Brian Wilson's Smile...

[keith allen]

WTF is that,I got it for Christmas,I threw it in with great anticipation...and ohhh the horroh!Its awful he shoulda waited another 38 years to release it!

[Demiurge]

Originally posted by keith allen
WTF is that,I got it for Christmas,I threw it in with great anticipation...and ohhh the horroh!Its awful he shoulda waited another 38 years to release it!

It's one of the best releases of the year, by far.

[keith allen]

I'll play it again...I just dont get what he was trying to do here

[dorokusai]

One of my favorite albums.

If you don't like it, then you don't like it, that's what music is all about. Give it another couple spins, and make another decision.

[RuSsMaN]

Mark, how about explaining some of the history behind this album, and the prior - and what other bands it affected.

The historical signifigance is HUGE. Sgt Pepper anyone?

Cheers,
Russ

[hoosier21]

Send it my way Keith :D

[Shell]

Mark, how about explaining some of the history behind this album, and the prior - and what other bands it affected.

The historical signifigance is HUGE. Sgt Pepper anyone? I would like to read this.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

wasn't he in one of those hoppie bands like the Beach Boys or something???:D

Really though...

I agree with Mark, give it another listen, a couple more maybe. I've often found that if I listen to something several times, I'll ultimately end up liking it becuase I can usually find something about most music that I like...that's typically the case.

Having said that...I've listened to this album several times and still don't like it. This is odd for me, because I'm not much of a mainstream music person myself, and usually like stuff like this that is a bit odd...

[dorokusai]

Sorry missed the earlier comment. What's wild about the whole thing, to me at least, IS the history.

To make a long story short.....Rubber Soul begat Pet Sounds begat Sgt. Peppers begat Smile. The album was written in the late 60's....and never completed untill the current release.

George Martin and McCartney have stated that Sgt. Pepper's would never have been made had it not been for Pet Sounds....and Brian has said the same about Smile in relation to Sgt. Pepper's.

If you don't "get" Smile....then you must not "get" the aforementioned albums either, and that would be a real shame musically.

The composition and layers, of the tracks on this album are fantastic.

[Shell]

To make a long story short.....Rubber Soul begat Pet Sounds begat Sgt. Peppers begat Smile. The album was written in the late 60's....and never completed untill the current release. I see. I knew about the influence that the Beatles had on Brian Wilson and to some extent Brian Wilson had on Paul McCartney (not so much on John Lennon), but what I did not know was that smile was written in the 60's. I thought it was all new material.

To be honest I never liked surfing music all that much, so if the album is that type of music I probably would not like it. The Beatles on the other hand are still great, although Peppers has not aged musically as well as some of the other Beatles albums.

[dorokusai]

I wouldn't call it surf music, but it still has a Beach Boy's "feel" to it.

If it HAD influenced Lennon, he would have never met Yoko Ono.....and that would have been fantastic.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

it's definitely not surfing music...

[Shell]

If it HAD influenced Lennon, he would have never met Yoko Ono.....and that would have been fantastic. True but then we would have missed out on all those wonderful songs of Ono on the double fantasy album.:rolleyes:

I just read some history on the Smile album. Truely amazing that his fellow beach boy cronies ruined the release of the album and Brian to some extent. I think after doing some reading I will buy the cd and see what all the fuss is about.Great review (http://www.maisonneuve.org/blog/index.php?itemid=673)


As a whole, SMiLE evokes the structure of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and the freewheeling pop inventiveness of Sgt. Pepper’s. The Beatles’ musical masterpiece is part of what drove Brian Wilson mad: with SMiLE, he was trying not only to expand upon the sounds he’d created in Pet Sounds but also to one-up the Beatles, with whom he had a friendly rivalry.

[Demiurge]

I just read some history on the Smile album. Truely amazing that his fellow beach boy cronies ruined the release of the album and Brian to some extent. I think after doing some reading I will buy the cd and see what all the fuss is about.Great review

Brian was ruined while he was writing SMiLE. This is coming from someone who considers Brian Wilson to be a musical hero. His voice is simply amazing and I've always loved the vocal harmonies with the Beach Boys.

Brian Wilson is a complete nutcase now. Out of his mind. That's what drugs will do to you and they have a lot to do with what SMiLE is. I have the original copy of SMiLE (Which was finished a long time ago) if anyone wants it sometime send me an IM.

[dorokusai]

"Smiley Smile" was the early release was it not? and not the same as this album.

Pieces of the original were in other albums, but never as a whole.

[Demiurge]

Originally posted by dorokusai
"Smiley Smile" was the early release was it not? and not the same as this album.

Pieces of the original were in other albums, but never as a whole.

Yes, it was, you're right to an extent. Brian redid everything for this release, and truthfully I liked the original more...only for the fact that his voice was so much better. That's not something I would hold against him at all because it's only the nature of things.

You're right it wasn't 'complete' but what 'complete' is only reigns relevant in the mind of the artist.

This album is great and it's too bad that things went down the way they did. How this could have altered or did alter music history is one of the most amazing aspects of it all.

[dorokusai]

I understand what you're saying, and I agree on your additional comments. You can hear his strange stroke/drug induced voice clearly on the newer version....and his voice on the original is very different.

Count me in as a fan.

[Demiurge]

:D

Watch the Beach Boys - Endless Harmony DVD if you get the chance, it's uhhh....interesting. ;)

[Shell]

Yes, it was, you're right to an extent. Brian redid everything for this release, and truthfully I liked the original more...only for the fact that his voice was so much better. That's not something I would hold against him at all because it's only the nature of things. After doing some reading it appears that Carl Wilson did most of the singing on the first work.

[Demiurge]

no.

[TroyD]

Originally posted by keith allen
WTF is that,I got it for Christmas,I threw it in with great anticipation...and ohhh the horroh!Its awful he shoulda waited another 38 years to release it!

Trade ya a copy of PF's Momentary Lapse of Reason for it ;)

It's been on my short list of things I want, thought I'd get it for Christmas (but didn't) and every time I walk into a music store, I do a complete brain dump and forget all the ones that I keep saying I'm going to buy, like Smile.

Agree about John not hooking up with Yoko. Bitch.

BDT

[dorokusai]

Troy, I already have it for you actually....it was supposed to go out before Christmas....it will go out this week.