Audio CD review:
The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile/Wild Honey

The Beach Boys - Smiley Smile/Wild Honey

Band: The Beach Boys Title: Smiley Smile/Wild Honey Rating: Release Date: 2001-04-10 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Heroes and Villains - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 2: Vegetables - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 3: Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony) - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 4: She's Goin' Bald - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 5: Little Pad - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 6: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 7: With Me Tonight - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 8: Wind Chimes - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 9: Gettin' Hungry - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 10: Wonderful - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 11: Whistle In - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 12: Wild Honey - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 13: Aren't You Glad - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 14: I Was Made to Love Her - The Beach Boys, Cosby, Henry 15: Country Air - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 16: A Thing or Two - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 17: Darlin' - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 18: I'd Love Just Once to See You - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 19: Here Comes the Night - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike [Beach B 20: Let the Wind Blow - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 21: How She Boogalooed It - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike [Beach B 22: Mama Says - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 23: Heroes and Villains - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 24: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 25: Good Vibrations - The Beach Boys, Love, Mike 26: You're Welcome - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian 27: Their Hearts Were Full of Spring - The Beach Boys, Troup, Bobby 28: Can't Wait Too Long - The Beach Boys, Wilson, Brian

Wild Honey is a Lost Masterpiece Let's face it, Smile is overrated, too much filler, the musical textures and structures are brilliant, but Van Dyke Parks lyrics are annoying and not up to the high standard set by the music, Wild Honey had at least 3 songs that should have been top 20, Aren't you Glad(with a Motown beat) Let The Wind Blow(Lennon & McCartney didn't compose anything better than this)and even the cover of I Was Made To Love Her should have charted, that Capitol ignored this album and did not push these songs is criminal, it was 1967 and Brian Wilson was still king. Brian Wilson's obsession with taking the Beach Boy's sound to another level, like the Beatle's had done with Revolver & Rubber Soul, gave us Pet Sounds and would later bring about the Good Vibration sessions and the aborted Smile project, but for my money Wild Honey is the masterpiece that Brian was trying to make, by accident or by design, this album was everything that Rubber Soul was, every song stands out by itself, there is continuity, the songs flow together in a fashion that nothing on Pet Sounds or the patchwork bits & pieces that made up Smile every could. . An Elegantly Flawed Disc The music is unbelievable especially Smiley Smile. I feel that this grouping of albums is a blessing in that you can get two important but slightly flawed albums of Tehe Beach Boys for a low price. It is exhilirating to hear Brian Wilson's genius in this stripped-down form. What is there just teases you as to what it would have been if all the problems of Smile hadn't occured. The second half, Wild Honey, is just fun Beach Boys, no psychedelia at all, just fun. It's a great summer album all together, the first half for when your blazing, the second for when your driving around in the hot summer air. I recommend this album. Goodbye Surfing, Hello God ! If you ever wanted to hear what the Beach Boys would sound like on Hashish and laying on their backs while singing harmony stoned, get this, it's really good. Smiley Smile - The "released" version of Smile is here in a smaller scale. Wild Honey - White soul before there was white soul and 10 years before Hall & Oates and the white Philly soul movement, The Beach Boys did it in 1967. . Smiley Smile 2 stars - Wld Honey 4 stars It maybe impossible to imagine now, but up to 1966 the Beach Boys were as respected as artists as the Beatles. Smiley Smile simply is the moment when the Beach Boys died. Smiley Smile is a rushed album, with practically no instrumentation whatsoever and many under-rehearsed vocals, except for Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villians. If Capitol ever releases a Smile box set as they promised, Smiley Smile will be then send to oblivion, in the hall of shame where it belongs. The world never took the beach boys seriously after that. Wild Honey is actually a very good album, not better than Pet Sounds or Smile, but different than anything they ever did before. Some of the songs and arrangements are totally Brian Wilson at his best. Some of the 'soul' vocals I find difficult to digest and I miss the Beach boys blend on the songs. The extra tracks on the album are ESSENTIAL to any serious beach boys fan, so, if you are, you need this album. Smiley Smile- 4 Stars Wild Honey- 5 Stars There have been many bands that have had aborted projects- some songs found life in other projects. Letting go of the "what could have beens" with Smile hasn't been easy for many Beach Boys fans- yet it tarnishes a lot of what they did afterwards. In the progression of The Beach Boys circa 1966-67 there's Pet Sounds, the "Good Vibrations" single, Smiley Smile, and then Wild Honey. There was a time when I might I have thought that Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were steps back artistically; especially when I would put myself to wondering about the aborted Smile project; but in my maturity the steps back artistically have become steps forward humanly. The proceeding albums had less flair and "ambition"; the staple became more and more friendly and subtle- especially when you include the wonderful Friends album. The enormous ambition that was so much the core of Brian Wilson's progress had turned into personal flights of fancy. The remnants of this, Smile, was rerecorded and turned into Smiley Smile. Parts spooky and haunting, parts comical and silly, the music is complex yet at times astonishingly simple- it was an exorcism and slow return to being the Beach Boys. One major change that started occurring during the recording of this album is that the Beach Boys started recording the music themselves without the assistance of the Wrecking Crew (a famous group of LA session musicians). Although I have preferred the "Smile" versions of Wonderful, Vegetables, Wind Chimes they are not without plenty of charm. She's Going Bald and Little Pad are fun ditties that have some experimental elements. Although this is a personal estimation I think some of the songs could be very disregarded by the most serious fans such as Fall Breaks Back Into Winter and Getting' Hungry. Within the same year they had switched tracks to a much more earthy less psychedelic sound. The result is the highly enjoyable Wild Honey. This is a truly great album by the Beach Boys- this was their back to basics album with a new found interest in R&B. It was a group effort on many levels- the song writing was very good and the performances had a passion and honesty that I have found on Pet Sounds without the self indulgence. Songs like Darlin', Wild Honey, Here Comes The Night and Aren't You Glad are on my list of top Beach Boys songs. The Stevie Wonder cover I Was Made To Love Her is actually a surprisingly good cover; Carl sounds quite soulful. Finally I have to mention Let The Wind Blow- a touching reminder of the power of love- the deepest and most important thing in the world. The sentiment came during a time when many were writing protest songs about everything that was wrong with the world. The simplicity of the desire to give and feel love to one special person in his life resonates so strongly in contrast to the protests and criticisms of inhumanity. The song itself is so simple that it's easy to past right by it but with the feeling of the song hits you it is a sincere plea for more love. The bonus tracks a cool- there is an amazing live recording from another aborted album; Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring is a cover of a Four Freshmen song that harkens back to Brian's youth. There's also a good version of Can't Wait Too Long once again from the Smile sessions. I highly recommend these albums. They come as a twofer but both albums are remarkably short; many albums back then clocked in at 40 minutes long because of the time constraints of records-- Wild Honey is only 23 minutes long!) Also check out Sunflower, Friends, Holland, and Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blues (if you can find it) all top notch albums. . You can see a complete list of all The Beach Boys discography, or go back to the The Beach Boys tabs