OT: SMILE by Brian Wilson

[MingusBASS]

I purchased this album the other day and I gotta say It's a great album. I have a few beach boys albums but they were never really one of my favorite bands to listen to although I had a great deal of respect for them. It was to come out 37 years ago and I think if it had... It would of been up there with Sgt. Peppers as far as the greatest albums ever. I was just curious if anyone else has picked it up and what they think about it.

To tie it all in... Brian does play bass every once in a while although judging from the Bass Player article I doubt he sees himself as a Bass Player.

Andrew

 

[nismaniac]

I purchased this album the other day and I gotta say It's a great album. I have a few beach boys albums but they were never really one of my favorite bands to listen to although I had a great deal of respect for them. It was to come out 37 years ago and I think if it had... It would of been up there with Sgt. Peppers as far as the greatest albums ever. I was just curious if anyone else has picked it up and what they think about it.

To tie it all in... Brian does play bass every once in a while although judging from the Bass Player article I doubt he sees himself as a Bass Player.

Andrew

I was reading about this in Bass Player as well. It sounds interesting, I might have to check it out. I love pet sounds, so if its any bit as good as that, it has to be great.

 

[MingusBASS]

I instantly enjoyed it more then Pet Sounds(an album I love). Pet sounds had to grow on me a bit. This album's apeal was almost instant with me.

Andrew

 

[Morrow]

Brian Wilson may not see himself as a bass player but he wrote the charts and asked that they be played. The bass lines are a big part of his compositions. I am glad to see attention come to his genius.

 

[Bassplyr]

Thanks for the review on this new release. I was also reading the article in Bass Player and wondered what it was like. I'll definitely have to check it out now.

 

[Rayan]

Today's Brian Wilson Press

Partial Quote from
http:_my.netscape.com/corewidgets/news/story.psp ... Music
Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2004 Rock's Recluse Wilson Center Stage Again
LOS ANGELES (AP) - If Brian Wilson could change just one thing in life, it wouldn't be the legendary emotional traumas, the insecurities, the drug abuse, the battles with weight or the endless legal conflicts that nearly destroyed him.
``I would have made the rhythm of 'California Girls' a little better,'' Wilson deadpans. ``That,'' he adds with the slightest of smiles, ``is my only regret.''
Were Wilson not shy and extremely modest by nature, he'd probably be wearing a bigger smile these days. The genius who was the guiding force behind the Beach Boys - at a time when the group mattered to music as much as the Beatles - is back in all his creative glory.
The proof is ``Smile,'' a 47-minute rock opera in three movements that, when the composer first envisioned it in 1966, was to have been a ``teenage symphony to God. ...'"
~
/R

 

[Jazzbassman23]

I was never much of a Beach Boys fan, and admittedly never understood the fuss about Pet Sounds. So when I heard about Smile and all the fanfare about it being groundbreaking, I had to get it. While I find it interesting, particularly the vocal harmonies, again i don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm going to give it some more time this week to see if I'm missing something, but put up against Sgt. Pepper, IMHO they're not in the same league.

 

[Rayan]

You Weren't There?

I was never much of a Beach Boys fan (...) i don't see what all the fuss is about. I'm going to give it some more time this week to see if I'm missing something, but put up against Sgt. Pepper, IMHO they're not in the same league.

Hmmmmmm ... I must be a bit older than you ... even if you didn't grow up in California, there were '57 - '63 Chevy (Impala SS) convertibles, Thrush mufflers, transistor radios, The Top 10, (girls wore authentic bullet bras & girdles), Fender Basses, Stratocasters, "Pipeline", Elvis Presley Movies ... >>> and
The Beach Boys ...
this is not so much an acquired taste as it is "hardwired" - not something you "put up against" something else ...
this, "along with" Sgt.Peppers is Spiritual Stuff ...
ain't that what music is Really all about ?
WTHeck ... otherwise we may as well just grab a beer and listen to the WWF >>> / Rayan

 

[Jazzbassman23]

Rayan,

You're right about comparing one genre of music to another, but the two are inextricably linked because of the era in which they were produced. And I bring Sgt. Pepper up because it truly was groundbreaking whereas, I don't really hear that in Smile. Again, since Smile has been lauded as a groundbreaking album, I think some comparison is valid.

Though I didn't grow up in SoCal, I am pushing 50 this year. Just never got into the hotrod/surfboard thing. And while I can certainly understand someone having an affinity for music they grew up with, that alone shouldn't be enough to give a piece of music legendary status. And I know you're not saying it is legendary, necessarily, but many are.

Finally, you're dead right about what music's all about. If you can't find something good in it, you're probably not trying very hard.

Dave

 

[Rayan]

Again, since Smile has been lauded as a groundbreaking album, I think some comparison is valid.
And while I can certainly understand someone having an affinity for music they grew up with, that alone shouldn't be enough to give a piece of music legendary status. And I know you're not saying it is legendary, necessarily, but many are.

Hey Dave,
Right you are ... and personally, on the comparison matter, I'm probably with you and may others re Sgt.Peppers ... similarly, I prefer early BS&T with Al Kooper to later versions with David Clayton Thomas - I guess that's just taste ... aside from details, overall I feel very fortunate to have been a 50's/60's kid ... all of that music, and into the early 70s, is the stuff that keeps me going today ... to me, and probably only me, most popular radio airplay music after late70s is quite forgettable ...
~
I was probably reacting more to your specific words "put up against" ... I guess the geezer in me will never really understand modern "rockstar industry" verbs and metaphors ie "rocks", "sucks", "kicksbutt", "killer", "rules" ...

I guess that's something I'm learning about via this forum ...

And having come all this way here and now, I guess that's the stuff that caused my recent hesitation about the Bongo ... it seems so far, I wasn't hearing so much about Bongo Music, as what I thought I was hearing about Bongo Attitude ...

"All You Need Is Love" / Rayan