Smile
Almost four decades since he began working on his masterpiece, Brian Wilson finally released his own version of *Smile* in 2004. Painstakingly pieced together with his crack touring band, the songs burst forth from the opening “Our Prayer,” a hymnlike chorus of angelic voices. The carnivalesque roller-coaster ride of “Heroes and Villains” and the psychedelic-pop rush of “Good Vibrations” both shine, along with the ambitious lyrics of Van Dyke Parks and Wilson’s inventive arrangements on baroque-pop highlights “Cabin Essence” and “Surf’s Up.”
Finally: After 35 years, Brian Wilson solves the Smile puzzle, piecing together the fragments that fans have spent the last 3½ decades meticulously researching, speculating over, and attempting to assemble themselves. As the mythical follow-up to Pet Sounds, it delivers, and despite his age, Wilson's voice even sounds fantastic, still carrying the weight of these angelic melodies.