I still can't find a comprehensive list of the remixes for this set. Anyone? Thx!

Holyshitonastick!
The extended backing vocals version of This Whole World was worth the price of the box alone!
All hail Hal Blaine and his incredible sticks & skins work! WOWSVILLE!

Greetings all,
While waiting on my sets to arrive, I'm hoping that someone can confirm or deny claims that these sets contain different mixes between them.
I read somewhere back in June that a specific mix of this or that was exclusive to the 2CD set and not the 5 CD set itself, and vise versa. Does anyone else recall this tidbit/news in regards to them?

Tidal has both sets available for streaming:

.......

There may be more stuff that I missed.

Whoa! Thank you sir!
So no unique mixes, but rather edits and fades to fit that format. Good to know. Thanks again!

Greetings all,
While waiting on my sets to arrive, I'm hoping that someone can confirm or deny claims that these sets contain different mixes between them.
I read somewhere back in June that a specific mix of this or that was exclusive to the 2CD set and not the 5 CD set itself, and vise versa. Does anyone else recall this tidbit/news in regards to them?

dupe

Q: "Are there any new developments your fans would like to know about?"

A: "We have all kinds of plans: a new book, a tour titled “50 Years of Good Vibrations,” re-records of songs (hopefully with other artists) that we’re contemplating, and I’ve stockpiled a bunch of recordings myself that I hope to come out with probably next year. "

Brian's reaction to this:
https://www.youtube.com/v/G-K-n5op9nI?start=20&end=22&version=3

Thanks for that.
So it was on the radio & closed the movie. Also, It sounds like a much younger Brian singing the closing credits version than the Brian singing the No Pier Pressure version.
Did anyone else notice this?

I couldn't make it out, but what Brian tune were Cusack & Banks listening to on the radio as they pulled up to the vacant house lot under the highway in Hawthorne?

Hello Brian,
Thanks for visiting Smiley. I’ve loved your music since I was a kid.
While modern digital recording technologies can things simplify the process and have some advantages, I feel they can also be a detriment to the sound of recordings. You have so much talent and the people that surround you do as well. My question is why is autotune so prevalent in your recordings of the last 12 years or so? It’s very hard on the ears for those who can recognize it.
Honest, simple question from someone who is curious.
Thank you!

I'll be neck deep in work and can't join chat. Will there be a means to get brother Bri questions for those of us that cannot be present and counted?

Disc 4:
Five songs from 'Love You'? Isn't that a bit much? 

HA! I'd agree! About 5 songs too many!

And why no 'Lady Lynda'?

Maybe because it's pretty el-stinko like the majority of L.A.

It's a real shame that they couldn't have included some of the demos from this period ...

Umm… For the most part the majority of Love You IS demos.

Somebody hold my coat.

Haha! The stinging truth hurts, duddn't it?! 

Please forgive as some of these quotes are from many pages back. Just some random thoughts at random posts aimed at no one directly.

Is it just me, or are the Mike's vocals after the Pony bit the same as the ones before the Pony bit.

Definitely a cut & paste of the first reading of the line. Listen to Michael’s annunciation noises before during and after the word ‘feelings.’

Disc 4:
Five songs from 'Love You'? Isn't that a bit much? 

HA! I'd agree! About 5 songs too many!

And why no 'Lady Lynda'?

Maybe because it's pretty el-stinko like the majority of L.A.

The single edit of 'Here Comes the Night' probably should've been here too.

I want what you're smoking. To hear that track as remotely good or even interesting, you have to be on something. I'm glad the Beach Boys disco era started and died there.

It's a real shame that they couldn't have included some of the demos from this period ...

Umm… For the most part the majority of Love You IS demos.

Made In California should have been called Made in a hurry...

Haha! Hilarious. While my sense of humor thinks this is funny, I don’t completely agree with the assessment.

While I think this box set is pretty fantastic overall, it does contain some poor choices and/or glaring omissions.

Not looking so forward to this. It will be as auto-tuned heavy as TWGMTR and I find it terribly unlistenable. Sterile & robotic.

Been a while since I posted here, but I thought I'd toss in my two cents.

While it looks grand and there IS great stuff on it, there's still so much missing here that merits inclusion and some head scratching that ponders why they are not.

