Electrophonic Tonic

When you say Smile, are you talking about the Brian Wilson version that came out 10ish years ago or the recently released version with the original studio cuts?

Surell

Studio cuts! While Brian Wilson's version is more complete (though not by an extremely noticeable measure), it lacks a lot of the dedication and focus he demanded the first time around. And what's more, Listening to all the outtakes and sessions with his input are eye opening into how much greater it could have been had it been finished in its day.

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Black Francis

I don't even like the Rolling stones, i haven't heard a decent song from them except that Painted black track

why were they a big deal again?

The doors are cool though, but they sound nothing like the beach boys so i don't get the comparison

Urban Hat€monger ?

I didn't compare The Doors to the Beach Boys, I said they made them irrelevant. That's totally different.

And if you don't like The Stones then you don't like them, which is not really a rebuttal to anything I've said.

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Black Francis

i know lol

it just that the stones were often matched up against the beatles and i always thought the beatles were better..

But why do you say the doors made the beach boys irrelevant?

Surell

Yes, I'm cureous too

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Urban Hat€monger ?

Because The Doors opened the door (no pun intended) for much darker music than had been seen in pop / rock n roll up till that point.

For all of Wilson's trickery in the studio none of it can hide the fact that the doo-wop & 50s style pop they were doing was old hat by that time.

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Black Francis

*Gasp*

FOR SHAME!

how can you say that about Brian wilson!?
the man lost his marbles for the sake of making good music and this is the thanx he gets?

Yes, he was old school but he innovated within that and the guy still has a sense for good vocals & melody



I do agree with what you said about the doors, but i don't agree they made the Beach boys irrelevant..

Surell

But by Smile, though Wilson may still have been indebted to the styles you mentioned, he was also reaching for more classical expressions. There's a lot of jazz in the styling and swagger of certain songs (Holidays, Child is the Father of the Man), then others are very much pop-formatted homages to Gershwin (Surf's Up, Heroes and Villains); there are cartoonish world-inspired songs (Do You Like Worms) and hard edged instrumental passages (Fire). Plus, if you look at Smiley Smile, though it is all toothy grins on the surface, there's really a dark undertone to the whole album; it's the rattled off evidence of failure that finds Brian Wilson just trying not to completely lose it, but still taking shots at himself for his lack of fulfillment.

Some of Smiley Smile's eeriest moments:

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Cinnamonics

I enjoy The Beach Boys, and have begun to appreciate them a lot more in the past six months, but The Beatles are so far above them (and almost everyone else) in terms of songwriting and consistency, so to me there really is no contest.