just work better in a suite or sequence. I've always enjoyed the sum of Smile more than its parts.

The Beatles didn't release any of the Pepper tracks as singles. That may be your answer.

Yeah, the Beatles aren't cheap, they don't include singles on albums like even the almighty "Boys Of The Beach" did.

That's "Les Garcons De La Plage", and hits on an album is the American Capitol-istic Way. ;)

Sure, but many Beatles compilations have album tracks on them.

I agree - to me Cabinessence is one of the only tracks that completely fulfills the promise of Smile - weird Americana with strange instruments, different sections, the mysterious Truck Drivin' Man, the melodic beauty of Grand Coulee which then merges into the Iron Horse - it's innovative, brilliant, funny ("doing doing") and strange, all at the same time.

Heroes, much as I've grown to like it, was always a let down after the big build up as the followup to GV.

I find it dunny how the artwork used in Classic Rock is the Purple Chick one, with the purple 'Full Dimentional Stereo' :lol

"Cabinessence" rarely gets the praise it deserves. :(

http://www.examiner.com/beach-boys-in-national/the-beach-boys-smile-review (http://www.examiner.com/beach-boys-in-national/the-beach-boys-smile-review)

http://theorangepress.net/2011/10/review-beach-boys-%E2%80%93-the-smile-sessions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=review-beach-boys-%25e2%2580%2593-the-smile-sessions

I was actually debating recently whether to start with disc 5 or not. Think I will now and then move to 1-4.

I think that calls for a new topic... How to begin your SMiLE sessions listening experience.

If you start with disc 5, you're doing yourself a great service.

http://www.examiner.com/beach-boys-in-national/the-beach-boys-smile-review

New Rolling Stone is out tomorrow, I would guess the SMiLE review is in that edition

Well I was right re MOJO magazine. Five star review. No feature though unfortunately... Nice interview with brian however, in which he claims his favourite SMiLE tracks are Heroes and Villians and - wait for it! - Fire. Truely he is an unpredictable man...

A deeply average review in Q magazine though. 3 stars. Mind you, in the same issue they give the latest unimaginative snooze-fest from Coldplay 5 stars...

Guardian review, 5 stars

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/oct/27/beach-boys-smile-sessions-review?CMP=twt_fd (http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/oct/27/beach-boys-smile-sessions-review?CMP=twt_fd)

A very well thought out review IMHO

We all know Mojo and Uncut were going to rate this highly, but the Guardian was never a sure thing so this review is really pleasing to read. Well written and considered  too. Thanks for posting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/4xgw

Many interesting points in this review.

"Wilson may have been a genius, the greatest songwriter and studio technician of the 60s, but he was never cool. The LA hipsters who flocked around him in the mid-60s sneered behind his back at his terrible taste, his galumphing attempts to grasp the counter-culture. And Smile was the sound of a square mind unleashed by LSD. What came gushing out was a warped version of straight-arrow, white-collar American pop culture, the stuff most rock stars in 1967 deemed hopelessly naff."

Superb. Nail on head stuff.

Another great review - this person gets it

http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/beach-boys_1011.htm

Rolling Stone has a mid-size review and gave it a ****1/2....It gave the U2 Achtung Baby box set a *****..go figure :-[ :-[ :-[

The comedy never ends

Will never understand the world's love affair with U2

Not everybody wants 20 different versions of Heroes and Villains..

We gotta live with that, hard as it may be  :lol

U2 are pretty okay. The Beach Boys are good. imo.

WHATEVIERJ O K OK OK OK

We smiley smilers should protest outside rolling stone for saying that statement :lol

"Occupy Rolling Stone"  :lol

I don't get it, I just read the review and it's very flattering, it ends with "the greatest pop album ever made is in there somewhere", yet they gave it 4 and a half..

I really don't know

Another review that's not too hot.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-the-beach-boys-the-smile-sessions-emi-2376705.html

These reviews are really just saying the box set is a little tedious at times

SMiLE it's self  is getting it's deserved praise

"On lesser tracks like "Vega-Tables" and "Wind Chimes", the material doesn't merit the exposure."

