The Smiley Smile Message Board

They originally said I would only get the 2-CD version for review, but got the whole 5-disc box set about 10 minutes ago.

I immediately jumped to "Surf's Up '67"...all I can say is....WOW!  They key changes throw you after listening to the bootleg version (Anne Wallace's version) for years.  And Brian's voice sounds almost "whisper like".

Sorry, but I've gotta jump back in and hear more.   I'll have my review soon!

Thanks earcandy - looking forward to your thoughts on the box!

Don't rub it in! I think we are all now desperate to hear this!

Not implying or suggesting anything at all, but amirite in thinking this means the rest of us'll likely have something or other to listen to within the next couple of days with legit CD copies now being "out there"?

*passes out from anticipation*

I've heard the GV and H&V mixes from the video contest but I don't want to listen to anything else until my copy is in front of me, headphones on and I can really enjoy it all. :)

Yeah, if anybody is out there and has cd copies, please don't upload anything. Just remove the temptation, please, I'll go crazy trying not to listen to leaks.

I don't think Ronnie's got physical CDs... but I may be wrong on this.

I can respect folks who want to wait, but this isn't really fair imo.


Ah, mayhaps. I was immediately thinking physical CDs due to him saying "2 CD version" and "5 disc box set", but that may not be correct come to think of it.

TEH PAIN.

Please, I have to know: is "Brian Farts Into His Piano" Tracking Sessions Take 1-8 on it as a possible Easter egg??? So far it remains unbooted.....

Yeah Fu kit - leak the bugger .... I gotta hear it NOW!!!!!  >:D

I'm saving it,  I wanna go on a full trip :D

If there was a leak, I'd probably just hunt down Vegetables, since I've already heard it on Facebook. Otherwise I'll hold out temptation...only 13 more days, I can make it!

Even if you were tempted ?  >:D

Heh, over all these years since young me first discovered file-sharing, I've been pretty good about holding back from downloading whole albums ahead of time. I'll get one or two songs to tide me over and wait, and I've already heard FIVE songs from Smile. One from each disc is good enough for now, eh?

Until I See A Leak, I have no temptations.

I'd sure like to he tempted.  ;)

where's the blowing kiss smiley?

Not that it matters, but hay. I figger if something gets out and it's listenable, may as well listen to it now. A gigantic bus could plow over me tomorrow and I'd never hear it and that would suck.

Not that you'd be aware...

Honestly, I Just heard the JMZ SMiLE, and If it's better then that I'm gonna sh*t myself with excitement.

Well yeah. But that's true of anything - doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy your time while you have it, I sez.

:brow

Can't wait to hear the new surf's up. :rock

I'm burning up with jealousy

Im listening to something called the Reconstructed SMiLE LP remix. If someone wants to tell me if its a new release or not, pm me. I dont have the experience to listening to nuances that others do.

Some seller is selling 3 somethings on ebay right now. but since they've disabled the ask a question for this item, I have no idea if they're shipping it now: 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEACH-BOYS-SMILE-SESSIONS-PRE-BOOK-VINYL-/140623728193?pt=Music_on_Vinyl&hash=item20bdd3ce41

It says pre-book so I'd assume it's a pre order

yes, that's what they've just  added to the description. Tho the top shipping description says you'll have it next Monday or Tuesday.

I hear that dude  :3d

Right on, sister

If anyone needs something to hold them over, grab the 33/13 Song Cycle Book, It's FANTASTIC with Session Photos Included!

It's not from the box - the boomy audio quality should alert you to that. That and the fact that the actual tracks aren't like those on the box.  ;D

What a fabulous book! (The session pics aren't Song Cycle session pics though.)

It's now been 17 hours... we are all hanging out for your word(s)!

Yeah have to say I didn't realise you were really going to savour the box set, earcandy!

I think we'll know in a series of photoshops!

Maybe it was so good he died.

Not unless they have internet in hell.  ;D

So Jesus gets the first decent review?

Hell has superfast broadband, its heaven that's still on dial-up

Sorry for the delay...unfortunately, it came available just when I had two more days of work for this week.  I listened to the first two yesterday, and I'm hoping to get to at least two more before my next shift.  At this point, looks like Saturday will be when I really dig in and start the review.  So far have been really impressed by what I've heard...and slightly dissapointed in others.   I did jump ahead to hear the Jasper Dailey song - it is total crap!  His voice is awful and the song ain't that good! 

