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  • Love this story about this album and most of the pieces of the songs on here. Do not like Heroes and Villians that much and as long as Brian likes it and many other people that is all that matters. Brian is a genius and self taught on the bass and voice and the piano. What a genius. Thanks for this post about Brian.

  • "THE SMILE SESSIONS" 2-CD AND LIMITED ED. BOX SET OUT THIS SUMMER! YES! YES! YES! YES!

  • On a scale of 1-10, I'd give Pet Sounds a 10, and Smile an 8. Love you all to pieces Brian, but I think you've been sucked into all the Smile hype like anyone else who could possibly contemplate it as being superior to it's '66 predessor. Saw the show though, and it was riveting, mostly because of the astonishing backing vocals.

  • @vampyros1 Kind of agree, though based on Smile reconstructions it's clear that Smile would have been A) WAY more diverse and intricate, B) The Pepper-killer, if such could exist. Like, it would have stolen a tone of the "revolutionary" thunder from the rest of the big '67 albums. So basically I'm just suggesting that on musical scale and importance Smile would have had a pretty good claim on the 10. But song-by-song, Pet Sounds has way more heart. Lyrics are a lot more immediate.

  • te quiero, abu brian! cosita!! cómo baila!!! jajaj

  • te quiero, abu brian!

  • Smiley Smile (1967)  is way better than SMiLE

    Why? nothing can beat the sixties :D

  • @jammmon Go listen to say the Purple Chick SMiLE reconstruction based 98% on only the '66/'67 tapes. THAT's better than Smiley Smile. 

  • 2:13 OH SHIT IT'S ERASERHEAD!

  • although smile wasn't released in its time, van dyke park's song cycle was released in 1968, and may not be as good, but is just as adventurous compositionally and just as grandiose. so to speak, it's got all the aspects that would have made smile so revolutionary, but the songs aren't as good. it's still fantastic though.

  • HIs band is amazing. Really superb musicians.

  • A continuum from Gershwin to Bacharach ... I dunno Elvis. I suppose, like apples and oranges?

  • what is the name of the song that he sings at the end of this clip? it is nicely done. I like how complex it is - like a mini opera.

  • @idic5 Heroes and Villains? 

  • Sheer brilliance! This genius is full of beautiful surprises. Who ever would have thought he would perform Pet Sounds live, and then to take on Smile. This man reaches out and embraces us. You don't just listen to this music, you experience it! An emotional experience indeed.

  • Wow...I love how engaged Brian is during this live performance....and his voice sounds like Brian of old (before brake down/drugs/weight).....

  • Pet sounds a 7? SHANNANAGINS

  • Foskett wants to be carl SO bad.

  • I want that SMiLE shirt.

  • @dumbangel75 ,And I too want that smile shirt.

  • great music

  • Check out the version on the Good Vibrations Box Set...with the incredible bass organ. That really gets me.

  • Mike Love didn't like them either. yes, they were written with/by the eccentric and brilliant Van Dyke Parks. i love the lyrics, they are like surrealistic poems. true, they are non-linear, but they consist of artistic and creative word rhythms and sound interesting when sung whether they "make sense" or not. the lyrics to "Surf's Up", though having nothing to do with surfing, are exquisitely gorgeous

  • the result of brains silly lyrics on smile is a. from van dyke parks input b. lsd and c. the fact that the album is called smile, brain wanted smile to represent something happy and carefree, he said that pet sounds was sad and smile was happy. both are beyond all of the rock n roll and pop at the time and forever more.

  • I just saw Brian and his band last week. They are amazing and Brian is as magical as he ever was. Check my page for about 5 or 6 videos of that night. Seeing him live without that fool Mike Love was incredible!!

  • waw! The world should give the recognition that this man deserves! They should erect statues, names of streets, many tributes. He is a cultural heritage of mankind!

  • I am sooooooooo impressed!

  • this video comments show that YouTube has a good 40 % of ignorant idiots commenting out of their pea sized brain. they try hard to show that 'their' musicians are better than others just like 7yrs old children do with their cartoon heroes.

    fuckin enjoy the music! and if u dont like it MOVE ON

  • Pet Sounds is 10/10

    SMiLE is 11/10

  • you will never hear something as original and as musically sophisticated as this material. The other beach boys missed out on this musical and lyrical journey and it is a great loss to the musical community that this production wasn't smiled upon by the rest of the band in 66 and 67.

  • The difference between Brian Wilson & Syd Barrett? Brian came back from the edge, Syd didn't.

