The Beach Boys Album: “Smiley Smile/Wild Honey [Remaster]”

Smile was supposed to be Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys' magnum opus, their masterpiece. The album was to be an absolute groundbreaking collection of music on the par with the greatest music ever released. Unfortunately the sessions for the album broke Brian Wilson and its full genius was never realized. Bits and pieces of the sessions did see the light of day and they are fabulous. "Good Vibrations" was recorded prior to the Smile sessions and at the time was the most expensive single ever made costing in the range of $100,000. to produce. The money was well spent as the song is a mini-symphony that employs strange and unheard of instruments and sounded like nothing before and really nothing since. "Heroes & Villains" is the best known song from the Smile sessions and it kicks off Smiley Smile, which is the remains of the aborted sessions. It is done in a "Good Vibrations" vein and a good song. Other Smile leftovers include, among others, "Vegetables", "Wind Chimes" "Gettin' Hungary". There are some other solid songs like "With Me Tonight" and "Wonderful" and the album is well above average, but it has a what could have been feeling hanging over it. Wild Honey on the other hand is an unexpected surprise. The album has a loose feel to it without all the heavy production of the previous release. The songs are straightforward and have a R&B flavor to them. The title track is a marvelous song and one of their more underrated numbers. "Country Air", "I Just Once Love To See Her" and "A Thing Or Two" are good as well. "Darlin'" is a pretty song and one of their most enduring. This collection is great to listen to as you get two sides of the Beach Boys. Smiley Smile shows the tortured genius of Brian Wilson and Wild Honey shows the simpler side of the band after Brian Wilson's input waned.

Well, it's about time! I've been waiting a very long time for definitve reissues of the Beach Boys catalog on CD. The old CD issues generally sound pretty lousy, and many of the discs were unavailable or out of print. I'm so glad that this series is being released, and they really are doing it right. First, they represent awesome values, especially considering the price-gouging going on with major label CD's. You can get two full-length, unedited albums on one disc for less than the price of many single-album CDs. Oh, and these records are $%&^$#$$*#@! brilliant!!! The sound is amazing. The 24-bit remastering process reveals details and a sense of air that anyone with a half-way decent stereo will appreciate. The leap in quality is comprabable to that heard with the new CCR remasters that came out last year. The music is great. Of course, Pet Sounds is THE best record ever, but... Smiley Smile and especially Wild Honey would have sounded like full-on masterworks if Pet Sounds hadn't come out first. If these were the only two records the Boys had ever put out, they would still be remembered fondly. If you have never heard these discs, this a great package to pick up. If you love Pet Sounds, you'll probably love these almost as much and... who knows? Maybe even more... If you are not really familliar with the Beach Boys and only know 'Surfin' USA" etc. try these albums, they may change your mind about one of the most talented, misunderstood bands in the history of pop music.

OK, so Smile was supposed to be the Rosetta Stone, The Golden Fleece, the Holy Grail. Get over it...We all know the sordid tales of substance abuse and manic depresssion that nearly distroyed Brian. And with his self distruction, so too were the Smile sessions obliterated. Well it's been more than thirty years and endless speculation over what Smile may have been. Never the less, Smiley Smile, which followed on the heels of Pet Sounds was as Carl Wilson so aptly put it, "more of bunt than a grand slam". So the world, myself included, was under-whelmed by Smiley Smile. But, the years have been kind and Smiley Smile stands on it's own as one of the Beach Boys more satisfying efforts. Not only did they score two top-40 hits with Good Vibrations and Heroes & Vilains, but Vegatables, Wind Chimes and With Me Tonight all qualify as minor masterpieces.

Wild Honey released in 1967 was a real departure for the BB. Not only was Brian's hand at production down-played to the extent where he really takes a back seat to brother Carl and cousin Mike, but the biggest change was the R&B influence. Here the boys jump into Stevie Wonder's I Was Made To Love Her with blue-eyed soulful abandoment. While it's true most of the BB albums of this period are spotty and somewhat uneven, Wild Honey holds together rather well. In fact I do believe the bulk of these two albums sound a whole lot less dated than much of what was permeating the air-waves at that time. Do I dare say "Along Comes Mary", It's A Sign Of The Times", I've Got A Brand New Set Of Roller Skates"....I could go on and on.

First of all, let me say that as a young man whose favorite group of all time is The Beach Boys, Smiley Smile is without a doubt my favorite album. It is very different from any other Beach Boys disk in that it is somewhat of a dry and dark production.

I first got the album at the age of seven and immediately fell in love with it. At this point in my life, in the midst of massive family turmoil and loneliness I would put the LP version of this album on my Mom's console stereo and feel incredible comfort, as though it had been made especially for me. I knew that some things in my life were going terribly wrong, but I was not far along enough to know what they were (aside: my parents were on the verge of divorce). Maybe Brian Wilson had similar thoughts and emotions about dissension in the group while creating Smiley Smile. Who knows-just wondering.

Since that time this has always been my favorite all time recording. And as I have grown up and become a musician, I have come to understand why artists such as Pete Townshend and Robby Robertson site Smiley Smile as one of their favorite rock albums- it is brilliant and unlike anything, ever.

The beautiful timbre of the group's vocals over what is mostly very spare music is more pronounced on this recording than any other in their catalog. Although the album contains a couple of wonderful works of production, Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villians to think of this as a Beach Boys album to be compared with their earlier hits or even the beautiful Pet Sounds album is, in all honesty, missing the point.

In my opinion, songs like Little Pad and Wonderful are not meant to be played alongside sunbathers at the beach; they are meant to accompany dark, stormy summer days that were bleak and maybe a little scary. Also, this recording has elements of humor, sadness, and confusion in songs like Wind Chimes and Fall Breaks Into Winter which add to the incredible human warmth of the recording.

In essence, Smiley Smile is a little spooky and sometimes goofy (the boys were high on a few of the tracks supposedly) but that doesn't make it any less of a delight, in fact they add a documentary like element to the album.

Many people will probably respond that Smiley Smile is nothing more than an album of Smile leftovers, but I can only tell you that this album is a wonderful experience all it's own. Coupled with the great R&B of Wild Honey, it is well worth your time.

To really appreciate these albums, you have to understand the circumstances under which they were recorded. But at the same time you have to remind yourself before putting the album on, that this isn't SMiLE. Indeed, in many ways these two albums are as far away from SMiLE as The Beach Boys ever got.

Smiley Smile is probably best described as The Beach Boys "drug" album. The boys sound incredibly stoned at times on this album ("Little Pad", "Wonderful"). And you would have to say that of the songs that were originally intended for the SMiLE album, the versions on Smiley Smile are inferior to the originals. That's not to say they aren't good, they are. It's just that they sound like nothing else in The Beach Boys catalogue.

Wild Honey has been described as The Beach Boys rythym and blues album, and while that's true to a certain extent, Wild Honey may be better seen as the beginning of The Beach Boys phase 2. You can hear the beginnings of the style they would develop on such classic albums as "Friends","Sunflower","Surf's Up", and "Holland". The album is also notable for featuring the first original song by the band not written, or co-written by Brian Wilson. The times they were a-changin'.