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   Oct 8, 8:06 PM   
   'Smile' a dream realized   
   BY RASHOD D. OLLISON   
   THE BALTIMORE SUN   
   The legend that "Smile" is one of the greatest pop records ever to come   
   undone has floated around for nearly 40 years.   
   It was supposed to be Brian Wilson's ultimate masterstroke, an album   
   that would surpass the magic of his previous work, the Beach Boys'   
   celebrated "Pet Sounds" from 1966. The arranger-producer and driving   
   force behind the Beach Boys would render the Beatles irrelevant with   
   this wondrous, sonically rich dream.   
   But the recording sessions soon became a nightmare. Several things kept   
   the incomplete album away from the public -- Capitol Records'   
   indifference to (or disdain for) the material and Wilson's fragile   
   mental state chief among them. Plus, the Beatles, the Beach Boys' label   
   mates and rivals, came out with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"   
   in the summer of '67 and squashed all competitors in the experimental   
   pop-rock game.   
   But now "Smile" (Nonesuch Records) has emerged, newly recorded and   
   complete at last. Does the record live up to the mythology? Was it worth   
   the wait?   
   After all these years, it's practically impossible for "Smile" to   
   measure up to its legend. But if you were around in '66 when pop was its   
   most bizarre and experimental (and you dug it), or if you belatedly   
   discovered the wonder of "Pet Sounds," then you'll want to check out   
   "Smile."   
   Although it was freshly recorded with a new band in the new millennium,   
   the record still is of its time an instant ride to '66 on rolling and   
   crashing waves of baroque-style pop. Haunting harmonies -- provided by   
   new singers; the Beach Boys appear nowhere on "Smile" -- abound.   
   After sitting through the album's three movements and 17 tracks for the   
   first time, you will undoubtedly feel perplexed, perhaps a little high.   
   But the last tune -- the classic "Good Vibrations," which is all but   
   identical to the original -- gently brings you down. It's the only   
   cohesive (and familiar) tune on this sprawling, 38-year-old project.   
   The album is ambitious with brilliance blossoming here and there. Even   
   after repeated listens, you won't get everything at once. And maybe   
   that's just how Wilson intended it to be. (Even he didn't get all of   
   what he was doing back in the day, and probably still has no clue.)   
   Every style that had influenced the mad producer up to 1966 -- doo-wop,   
   classical, early rock, art-pop -- ebbs and flows through "Smile." The   
   most captivating element of the record is the vocal harmonies and how   
   beautifullyWilson layers them throughout. They soar and float, lingering   
   like a fine mist over arrangements that feel serene before veering into   
   something jarring and strange -- barnyard noises, drills and saws,   
   pounding percussion.   
   "Smile," overall, is a visceral record that you're supposed to feel.   
   With no formal training in music, Wilson was driven by feelings, his   
   ever-changing moods induced by drugs or depression. Listening to the   
   album, which clocks in at a little over 46 minutes, you experience the   
   musical wonderland inside Wilson's head. It's an organic place --   
   sometimes pretty, other times downright weird. Even a little scary.   
   One of rock's strangest, most heralded "geniuses" finally has opened the   
   gates to a legendary place and polished it up for visitors.   
   You won't forget the trip.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)