  • Bad music, and bad singing? Of all the bands you mention in your other post, none of them can sing as well as Brian in his prime. Brian's voice in 1967 was as close to an angel as we will ever hear. Brian Wilson is a musical genius and all of the bands you mentioned agree, and have paid tribute, except Jimi Hendrix. Jimi, though, died nearly fourty years ago and was already washed up and unable to get a gig in the USA. Ask any real musician and they will tell you that Brian Wilson is a genius.

  • You show your ignorance.The Beatles never would have made Sgt. Peppers if not for Pet Sounds. The recording techniques that Brian used were brand new and changed the dynamics of production forever. Pink Floyd was similar to Brian with unorthodox harmonies and arrangements, but any notable music beyond "See Emily Play" was made years later. Led Zeppelin was great but they came out 4 years after Brian changed music production with Pet Sounds. Hendrix & The Stones are overrated not revolutionary.

  • all of those groups you mentioned all played completely different rock music, not one of those bands had a similar sound with the next. there's really no comparing any of them, it's apples and oranges. the only difference is that none of those artists (maybe with the exception of hendrix and lennon) were musical geniuses like Brian Wilson was.

  • smile is a great album.....but it has nothing on Pet Sounds

  • kinda agree. at least it'd the most realised

  • I love the instruments, harmonies and production and I see how good Smile is but I just can't stand the lyrics. It seems almost like a comedy album of patched together nonsense.

    Pet Sounds was the greatest.

  • the lyrics do have meaning to them. and brian wanted some humorous and fun lyrics on the album because he wanted it to be a happy album. he wanted people to smile when they listened to it.

  • I smile when I listen to Pet Sounds! I understand what you mean but I just can't bring myself to like it or consider it in the same league as Pet Sounds. The lyrics may have meaning to him and maybe he wanted it to be humorous, but that's not what I want. I can find comedy albums everywhere, I don't want one from Brian. The goofy lyrics ruin what could have been a greater album than Pet Sounds. I am sorry to say it but that seems to put me in the same category as Mike Love. LOL

  • Besides 'George Fell Into His French Horn' and maybe 'Vega-tables' I cannot understand what is comedic about SMiLE...

    It is more spiritual than comedic... Songs like 'surf's up' or 'wonderful' are some of the most powerful songs I have heard...It was to be a teenage symphony to God...."music people will pray to"

    'Pet Sounds' is my favorite album of all time, but SMiLE is right up there with it....Pet Sounds is to love as SMilE is to spirituality and America...IMHO

  • We love you Brian!

  • nice, but too orchestrated for the boys' original format

  • one of the greatest albums ever!!! :D

    <3333

  • A last wonderful greeting from the unforgetable "Sixties".

  • I am a big Beatles Fan. But I have to admit. SMiLE is just fu---ing awesome. Can't stop hearing it ^^

  • one of the best talents in the world

  • brian wilson's music is so beautiful. i've been a fan for a long time now.

  • God only knows how i get around and how i say dont worry baby to barbara ann... lol

    brian wilson: music at a higher level; immense beauty. wordless

  • what was the first song that brian was playing on the piano?

  • Surf's Up

  • thanks!

  • surfs up

  • For all Brian has been through and to be able to revisit a very painful, destructive period in his life AND pull all these fantastic tunes together at last is simply amazing. Brian you are a precious gift to your fans! We love you.

  • I'm no critic or expert of any kind; just a regular guy getting older and looking back to the early 60s and The Beach Boys music being part of my life. I've followed Brian and the guys for a long time and have come to the conclusion that I believe history and the people who write the musical part of it will conclude Brian Wilson one of the 20th Century masters. He has overcome so much in his life and always given us this wonderful music. Thank you for my lifes soundtrack, Brian!

  • I am stunned --better than 1967's Smiley SMile LP.

    How many people expect a washed-up has-been re-release of outdated music?

    Not so with Brian Wilson's 2004 smile.

    WIlson writes music that has stood the test of time. Strong melodies, harmonies, a lot of brilliant chord changes,modulations, key changes, tempo changes.

    Brian's new band are outstanding live performers.

  • Way to cut it right at the best part of the song...

  • Thank you Brian for giving us a chance to hear this AWSOME music. I wish i had been around in 1966-1967. Those were the good Old days.I love the Reprise era though. thats my childhood. THANKS BRIAN for such wonderful songs

  • I liked it.But i like brian wilson.When we get older we start running out of time.

  • aLfR3dd is dead on.

  • Thank you, Brian, for your beautiful work. Greetings from "an innocent boy from the Spanish [...] home of" myself ;)

  • You're absolutely amazing brian wilson. Thank you for this wonderful piece of art

  • Brian Wilson = Visionary Genius

  • at least his voice didn't change like bob dylans

  • amen

  • Is there an analog recording of the new Smile? I know it is on LP but was the source analog?