I'm Going Your Way
River Song (group version) (I know the tapes were allegedly wiped for Dennis' version, but something exists of the original)
Santa Ana Winds (alternate)
Looking Down The Coast
Dirty Ding Dang (Rollin' Up To Heaven) - just for humor's sake
Carry Me Home
It's Trying To Say
Big Sur (alternate)
Good Timin' (early version)
Surf's Up ('72 alternate)
Everybody Wants To Live
Go and Get That Girl
Lines
California Dreamin' (early version)
One Kiss Led To Another (Party sessions)
Slip On Through (alternate backing track)
The Letter

Other immediate thoughts:
* There are more bits to Can't Wait Too Long that remain unreleased, I hope they are part of the a cappella version on this set.
* Why on Earth was "Da Doo Ron Ron" from the KTSA era included... it's terrible! Little Girl from the same era would have been a better choice.
* 3 versions of Heroes & Villains on disc 3???
* I'm wondering if Linett is holding onto the Adult Child era material for a potential release of its own.
* Help Me, Rhonda (New Jersey 1972) It's gotta be really good or why would this overplayed song need a live version released?
* Help You, Rhonda (“Lei’d In Hawaii” Studio Version) ... is pretty weak.
* Had To Phone Ya... we needed the released version AND backing track on this set?
* Somewhere Near Japan got snubbed.
* Beach Boys Medley ... what about this one? 

Still ... looking VERY forward to the box in August!

THEY ARE INDEED DELICATE.  WHEN MY GRANDFATHER PASSED I INHERITED HIS 78'S.  I WAS A CHILD BUT I TRIED TO BE CAREFUL KNOWING THEY WERE BRITTLE.   THEY WERE ALL BROKEN WITHIN A YEAR OR 2.  ACCIDENTALLY DROPPING ONE ON ITS EDGE, EVEN FROM A COUPLE OF INCHES SEEMED TO BE ENOUGH TO BREAK THEM.  I NOW HAVE SOME ROCK ERA 78'S BUT I HAVE THEM MOUNTED IN FRAMES AND DON'T BOTHER THEM. 

EVEN SOME 45'S SEEMED TO BE QUITE BRITTLE.  MY RED BIRD LABEL 45'S ALL SEEM TO HAVE DEVELOPED  CRACKS OR CHIPS.

Here's a small tidbit.
Back in college I had to write a paper on the history of recordings and did a bunch of research regarding 78's to find that some of the materials used to make them consisted of- tree bark, dirt, mud, oil and tar!! That's why they are so brittle. The BB 78's will be vinyl, NOT mud! 

Eegad. I just listened to DFTS on YouTube.
I hope to hell that they remix it and ditch all that shitty synthesizer nonsense that rings throughout. Bleeeech.

And even if there was audible stuff like that in some peoples' opinions, can that be used as a critique of the album itself?

Absolutely. When you tamper with the integrity of the music itself and manipulate it into something that it wasn't to start with, then it's not the music you like... it's the production and what the original recorded music was turned into. It reflects the production, not the music itself. You're no longer liking the music, you're liking the production. The people turning the knobs and not the performers. The producers become the performers. Come on Craig, you're a musician, you should know this stuff.

This is not like a UFO hoax where thousands and thousands of people get hung up on it.
If it were a hoax, that's an awful lot of work and energy spent on a elaborate joke that only 20 people actually give a sh*t about. Think about it.

[96 tracks!!! WHAT THE f***?!?!]

Yeah, that Luddite thing--I guess everybody forgot how much beeyotching there was back in the Seventies about 24- and 48-track, and how that was ruining the recording process. If you can't do it live, it's cheating! (Which is kinda like saying if you can't perform a movie live as a play, it's cheating. Different animal entirely, dammit!)

Same thing with synthesizers.

What it truly comes down to, regarding tools, technology, talent, brainpower: IT'S HOW YOU USE IT.

You can make something that sounds human or machine tooled, or somewhere in between. You can kill a song or bring it to life.

Or you can even use your tool deliberately as an effect (which I sometimes do with special guests, right in my very boudoir...). Once again: Cher. (No, she wasn't one of the special guests. Yet.)

Dude! You get it! 
It's a shame more people don't.

Brian used to capture the magic on 4 tracks! Roughly 12 instruments and 2 sets of 5 voices!!
Then in 1979/80, Keepin The Summer Alive was recorded on 48 tracks! Two 24 track decks in synch. WHAT HAPPENED?!
Wasn't the Imagination album recorded on 96 tracks? 96 tracks!!! WHAT THE f***?!?!