"The material doesn't merit the exposure"? Are people who say this sort of sh*t really serious?

Like here:

http://thelosangelesbeat.com/2011/10/cd-review-the-beach-boys-%E2%80%93-the-smile-sessions-super-deluxe-edition-capitol-emi/

Don't you like stuff like Weezer and Oasis?

It's funny that because it's SMiLE a 4/5 star review is considered not too hot, but let's face it the box set is not for everyone. It's for the hardcore fans only. The two disc and vinyl versions are for the casual fans. The average fan is going to find endless sessions of "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" tedious. We're going to find them endlessly fascinating.

Frankly, a lot of the 5-star reviews were used up for BWPS: http://www.metacritic.com/music/smile/brian-wilson/critic-reviews

This is cleaning up the loose ends.

Ok so far we have

Uncut - 5 stars
Mojo - 5 stars
The Guardian - 5 stars
The Times - 5 stars
Classic Rock - 9/10 (which is the equivalent of 4.75 stars)
Rolling Stone - 4.5 stars
The Independent - 4 stars
Q - 3 stars

Weighted average 4.53/5

5 stars from me for the 1 cd edtition!

Anyone see the Uncut photo of Dennis Wilson and Al Jardine in the studio circa 1966. It's in the latest edition. Anyone know if that photo is in the TSS booklet?

The independent review is written by the same guy that did the Word one.

The Times - 5 stars

Unpacking the SMiLE box set—

http://www.youtube.com/user/ESQEditor#p/a/u/0/6_crIWlK504

Did you consciously start part one by saying "Okay, we're rolling!"?  ;D

I respect the right of each reviewer to blah blah blah, BUT........................

I love it when the criticism is that the rest of the tracks aren't as good as Heroes, Good Vibes, Surf's Up, Cabin, Wonderful, etc... That's like docking Revolver because the rest of the tracks aren't as good as Tomorrow Never Knows and Here There and Everywhere, etc or giving Sgt Pepper a hard time for having some tracks not up to the standard of A Day in the Life, and, well, A Day in the Life. You know what I mean?

I've updated the list

I agree. Sure, not everything on Smile is equally brilliant. But then again, are Fixing a Hole, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, Within You Without You, When I'm Sixty-Four, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning really that great?

Not to derail the thread, but Fixing a Hole rocks my world, actually. Very Brian influenced, that one.

Billboard

THE BEACH BOYS
"The SMiLE Sessions"
Producers: Brian Wilson, Mark Linett, Alan Boyd, Dennis Wolfe
Capitol/EMI
Release Date: Nov. 1

The Beach Boys' "SMiLE," the first 19 tracks of this five-CD set, is an essential pop music album. The version Brian Wilson released in 2004 for Nonesuch was more polished than this collection of music from the initial 1966-'67 sessions. "The SMiLE Sessions" captures Wilson, session musicians and the Beach Boys in moments that are chaotic, loopy and remarkably in synch. It's a consistently brilliant album. With four CDs reliving Wilson's hours spent shaping "SMiLE," the song "Heroes and Villains" is limned at an extraordinary level, placed under the microscope and ultimately on a throne. Hands down one of Wilson's finest melodies, "Heroes and Villains" is Gershwin-esque in its sweeping moments, hauntingly still at times and cosmically choral in others. Set early on "SMiLE," a healthy amount of listening separates the song from its epic brethren "Surf's Up" and "Good Vibrations," heard here in a more rustic version than the hit single. Those better-known tracks feel perfect in length and structure; "Heroes and Villains" lingers-were SMiLE a Broadway show, theater-goers would hum it while exiting the venue. "SMiLE Sessions" showcases Wilson's production style and temperament, which is oddly calm and precise.

Yeah, I agree as well.  There's also a method to the madness of having some songs be emotionally overwhelming, and others not so much.  An entire album of Surf's ups would not be pleasant to listen to, IMHO. 

Yes you can clearly hear Brians influence of the bass line on Fixing a hole.

They gave it 4 1/2 stars because SMilE was never properly finished . I totally get it.

Quote  "the five discs of this outtakes-and-all edition take the (let's be honest) rather meagre delights of Brian Wilson's unfinished "masterwork" and wring the life out of them."