  • Heheh. I mean the source recording to tape. Of course the voices are already analog....

  • To return to anything is a bad thing ...whether a relationship or a time and place...the dream is gone ! These new guys may be excellent musicians but do not belong with this music or the mystique...Smile I believe was destined to be an unfinished master...as it contains the times and scars of an age when Brian got involved in a period of his life which should remain part of a magical project that should remain in 1967. The fact it was unfinished is irrelevant...it is synonomous with that time.

  • I don't know. A lot of times the only way to get over something is to face it, whatever it is. Regret is a horrible thing to have to live with and that's probably why Brian had to finish 'it.' Plus if the dream is gone then all there is left is to wither until you die.

  • i agree wholeheartedly

  • Can you imagine the impact this album would have had if it was released in 1967? The musical landscape from then 'til now would have been drastically different.

  • Though the Beatles made awesome music anyway, I would be fascinated with their response to SMiLE (since Sgt. Pepper's... was a response to Pet Sounds/Pet Sounds a response to Rubber Soul). I completely agree with you. This is why so many people hate Mike Love (since he was one of the variables that caused SMiLE to be put on the shelf). You hit the nail on the head, though, and that is the true tragedy of it all.

  • imo the impact will be similiar to the Pet Sounds - not really a commercial success (maybe even lower than pet sounds - there was no market for it in early 67 but in late 67 maybe yes), critics probably will be very safe, but years later this album will be acclaimed probably even more than pet sounds

  • yes but even now the music of Pet Sounds is not understood by many,people think of Brians music just the surf sound and not much else

  • @mochalex yah! it would have been the st. peppers.

  • @mochalex Most definately

  • If Brian is right, that SMiLE is a "10" - It must be on a scale of 8!

    Incredible vocal and instrumental harmonics.

    {Click BB45s for 100+ rare Beach Boys video playlist}

  • Who's the blond in the green dress! wowwy

  • ...Taylor Mills

  • dorkhunter1 go jump in a ditch

    i beat u couldnt even make a nursery rymes

  • ブライアンすきー

  • anyone know what the harmony in the beginning is from?

  • The harmony piece is the piece that introduces 'Smile'immediately before the song 'Heroes and Villains'. If I remember correctly it's called 'Our Prayer'. Magnificent harmonies and Wilson at his best!!

  • Brian Wilson= Genius in my humble opinion

  • dorkhunter1 - wow, if only you had a brain! Do tell us what part of the actual music of 'Warmth of the Sun' was composed by Mike Love. Of course, you're right, 'not f*****g with the formula' is the Mike Love way to create a masterpiece. We can all check out cousin Mike's staggering songwriting catalog for confirmation of his genius. But wait, you aren't actually Mike Love are you? You're so full of shit you must AT LEAST be related.

  • He's been through a lot over the years... Brian's a Hero!

  • indeed...heroes and villains baby

  • SMILE GREATEST ALBUM EVER

  • how about not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!

  • Brian Wilson is just amazing. I would have like to seen what he could have done with John Lennon. I think Wilson was more open then McCartney and wish he could have shook the Beach Boys image on a few solo albums during the 66-67 years then get back with the BBs later. Just take a small detour you know?

  • Yeah, the dvd is called Brian Wilson presents SMiLE, and these clips are from the documentary Beatiful Dreamer by David Leaf. I don't know if you can buy the doc separately, but I bought the whole thing because the second disc is Mr. Wilson and his band performing SMiLE.

  • thanks!!!

  • is this on dvd????????

  • yep, on the SMiLE dvd. truly recommended, it's a rock solid documentary. it'll break your heart

  • McFly are better!

  • Beach Boys = Brian Wilson All him, and only him!

    His background helpers not needed as you can see.

    Sorry Love, but it's true!

  • Gross! Are you serious? I mean the voices of the original were so much better! Clearly I think Wilson was a much richer composer than any of them, but some of my fav beach boys songs were not written by wilson. I don't think SMILE would be as deep as it is now if it was finished in 67.

  • ya ok....

  • if brian wilson committed suicide in the sixties the beach boys would be considered way more legendary than they already are

  • good god i love Brian Wilson.

  • He is god

  • You gave us too much, thanks.

  • he certainly is in the right area, how do you reckon hes a racist?

  • Because of an off the cuff remark he made in 1978 during a US tour that was intended to deliberately antagonise his inqusitor ? Dont think so.

