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October 09, 2004
Smile Brian Wilson, Smile
Smile Brian Wilson, you can relax now. It's taken 38 years but your most special project, the one held closest to your heart, the one which has never left your thoughts though at times I certain you wish you could've forgotten, has finally come to fruition. It is your masterpiece, a high-point to a body of work that will define you decades from now. Congratulations Brian, well done!
Thirty-eight years after Smile was first conceived, Brian Wilson's fourth charted solo album made its debut, entering at No. 13 on the Billboard 200. The album extends Brian Wilson's total chart span to a remarkable 42 years. Though Wilson earned rock-icon status years ago, his Smile album will be seen as not so much as an embellisment to an illustrious career but rather as a pinnacle.
Smile has been described as Wilson's artistic Holy Grail and was referred to as the Greatest Album That Never Was. Now, never was has become finally is and we are much richer for it. It is important to note that Smile was much more than a brooding idea. It was an album that actually appeared on the Beach Boys label release schedule and, was set to be the follow-up to the Beach Boy's genre-defining masterpiece Pet Sounds.
Timing is everything and happenings in the music world greatly affected Brian Wilson. It is no mystery that the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and the Beatles' Paul McCartney though greatly admiring each others work, were also engaged in a one-upmanship form of song-writing competition. It has been stated that The Beach Boys were the greatest influence, and challenge, to the Beatles. The Beach Boys album Pet Sounds literally awed the British pop group. Paul McCartney called God Only Knows the greatest song ever written. To put it all in perspective, reaction to Brian Wilson's Smile has been framed with this thought, imagine if Sgt. Pepper had been shelved and released 37 years later. That's saying a lot, and it is a very apt analogy. Much more could be said, and will be said about Smile, but for now it is simply time to relish in the sounds and musical expressions that Brian Wilson first envisioned years ago. Smile is beautiful. Thank you Brian.
Posted by BIGBAER at October 9, 2004 11:11 AM
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