I'd like to wring that reviewers neck!!

All Music has posted their review. Though no star rating yet.

http://allmusic.com/album/the-smile-sessions-r2295926/review

I think "Cabinessence" is possibly the best thing the Beach Boys ever did.

I think the fade out to "Cabinessence" is the best thing any pop musician has ever recorded.

95 out of 100 for 4 reviews so far for The SMiLE Sessions...early days though.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-smile-sessions

Having just checked Google News, I'm very surprised by the lack of Sunday newspaper reviews of TSS.  This release is really flying below radar.  :-\

I missed it, but did anyone catch Brian on "Breakfast with the Beatles" this morning?
http://www.examiner.com/beatles-in-national/beatle-news-briefs-beatle-radio-show-features-beach-boy-paul-helps-out-a-piano

Playlist indicates that the following BB songs were aired:

H&V
God Only Knows
Vega-Tables
Cab
SU '67
http://klos.tunegenie.com/onair/

Also 5 stars on nu.nl, the most visited news site in The Netherlands.

I tried to, but apparently non US citizens (at least the Dutch ones) weren't able to listen to it (mention of restrictions)

Philadelphia Inquirer - 4 stars
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20111030_New_Recordings.html

5 stars from Record Collector, full page review.

"...a Peerless exploration of pop music's potential..."
"...listen to the version of Surf's Up presented here; an amalgamation of Brian's home demo & existing sessions. It's a breathtaking moment; a man at his absolute artistic peak."
"All of the talk that's surrounded these sessions is conjecture. What's important is that this exists at all and has been presented so beautifully. Listen in wonder...and don't forget to smile. !

Elemental suite? What in the world did this reviewer listen to?

http://www.duclarion.com/mobile/entertainment/beach-boys-smile-sessions-a-rock-relic-1.2674395

A+ Hitfix

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-beat-goes-on/posts/album-review-beach-boys-brilliant-smile-sessions-box-set (http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/the-beat-goes-on/posts/album-review-beach-boys-brilliant-smile-sessions-box-set)

2.5/4 - The LA Times

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/10/album-review-the-beach-boys-the-smile-sessions.html

The Rolling Stone Review online:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-smile-sessions-box-set-20111101

and "The Second Disc" review:

http://theseconddisc.com/2011/10/31/review-the-beach-boys-the-smile-sessions-part-one-whats-past-is-prologue/

The floodgates have opened!

allmusic gave it a 4.5/5 AGAIN.  #$%# them.   every goshdarn beatles album is five stars

What the f*** is this? Not a review, that's for sure. Disrespectful f*ckers

Two and a half stars (out of four) - Meathead!   Weird cause the review is pretty good.

Pirchfork give it a 10, and Best New Reissue:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16000-the-smile-sessions/

With the pitchfork review it should take it back up to 95 out of 100. Currently 93 out of 100 from 9 critic reviews thanks mainly to the idiotic LA Times score.

Don't forget the Mojo 100 score also. I wonder how many reviews there'll ultimately be.

anyone have scans of Mojo and Uncut reviews? Would love to read what they say about Smile!

As much as a hate to say it. They haven't factored in Q's review either

Chicago Tribune.  5 stars.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/sc-ent-1102-smile-review-20111103,0,6660383.column

BWPS is 97 -- will TSS outrank?

My bet is probably not. But close.

I just wrote to  Mikael 'Numb Nuts' Wood at the L.A. Times and gave him the what for.

2 1/2 stars outta 4 is unacceptable, especially on the Beach Boys home turf.  Really effing sad.

Yikes, 2 1/2 stars? Mr. Wood is a moron.

There are always 1 or 2 reviewers who just run contrary for the sake of running contrary.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/11/01/the-smile-sessions-a-lost-album-thats-still-missing/

Hm, I cam not very impressed with this one. They don't seem to have a grasp of the history of SMiLE quite right. It even reads like an undergraduate essay.

Opinions are one thing but come on. Who gives this a 2.5? Seriously? Does this guy hate music? I thought Q was a little absurd for giving a 3 but this a whole new level and based on the other reviews the LA Times is looking pretty ridiculous. 

