Brian is giving his fans an opportunity of a lifetime – to make the very first video for the single “Heroes and Villians” off his new album SMiLE which debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 album charts at 13. The record is now enjoying commercial success on a scale last seen by Wilson or the Beach Boys almost thirty years ago. Brian himself will be choosing the winner – the winner will be announced on January 20th. The winning video will be featured on MP3.com and BrianWilson.com as well as being featured in the upcoming live SMiLE DVD – coming out Spring 2005. The winner and a friend will also be flown to LA to meet Brian and catch a performance of SMiLE! Interested? Need more info? Check it out here: www.brianwilson.com/contest/

In 1966, Brian Wilson began work on the follow-up to The Beach Boys’ now classic PET SOUNDS. Spurred by The Beatles’ visionary music, Wilson composed, arranged and produced the revolutionary “Good Vibrations,” which became the first million-selling #1 single in The Beach Boys’ history. Wilson continued, with lyricist Van Dyke Parks, to develop The Beach Boys’ next album. As “Good Vibrations” made clear, this album, intended to be called SMiLE, would surpass PET SOUNDS in its innovation. Before the album could be completed, a tumultuous set of circumstances caused Wilson to abandon SMiLE.
Over the years, SMiLE became the most famous unfinished and unreleased album in pop music history...until now. Sept 28 marks the release of an album that has already achieved historical status.
www.smilethealbum.com

The Greatest Album That Never Was finally is. The Beach Boys uncompleted 1967 album Smile has remained the elusive touchstone of Brian Wilson's brilliant, tragically star-crossed career for decades. Artistic Holy Grail and troubling professional Waterloo for Wilson, a tantalizing prism of unfulfilled promise to his loyal cadre of fans, its story has become pop music's Rashomon. Finally completed via Spring 2004 recordings with his stellar, longtime touring band (none of the original '60s sessions were used, though they've been recreated here with often stunning authenticity), it's arguably as alien to contemporary pop as it might have seemed in its intended '67 context--even to ears freshly primed by the glories of Pet Sounds. Collaborator Van Dyke Parks' impressionistic, often mischievous lyrics conjure a collage of arcane 19th century Americana that's equal parts artful ellipse and aloof nostalgia. But wed to Wilson's innovative composition/recording techniques (echoing beat author William Burroughs' fabled cut 'n' paste methodology and exemplified by the modular "Good Vibrations") the resulting semi-suite confections challenge the boundaries of both song and album form, but with an insouciant charm that's as different from Pet Sounds as that landmark was from "I Get Around." Turns out those hypothetical comparisons to Sgt. Pepper's weren't so far off the mark.
Jerry McCulley [ read more ] >>

In the 30-plus years since Brian Wilson abandoned work on his ultimate "teenage symphony to God," Smile has taken on a mythic quality unlike just about any record in rock history. Depending on who tells the story -- and there are myriad variations -- Wilson descended into madness as a result of working on the disc and/or destroyed all evidence of its existence out of a belief that it would cause some sort of apocalypse upon its release. Well, the latter element of that tale turned out to be something of an exaggeration, since Wilson and longtime collaborator Van Dyke Parks holed up in a studio to refurbish those long-lost tapes -- and the results are thoroughly engaging, even for those with a non-functioning nostalgia gene. Some of the songs -- including classics like "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" -- actually have been released before, and Wilson wisely doesn't stray far from his original blueprints. The new versions do, however, take on new colors in this context, particularly the former tune, which ends the disc on a joyous note, coming out of the wistful "In Blue Hawaii." Other songs get radical reworkings, such as "Roll Plymouth Rock" (previously issued as "Do You Like Worms?"), which has evolved from hippie-ish navel-gazing to open-armed affirmation. There's a fair share of darkness on the horizon as well, most notably the threatening instrumental "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" -- which, in its original form, was said to be the single song that drove Wilson over the edge -- and the quavery "I'm in Great Shape," which indicates the title to be wishful thinking at best. Still, the overall impression left by Smile is a happy, if wistful one; it's the sense of a man coming to terms with his own past and using it as a stepping stone into a better future.
David Sprague [ read more ] >>

This UK-only limited-edition format, exclusive to Amazon.co.uk, comprises a white box with 3D shadowbox embedded in the lid. This shadowbox is a recreation of the artwork from the centre pages of the album booklet and contains movable figures. The CD is housed in a custom slipcase. One in four copies will be signed by Brian Wilson; these will be randomly allocated.