Smile comments (& analysis on the state of BW's voice)

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Mike Hunte
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Smile comments (& analysis on the state of BW's voice)

Postby Mike Hunte » Sun Oct 10, 2004 12:32 am

I wanted to let it sink in for a week or two before commenting on it. So here goes:


I like the new Smile. Mind you, there's *NOTHING* here that surpasses the original Smile session recordings and subsequent overdubbed Beach Boys' versions, but it still works for me on several levels. I mentioned to someone a while back that I detested the "Pet Sounds" live CD for reasons too many to list. Most notably, I referred to the Wondermints as musicians having "all the moves down pat, but lacking the soul" of the original players. Letter perfect to the point of almost being parody, they just couldn't quite capture the unique qualities that the Beach Boys themselves brought to, for example, the vocal blend. IMO, one of the saddest things in the yearly Brian Wilson Reinvention Campaign (TM) is just how much of a concerted effort has been spent in trying to minimize the Beach Boys role in Brian's musical history (on a related note, Dennis grew into a pretty decent songwriter and stylist himself). It's no different for the new Smile but I guess I'm trying to look at this as simply a new album (which, of course, it isn't), rather than this larger-than-life monster that has taken on a life of its own.

Once again, the 'Mints have duplicated every music phrase, every nuance, as close as humanly possible. In fact, the original 60's session players should probably be paid a royalty for their work 'cause it's mimed here to exacting standards. I guess, here, I just feel that I'm able to accept this (vs. the live shows), forget the history of it and judge it on its own.

Musically, the new bits that build on the original Smile fragments have been pulled off for the most part fairly well. The "easy my child" section of CITFOM, aurally, captures the musical vibe of a warm, balmy night. Conversely, the "I Wanna Be Around" vocal dittie is borderline Vegas. Which leads to the next big question - Brian's voice.

In a nutshell, it's still pretty much as atrocious as ever (i.e. post '72). These people who keep saying that "Brian is singing better than ever" have either overdosed on their Briantology mantra or are just plain tone deaf. More likely, just plain wishful thinking. On a side-note, I always chuckle when someone in Beach Boys fandom refers to Brian "singing better than he did just two years ago!" I've been hearing this same line (every two years!) since 1985, and he pretty much sounds just the same as when he croaked out "I'm So Lonely" back then. Sure, it's not the cigarette-stained bark of the late 70's "Brian Is Back" (TM) era, but it's still the same slurry, flat-pitched, emotionless, shouting stacatto of the past 15-20 years. If anything, he perhaps has developed a tad more control over his limitations - though he still sings miserably flat in unadulterated live performances. The truth is that Brian's once beautiful instrument went south when he crawled under the covers after Holland & it never really returned (anyone here remember his absolutely horrific perfomance at Long Beach '81, as well as Farm Aid fifteen years later). In addition, people who have sampled The Wilson Project might remember that Brian pretty much had to be *re-taught* how to sing during his second go-around with Landy.

What they *have* done here is to minimize the most unpleasant aspects of his voice. It's doubled by Foskett all over the place (or Darrien?). "Wonderful" is about 60% "shadow"/40% Brian...just enough to fool the unitiated into thinking that Brian is vocally "back" once again. Another "trick" they use is having Brian start a musical phrase, only to have a lingering falsetto note seamlessly handled by one of his human "White-Outs" at the end of the trail. "Vegetables," lead vocal-wise, is particularly cringeworthy while, conversely, "the long, long ago" line from "Holidays" is probably about as good as he's capable of - calmer and more fluent. To their credit here, the engineers have given his voice a more organic sound, rather than the auto-tuned, quadruple-tracked, monster that was "Imagination." In short, while his voice is certainly the biggest liablity here (and even more of a reminder of what made the Beach Boys versions so magical), it doesn't completely sink the project.


So, why do I like the new "Smile?" Simple. Because I think it serves as a reminder that while maybe not a "genius," per say, Brian was pretty damned good in his day at getting to the crux of what makes music such an emotional experience. He truly was a disciple of Gershwin in that matter. Great counterpoint harmony, aching melodies, and enough quirkiness built in to keep it from sounding stale. I've often accused Brian over the past 20 years of putting out musical nursery rhymes, every dopey syllable eaten up by his starry-eyed disciples. One could even say that at its worst Smile is guilty of the same in places. Certainly, a bit pretentious to boot (VDP anyone?). The difference here is that at its best (e.g. Cabinessence, Our Prayer, Surf's Up) Smile achieves something far greater - beauty and tranquility that eludes much of today's pop music (insert aging baby boomer mockery here).

Final verdict:

3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

later,
DM

PS - Sound quality is pretty decent too.