Smiley Smile

The Beach Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 12, 1994)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002TR9
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,307 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Heroes and Villains

2. Vegetables

3. Fall Breaks and Back to Winter (W. Woodpecker Symphony)

4. She's Goin' Bald

5. Little Pad

6. Good Vibrations

7. With Me Tonight

8. Wind Chimes

9. Gettin' Hungry

10. Wonderful

11. Whistle In

Editorial Reviews

Reissue of their 1967 album with the cover art of the French pressing, plus six bonus tracks, 'You're Welcome', 'Heroes And Villains' (Alternative Version), 'Good Vibrations' (1ere Version), 'Do You Like Worms' (Edit), 'Our Prayer' (Edit)and 'I Love To Sa --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smiley Smile a little Smile for me, May 15, 2000

By 

Chip Dunhill (Deep in the Bowels of Texas) - See all my reviews

After the one-two artistic triumph of Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations," expectations ran high for the next projected Beach Boys album, Smile. That mythical record never happened, and its legend cast a long shadow over every subsequent Beach Boys recording, unfortunately obscuring the merits of a string of rewarding, esoteric works, Smiley Smile being the first of these. Though many have lamented that this album's interpretations of the Smile material are but pale facsimiles of that opus' full-blown productions, these criticisms are one-sided and unfair, Smiley Smile being quite remarkable in its own right. In many ways, it's even more challenging and avant garde than what had been planned for Smile; Smiley Smile is easily the single weirdest thing the Beach Boys have ever released. And Smiley Smile is not just anamolous in the Beach Boys' catalog -- nobody else has made a record that sounds anything like it, either. The barely-there production makes it sound like a collection of demos, often featuring just vocals, keyboards and incidental production, lending a creepy edge particularly to the re-recorded Smile material, which was pretty ghoulish to begin with. Some of the remakes, like the bizarre "She's Goin' Bald," even improve upon the originals, and the included spectral doo-wop take on "Wonderful" is as immortal as the long-lost Smile version. "Heroes and Villains" says more about the whole Smile era in three minutes than the several books that have covered the subject since. In addition to these cuts and the million-selling "Good Vibrations" (which is best programmed out for consistency), there's also a dissonant, impressionistic instrumental ("Fall Breaks and Back to Winter"), and "Gettin' Hungry," a released single (oddly credited to "Brian and Mike") that revolves around swirling organ drones rivalling anything conjured up by the Velvet Underground's John Cale, also featuring a great Brian Wilson a capella vocal break. Wilson cultists pining for an official Smile release should give a(nother) listen to this underrated disc; it's a small gem, but is shines brightly nonetheless.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Smiley Smile, May 25, 2001

By 

Music Maniac (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smiley Smile (Audio CD)

For the casual Beach Boys listener, this album will largely sound incomplete and underproduced, with the obvious exception of the two radio songs, "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes & Villains." Most of the songs retain very simplistic music tracks (in contrast to the fine-polished production of their radio hits and previous albums). So, if you're looking for the Beach Boys' acclaimed surf-music sound, don't start here. But if you're wanting to take a trip into Brian's mind during the late '60s, here's a good introduction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A mere shadow of Smile, April 6, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Tucson, Arizona, United States, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Smiley Smile (Audio CD)

I enjoy Smiley Smile fairly well, but it's still a mere shell of what Smile could have been. Were it not for Mike Love's impudent meddling and Capitol's pressure, Brian Wilson would have created a masterful album. Instead, we have to contend with Smiley Smile. It's a good album in and of itself, but it still lacks the dynamism of Smile. "Wonderful," for example, was far more powerful and dynamic when it was Brian singing instead of Carl whispering. Also, "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter" was what was left of "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," in which case the latter was again superior to the former. Thirdly, "Heroes and Villains" could potentially have been a full-blown musical collage, but it was shortened and butchered just to satisfy Capitol's greed. Granted, the Smiley Smile version is still enjoyable, but it would have been inifnitely greater in its original Smile form. All in all, Smiley Smile is a nice, laid back album, but it will forever be in the shadow of Smile.