u/legrolls

I know this is a super hot take, but I'm wondering if anyone else feels this way. As I grow older, I find it harder and harder to listen to the Smile Sessions because they sound so unsettling. If Pet Sounds was Sgt. Pepper, Smile was the White Album (not Smiley Smile). Below are a few collected thoughts I had while relistening recently.

• While relistening to the Pet Sounds sessions, Brian Wilson sounds so confident and in control. He's open to new ideas from the Wrecking Crew, and the sessions feel super productive. The sessions on Smile seem so aimless in comparison. Some examples include Brian reworking Heroes and Villains over and over and never really finishing it and then his sudden pivot to Vegetables as the primary single.

I know that the Smile Sessions are heavily frankensteined and not really indicative of what Smile would have been like had the album been released in 1967. From what it sounds like, the majority of the Smile sessions were modular puzzle pieces that Brian never really figured out how to assemble. Pet Sounds' songs are so complex, and a ton of Smile songs are quarter note rhythms from a piano. Also, a lot of the unfinished songs don't really seem to go anywhere despite sounding so lush.

• There's some serious hostile energy in the studio compared to Pet Sounds. Brian sounds super on edge during most of the sessions, which was probably a combination of drugs + mental health. The segments with Hal Blaine and "Brian Falls Into a..." have uncomfortable moments where Brian shifts moods and sounds genuinely upset. There's also the aggressive laughing section in Heroes and Villains' cantina section. It all sounds like a bad trip. Even the title Smile sounds less like an exclamation and more like Brian's personal mantra to himself.

• The Beach Boys' harmonies are phenomenal, but at times they sound confused, probably because no one but Brian could explain what the hell these songs would sound like. Could you imagine how tight the harmonies of Do You Like Worms? could be to a band who understood the assignment? Contrast that to the tightness of Wouldn't it Be Nice, especially at the end!

I'm not a Mike Love defender or anything, but imagine wrapping up a long tour without Brian and then entering the studio. Immediately, Brian says to you, "Ok, Mike. Get on the floor and baa like a sheep." Who wouldn't get pissed at that? What could this possibly be? What about this?

• The music often has bad vibes. In Heroes and Villains, there's this buildup that ends with what sounds like a balloon deflating. Maybe it's a metaphor for Brian's mental health! Love to Say Dada includes a chant that Brian says, "...I wish we hadn't used. There's just something I don't think is quite right with it." Wind Chimes is INTENSE. There's a lot of outtakes that feature whispering vocals and harmonies, which feels like the prototype to Smiley Smile's entire Modus Operandi. Ironically, I don't think Fire has bad vibes at all! It sounds like they're having a blast on that one.

Anyway that's my pitch. When I was younger and listened to Smile, I used to lament Brian's genius and how close he was to finishing the perfect album. Now that I'm older, I just get really sad while listening to the sessions because it's obvious that the train is off its tracks and no one is helping Brian mentally. Poor guy sounds so lost, strung out, and exhausted.

Also, I'm not a huge fan of Brian Wilson Presents Smile. Sure, it's more complete, but it smooths over all of the uncomfortable moments. It feels like Disneyland. I get why it was made and understand its place in the Smile canon, but it doesn't do much for me.

Thump thump thump thump

Attached are various screenshots for Beyond the Mountains II, which is the sequel to my free game Beyond the Mountains. I received a few DMs regarding the progress of the sequel, and it's coming along nicely. I've been working on it daily!

I love the Beach Boys' middle years, but there's some really bizarre mixing choices in this era that have me scratching my head. Does anyone have any additional insight about the recording processes during this era?

Going chronologically:

I know that Smiley Smile through CATP were recorded primarily in Brian Wilson's home studio. I feel like Smiley Smile is the only one that benefits from this muddy recording sound.

Friends and Wild Honey have incredibly dense production not dissimilar to Pet Sounds, but some of their shining moments are completely lost in the mix.

There's some beautiful remixes of Friends on YouTube that really demonstrate how dense the production was before it was buried in the mix. Just listen to the strings on this remixed Wake the World.

20/20 is also affected pretty badly by the initial mix. Compare the officially released Be With Me to the 2022 instrumental.

Sunflower and Surf's Up are some of the best albums by the Beach Boys, and they have a unique sound helmed by Stephen Desper. Some of the murkiness from those mixes works really well. I think the second side of Surf's Up sounds awesome, and the murky mix really complements the songs. The first side doesn't work as well because the songs themselves are considerably lighter in tone.

Anyways, you're free to disagree with me, but I do think that it's pretty interesting that the bands' production sounds so clear and pristine up until 1966, and then it kind of falls apart for a while. I'm sure a ton of it has to do with Brian Wilson stepping away from production, but the sound loss seems significant. I'd kill for them to remix Wild Honey-Holland and reduce some of the hiss and mud. I know Feel Flows tried to remix Sunflower and Surf's Up, but they sound even worse. The Sail On Sailor remix isn't better than the original Holland release, either.