But, as I finally end my shift tomorrow at 9am, I'll probably try to start a little early (who needs sleep when you've got Smile?) and post comments on each song as I hear them.  That is if you want the comments - some people want to wait until Nov 1st to hear.

My faves so far are (not counting the ones that have already appeared so far - H&V, Cabinessence, Wonderful, Vega-Tables, and Good Vibrations): Surf's Up, Child is Father..., Wind Chimes, The Elements, Love to Say Dada.  Was a little dissapointed in Do You Like Worms - I guess I expected more new stuff on it - it does include the "Bicycle Rider" segment.  The Heroes & Villains Stereo is phenomenal!

I'll go into much more detail tomorrow...

Interesting...

Looking forward to the full thing

They do, but it's AOL ^_^

This would be really cool, but mark as spoilers for those who do want to wait.

Thank y'much = )

I don't know why folks are so worried about spoilers for a release of session material that has been bootlegged for years!

Anyone who comes here in the days before the TSS release has to know there will be "spoliers" all over the board.  Trying to contain it would be silly.  If you don't want to hear about the release, don't look at the board.

Paging our friend from Bangladesh!

Probably for the same reason they want detailed info on a set of material that's been bootlegged for years.

Asking someone to mark a thread 'Spoiler' ain't too much to ask...

This board needs spoiler tags imo. Unfortunately, by the time they'd be implemented, I'm sure the box set'll be out by then.

I'll be keeping away from the spoilers till I got the box in my hands  :-X

If you don't want to be "spoiled" (but it's not like this is a book with a plot), then stay off the board. plain and simple. I think it's kind of silly that some people would prefer to sit in their little corner of the world speculating about things everyone else on the internet has already found out.

and I mean, the thread's called "Just got the box set", what the heck else would it be about?

"I just got the box set. it is nice. I like it. there are some good tracks."

"uh dude I didn't want to know about the good tracks"

I remember someone getting a cantankerous teat over someone saying an alternative version of a song was in a different key on another board (not a Beach Boys board). I giggled and then posted the alternate lyrics and youtube links and free money to pay your beeeiiillls!

I am preparing to get my best headset, plug it into my best amp and player, and listen to a piece of music like I haven't listened for a long time.  I anticipate this will be a treat similar to hearing the box set all the way through for the first time.  Not only that, but I've ordered the deluxe package so opening it will be like Christmas morning when I was 9 years old.  Also, this might by chance arrive on my birthday! :) LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!

OK, here it goes.  No need to add "spoiler", since it is in the title.

I still gotta compare "Heroes and Villains", "Cabin Essence", " Wonderful", "Vega-Tables", and "Good Vibrations" to the pre-release versions (both internet and MOJO) - because I think I hear a different version of "Wonderful" (could be my imagination)

CD ONE

1-1 Our Prayer  (1:06) - Nothing really new...

1-2 Gee  (0:51) - Nothing really new...

1-4 Do You Like Worms (Roll Plymouth Rock)  (3:36) - "Bicyle Rider" section added to familiar version from boots, i.e. nothing really "new".

1-5 I'm in Great Shape  (0:29) "Flown In" vocals. Hints at greatness that it could have been if finished.  Has a "Free As A Bird" Beatles kinda feel, i.e. pieced together as best as could be done.

1-6 Barnyard  (0:48) "Flown In" vocals.  Great to hear background in full fidelity.  Another track that hints at unfinished greatness.  Ditto to track 5.

1-7 My Only Sunshine (The Old Master Painter You Are My Sunshine)  (1:57) - Same as bootleg version (better fidelity), but adds "Barnshine" which makes the track sound like a "whole" song.

1-10 Look (Song for Children)  Just the word,"Child" vocals added (From "Child Is Father of the Man"  Other than that - same as bootlegs.  (2:31)

1-11 Child Is Father of the Man - One of the most fully realized songs on the set. Great to hear in glorius (even if it is mono) fidelity  (2:14)

1-12 Surf's Up  (4:12) - 1st section - Brian vocals (as it should be!). "By gone, by gone" background vocals added generously.  The horn "answer" sections are boosted, which is great. "Are you sleeping" harmonies added. "Are you sleeping" background vocals added.  2nd section - basically the 1971 version.  But...I still prefer the Ann Wallace version for simplicty and pure beauty!

1-13 I Wanna Be Around Workshop  (1:23) - Same as bootleg version (of course with better fidelity), with maybe a longer fade.

1-15 Holidays  (2:33) - Same as bootleg version (of course with better fidelity), "whispering wind" vocals added at the very end.

