I have divided The Beach Boys' work into three sections - click on an image to read the reviews for the relevant period:-"I don't think I am a genius. I believe the word genius applies only to people who can do things that other people can't do. I can't do things others can't. I wasn't a genius in high school, and I'm not now" - Brian Wilson
 |  |  |
I don't like Smiley Smile much - it's clearly a cobbled together collection of stuff, some of which is pretty weak. I do enjoy Smile though - both Wilson's solo version and the Beach Boys' sessions that came out in 2011 (although I just have the main album - not obsessive enough to need the outtakes). Songs like Our Prayer, Surf's Up, Cabinessence that dribble out in the late 1960s and early 1970s were highlights on their respective records. Brian Wilson was amazingly good in the mid 1960s, but only really intermittently productive since.
ReplyDeleteI have listened to some of the outtakes - once. Like you, I prefer the final product.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Smiley Smile, I felt bad about giving it a hammering (it is the only review where I have done so), because I usually try to find something good in every piece of work, but, apart from the two obvious classics, I can't find anything.