Brian Wilson Presents SMiLE

Anachronistic? “We will ‘party’...” - definitely not a phrase from the late 60s. Party went from a noun to a verb?  The noun party to “to party” - if you were going to decline (in Latin) or conjugate it (in French.)

It always cracked me up when these experts - mostly child psychs - decided that bathroom time for the kids was “toileting the children.” You use a toilet - an inanimate object. Give me a break. But, I think you’d have to ask the band members who worked on the project.  Not a hanger-on. Not some bystander writing for a magazine. That is primary evidence.  I don’t care what someone thinks, I want to know what they know, because they were there. Someone like Desper counts, as an exception for me. The rest is hearsay.     

On the other side, my take is someone such as Darian could project the tracks up on a wall (projector) to make it a “visual” which might have been the most difficult challenge Brian faced, how to make sense of it to the record company, and the listeners, doing a 21st century project in the mid-60s and in Brian’s vision, who is just like the rest of us in a sense, always tweaking, just like re-arranging furniture, always looking for a better way of doing things.

Darian could probably really assist Brian “synthesize” the project into something more maneuverable and manageable. It was “modular” - almost around the time that very primitive computers with their new languages were coming into being. “Modular” was almost a scholarly way of looking at educational learning segments. Everything I have read about Brian has at least one focus on listener acceptance.  And he strikes me, and I find him so funny when he asks rhetorically “will it be a hit?” Almost like a child who never outgrew the newness of being creative.  So, my 2 cents.  😂  

Agreed. But it's the next best thing and turned out to be much better than it had any reason to be. I really hope they re-release this version again on vinyl; I missed it the first time around.

I enjoy watching the DVD over and over again. I've seen the concert movie more times than I've listened to the studio CD. This is one thing, among many others, that I'd love to re-purchase on blu-ray, but it's never been released in blu-ray as far as I know. 

Agreed. The live shows were far more "earthy" than the rather glossy and borderline sterile studio version. I actually ripped the DVD audio of the live performance to my iPod with some DVD audio ripping software and have listened to that more often than the studio version itself.

So, you have to realize here that I am a monstrous fan of Brian in particular because of SMiLE, and to me, SMiLE is on of the most personal records to me that I've heard. When I first read about it, I was totally blown away. I would never have imagined one man being so driven to beat the Beatles at their own game that he would inadvertently create something so out there, so impossibly huge in scope that he himself would not only not finish it, but be tormented by his inability to finish it for so many years. It absolutely fascinated me, and then I read that he had finished it in the form of BWPS, and I looked it up on youtube, and I sat through it, and it had me totally enthralled. That was the first I had heard those songs. I was not familiar with much of The Beach Boys at all at that point, and to be honest, I hadn't really liked them then. too Summer-y, not creative enough like The Beatles or early Queen or any of the other bands I liked at the time - but this? THIS? I finally understood why they called Brian a genius, Something I had heard for years, but never had any context for..and i was utterly hooked. To think he had stuff like this just sitting on the shelf for years.


Now, naturally, I know now that it isnt SMiLE as it could have been. I was soon caught up in the original and Pet Sounds and the Surfs Up album and all that--but man, I just still get such happiness from what that album represents, and to this day I kick myself for never giving Brian any credit. It's to the point now that my love for Brian is so deep that as an amateuer composer, if I wasn't handicapped and could be anything I wanted, I probably would have loved to have the creativity he had, and the drive to realize it...I know all of this is going to sound corny because I can't explain what I go through in detail in a place like this, but music is the most important thing to me and it's what has brought me through so much. I am so infatuated with The Beatles, for example, that I can tell you the dates of sessions, what takes are used where, what John Lennon thought of XYZ, and his life story...and so you have to understand that when I heard THIS was his answer to Revolver (In a way) and that SMiLE would have been released in the same timing window as Sgt. Pepper...when I finally heard BWPS, I immediately thought "This is BETTER than Pepper!" and I DO NOT say that lightly as if that album isn't one of my favorite things. For BWPS to make me feel those emotions even WITH Brian's weaker voice is nothing short of mind blowing. I need you to understand: I LOVE Sgt. Pepper and i was by no means expecting to say that when I heard it, but somehow, it got me.

Is it as good as the original? No. Did it have to be? Hell no. I still listen to it today and I consider it the "Official" version. Why? Because Brian did it. It's his creation, and if that's how he wants SMiLE to be considered finished, he has every right to make that call. Especially with how much pain it caused him just to finish it. "Beautiful Dreamer" is an amazing documentary and really opened my eyes to how emotional it was, and that's all the evidence I need. If Brian's happy, I'm happy. I was unaffected by whatever transitions were missing or tracklisting quibbles there were when i heard it to boot, so there's bo reason why I can't give this a 10. Whatever longstanding fans feel about it now compared to any fan mixes, it was BWPS that made me feel this way about the project and though I can't deny the superiority of the original material in hindsight, if im introducing anyone to SMiLEm its going to be via BWPS first. It's the way Brian would probably want it, and it's the way I want it, too.



 @iluvleniloud I just wanna say. having read your posts earlier in the thread, you did nothing wrong an I appreciate your insight and fan-mixes. I know the individual you were arguing with meant it in an insulting way but in my book, there's NOTHING wrong with being "The Smile-Girl" at all! Your knowledge is invaluable to someone like me I will say though, as far as fan mixes, are you who made "Aquarian SMiILE?" personally didn't really enjoy it that much if I'm truly honest - Probably because it's just not how I'd want the finished product to be formatted and I'm very much used to BWPS's track list, but hey: It's a great, uniquely put together mix and good on whoever made it regardless! It's better than I could do.

 I hope no one laughs at my take here. I know i don't come across as all that knowledgeable. I've only been studying SMiLE for a few short years. Go easy on me!