1-16 Wind Chimes  (3:06) - Percussion accents added throughout, the instrumental sections are mixed better than the 1993 box set version (IMO).

1-17 The Elements Fire (Mrs. O'Leary's Cow)  (2:35) - Starts off with familiar "bells & whistles".  Then finally, "Fire" in full fidelity! Background vocals like BWPS. Other than that, nothing startling new from the boot versions.

1-18 Love to Say Dada   (2:32) - Water chant starts out, into familiar LTSDD. Background vocals added sporatically. Ends with part of "Prayer" Basically the traditional LTSDD with embelishments.

The great thing about this collection is the possibilities - I am already gonna do a "fan mix" which will try and recreate a "what if" of a 1967 vinyl LP, using the track listings on the back of the original cover.  This means consolidating a few tracks ("Gee" into "H&V"; "I'm In Great Shape" and "Barnyard"; "I Wanna Be Around", The Elements" and "Love to Say Dada" - deleting "Look" and "Holidays" (which I feel would NOT have been on a 1967 version!)

More of the rest coming soon as I give it a better listen...

Argh. Was the track pitch shifted or the vocals? :\

Track wasn't shifted, just vocals adjusted to fit.

>: (

I am so sad that the bygones are in SU. Ungh. That is one of the few musical moments from the glory days of the Beach Boys that i absolutely dislike. And WHY add them into this version? It seems SO unnecessary, as they're there in the '71 version; come on, keep the distinctions between different versions intact, no need to try to make every version as similar as possible.

It's amusing that the mentality for this project seems to have been: more overdubs = more "complete"

Oh no, the anger begins  >:D

Thanks for that, earcandy

Yes'm, thank you much for going out of your way to share details with us :)

Hey, I hear ya.  I know I shouldn't prejudge it, but I suspect that when I do my own "album proper" playlist, the first order of business will be deciding which other version of SU I will substitute for this new version.  

Let the games begin... :hat

rest of disc 1:


Bonus Tracks
1-20 You're Welcome (bonus track) (1:08) - Never a favorite of mine, so can't tell if it is a different mix.

1-21 Heroes and Villains (Stereo Mix) (bonus track) (4:53) - Amazing in stereo!  The full majesty of the song is heard in its full potential! 

1-22 Heroes and Villains Sections (Stereo Mix) (bonus track) (7:16) - Very similiar to the 93 box set - added "bike horn & drums"; no "Swedish frog" in "animal" section; tack piano section added;

1-23 Vega-Tables Demo (bonus track) (1:46) - Same as bootleg.  Different background vocals added.

1-24 He Gives Speeches (bonus track) (1:14) - Added "count in", otherwise same as bootleg.

1-25 Smile Backing Vocals Montage (bonus track) (8:30) - Great montage includes vocals only on: H&V various sections; Wonderful; Cabinessence; Do You Like Worms; Wind Chimes; Vega-Tables;

1-26 Surf's Up 1967 (Solo version) (bonus track) (4:09) - Great find from the archives!  Brian sings it kind of "tentatively" almost in a "whisper like" vocal.  It kind of jarrs you if you are used to the "regular" version, with the intermentent key changes. From "dove nested", Brian only hits the piano keys on the downbeat. "Come about" - another key change. "A Children's song" - goes back to playing piano full (not just on downbeats). Ends with Brian saying, "Let's hear that...".

1-27 Psycodelic Sounds Brian Falls Into A Piano (bonus track) (1:30) - Same as bootleg.

It's worth noting that Brian also treats his chords voicing quite a bit different from the very beginning of Surfs Up.

What else do you think a thread titled "Just got the box set" may contain?

Yet you're in this thread.  :)

I caved  :lol

I want to hear(read) about Dennis's "I Don't Know".  ;D

Thanks for posting your review earcandy - even after reading every piece of info out there at the moment, "Surf's Up '67" is still by far the track I'm most excited to hear!

Beg to differ, they're present on the boots, but buried under a ton of audio murk, and also mixed up for this presentation.  :)

Thanks for the clarification!

Thanks for the reviews!! :)

Perhaps Look and Holidays were meant for the NEXT album (the follow-up to Smile)... Will we ever know???   ;)
No, NOT Smiley Smile, NOT Friends, NOT Wild Honey, NOT 20/20.....

/b

Well, isn't that how it works?  It wasn't meant to be an album of demos.  Fans complain about how tracks like "Great Shape" sound incomplete (well, yeah, it is), then complain when they try to flesh it out.  It's Brian's "fan" mix, for fun; to make it easier to imagine a finished album.

