While countless hours of music geek drooling have been spent over the unreleased Smile album, this rushed it’s place release is nevertheless an unusual and highly original set of seemingly half finished pieces, balanced by the inclusion of pop symphony “Good Vibrations” and the multi-phonic wall of vocals on “Heroes and Villains,” two completely out of place, massive sounding singles. Elsewhere, the rest of the 28-minute Smiley Smile is drastically contrasted by underproduced entries such as the child like “Vegetables,” hushed tones of “Wind Chimes” and “Wonderful,” and doo-wop ballad “With Me Tonight,” tracks that feature simple instrumentation and often exhibit segmented, cut and paste style arrangements. Add in the ultra dry recording of the vocals that make the songs sound even more like demos, and it’s easy to see why the general public didn’t get Smiley Smile upon it’s release.
While it’s still a little underwhelming in light of Wilson’s completion of Smile, there’s a homespun, slightly psychedelic charm here that deserves more appreciation. —Ben
You know, for me the cover alone would be worth the price, I could spend days gazing at it, attempting to unlock it’s secrets. The fact that possibly the best ever pot song, “Good Vibrations” sings it’s sweet siren song when you spin this licorice pizza is mind blowing. Like a good Marley tune it never get’s old on a hot summer day.