  • real shame brian wasn't able to finish this in '67. if he did, i think it would have been better than sgt. peppers. then the white album would be better than it is today... then the latter half of the beach boys' catalogue would have been substantially better, as well as the beatles catalogue. they were always in a friendly competition... but no, brian chose insanity instead and ruined everything for all of us

  • brian was going through problems, he didnt choose to go through them

  • You know what? Seriously... SCREW YOU!!! Do you realize how much Brian has given to all of us? Do you realize how much he has shown and taught some of us through actually rising from those ashes, talking about it, and releasing this brilliant work? It is genius today, it is brilliance. Brian did not CHOOSE insanity and he is not so crazy as you accuse - you haven't that genius or talent yet you judge? ha! If you want to blame somebody, blame the limited Mike Love and judges who did not support

  • Brian's Back...and I never knew he was gone!

  • You've all tasted the Kool Aid for fucks sake, he's just a guy that wrote some pop tunes. When he walks on water and turns water into wine I'll worship at the Altar Of Brian.

  • You really don't get it do you. Brian had/has a very unique and rare quality of being able to touch people's souls with LOVE through vibration, harmony and melody. He was a primary source of unconditional love for me since I was 6 years old, and has been and is for MILLIONS of people.

  • No, AliAssaSeen is totally right. I mean, how dare we question the validity of someone's comments meant explicity to get a rise out of everyone else.

    I mean, Brian Wilson was just a guy who wrote some pop tunes. T.S. Eliot was just a guy who wrote some poetms. Jackson Pollock was just a dude who made some paintings. They all won't be remembered 1,000 years from now so what's the point? Right, AliAssaSeen? Isn't that right?

  • Oh, yeah, on a side note Ali, this Kool Aid really tastes like ecstasy; in fact, I think I could live off it.

    But it's ok, they're only pop tunes. No harm, no foul.

  • You're Canadian....a bastid stepchild to pasty Brits and foul smelling French poofs.

    Faggot and cock in the same insult?? Yer a nancy boy...aint cha? The truth will set you free, hoser.

  • I've been trying for years, but just can't get limber enough.

  • The nutter was more interesting when he lived in a sandbox blitzed on purple micro dot.

  • He never lived in a sandbox. He composed songs on his piano in a sandbox, which people like to use as an example of "crazy Brian", but I tend to think of it as more his way to help inspire and influence the writing. Some of the greatest songs he's ever written were sandbox songs, like 'Surf's Up' with Van Dyke.

  • everybody is so quick to call him a nutter... but look what he has given us... what he has created. He is a genius and maybe just ahead of his time. What have you created that can touch so many people so deeply. My guess is nothing. You are not his peer... you have no right to judge him.

  • the original "smile" would be good to hear now, but all we have is the newer version of it and we should be thankful for that..Thanks Brian! God Bless!!

  • You can still get a bunch of the old Smile stuff on disc 2 of the Beach Boys box set and the rest from bootlegs.

  • I have been a fan of The Beach Boys for over 40 years and have a massive collection. I have met them and I have decided that this is too clinical and too exact lacking in soul. How many of these guys here would be playing if it wasn't for the fame, prestige and money ?

    Smile belongs in the 60's and the fact it was never finished is irrelevant. The whole point is that because of that aspect it made it so fascinating and when Brian decided he couldn't complete it meant that it WAS finished.

  • man brian can do whatever he wants what does it matter if he wanted to finish that music he should be able to do whatever musically he wants to without having to worry about doing that exact respectful thing

  • I listen to BWPS all the time... it is amazing. I doubt that darien and the others would have the patience and discipline to learn their craft so well AND to work with Brian through his challenging states that were on the path to getting it done. It is amazing and wonderful... the unfinished SMiLE is available to wtf? the fact that it is unfinished is beautiful and this version is too. I for one was happy to see how he brought it all together and resolved it. I felt a settling when I heard.

  • Surf's Up, souless? Let's get that ear fixed, mate.

  • Worst comment ever.

  • "Heroes and Villains" is so amazing!!!!

  • And yes you are your name. Grow up.

  • what's the song at the very very beginning, with the harmonizing?

  • 'Our Prayer'

  • It's called Surf's Up..

  • dexterdot is right - the song that comes right afterwards, is indeed Surf's Up, with Brian singing

  • crap it keeps cutting out!

  • Just take a second to imagine if, as initially scheduled, Good Vibrations was released on Pet Sounds..

    Sgt Peppers would be no competition

  • If you want a competition, there's football. Now, in an alternative universe, it happens, Brian Wilson managed weeks of work in a single night and "Vibrations" was on the LP. But in that universe, the Beatles also finished their scheduled single, so Sgt Pepper's was called "Dolls House" as intended and it had Penny Lane + Strawberry Fields on it. It's a better universe, but there are no goats so the cover is different.