Also, just because you don't like it doesn't mean Brian wouldn't have done it.  The problem with an unfinished album like Smile is we've all spent years filling in the blanks ourselves.  There's no reason for any of us to believe we'd like a finished 66/67 Smile.  If finished, he could have done several things we wouldn't like.  And the same is true now.

That said, who cares?  The fan mixes suck, the real thing sucks, it's not all in mono, it's not all in stereo, vocals are flown in, they didn't find some holy grail piece that probably never existed, etc., etc.  Be happy it's coming out.  They were only ever going to release what's there, not what we each imagine has existed for decades.  Complaining about flown in vocals is like complaining that the album has overdubs at all.

Keep in mind that less than 10 years ago, you were considered an outcast if you even mentioned officially released Smile tracks over on the bloo. talk of the album was openly taboo. Shortly after BWPS came out Brian himself stated on the same board that the original tapes would be released when, "hell freezes over". Here we are less than a week away from official release with Brian openly endorsing the set. I think that gets lost in the criticisms of mono/stereo, flown in/incomplete, grail/remix discussion. I for one will be happy to walk into a shop and see the storefront welcoming me. Joyous days indeed.

More reasons to dislike the bloo, who cares if they talked about SMiLE, Brian never even uses a computer anyway. "brian" on the bloo was melinda :lol

I can imagine that Lord Beelzebub himself is lounging about with some polar bears in a newly-frozen hell.

Looks like the volcanic ash came along at just the right time.

There was a version of H&V that was YouTubed for an hour about 3 years ago that had the Swedish Frog chant playing underneath the Cantina vox... I was hoping it would somehow make it onto this box....Perhaps someone May remember what I am referring to. I really dug it.

Only 10 more days left of my SMiLE! fasting...it makes up for about 3 years of bad Lenten practices, I suppose...if even in some small way....

6 days for me... :3d

This is the last weekend ever with a non-official Smile release.

Six days until the most important Beach Boys release of the last couple decades sees international release. No leak. wat. teh. hell.

The first of the pre-release copies have shipped and are being dispersed to key personnel.

Brian has mentioned many times that he does not use a computer, and I believe him.  I find that fact kind of odd and sad, though.   To some extent, his age is an excuse.  I'm sure there are many 69-year-old men out there who don't use computers.  But in Brian's case, we're talking about a bright, wealthy guy who was certainly adept at using all sorts of  electronic devices when he was a young man.  My parents are older than Brian, and they are able to use computers, surf the web, etc.  

Brian has some mental-health issues, but clearly that shouldn't be an issue.  If psychiatric problems kept people offline, this board would be empty.  :lol

I don't know.  Maybe he simply has no interest.  Or maybe it speaks to a certain isolation/loneliness.  Perhaps no one is close enough to him or has cared enough to buy him an iMac and sit down with him for half a day or so to show him how to use it.  If that's the case, I find it incredibly sad.

Good points, Brian if he used a computer he would  love youtube and various programs that play music. Heck social media would be good for him to bring out his funny side chating to people. ;D

Only technologically inept folk used to the phrase "surf the web" past 1996. You are a poor judge of such things and Brian is a wizard of some sort.

Exhibit A in my point about mental health issues being no bar to computer usage.  :p

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Howie_Epstein.jpg)

He could have people here tell him how much they hate what he's done with his music :P

For me, earcandy's review renders Leila's revelation as meaningless.

As you say, maybe he has no interest, but I can't help but think that Brian would be at least somewhat curious about computers from a musical standpoint.  In his heyday Brian was all about pushing the limits of the technology available to him, so I would think that some small part of him must be curious about modern recording technology and its uses.  Or maybe he's happy to let others worry about how the sound gets recorded and doesn't really care how it all gets done.  But the mind boggles to think of what an interested Brian could do if armed with a MacBook loaded with recording software that he actually knew how to use.

I kind of agree.  My favourite Surf's Up is still a mix someone did that sounds like the Anne Wallace for the first half, and the piano Brian solo demo for the second all the way, but in stereo.  Still, this new version is REALLY nice and I liked what they did with the tag among other parts.

..on Surf's Up--"Canvass the town and brush the backdrop"  Am I going deaf or is that Carl from the '71 version?

No, you're not, and yes, it is.

I wasn't referring to this one, for obvious reasons - it has spoiler in the title! - just for others.  :)

Re. Brian not using a computer....I think another factor can contribute: indolence.

Could both be true, though. ::)

Great stuff, I can't wait for the fan mix after I've pored over TSS!