It's 4 stars not 5

WHAT THE EFF KIND OF REVIEW 2.5 OUT OF 4 IS THIS FROM LA TIMES?

BS

http://www.npr.org/2011/11/01/141661282/the-smile-sessions-a-window-into-the-beach-boys?sc=fb&cc=fmp

Article and accompanying audio from the review segment on NPRs Fresh Air.

Yes. Armond White anyone? (Pray to GOD he does not review TSS!)

It's actually 4.5 stars.

Not a review… in fact it's hard to tell exactly what this is. Possibly the least well-written article of the last few months? (included here 'cos it references SMiLE):

http://www.huliq.com/10282/beaches-boys-smile-fans-enjoy-ride-memories-brian-wilsons-visits

What's all that tripe about Wilson recording SMiLE section son an Oregon beach in '68… or was it '78???

Swedish newspapers:

SVD (Svenska dagbladet): 6/6   http://www.svd.se/kultur/musik/oemotstandlig-svit-av-glada-leenden_6600568.svd

DN (Dagens nyheter): "perhaps the best pop music ever written" http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/thomas-anderberg-fragment-av-det-basta

Metro: 4/5 http://www.metro.se/noje/beach-boys-smile/EVHkka!QkqOySQcgIJ1E/

GP (Göteborgs-posten): 5/5 http://www.gp.se/kulturnoje/musik/1.764731-the-beach-boys-the-smile-sessions

Smålandsposten: 5/5 http://www.smp.se/noje_o_kultur/skivor/veckans-skivor-2-11-2011(3013755).gm

Värmlands folkblad: 5/5 http://www.vf.se/kultur-noje/skivor/beach-boys

Rolling Stone - 4.5/5 stars

"'There is a moment in this five-CD ocean of music when you agree with its creator, the Beach Boys composer-producer Brian Wilson, that the greatest pop album 'ever made is still within reach. It comes during an October 1966 session for "Do You Like Worms." "You were strumming too hard," Wilson tells bassist Carol Kaye after identifying a tiny irritant spoiling the track’s dreamy symmetry of kettledrum march and hula-dance sway. "I knew I'd find it," he adds brightly, "if I really searched and reached out."

'It was a brief optimism. 'Smile '– Wilson's attempt to extend the opulent mosaic ambition of the Beach Boys' 1966 hit "Good Vibrations" across an entire LP – was soon on its way to infamy: the best rock album never finished, a victim (after more than 80 sessions over nine months) of Wilson's indecisive perfectionism and his band's rebellion against the music's complex symphonic melancholy. Wilson's main conspirator, lyricist Van Dyke Parks, was exiled from the project, and his dream record was replaced by a pale shadow, ''Smiley Smile. ''Wilson’s long dark age had begun. '

'The first disc in this box features the closest thing we may get to the original ''Smile ''as Wilson envisioned it, with versions of songs later rescued and/or reworked for other albums, such as "Surf's Up" and "Cabin Essence." The episodic composition and instrumental surrealism, closer to acid-bent Aaron Copland than Dick Dale, explain the 'dissatisfaction of the other Beach Boys. Think of this Smile 'as Wilson's first solo album, with those voices as ''golden brush strokes. Look at Wilson's 2004 rerecording of 'Smile 'as the refined version.'

'It is easy to project a fear of failure in Wilson's obsession with revision and minutiae in the so-called "session highlights," including more than 30 takes and fragments of the operetta "Heroes and Villains." But there is delight and confidence in Wilson’s exchanges with his studio crew. And the Beach Boys' vocal rehearsals for "Our Prayer" are sublime evidence of ''Smile's ''fundamental greatness: the searching and reaching of genius in its prime. Wilson never found it, but the greatest pop album ever made is still in here, somewhere. '"

i feel like i'm the only one here who will get this.  but he recently was a guest on /film.com's podcast reviewing real steel, he was actually ok and interesting to listen to

The UK's Record Collector gave it 5/5

Lost and found, you still remain there

The news that The Beach Boys were to finally release a comprehensive account of what remained of Brian Wilson’s intended masterpiece was greeted not just with joy, but also some trepidation from The Beach Boys’ fan base. While the majority of tracks have trickled out over the years on official releases and increasingly exhaustive bootlegs, the unfinished nature of SMiLE has ensured that, to a certain extent, it exists in the fans’ imaginations. Most of those who have been attracted by the mystique of these sessions will, at some point, either have had a version of SMiLE pressed into their hands by a fervent fan, or had a bash at putting together their own version of what might have been.

