Smile, as every amateur rock historian knows, is the great lost Brian Wilson/Van Dyke Parks project, abandoned after the commercial failure of Pet Sounds and Wilson’s descent into drug-induced paranoia. The fact that some of the shelved sessions have appeared on various albums and bootlegs over the years has only served to fuel the mythical status of Smile and the hope that it would one day be completed.
With considerable vocal and instrumental contributions from his road band The Wondermints, the decision to finally put it down on tape came in the wake of the successful live presentation of the re-worked Smile in London earlier this year.
It was worth waiting for, even if it did take 37 years to get there. From the opening accapella harmonies of ‘Our Prayer’ to the closing, up-dated version of ‘Good Vibrations’ (written as part of the original project) it becomes immediately apparent that the musical ambition of Smile is (was) breathtaking in its scope – little wonder it fell apart when it did!
Whether it’s the jaunty pop of ‘Heroes and Villains’ or elegiac ballads such as ‘Cabin Essence’ and ‘Wind Chimes’ (a gorgeous melody – up there with Wilson’s best) the painstaking sonic accomplishment shines through. The novelty barnyard sounds on ‘Mrs O’Leary’s Cow’ and fairground shenanigans of ‘On A Holiday’ might betray their psychedelic origins while ‘Vegetables’ would be hard to take seriously if it wasn’t for those sublime harmonies. But the highlight for many will be the already familiar ‘Surf’s Up’, a monumental achievement for both Wilson and Parks, and a song whose obtuse lyrics probably sum up Wilson’s state of mind at the time: “a broken man too tough to cry.”
The burden of expectation that comes with this renders it almost impossible to appraise but whether you judge Smile as a flawed masterpiece or simply a great collection of music, there’s no doubting the genius of Wilson’s original intent.