  • you lost me at football

  • "Sgt Peppers" was originally meant to be about childhood in Liverpool and had a working title of "Doll's House". "Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields" was the centrepiece along with "Day in the Life". But those tracks took so long, they forgot they had to make a single every 6 months, so they were forced to release those tracks and reinvent the LP as "Pepper".

    Musicians try to outdo one another, but nobody is ever the "winner" - is "Good Vibrations" better than Hendrix or Dylan? Meaningless.

  • It was The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album) that was initially to be called A Doll's House, not Sgt. Pepper

  • No.......

  • or rather yes right, sorry and thanks but still, as Wiki says "Before beginning work on Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles had begun to work on a series of songs that were to form an album thematically linked to childhood and everyday life. The first fruits of this exercise - "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were released as singles under pressure from EMI to meet their traditional release structure of one album and four singles a year. Once the singles were released the concept was abandoned"

  • oh yes. that's right. Revolution In The Head, a book by Ian McDonald, is great for anyone who's interested in this kind of things

  • But thanks for putting me right about the name - as you can see I had a hard-wired misrememberance somehow.

  • I/m not quite so mad about the book you mentioned though.

  • I can't recall the last time I obsessed with a work of music such as SMiLE. To watch Brian Wilson transform himself, as he fulfills the promise of his and Van Dyke's other-worldly beautiful compositions, supplanted by this amazing band, well, I've become addicted. Must watch 5 times a week. Most likely, best album ever.

  • I'm so glad Brian Wilson got this done. That it wasn't left to legend & speculation. Love it.

  • Beutifull,absolutely beutifull.

    I have to give smile 5 stars out of 5.

  • If you miss the point why people call BW a genius, you miss insight into music. Even if you don't like the product he made, you can't deny that it's very complex yet sounds totally natural. Next to that he is one of the pioneers who saw the musicstudio as one big instrument, with wich you can create so much more then just record the sum of the parts together.

    That he created most of "smile" with the musical technology of the 60's that is amazing..

  • HipChickie,

    I find BDW as a hero! Not because of his hardships not because of his wonderful music but because he found his way back. He became lost along time ago (he chose some of the wrong paths himself) but he found his way back. I have made bad choices and I have had a few hardships and when I look at Brian - I realize there is the chance to come back from them.

  • SMILE is just a great album. As good as promised & hyped almost 40 years ago. Brian Wilson IS a music genius --unfortunately 30 years before his time. His music was too advanced for the technology of the 1960s.

    SMILE could never had been done correctly in the 1960s. Obviously, it took 21st century technology to enabled Brian produce the sound he heard in his mind. Unfortunately it just wasn't possible in the 1960s to produce this album.

  • I see what you're getting at, but I listen to my booted Smile stuff more than my copy of 'Brain Wilson Presents. I think he could have made the album in 66/67, It was more than just technology that stopped him. For the record, the 'booted' stuff I have is a few old internet downloads and the box-set stuff edited into a nice sequence. The new Smile is actually a lovely job and does the Smile legend proud, but maybe I'm too used to the feel of the original recordings

  • Dont you think putting Elvis and "these days" together is like putting steam engine and modern transport together? Maybe you also want to take a deeper look into BW to figure why he is the way he is. Most people admire him because he writes damn good music, and not because of whatever myth hangs over him.

  • Hi. I dont understand what you are trying to say about Brian. Can you elaborate please? Thanx.

  • The greatest music ever made.

    Truly.

  • When I bought Petsounds I loved God Only Knows and Wouldn't it be Nice, but I didn't entirely get the rest of it. It actually took me a few years, but then it became my favorite album. I always kind of liked Heroes and Villains, but after hearing thuis, I suddenly realized what an excellent song this is. And it's surprising that the rhythm is actually hopping on this.

  • and man does this sound good.

  • God it really is a great album...I'm not too sure about pet sounds being a 7 tho!

  • that's marketing for ya I guess..

  • The greatest ever. Period.

  • Listen man,,,,you don't talk to Brian...you listen to the man....I mean...the man's.....uh....he's enlarged my mind....I am a little man he is a great man, I mean I can't, I can't.....he is a poet and warrior in the classic sense....

  • ...I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you...then he'll grab you and throw you into a corner and say, "Did you know that IF is a middle word in life?"

  • Have you been called a insensitive prick lately?

  • Only on my nicest days.

  • Wow so that is what LSD abuse does to a person huh? Well, at least Jan Berry of "Jan & Dean" had an excuse for becoming all goofy on stage due to his car crash with brain injuries and everything.

  • i believe it was amphetamines and cocaine and hash, not LSD dumbass