SMiLE Sessions box set!

[juggler]

Yeah, what shocked me was he's gone from responding optimistically to smile questions to just a "maybe"

Sometimes Brian is simply in no mood to do interviews, and he endures them by employing a combination of silence and obfuscation.   Absent some independent confirmation that the project is in trouble, I'm going to take Brian's "maybe" with a grain of salt.

[Shady]

Yeah, what shocked me was he's gone from responding optimistically to smile questions to just a "maybe"

Sometimes Brian is simply in no mood to do interviews, and he endures them by employing a combination of silence and obfuscation.   Absent some independent confirmation that the project is in trouble, I'm going to take Brian's "maybe" with a grain of salt.

Yeah 

Hell, I can wait.

Lot of big releases coming in August for me so they can hold me over till the big one, TSS

All the best to Mark and everyone involved in this project, make it special and make it worth this horrible wait

[tansen]

Yeah, what shocked me was he's gone from responding optimistically to smile questions to just a "maybe"

Sometimes Brian is simply in no mood to do interviews, and he endures them by employing a combination of silence and obfuscation.   Absent some independent confirmation that the project is in trouble, I'm going to take Brian's "maybe" with a grain of salt.

Yeah 

Hell, I can wait.

Lot of big releases coming in August for me so they can hold me over till the big one, TSS

All the best to Mark and everyone involved in this project, make it special and make it worth this horrible wait

Which releases do you have in mind?

[2 and a half]

Yeah, what shocked me was he's gone from responding optimistically to smile questions to just a "maybe"

We don't actually know when this interview was done - maybe it was before Brian signed off on the project

[drbeachboy]

Brian said "maybe" because he reads this board and wants to drive Phil & Fishmonk crazy. What a prankster that Brian is.

[bgas]

Brian said "maybe" because he reads this board and wants to drive Phil & Fishmonk crazy. What a prankster that Brian is.

Too late for them. They're already over the edge.

[rogerlancelot]

Here are upcoming releases from Metacritic:

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/release-date/coming-soon/date?view=detailed

All kinds of releases are mentioned. No BB box however.

Damn.

 

[Roger Ryan]

Sometimes (o.k. - most of the time) I have little idea where Brian is coming from with his answers to interviewers' questions, but with this one you've just got to realize that he thought it was hilarious to answer the questions "yes", "no" and "maybe"!

I think he also recently stated that he didn't know what songs he recorded for the Disney album, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Finally, in a deeper sense, his response is absolutely accurate: does the release of THE SMiLE SESSIONS mean that the actual SMiLE album is being released? Maybe or maybe not; the actual album may be in there somewhere, but it's not a certainty.

[Micha]

Maybe or maybe not; the actual album may be in there somewhere, but it's not a certainty.

Except that there is no "actual" album as the recordings were never finished, just abandoned.

[seanmurd]

Here are upcoming releases from Metacritic:

http://www.metacritic.com/browse/albums/release-date/coming-soon/date?view=detailed

All kinds of releases are mentioned. No BB box however.

Damn.

 

That's because the date hasn't been announced yet.

[Peter Reum]

The project is on target for a release in the window everyone is speculating about..

[Shady]

Why can't they announce that though, why is it so hard to have a release date

That's just something I can't understand

[D409]

Maybe or maybe not; the actual album may be in there somewhere, but it's not a certainty.

Except that there is no "actual" album as the recordings were never finished, just abandoned.

Maybe with all these "facts" about The Beach Boys that we all thought we knew being disproved, it would be no surprise to find that the actual album had in fact been completed ; its non-release down to Brian and Capitol simply changing their minds about releasing the album in its then-current form, and concocting a legend with the help of Derek Taylor and the contemporary press that the tapes had been destroyed, the album abandoned, etc - if Pet Sounds was the greatest album ever made, then its follow up was to be the legendary greatest album Never made !
Just a theory...

[Roger Ryan]

Maybe or maybe not; the actual album may be in there somewhere, but it's not a certainty.

