Viley Mild

Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10

If you had no idea about the history of The Beach Boys, and you listened to Smiley Smile right after hearing its legendary predecessor Pet Sounds, you'll undoubtedly wonder what the heck happened to them! Pet Sounds was a refined and wonderful album that pushed the boundaries of rock music and song production --- Smiley Smile is a bizarre and poorly produced album with merely whispers of that genius.

The history behind Smiley Smile is pretty tragic, after all... As the legend goes, Brian Wilson had a theoretical album up his sleeve called Smile, and it promised to be magical. It was said to have been so great that it would have made Pet Sounds seem irrelevant. It would have beat out Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by half a year (often considered the greatest album ever made), and it's conceivable that Smile would have had that album's status today.

Wilson already wrote the material for it and he was taking painstaking efforts to get the material recorded. He had already invested so much of himself to get Pet Sounds recorded, but he was getting even more ambitious for Smile. And sometime long before it was completed, he snapped. He just couldn't do it... Some like to blame Mike Love for it. That's certainly warranted! But it was more closely tied to his drug addiction and existing mental instability. Also, you'd have to suppose that those haunting harmonies he wrote would have had a factor. I feel overwhelmed just listening to 'em --- imagine if I was trying to make a perfect song out of them. Luckily, he still stuck with the songwriting, but he was no longer the genius who was constantly pushing the band and the boundaries.

Of course in 2004, Brian Wilson would finally put the thing together, and I believe it to be one of the most beautiful albums ever made! I have an unfortunate perspective of already knowing the Smile by heart, so this failed incarnation really does seem like failed demos.

All of that said, don't start thinking that Smiley Smile is a wasted effort. Far from it... This might be "failed demos" of sorts, but these are weird and pretty interesting. Oh, let's mention that this album contains two seemingly completed songs from Smile and you can hear both of them in all their glory. "Good Vibrations" was a smash hit single and, in itself, pushed the boundaries of songwriting and production. You can tell these guys had reached the pinnacle there --- that's just perfection and does more in three and half minutes than most bands would take in two hours. Wow. And then there's "Heroes and Villains," another brilliant song that even expands upon the Beach Boys' already refined sense of vocal harmonies... They certainly never did anything quite like that before.

But then there are the other songs. Geez, they're weird. Not only do they come off like hollow shells if you're familiar with Smile, but they come off as overly spaced-out and bizarre psychedelic tracks. Even worse, they come off as confused instead of deliberate --- if it were the other way around, I would probably call this a lost masterpiece. I made a comment in the track reviews that I had might as well make up here. This is The Bizarro Beach Boys. One of their incarnations in another dimension probably sound a lot like this album. Maybe the dimensions collided in Brian Wilson's brain or something. The instrumentals seem out of place as well as it seems like a few band members decided not to show up the day they were recording this. Smiley Smile sounds completely out of this world or they were all on LSD and didn't polish it after they sobered up. Alternately, maybe I'm on LSD, and I don't know it.

I mean, even if Brian Wilson had a breakdown, you'd think the band would still be able to put together something a little less ... crappy. OK, I have complimented much worse albums, but ... well ... hm ...

Overall Album Score: 7.9 out of 10 (What should have been the ultimate statement of the '60s wasn't meant to be. What's left is a bizarre, discomforting though mildly reccomendable album.)

Average Song Score: 8.2 (The songwriting is right. The production is wrong.)

Album Tilt: 7.5 (Just a bizarre experience. It'll leave the listener disconbobulated.)

Artist Rating: 8.0 (It's more sloppiness than artistic expression, but you do have to respect "Good Vibrations.")

Track Reviews

Heroes and Villains 10/10

At least this sounded complete and it's probably close to how it would have sounded on Smile. It's a glorious song, of course, and it's absolutely worthy to drool over! The melody and harmonies are absolutely haunting and stirring. You also have to love the melody, which is immediately catchy. But what makes Brian Wilson's work even more amazing is the song development --- This song goes absolutely everywhere and its execution is unconventional yet seamless. What a crazy collection of ideas. The last important thing to mention is that there are tons of different textures that he uses. Yeah... impressive indeed.

