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The Beach Boys: SMiLE Sessions

Capitol

It was by far the most famous unfinished work in the history of rock, and now, finally, it’s finished. First, a capsule history: Throughout 1966 and into ‘67, Brian Wilson labored on what was to be the sequel to Pet Sounds, a landmark recording. Then, basically, Wilson burned out, scrapping the project that was to be called SMiLE and going on a creative hiatus for years. Some of the tracks made it onto other Beach Boys albums, while others leaked out in dribs and drabs through the years in bootleg form. In 2004, Wilson released his own newly recorded version, but now a team has assembled the original master tapes into two configurations: a double-CD that includes the reconstructed album and the best of the fragments, demos and alternate takes, and an elaborate, eye-popping boxed set housing five discs (one devoted to the “Good Vibrations” sessions alone) plus two vinyl LPs, two 45s, a hardcover book and a poster. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely—at least for the now-finished album. SMiLE is a masterwork, and had it been released in its time who knows the effect it might have had on pop music? The other snippets are admittedly taken in small doses—instructive, fascinating, but not always enjoyable as listening material. The merely curious will get their fill with the smaller package. Those who have been craving this music for decades, by all means should spring for the box, but bear in mind that a completed building is a lot more attractive than randomly stacked bricks and glass.