Except that there is no "actual" album as the recordings were never finished, just abandoned.

Maybe with all these "facts" about The Beach Boys that we all thought we knew being disproved, it would be no surprise to find that the actual album had in fact been completed ; its non-release down to Brian and Capitol simply changing their minds about releasing the album in its then-current form, and concocting a legend with the help of Derek Taylor and the contemporary press that the tapes had been destroyed, the album abandoned, etc - if Pet Sounds was the greatest album ever made, then its follow up was to be the legendary greatest album Never made !
Just a theory...

By saying that the "actual" album may or may not be found in the sessions is meant to imply that there is no definitive answer to that question. The interviewer specifically asked if Capitol is intending to release the SMiLE album this year. If Brian wanted to be pedantic, he would have answered "no" since the release actually documents the sessions for an album that was never completed. I assume Brian was being evasive or funny by answering "maybe", but in a way the response is truthful: the album may or may not be found there depending on your perspective.

[buddhahat]

The project is on target for a release in the window everyone is speculating about..

^^ Heed these words. I think we're all so hopped up about this release that the lack of information in itself seems foreboding but didn't someone point out that the GV box had very little pre publicity up until about a month before its release?

 If we've heard nothing more about this by mid september, then I might start getting concerned, but as it is, for an Oct release, I see no cause for concern that we haven't had another press release yet.

[Micha]

to find that the actual album had in fact been completed ; its non-release down to Brian and Capitol simply changing their minds about releasing the album in its then-current form,

I wish you were right, but I don't believe that. The way Surf's Up was cobbled together in 1971 is IMHO proof that there was never more than just half a basic track done until then. All we can hope for are slightly more completed versions, like one more vocal overdub on Wonderful, and one or two unheard sections. And of course, speed correct and less hissy versions of the recordings we know from the boots, which is something good too.

[bsten]

 

I knew it! I knew it!! It's not going to happen!!

Aaaaaarrrrghhhh...........

They´re coming to take me away,
Ho ho, hee hee, ha ha,
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I´ll be happy to see
Those nice young men
In their clean white coats
And they´re coming to take me AWAY,
HA HAAAA

 

[monicker]

This thread is so telling of the impatience of our McCulture and, specifically, what the internet has done in that regard to worsen the phenomenon. As much as we'd like to think otherwise, Capitol doesn't "owe" us anything. Also, knowing that they have officially announced the release to be "this year," at this point in time, what does having the exact release date do to change your reality? 

[Dunderhead]

I like that attitude that says that capitol doesn't "owe" us anything. We're really turning the screws on them aren't we? Seriously they have us frothing at the mouths, pleading with them, begging them to allow us to give them our money. What a terrible position for them to be in.   "Alright guys, alright, you're really breaking our balls here, but I'll tell you what, we'll allow you to give us your money. But you owe us one, this is a pretty big favor, we can't just go around letting everyone give us money willy nilly, but we'll let you do it just this once." Please.
They aren't releasing this out of some altruism, they're releasing this to make money. They're lucky that they have a market for tapes that have been sitting on the shelf for 40 years. Without us nobody would care about smile, we're the customers, and ultimately we're the ones they have to please.

Smile really isn't that popular. Things like The Beatles reissues, or the Pink Floyd reissues enjoyed pretty extensive discussion when they were announced. On some other message boards I peak at the thread about the smile sessions got like 5 responses while some other major archival releases really got people excited. By now most people have forgotten about this project, and I think capitol has really dropped the ball. I don't think their current strategy of just refusing to say anything at all until the last minute has helped them, they could have done much more to manage the excitement and build the anticipation. Instead they just let it go unchecked and it's turned on them and just created months of pissed off fans. I don't think that really did anything to help this release, I don't think it got them anymore sales, and I don't think it really helped their reputation. Considering that they could have done more with a minimal amount of time or effort, I don't see why they didn't. Instead they've just assumed that annoying posture of "f*ck you guys, you'll buy it no matter what". Sure they are free to do that, but I don't think that made them any fans or sold any more units......