I wonder when this slab'o'wax is available for sale?

I agree with most said about pro-tools above.
I could go on a very long diatribe about the applications of recording digitally, but for the most part, people don't use it as an actual tool, as intended, but rather a crutch to repair and correct things that the producer/engineer/artist believe need it. Digital recording has come a long way, but I believe it still has a way to go, much like digital photography did in its infancy. Looks much better now that it did, but still not as good as it should be.

Digital recording still sounds flat to me. There's no life to it. No presence. It doesn't breathe like analog recordings do.
And yes, my biggest beef with digital recording is all the 'futzing' that done with autotune and other corrective means within other software. I don't pay much attention to what's popular on radio unless it's within ear shot and I have to hear it. I recently heard some Katy Perry tune and I was dumbfounded by how robotic everything sounded. Nothing sounded like it was produced or played by a human. When you start tinkering with instrumentation to smooth things out, that's when instruments can sound completely hallow. As a musician, I like to hear the nuances of music- errors, sour notes, microphone bleeding, and for the most part in modern music, that's long gone. Brian's last few albums take on this asthetic. Digital tinkering sucks the life out of a recording and my ear hears it. I'd much rather hear albums like 'Orange Crate Art' and 'Imagination' prior to autotune and other vocal smoothing techniques. It sounds more natural and pleasing.

I have a friend that is a die hard rockabilly artist. He's made a name for himself and is a very popular touring and recording artist. I was discussing some of his material with him and asked about a specific record. I told him I liked the way it sounded and he said, "Recorded with pro-tools! Can you believe it?!" I was absolutely floored and he shared the notion of disbelief. But it goes to show that if used correctly as a means to capture sound and not completely manipulate it, things can actually sound fresh and organic. Trust me I could go on and on, but there's my kodger rant. 

The format of the tapes supposedly in those boxes is the question - if they're multitracks they wouldn't be that size, and if they're dubs the type of tape is the question as well.

And that's a huge question.
There are definitely multi-track tape boxes pictured here, and that tells me they contain more tracks than 2 tracks. Which eludes to- they are more than a 2 track mixdown master.

Yes, the entire second movement is just so powerful - the first night, by the end of "Song for Children", I was a wreck.

HA! You weren't the only one AGD!
I went with a handful of adult, male friends and we were all weeping tears of joy.

Now that some years have passed and I can reflect clearly, I believe this BW album is best heard as a live performance.
The album itself has some flaws that drive me crazy- vocal blend with too much Foskett in spots, pro-tooled to death, the way "You're Under Arrest" is spoken in an non-humorous way, the call & response between Brian and Taylor- specifically Taylor Mills, the megaphoned 'pirate' lyrics, there's some brutal high-end eq'ing on one of the tracks that made my ears bleed. There are a few more things, but I'd have to listen again and I don't wish to as it just kinda frustrates me.
It was great at the time, I've scrutinized it, and I don't like it as much now.

Other points.
I'm glad Brian did it as it probably freed him of some deep-rooted demons. The clips of them starting rehearsals at Brian's house with him completely withdrawn, pale, sweating are incredible. You can see him cringing at the thought of having to relive a terribly painful time in his life. He ultimately faced and conquered them. Incredible.
I like some of the transitions that Brian & Van Dyke came up with as well as Darian's assemblage of Wonderful/Child/Song For Children.
I also find it ironic that Darian is against bootlegs considering that he learned what he knows about the original SMiLE... from bootlegs.

A few points regarding Ed's photo.

Sunflower and beyond tell me these are not the SOT tapes. Besides one reel at 15 inches per second is about 30 minutes long and the SOT boots are much longer in length. So much for that notion. If it was a shot of the SOT tapes, Sacramento is not present, yet, St. Paul is, which is not a SOT boot. Still at 7 1/2 IPS, each reel would still only be less than 60 minutes.

I'm also thinking the photo itself is not of 1970's vintage.
Polaroids of that era have a tendency to fade, they are also not terribly sharp and this Polaroid has all kinds of detail.
Just some food for thought.

11. Without Earth (The Moon)
16. The Moon (The Moon)

Ooh. Both great! I don't really consider those as solo releases, but I recon they really are.

(Surfin' 'Round the World,

WOW! Totally forgot about this one! Absolutely among the best of the bunch.
Contains some great surf instros and some early FUZZ guitar. Brilliant stuff!