Track Listing

1. Our Prayer / Gee
2. Heroes And Villains
3. Roll Plymouth Rock
4. Barnyard
5. Old Master Painter / You Are My Sunshine
6. Cabin Essence
7. Wonderful
8. Song For Children
9. Child Is Father Of The Man
10. Surf’s Up
11. I’m In Great Shape / I Wanna Be Around / Workshop
12. Vega – Tables
13. On A Holiday
14. Wind Chimes
15. Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow
16. In Blue Hawaii
17. Good Vibrations

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #115358 in Music
• Released on: 2004-10-04

Amazon.co.uk Review
There should be fanfares. Every contributor to pop's legacy should respectfully bow down in silent thanks that Smile has finally been officially released. It may not be the original album (the tragic deaths of Carl and Dennis Wilson, and perpetual legal wrangles ensure The Beach Boys remain steadfastly estranged from this re-recording, and each other), but that won't matter to fans who devoured bootlegs, worshipped the recycled Smile songs that appeared on later albums and obsessed over literature such as "Look! Listen! Smile! Vibrate!" or Andrew Doe and John Tobler's Definitive Beach Boys guide.

Imagine waiting 37 years for a train to the best theme park in the world. Finally, there you are, and despite the paint job, it still doesn't fail to delight. Well, that's what it is to listen to Smile. The ideas may seem far-out initially, but they soon reveal themselves as pop-art at its absolute zenith. Who can argue with the sublime "Cabinessence"? The majesty of "Surf's Up"? And (least of all) the jewel in the crown of pop music "Good Vibrations"? Modern music may have caught up, but Smile's joyous trundle through Americana will leave mouths open wide in wonder. The gripes over the absence of Beach Boy vocals, (particularly Carl Wilson and Mike Love) may be valid, but Wilson's band are respectful imitators, and this is the best Brian's sounded in years--his world-weary, poignant voice conveys Van Dyke Parks' impressionistic lyrics more maturely than his younger self.

It's impossible to give a definitive opinion, because it's something that everyone needs to hear, history or no history, and though it may not quite satisfy 37 years worth of anticipation, or stand up to the original version (this version shows Brian was so, so close to originally finishing it), it's unquestionably the album of the decade. --Thom Allott

Album Description
This UK-only limited-edition format, exclusive to Amazon.co.uk, comprises a white box with 3D shadowbox embedded in the lid containing a standard edition CD. This shadowbox is a recreation of the artwork from the centre pages of the album booklet and contains moving cardboard figures. One in four copies will be signed by Brian Wilson; these will be randomly allocated. The cost of this title reflects the limited nature of the product.

Smile is inarguably the most long-awaited album in modern pop history. It's been more than 37 years since the title first appeared on a label release schedule, intended as the January, 1967 follow-up to the groundbreaking art-rock of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. But Smile never made its initial release date. Today, this album is not a mere reconstruction of past performances, but something entirely new, a serious summation of a project that has been gestating for nearly four decades.

Customer Reviews

Great special edition
This album is great. Buy ut. But if you have the doubt about really needing the special edition, I will try to describe the difference. This is the ordinary firstedition album put in a 18 x 31 cm white, shiny box, with small paperclips of the artwork put in a shelf behind plastic for your amusement only. This extraordinary great album deserves the best possible version in your collection, but consider the need against the higher price before making your choice.

old but new
I've heard the whole album at prereleaseparty.
It sounded fresh with a punch that I didn't expect.
Brian's vocal has a more limited range than before but it's still great. Actually it sounds better than it has in later years.
The playing is tight and the overall sound has surely benefited from new recording technology. It's especially obvious when the instrumentation is sparse.
So ,all in all, a truly great album.

Keep on smiling
After seeing Brian performing Smile during his incredible, sell-out tour, I was itching to listen to a recorded version of this orchestral masterpiece. The gig I went to was incredible, not only a feast of brilliant musicianship, but also a night charged with emotion. This recording suffers from a lack of immediacy, and ideas now which would have appeared revolutionary in the late 1960s may now appear quaint or unfashionable, but as an example of an album which fits as an integral whole is quite stunning. The Wondermints do a fabulous job on the huge recordings which are immensely complex in their structure. Brian's voice is not a patch on Carl's (though it's hard to name a singer who could have reached Carl's peaks of range and emotion), but it's cracks are a reminder of the years of doubt and exploitation which cloud the history of this masterpiece. Had Smile been released in 1967, and losers like Mike Love had kept his mouth shut, Brian Wilson would be more than a historical curiosity; more than the writer of a few throwaway surfing tunes and 'Good Vibrations', he would instead be feted as a composer (much more than a songwriter) who changed the world of popular music, and pushed back boundaries in contemporary music which others to follow, but never quite attain. If you're not a Beach Boys fan, and are only aware of their nice simple early melodies, this will be a big schock. I recommend you get Pet Sounds first. But for anyone who loves them, like me, this is an essential purchase of the highest order.