Hey all. I actually tried to check in for the first time in a loooooooooong time recently and was worried this place was gone forever. Happy to see it's back, and it's good to see some old familar names still around!

Kudos to Chuck for keeping this place alive for all these years.

Crazy to see this place still going after all these years. Hard to believe it was 20 years ago that I discovered The SMiLE Shop, and some remnant still remains. And I still have that Tina Fey avatar from a decade ago. lol

Either way, very cool to see you all here still talking about the music you love. I was 19 when I discovered this sh*t, and I'm about to turn 40 in March.

Time fucking flies.

I can't believe my old login still works here after all these years!

So for my first post in forever, just wanted to link to the first live performance of SMiLE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz8WLJlwGik

Thinking back to this night in 2004 when so many of us at what was then known as The SMiLE Shop were refreshing our browsers to find out how Brian & his band were going to construct SMiLE that night. I was at a friends PC and trying to get any info possible, and there was news coming in of new lyrics and transitions and it was just an insane night of everyone on the edge of their seats while this was happening in London. Days later an old school dude of the SMiLE Shop community hit me up on AOL IM with a download of this exact audio which I immediately burned onto a CDR and still have. If the fellow once known as Chalk & Numbers is lurking out there somewhere still all these years later, thank you again.

I've just been nostalgic recently, and I wanted to see if I still had access to this board after all these years.

If you remember me: Hey! How are ya?

If not: What's up? Started on the SMiLE Shop at 19 years old in 2001 and here I am now 37 years old.

Time flies, but our love for this band remains true as ever.

Via Wikipedia: "Songs from the Black Hole is an unfinished, unreleased album by the American rock band Weezer recorded between 1994 and 1996. Intended to follow Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut album, it was a science fiction rock opera that expressed songwriter Rivers Cuomo's mixed feelings about rock and roll success. Its six characters were to be voiced by Cuomo, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Matt Sharp, plus Rachel Haden of That Dog and the Rentals, Joan Wasser of the Dambuilders, and Weezer collaborator Karl Koch.

Cuomo recorded demos for Songs from the Black Hole over Christmas 1994, and Weezer held recording sessions over the following year. At the end of 1995, Cuomo enrolled at Harvard University, where his songwriting became darker and more confessional. Feeling the Black Hole concept was "too whimsical", he abandoned it; Weezer's second album became Pinkerton (1996), including some songs once intended for Songs from the Black Hole."

So as I used to do with SMiLE mixes in my days on the original SMiLE Shop bravenet site, I've finally done one with Weezer's unreleased Space Opera from the mid 90's. Rivers Cuomo wanted to go all in after Weezer's debut album, and in 1995 tacking something like a Space Opera just wasn't heard of coming off the days of grunge and the Punk Rock revival via Green Day & The Offspring.

So yeah, we got Pinkerton, which is a great album. But years later we find out more than a few of those songs on that record were to be pieces of an epic dialogue driven Space Opera.

Using the demos we now have released by Rivers himself, we can finally piece together this unreleased masterpiece, and I did just that recently. I tried to clean up some of the demos, sync things up, and I included a summary to the story in the file as well as an album cover.

Who knows how would something as ambitious as this would have be received in 1997, but it's proof that Rivers Cuomo was operating on crazy creative level when the post grunge period was pretty damn sterile creatively.

Here is the PapaNez made Weezer still unreleased album "Songs From the Black Hole:" https://www.mediafire.com/file/o1fh7b5hiph9c4j/Weezer_-_Songs_From_The_Black_Hole.zip/file

Hey Andrew G:

Wut?

[S M i L E]

Sometimes it takes a little while...

...but the way it turns out will make you S M i L E

 

Holy hell Jared! I remember you from when you were a wee kid back in the day! Good to see you still carry the torch my friend.

With the permission and input from Misters Hunt & Lane, the SMiLE Shop is now on the book of face:



Click the pic. Like it, and join in!

Good to read this thread and read some folks I hadn't heard from in years.

It may be 10 years late...but it's better late than never right!?!

Some really interesting stuff in here guys!

I've been out of the Beach Boys game so long it's good to see there's still new oddities popping out of the band's history.

Never thought to piss-about with the lineup from Holland, but this has piqued my interest in doing so. I really dig the idea of Trader being the opening track.

I have a lot of catching up to do around these parts.

Just heard Weird Al's new album, "Straight Outta Lynwood"... the track "Pancreas" is a DEFINITELY style parody of 'Smile'!  It's a bunch of little vignettes (about the pancreas, obviously), parodying...

* Our Prayer
* I'm In Great Shape
* Wind Chimes
* Roll Plymouth Rock
* Good Vibrations

And there's also some "God Only Knows" in there too.  It's AWESOME!!

merda man! Where'd you hear the record already? I just found out about it the other day and saw the video for 'Don't Download This Song' on youtube. That's awesome that he parodies some SMiLE bits in there. And how is Canadian Idiot? I'm very pumped to hear how that bitch turned out. I'm really excited about this record after the crapfest that was Poodle Hat. I haven't been able to stop listening to Weird Al since I was 4 and heard Dare To Be Stupid for the first time. I'm more than glad he's still around and doing his thing. Now I just have to wait until late September to hear this record!