[hypehat]

Guys, we shouldn't be blaming the internet, we should be blaming Al Jardine.

If It wasn't for him, we wouldn't know sweet FA about this boxset until Capitol released a full press release, with release dates, a tracklist and everything probably sometime in August.

As such, Al's loose lips ensured they had to essentially say 'The box is coming, we're working on it, but we don't know the details' and couch that in vague press talk. So we're waiting in real time, as opposed to the thing being under wraps until July or August, where we would have had the big announcement and a month or so wait.

[Ram4]

Guys, we shouldn't be blaming the internet, we should be blaming Al Jardine.

If It wasn't for him, we wouldn't know sweet FA about this boxset until Capitol released a full press release, with release dates, a tracklist and everything probably sometime in August.

As such, Al's loose lips ensured they had to essentially say 'The box is coming, we're working on it, but we don't know the details' and couch that in vague press talk. So we're waiting in real time, as opposed to the thing being under wraps until July or August, where we would have had the big announcement and a month or so wait.

Or it could be 100% intented to be that way by Captiol to get the fans talking about it on the net.  A big buildup usually will help sell more units than an "oh by the way, SMiLE is coming out next month" (which many people might miss).  Getting people to talk about it for months is a good way to stir the pot of interest. 

I remember the buildup for the Led Zeppelin DVD and Live CD in 2002-2003.  The wait was brutal, and we not only had to wait almost a year for the release once we knew about it, but there were tons of news stories about it, and rumors about possible other releases coming after those two.  It was exciting, but very hard to wait!

[rab2591]

I think we all need to chill out. Gad, i'm listening to alternatebrianwilsonpresents SMiLE fairly buzzed and am loving life...suggest others do the same.

There are still 3 months before the supposed release. I keep writing about the mojo single, the mojo article, the h&v and GV single. Capitol HAS been promoting the damn thing (they ARE behind these recent releases).... just because they're not on the horn every day spouting SMiLE factoids doesn't mean they don't care about the project.

[Dunderhead]

Actually only 2 months not 3. Really hope we get something soon, I'm half expecting a press release any day, and if August comes to an end without any word I'll be really skeptical about the prospect that this is still coming out.

[rab2591]

Actually only 2 months not 3. Really hope we get something soon, I'm half expecting a press release any day, and if August comes to an end without any word I'll be really skeptical about the prospect that this is still coming out.

I'll agree with you there. And yeah, just two months....sh*t, maybe you're onto something....it is getting down to the wire, eh?

Agh, between the rumors, the facts, and whatever else, I think it's coming out. Too much has been said in the last few months for it to fall to pieces....too much publicity, too much hype. It'll come out methinks.

And the month after next we'll be swimming in the glory of our pristine boxsets and after that...well, I know that climax will be like the month after Christmas when we were kids and there's nothing left to look forward to.

[drbeachboy]

Guys, we shouldn't be blaming the internet, we should be blaming Al Jardine.

If It wasn't for him, we wouldn't know sweet FA about this boxset until Capitol released a full press release, with release dates, a tracklist and everything probably sometime in August.

As such, Al's loose lips ensured they had to essentially say 'The box is coming, we're working on it, but we don't know the details' and couch that in vague press talk. So we're waiting in real time, as opposed to the thing being under wraps until July or August, where we would have had the big announcement and a month or so wait.

It is not the Internet's fault, nor Al Jardine's, and surely not Capitol's fault. Some people need to practice some self control and patience. Except for the announcement, nothing official has been released. It's like listening to spoiled children in here. I've waited since I found out about Smile in 1972 and waiting a few more months for release or even waiting to hear an official release date is a drop in the bucket in regard to time. Just knowing that it is in the works and is coming soon, has made me a very happy fan. I've waited 39 years, so another 2 months will fly by in no time.