Brian Wilson - Smile

Most people know Smile as the greatest album that never was, the ultimate “what if?” of modern music. A legend for almost 30 years, the album grew in myth and might as the culmination of Brian Wilson’s genius; all while only bootlegs and rare snippets of tracks existed. So now that Smile finally sees the light of day, how do you begin to listen to it without putting the pressure of the world on it to succeed? Is it possible to accept outside of its legend and simply as another album to be judge on its merit alone? I guess the secret is to be like me - ignorant. I like to think of myself as quite a knowledgeable man on the subject of music, but one area I don’t know much about is Smile. I have never heard any clips or snippets; never read too much about it; never known it as more than a ghost album. That is perhaps why I was the perfect person to review it. I had no preconceptions and no hopes and expectations impossible to meet, but rather I only wanted to hear what all the fuss was about. To be fair, you have to look at Smile from the perspective of two time periods. You have to listen to it as if it was released in the musical climate of 30 years ago, and yet, you also have to listen to it as if it were first released today. On first listen, you are in awe of the scope of the disc. The fact that is feels like one huge track, divided into sections with names is what first hits you. The only problem I had on the first couple spins was the fact that it did sound like old Beatles albums. But then I realized two things: This was essentially made almost 30 years ago, and that making an album on par with the Beatles is a great achievement in itself. Each track is keenly produced by the master himself, incorporating all the weird sounds and whistles we have come to expect from one of the pioneers of modern production. Going into specifics on each track really strays from what this is, and so I won’t do much of that. Certainly, some tracks are stronger than others, but this is meant to be taken as an album, not just a collection of songs. Put simply, this album is a marvel when you realize how revolutionary and visionary it is. The only down aspect of this disc is time and the fact that we will never be able to know just what impact it would have had on the world of music had it gotten to see the light of day earlier. Similarly, the fact that the disc is so old does make things feel dated from time to time because even though you know they were written so long ago, the fact that so much time and music has passed since then serves as a blow to their originality. Anyone who pretends to be a fan of music or says they know their music history owes it to themselves to hear this album. Regardless of what you feel about Brian Wilson, or about this album after you’re done with it, it is a piece of rock history, and it deserves to be digested by everyone. Although not a disc I imagine listening to with much frequency, it is one of the legendary works of rock, and after 30 years of expectation, it holds its head high. [www.brianwilson.com]