Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

It is difficult to accurately judge this set, simply because I am so shocked it actually has been released. While much of this material was leaked out on bootlegs over the past few decades (as well as the first official release of material on the band's box set in the early 90's), we finally have a legitimate release of a deluge of music from the aborted album's sessions. First, the album itself. Using Wilson's 2004 solo release as its template, this does not entirely work as a stand-alone piece as many of the sections used here were not completed at the time of the original album sessions. That said, it is still astonishing to hear a straight runthrough of the closest "SMiLE" came to completion. And the vast majority of what is finished, and even most of what was not finished, is deeply awe-inspiring. That it was so close to potentially being finalized it its own time just makes the album's history that much more bittersweet. Now let's get to the four additional CDs of sessions. Simply put, these are a godsend. It is fascinating to be a fly on the wall of these sessions, and the roughly 5 hours of material here was well chosen and carefully culled from the overwhelming amount of material on the master tapes. There is enough material on this set to intimidate even the most ardent Beach Boys fans, and yet it is incredibly well-organized, with multiple takes and disparate elements grouped by song (in album order) and then in roughly chronological order. It is fascinating to hear tracks mutate over the course of multiple takes--sometimes into different songs. "Wonderful", for example, originally started out similar to the finished track, before taking a truly bizarre detour into an entirely different song (something akin to doo wop with lyrics saying "Come on pretty baby and rock with me Henry), only to eventually revert to how it was initially. You'll also hear discussions and a great many experiments, all of which are fascinating snapshots of the spirit of the times and these sessions. I don't want to give away too many of the surprises to be found here, but these were some of my favorite discoveries from the sessions tracks: - Creepy vocals done for the barnyard/animals section of "Heroes & Villains" - The track which tends to show up alternately as "Tones" and "Tune X" on bootlegs really is from the "SMiLE" sessions, was written by Carl, and sounds pretty great when sourced from the master tapes - Brian using the final 15 minutes of session time available with an orchestra to improvise a number inexplicably titled "Three - Blind Mice" (no relation to the children's song) - Bizarre skits where Brian acts out being trapped in a piano, and then in a microphone - Brian talking the horn players through getting the "talking horns" sound he wants for "Surf's Up" - A chorus of Brians doing a multi-part harmony for Vega-tables - The jazz improvisation that leads into a take of "I Want to Be Around" - In between takes of "Our Prayer", Brian asking if the others "feel the acid kicking in" - Eight-and-a-half minutes of the infamous "Fire" recordings - A slightly jazzy instrumental take of "Da Da" on electric and regular pianos, that would have worked well in an early Peanuts cartoons - and then the hilariously sarcastic intros to the next two takes of the same - A great many variations of the different parts of Good Vibrations, many of which are quite significantly different from the passages used in the released version - A Capitol promo ad telling retailers "SMiLE" will be released in January of '67, and how it is going to sell a million copies. This is like a communication from some strange parallel universe where it really was released at that time Ridiculously extensive session notes often include session personnel and instruments played, the date, and usually the time, of each recording, master numbers (where available) as well as information regarding takes that were likely taped over or eventually stolen. These are found in the 60-page hardcover book that accompanies the set. My thanks to the designers for making a book of these dimensions a hardcover as it would otherwise be unwieldly. This book is half of the total experience. It is a treasure trove of photos, quotes, reminiscences, lyrics, artwork and liner notes on a wide range of topics, and from a variety of viewpoints, as Wilson and Van Dyke Parks provide introductions, each of the Beach Boys give their own insights, Peter Reum relates the signifigance of this work, Domenic Priore provides a timeline of events and an essay on the relation of band to their peers at the time, Mark Linett gives an overview of the production of this set, and Frank Holmes describes the process of producing his imagery for the original booklet (which is also included in the 2 LP vinyl set contained here). And all of this comes in a box that enhances the cover art by setting the various elements at different depths, turning the originally 2D SMiLE shop into a 3D diorama. While this component of the packaging surely added to the total cost, I think it is a nice touch and it give an unconcious indicator of what you are about to experience when opening the lid: "SMiLE" is about to become a reality, with deeper dimensions than it ever had in previous incarnations. I find myself dismayed by the trend towards increasingly over-indulgent (which translates to overly-expensive) boxed sets, but here is one that truly warrants the cost. Unlike some other recent deluxe sets, this set is truly an immersive experience--a combination of music, art and text that will be keeping me fully engaged for weeks on end, and without any unnecessary trinkets that cheapen the legacy of that music. A complete win.