Midnight Star (TheLazenby in this case), I wanna know, I wanna know!

But not good?  Hard to care.  And the thing is, there is no sign that the team is going to get better.

Just imagine being a lifelong Cubs fan. We're just now getting to the point to where the front office actually cares about consistant winning, rather than just lining the Tribune's pockets with cash. It's been 98 years since we've had a championship....and we have to deal with the biggest crowd of fairweather fans on the planet. Words can't even describe how annoying that is.

Anywho, to be on topic: The Blackhawks suck. They suck bad. REALLY bad!

Here's a couple of myspace links to my shiz.

This is my band; The Confines. We're currently puttin down an album at a studio here in Champaign and all we have are some ruff mixes up (and a demo for a song not going on the record presently being recorded). Our record is going to be titled 'The Chronicles of a Goodtime' and is a concept album like no other. The record should be done by July we're hoping. Anywho, here's the link for my band:

www.myspace.com/theconfines420

And here is a page that I had started for the specific purpose of having the rock opera that I had been working on for 3 years heard in some fashion. Well, I hit a massive bump in the road (the music was more complex than I could handle since I already had my hands full with the new record for the band) so I just turned it into a site to put up some of my odds and ends that I do apart from the band.

http://www.myspace.com/the11thhourrockopera

So, uhhhhhhhhhhh, YOU LIKE THE CUBS???

That NYE photo is SOUlFUL!

It's not a question of liking the Cubs my friend. The Cubs are just a part of who I am as a human being.

And that NYE picture is totally my fave pic. But that is, of course, because of the lady by my side. To quote Noel Gallagher: 'She is Love.'

The Lamia by Genesis
Moribund, The Burgermeister by Peter Gabriel
Intruder by Peter Gabriel
The Importance of Being Idle by Oasis (sung by Noel)

The weird thing is, it makes me feel so old to think I've been around here for so long...



But I just only turned 24

Me rocking


Me drunk


Me and The Queen, drunk on New Years Eve


The Confines

LOL 'cause I almost mentioned yesterday about the only old-school SmileShop guy whose absence round these parts truly is lamentable. PapaNez22. The single greatest and most honorable poster on any of these boards.

Finis.

I truly appreciate all the kind words you have sent my way over the years. You definately brought me out of my 'shell' and got me more involved vocally on the boards back in the day. Nothing but respect towards you my friend. Thanks, and again, it's good to have you back around.

Competitive? I don't remember anything of the sort throughout my first couple of years browsing the Shop. Spirited debate? Most definately. That's what made this place so damn awesome back in the day. There were so many ideas & theories being thrown around by so many, but everyone knew it was all toward the same goal. It didn't matter WHO had the best thought, but the thought itself is what mattered. Then you could take what someone else had started, and everyone else would try to expand on that towards 'an answer' of sorts. It was truly a thing to behold. It sucks that everyone who came later couldn't have experienced it.

When all the off topic stuff started going down, the wheels began to fall off. Times changed, SMiLE was 'finished,' new people came, and a good number of the old ones left. Meaning this: No one is to blame for anything. There's no fingers to point for the 'downfall' or the 'rising.' Times just changed. That's just my opinion though. I was never here to socialize, I was here to learn. And what an education it was. I'm not one to live in the past, but I'm definately one to move on. I just enjoy coming back to see what's up every once in awhile. That and having Sebs back around brought me back out a little more. It's good to have that man around.

Hell, Sebastian was really the first dude I 'socialized' with on the SMiLE shop back in the day.

I appreciate Sebastian because he doesn't give a f***. I know all this talk of 'but our words DO matter on the internet because it's real people' and all that jazz, but it's sad to me that the internet has become the social eqivalent of High School. It's a big reason I'm not around much anymore. I mean no disrespect to anyone, and I'm sure Sebastian doesn't either, but some people just make it way to easy. If you feel differently, that's fine. I don't look down on people for what they do with there time, I just won't subscribe to that life and I'll be vocal about it and not give a f***.

Al Pacino said it best as Ricky Roma in Glengarry GlenRoss: "All train compartments smell vaguely of sh*t. It gets so you don't mind it. That's the worst thing that I can confess. You know how long it took me to get there? A long time. When you die you're going to regret the things you don't do. You think you're queer? I'm going to tell you something: we're all queer. You think you're a thief? So what? You get befuddled by a middle-class morality? Get shut of it. Shut it out. You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You f*** little girls, so be it. There's an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don't think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won't live in it. That's me."