Happily, the hardcore can breathe a sigh of relief. Producers and archivists Mark Linnett and Alan Boyd have done a remarkable job in assembling a wholly satisfying, sometimes surprising and somewhat magical listening experience. This material has never sounded so vivid and vital. Longstanding SMiLE admirers will find themselves marvelling at newly discovered intricacies thanks to the improved sound quality – from the phenomenal vocal interplay of Heroes And Villains to the nightmarish evocation of fire in Mrs O’Leary’s Cow.

There’s clarity and dynamism here, the result of countless hours of remastering and painstaking edits. Purists may baulk at the techniques used to assemble unfinished tracks (there’s the manipulation of a rough Brian Wilson demo vocal to fit backing tracks for I’m In Great Shape and Barnyard) but, with the deluxe edition of this set featuring four discs of sessions for enthusiasts to play with as they please, they can hardly complain.

Irrespective of how this material is presented, the fact remains that what was recorded of SMiLE is a peerless exploration of pop music’s potential. Using Good Vibrations as a jump-off point, Wilson envisioned a series of suites comprised of music box-style themes, psychedelic barbershop harmonies, dissonance and beauty, coupled with some of his most ambitious songwriting.

With Van Dyke Parks on lyrical and conceptual duties, The Beach Boys’ lyrical horizons similarly broadened. SMiLE explored grand themes of American imperialism and expansion, loss of innocence, nature and – importantly, considering the title – humour.

Anybody coming to such a venerated work for the first time might expect to listen, brow furrowed, to a work of accepted genius. SMiLE ensures that you’re just as likely to be swept away by goofy effects, puns, animal impressions and the sound of session musicians capable of producing music as exquisite as Cabinessence and Child Is Father Of The Man being encouraged to “play” a selection of workshop tools. Frank Holmes’ faithfully reproduced artwork is a wonderful companion piece accentuating the comic aspect of the music.

Fans will find it hard to resist the deluxe, five-disc box set, which effectively serves as a best of selection from the bootlegs with the immaculate sound quality of the reconstructed album. As with the Pet Sounds sessions box set, it’s great to hear Wilson conducting the band through takes of these familiar sections – albeit in a somewhat looser manner than those earlier recordings.

There are surprises which have, until now, been hidden away on bootlegs, such as the discarded, jazzed-up version of Wonderful and mooted Heroes And Villains section, He Gives Speeches. SMiLE-era curios such as Dennis and Carl Wilson’s first efforts at production are also included – a pleasing nod to completists.

Perhaps the best recommendation would be to listen to the version of Surf’s Up presented here: an amalgamation of Brian’s infamous home demo and existing sessions. It’s a breathtaking moment; a man at his absolute artistic peak.

All of the talk that’s surrounded these sessions is conjecture. What’s important is that this exists at all and has been presented so beautifully. Listen in wonder… and don’t forget to smile.
5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars 5 stars

EMI/Capitol | C 276582 (5-CD)

^^ time to compliment you in turn, mr Desmondo! Thanks for posting this, really nice stuff from RC.

The Metacritic score's shaping up nicely at 96. You wonder when they'll put the Mojo 5 stars up there.

http://www.metacritic.com/music/the-smile-sessions/critic-reviews

Can we compile some 'reception history' of TSS here? Or would that constitute infringement of copyrights? I was in a station magazine store today, and quickly read MOJO's review by Jon Savage. Which is very good. I mean, I really can't purchase each and every TSS-related article, having just forked out € 152.99 for the motherload of all motherloads.