Vegetables 8/10

Now comes what sounds like a demo to me. This sounds very strange and drugged-out. If I didn't hear the final version on Smile, I would wonder what the heck they were going after. This song, as it stands, doesn't sound crazy-brilliant but just crazy. Yikes... They're singing a pretty catchy song about eating vegetables amidst a constant, pounding bass line. There's a weird use of a very low register pan-whistle. And they insert crazy sound effects of people eating vegetables. Yeah... weird...

Fall Breaks into Winter 8/10

This surfaced on Smile as "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow." It was an instrumental there, too, so they weren't ever planning on making vocals! This sounds so stripped down compared to "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," which was to perfectly illustrate a ravaging fire (and sirens wailing and everything). What we have here sounds like a bunch of weird guys spacing out... Well, it's enjoyable in a different sense!

She's Goin' Bald 6.5/10

This was apparently based on something meant for Smile, but I don't recognize anything. Well, this song should be kept far away from that album. It starts out as a rather simple but OK melodic line whilst someone plays bongos. Then, somebody messes with the vocals and they sound like chipmunks... They cut that out, and they start to sing an under-produced and spaced out soul song... Oh my gosh... Well this is a real mess. It's not even perversely enjoyable like the two previous tracks were.

Little Pad 7/10

Somebody's doing drugs, and they're not sharing. This one sounds like it was partly rewritten as "Blue Hawaii" on Smile, but I can only barely gain that impression and only in select locations. It starts out with some drugged up laughter and then some weird, thick Hawaiian music pops up --- And then that stops and somebody starts strumming a ukulele. Wow, this is weird. You'll have to hear it... I can only use words to describe this oddity.

Good Vibrations 10plus/10

And then there's "Good Vibrations." What a freaking wonderful song --- and easily one of my favorite tracks ever made. Hailed by Brian Wilson as a "pocket symphony," this thing had so many sounds stacked on top of itself that it's hard to even sort out. But you're going to have fun doing it. The arrangement is utterly spectacular and the development is absolutely legendary. LEGENDARY. That's all.

With Me Tonight 7.5/10

Another one that sounds weird. If it's also an abandon Smile track, I really don't recognize it. I'm sure Wilson wrote material for that album that he never used for it... this could be one of those. Well, this also sounds horribly incomplete. It begins with some a cappella vocals --- well, they sing a rather pretty melody but the only accompaniment they have is a lone organ just playing long, drawn-out chords on a low register. Spaced out, man...

Wind Chimes 8/10

This was to be another beautiful song to be featured on Smile with the same title. This is undoubtedly a weaker and sloppier version of the final version, but --- well, it's still rather beautiful. This is played a lot slower, though, so it REALLY sounds drugged up. Furthermore, the vocal performances sound like they were on LSD when they were actually recording this. Trippy!!

Gettin' Hungry 8/10

As far as bizarre beginnings go, I think this might top them all. It begins with a really strange robotic groove played on a weird electric organ. It's kind of like a bizarro form of synth-pop. They just keep that groove going for a few seconds, and they rather awkwardly launch into more of a goofy soft soul song. The nicest thing about these songs, I guess, is they refuse to be categorized. But then again, it still comes off like somebody's on drugs and nobody bothered to come around and make it right...

wonderful 8.5/10

Now, this is one enormously beautiful melody that would turn into one of the many great songs on Smile. I bet you can guess the problem of it --- it's really sloppy. Again, it comes off as an unfinished demo --- as it probably was. This is Bizarro Smile.

Whistle 7.5/10

A one minute track. A pounding old piano and the Boys singing what might sound like a usual vocal Beach Boys sound except someone smashed up the mixer. Well..

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