You may be asking yourself, “SNESmaster, why are you holding the set like a baby…and why are you a giant”? Well first, I couldn’t scale this down any smaller :P Second, I’m a humungous Beach Boys fan…and this my friends, is the holy grail.
In 1966, just finishing Pet Sounds which would become their big album. Brian Wilson started experimenting with different sounds and rhythms. Eventually, several songs were composed and pieced together in the same style as Good Vibrations was (different sections recorded at different times and in some cases, studios). Though the album was eventually shelved for a variety of reasons (group disagreement, record company disagreement, Brian’s strong drug use, among other things) the songs would eventually get released over the next 4 years in different formats fans still tried to piece together the album.
This set has a ton in it. 5 CD’s with over 6 hours of material and 2 45’s in picture sleeves all in a folder with a picture of the original tape boxes, A 60 page case bound book, a double vinyl containing the album and vinyl exclusive stereo mixes, a wall poster, and a reproduction of the 1967 booklet intended for the album. With the set being about $140 you certainly get your money’s worth. In addition, the box front is also made using a unique 3D respective that makes it look like a diorama.
The music in here is amazing. Disc 1 consists of “the finished SMiLE album” put together by sound engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd. They weren’t trying to go for a 11-12 song “accurate” construction and decided to mostly base it off Brian’s 2004 reconstruction. Still, it sounds great although some things had to be flown in from later sessions (Carl’s vocal in Cabin Essence from 1968, Carl’s backing vocals for Surf’s Up in 1971, etc…) due to the incompleteness of the album. There are also bonus tracks here, the main gems being the backing vocal montage, a late 1967 piano version of Brian doing Surf’s Up and others.
Discs 2-5 are various sessions from Heroes and Villains, Good Vibrations, and the other songs. One of my favorites was some of the early takes for “Do You Like Worms” in which Brian actually sang a vintage vocal melody line that never got recorded. There are some other weird tracks as well such as Brian recording the intro for Heroes and Villains (later put on “Fire”) and the band singing a “ghoulish” rendition of “You’re Welcome”. It may be too much for the casual fan but it’s right up the alley for hardcore listeners.
In conclusion, this is a fantastic set. If you like the Beach Boys, have heard SMiLE in the past, and have about $140 it’s well worth it.
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Check out this video of me unboxing the set below!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErjO53NL90M