I can't understand why Randy Lewis, also LA Times music reviewer, didn't do the review.  I met him at the 2004 premiere, a very nice guy and obviously a fan.  In his articles and reviews he has always been very positive about SMiLE and Brian's work in general.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/music/la-ca-beach-boys-smile-notebook-20111106,0,4867978.story

I used to love Word magazine and thought it was one of the most intelligent Entertainment and Arts magazines around with good 'new music roundup' freebie CD's but not anymore. Another one of their recent gems was in a review of the Smiths reissues, "The quality of the 2009 Beatles remasters but with better songs." Sod off!

We Kiwis are digging it, even if TSS isn't officially on our shores 'till the 14th!

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment-reviews/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502967&objectid=10763895

Metacritic has added AV Clubs perfect score. It's now at a 97. They have yet to factor in Mojo's 5 stars (100) and Q's 3 stars (70)

SMiLE was registered in May 1966 to 67 May. It was never released, it sold a copy.

All rights to the album as a rapper dropped dead in the water. It is something that no one is ever going to hear, and no one has ever asked for it.

SMiLE is illegal to re-record, singing a measly total, increased again to its original vision to imagine not ten years ago.... and yet, the ultimate release of the original recordings of these events is the end of events

All of this is a clear, long-time lover of music, but some of the younger fans are sure to question. It's just a big thing in 2011? It's 1966, The Beach Boys are the biggest releasers of high artistic achievements, which would take them onto the already festering, and most of all, they had to do it now.

They had to Pet Sounds.

Brian Wilson wanted to save perfect "teenage symphony," and that he started without fail, with "Good Vibrations".

Wilson had never been one to go for ease of creation, and The Beach Boys' first million-seller, he created a brilliant obsession that grows to a monster, strangled his "perfect symphony.

He then became something quite unusual:

Each section of music recording - essentially any sound - an independent, long-running session, all later pieced together to create a sound, a nebulous concept that is sure to have only existed in Wilson.

This all sounds crazy?

Power-that-be sure to raise eyebrows at a price tag, but nothing to endure an entire album's worth of"Good Vibrations". Wilson even found the perfect writing partner Van Dyke Parks. So, where does it all go wrong?

A popular, a cool response to Mike Love. It was a time of uncertainty, increasing the artistic voice of Pet Sounds sessions, and had only grown more upset at blowing the budget.

Tannerins like, if they have to remind them of meetings, they are quick to blame point.

Mike hated the album. It is an easy target, and not at all an unfair one. But whereas The Beach Boys, "his eminence a culture that supports such a lifestyle"

It is important to note that Wilson was a drop in the deep end. Mary Jane has long been a friend, but Wilson continued to grow closer and more (think sour, people) He knew CGI. He was allowed to take the time and start to pretend. 

"Guilty local fire to stop the recording material", the band visited the firefighters for their dress hats, I have to say Parks was also restrained from entering the studio.

However, even after I had returned, most musicians and Wilson, described the meeting as a respectable, save for their crimes outside the studio. 

He despised members of the band's own album, but it was his musical brilliance that ultimately unraveled it.

It's a strange smile on the tragedy, it would have been released if it was intended, it may well become the music forever.

However, he might as well ignore the creation of the recording made for recognition.

So maybe this painful step in unleashing a generation of trained listeners to understand it. In 1968 he recorded "Brian Wilson and Friends" album that would change the world. The truth is, Wilson thought the album was a classic, every bit as valuable as it is now.

Unfortunately, en masse, I would like to surf music and more. While the British were driven musicians, choked by Americans with their idols, their expectations, satisfaction, desire, our country has never looked bored, one thing still the same.

So, maybe SMiLE does not change the world, perhaps we can learn from it, and not a genius with a bad idea to do......... he will suffer.

Thank God, Smile Sessions finally above U2's Achtung Baby (Super Deluxe) at Metacritic. Don't know why that was bothering me but it was!

http://www.metacritic.com/albums

Here is my review of SMiLE:

ONE BILLION STARS OUT OF FIVE

I think that should about clear it up!

 ;D

Wow metacritic just added Q's review. Which is a 60. It just dropped to a 94

PopMatters 10/10 http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/152324-the-beach-boys-the-smile-sessions/