The Smile Sessions [Box set]

A remarkable product, and in this (expensive) form probably only for the real Beach Boy fans and buffs. That said, it is a treasure trove of information including many sessions/outtakes and newly written reminisces by many people who were intimately involved with SMiLE. Bootleg versions of all this material, and more, have abounded for decades but you will never beat this for the breadth and depth of material combined with the superb audio quality (but do remember, this stuff was recorded in the 60s!).

As has already been pointed out elsewhere on these pages, the decision to store the discs in cardboard pockets in the large folder is a stupid one, and could only have been made by a designer more interested in form than function. The discs are prone to marking by the card edges, so be very careful or better still, store the discs in paper sleeves separately within the box (there is plenty of room!).

An amazing historical collection!

This is a truely wonderful boxed set. Each of the items is of interest on there own. Disc 1 gives you the album as it may have been. while the othyers allow you to make you own version. The Vinyl versions are nice to have and the book is great reading. And although the tracks and running order on Disc 1 cannot be certain to be how it might have been back in 66/67. It has involvement from Brian Wilson and hence it is hiw view now, rather than as it might have been back then. Put thyisone along with Pet Sounds, Sgt Pepper, Tommy and other Beach Boy greats like Sunflower, Surfs Up, Holland and Today. Although any greatest hits compilation are always welcome, especially come Summer.

This boxset is for every music fan and/or Beach Boys collector! It's design is unequalled. The most important thing of course is the music in this beautiful package! Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys present the original recordings (utilizing "Brian Wilson present Smile" from 2004 sequence as the foundation) for this first official release!

In 1993 The Beach Boys released already 11 songs (and 4 bonus tracks) from the "Smile Sessions" on their " Thirty Years of The Beach Boys Good Vibrations" boxset. Combine them with the songs "Good Vibrations" and the "Heroes and Villains" demo from the "Endless Harmony Soundtrack" and you have "Smile"! That's what I thought ... but I was wrong!

"Smile" was recorded in many different little pieces. And many of those pieces have different variations. (For instance: cd2 has 32 tracks of "Heroes and Villains" sessions!) Now, the beautiful thing about this masterpiece is that Brian created an infinite number of ways that the songs could be assembled. But at the same time this posed a problem. The 1960's recording technology had its limitations. To look for the right sequence of the pieces to give the song its most beautiful colour would take days or weeks. "Good Vibrations" was recorded in the same way and that took nearly six months before Brian was satisfied!

Almost all of the songs on the "Smile Sessions" are assembled in a different way than the ones that were previously released . Adding pieces of music or vocals that were never before used. Only "Our Prayer" and "Cabin Essence" are the same versions as on the "Thirty Years ..." boxset. Is it better? That's for you to decide! The album was unfinished and it still is. Some pieces were never recorded or only exist as a demo.

Some sections flow beautifully into the next one but some don't! For me has the song "Look (Song For Children)" the same feel as "Child is the Father Of The Man" and would better be an outtake. But hey ... maybe that's what the producers want with this box! With 4 cd's full of session material and the right software on your computer you can create your own version of "Smile"!