I appreciate many who have come, and many who have gone from these parts.
Chalk & Numbers
Guitarfool
Hunt
Lane
Aeij
Chris D.
George D.
Chris M.
Mason
Chuck
Costly Bow
Macandrew
_Andy_
Ian

(the list could go on, but there's dudes from the Bravenet days whom I would not, in a million years, remember their names)

Pretty much anyone who I learned from, musically, over the years. Which is why I was here in the first place back in 2001, and stayed as long as I did.

sh*t, your still going on about Wayne Rooney!?! Sebastian, seriously, didn't we already have this discussion that anyone on the Chicago Cubs could beat the living hell out of that wanker? You need to watch some baseball my friend.

And my god, your all fuckin insane...well except for Beckner cuz he just wanted to announce his return and now it's all this...and Sebastian just cuz...well, he's sebastian and he can do as he pleases because I said so. I was here before most of you bastards and I own every one of you. Stop fuckin around like little assclowns on a damn message board and get the f*** out of your house before I come out and do it for you. And you don't want that, cuz we'll go down to Wrigleyville and I'll forcefeed all of you a large number of shots of Southern Comfort while Sebastian gets to swiftly punt you all in the sack, and while Beckner sings his favorite Osmonds songs.

Just a couple cents from Nez.

I think his other big problem is that he somehow got the impression he should be idolizing Green Day and Oasis when they are at the most his peers and at the least his artistic inferiors.

I never really got that, either.  He went from copying some of his most imaginative peers (Flaming Lips, Nirvana, Blur) to copying some of his least imaginative.

what a crock that statement is.

f***, I've been away so long I don't even know what's going on anymore. Sorry about that.

good to hear from ya Nez. I started a "Where is Nez?" thread the other day, but it's gone now.

Nez has been having a splended time. Thanks for the thoughts J. I hope your peter Gabriel love has grown and continues to grow.

I've been away for a long time now. This kind of crap is the reason why. People have become so involved in this sh*t, this monstrosity we call the internet and message boards and all of that, that I started to feel sorry for the world around me. I had to unplug from all of this and go out and live. And honestly, it's been a great experience. Becoming that involved in all of this internet crap is unhealthy. It was for me anyway. I've done so much and went out and just met people. Formed new real face to face relationships, met a girl, wrote music under the beautiful blue sky, experienced all kinds of nature, and just got away from everything that is this (myspace doesn't count considering it's just pretty much become my email account now, and how I stay in touch with my personal friends).

Sides will be not taken in my case, because in my typical blunt honesty: I don't give a f***. This is the internet, no one is showing up at anyone else's house and stalking them or causing physical harm in anyway. If someone is feeling harassed, it's pretty damn easy to make it stop.

Leave.

Which is what it looks like has happened. Problem solved, it won't happen anymore and whoever is wrong and whoever is right doesn't matter anymore. There's no sense in pointing fingers and bickering when it's not going to do a damn bit of good to the situation. If people want to leave, let em. For those who want to stay, great. It's still just a message board on the internet. It is sad that what was once the greatest thing on the world wide web has become what it has. That's not in anyway blaming anyone for anything, but it's obvious why the old guard left and didn't come back a long time ago. It feels like Jr. High. I was never a big contributer to either sites, but the friendships I've formed with guys like Chris D., George Duss, and the soap opera that was Ian and myself going at eachother constantly until a mutual respect developed out of it has been totally worth it.

I'm not taking any sides, either.  I do feel bad about what's happened.

I think that theory makes sense, I think there is an urgency, and compression that tends to warp reality when dealing online.  I've certainly been effected by that.

I think another thing is that any physicality and body language is totally absent.  Even when you talk on the phone with a family member, you have a visual of them, their quirks and how they move.  But online, there's no reference...but that reference is so important because online we're six generations removed from the other person.

Our thoughts are rendered as speech, which we can render into text.  Then somebody else can read that text, convert it into speech in their head, and then process it.

It's almost like playing the telephone game...every time we type something on a message board.  I think it's a wonder these things work at all.

Spot on H. Another example why your the most well thought and relevant dude who's ever graced the Smile/Smiley shop. Whether you think much of me or not, I've learned a lot from you over the years. Thanks.

If you want to blast me for any of my comments, go ahead.

After all, it's just a message board.

And H's point about the huge generation gaps is very relevant. A lot of people my age have a sense of humor that would be very offensive to older generations and people with very high morals. It's almost impossible to be a smart ass without offended at least one person who isn't hip to the joke. It is indeed a wonder that these things work at all.

Alright, I'm done. See everyone on the other side. It was a fun ride since 2001, but it's just not fun anymore.

"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was eligible for this year's Grammys because it was released as a single after the time period for last years awards.

My fave part of the whole night was when Paul, after playing A Fine Line, strapped on the old Hofner and said: 'This is the first time I've played the Grammys. I guess I finally passed the audition. I want to rock, and I want to rock now." Then broke into a ripping Helter Skelter.