Smile!!!! The finsished article at last.....

9 out of 10 in the NME, apparently, though I haven't read it. That in itself is astounding. I refuse to listen to MP3/internet music when the CD is out in a few days, but having seen 3 of the shows this year it wouldn't surprise if very good indeed. NB Many people who complain about Brian's voice at age 61 fail to realise that the vocal on many of the sixties classics (e.g. Good Vibrations) was his brother Carl. Bri did sing Heroes and Villains though.

Having been at one of the Smile concerts in March and listened to a few good quality bootlegs many times since I can't wait. The music is just sublime and it's no wonder it's already received many ecstatic reviews.

Brian's voice used to be a 4 octave thing of beauty, at least the equal of Carl's but that voice was gone by the late 70s. Sadly it deteriorated due to many years of various forms of substance abuse, and latterly the effects of age. When he's relaxed he still carries a tune well but the soaring highs and plunging lows are gone forever.

And five stars in just about every review so far.
'Wonderful' just entered the UK top 40 at #29! What's going on?

An amazing achievement for a 62 year old man who's had more than his fair share of problems over the years.

It's just nice to see that real quality has been recognised in this case at least.

Just got it! Its in the player now and it rocks! I'm amazed at Heroes and Villains, and Surf's Up. I thought they would sound awful being redone after all this time but no! The whole thing is brilliant!

And for Naim CD player owners, it's mastered in HDCD and sounds gorgeous.

That part that joins 'Wonderful' through to 'Child is Father' seems to be able to bring a tear to the eye every listen. Get those voices/trumpets/strings!

I, unbelievably, never heard Pet Sounds until I bought it a couple of years ago, and I must admit - I don't really get it. I want to. But I don't.
On the strength of this thread I have just ordered Smile.
I'm not going to give up.
Help me please.

Rasher

I'm so glad you posted that. The whole Beach Boy thing just passes me by. let me know if i really should get 'Smile'.

Bruce

you think I can be a good judge of that?

Bruce.

Get the Sunflower/Surf's Up Two for One package (£5 ish from Music Zone), both these albums are better than Pet Sounds (IMO). If they don't do it for you, you are a lost cause I'm afraid

Rasher,
Pet Sounds is a beautiful album, well worth the effort it takes to get into it. That's the problem - it's not just another collection of catchy songs about surfing, cars, and girls. It's quite a difficult set of complex, unorthodox tunes (I don't know much about the technicalities but I've been told by folk who know more than I that the songs don't obey a lot of the normal rules - unusual verse structures, tunes going down when you expect them to go up etc. There's no shortage of guff written on this). It's also a very emotional album, ranging from melancholic to rousing sometimes in the same song. Very different from Dance, Dance, Dance and Hawaii.

The double packs are great value and as Greeny says Sunflower/Surf's Up is one of the best. I actually love In Concert which was recorded in the early 70s and shows what a great live band they were.