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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.

SMiLE
by Brian Wilson


7.9

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 338 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album

Gettin' In Over My Head

Official Artist Site

Well, better 37 years late than never. Originally intended to be the Beach Boys' 1967 follow-up to their legendary 'Pet Sounds,' 'Smile' was finally recorded as originally intended in April 2004 by Wilson and his current band, including co-songwriter Van Dyke Parks.

LABEL:	Nonesuch
RELEASE DATE:	28 September 2004
DISCS:	1 disc
GENRE(S):	Pop, Rock

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Tiny Mix Tapes

Smile is quite simply the greatest triumph in the history of pop music.

100

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

Smile's post-adolescent utopia isn't disfigured by Brian's thickened, soured 62-year-old voice. It's ennobled--the material limitations of its sunny artifice and pretentious tomfoolery acknowledged and joyfully engaged.

100

Los Angeles Times

"Smile" emerges as a beautiful and cohesive work, at times deeply moving, at others oddly whimsical, at still others eerily disturbing but celebratory. [27 Sep 2004]

100

Dusted Magazine

Against all expectations, Brian Wilson has achieved what should have been impossible, and has produced what may be the year's most thrilling album.

100

The Wire

The music has an originality that sounds remarkable even now. [#248, p.52]

100

Dot Music

This is a brilliant record, just as it's always been.

100

Uncut

A unique and unlikely moment of retrieval, restoration and renaissance. [Nov 2004, p.98]

100

Amazon.com

Turns out those hypothetical comparisons to Sgt. Pepper's weren't so far off the mark.

100

Drowned In Sound

It’s spellbinding.

100

Rolling Stone

It's looser and messier than Sgt. Pepper and, one suspects, always would have been. But its sui generis Americanism counterbalances its paucity of classic pop songs.

100

Entertainment Weekly

It's a gorgeous trip back to a time when anything seemed possible. [1 Oct 2004, p.73]

100

Under The Radar

Other than the fact that it came out a little late, there isn't a single thing wrong with it. [#8, p.113]

cokemachineglow

SMiLE has arrived as incredible and ground-breaking a record as any of us could have hoped.

ShakingThrough.net

While it may not be the ultimate symphonic confection nearly four decades of hyperbole have all but guaranteed, Smile is nonetheless an arresting, audacious, unabashedly whimsical slice of junk-drawer Americana and can-do pop craftsmanship.

Neumu.net

The magic of the album lies in the way Wilson's complex, challenging sonic vision can evoke the optimism, hope, and wonder that gave birth to this album decades ago.

Filter

One of the most inspiring and triumphant projects of the year, and perhaps the last 30 years. [#13, p.89]

All Music Guide

Infectious and hummable, to be sure, and a remarkably unified, irresistible piece of pop music, but no musical watershed on par with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or Wilson's masterpiece, Pet Sounds.

The Onion (A.V. Club)

The new Smile not only justifies its bearing, but also serves as a major triumph.

Village Voice

Whatever it was supposed to achieve originally, right now SMiLE sounds like a beautifully modulated, funny, sometimes unintentional meditation on a failed United States and counterculture, and the lost paradise, real or imagined, of Southern California, and the collapse and reinvention of the male ego.

Billboard

This is pop music like nothing before it, or since.

Mojo

There is a remarkable consistency about Smile's complex tapestry of delights. [Oct 2004, p.98]

New Musical Express

'Smile' stands up with any of the great music of the 20th century. [25 Sep 2004, p.63]

Pitchfork

The end result is a great album, albeit one more lighthearted than its myth would suggest.

E! Online

While undeniably ambitious and moving in parts--with sunny harmonies and layered production--it also happens to be a little kitschy.

The Guardian

Despite the hype, it is hard not to be impressed with the new Smile.... The music flows beautifully - no mean feat when it encompasses barbershop singing, acid rock, early pop, Hawaiian chanting and mock-religious plainsong.

Q Magazine

The real revelation of this new Smile is its melodic depth, even if lyricist Van Dyke Parks's oblique ruminations seem unnecessarily flowery. [Nov 2004, p.114]

PopMatters

The most obvious aspect that takes away from Smile's luster however, is an uncomfortable sense that the album has morphed into a quaint piece of nostalgia rather than the masterwork it was expected to be.

Blender

Despite Wilson's wrecked voice, it's surprisingly grand and moving. [Nov 2004, p.146]

Austin Chronicle

Hearing the newly recorded album as a completed work instead of dismembered modules is a rollicking reassertion of Wilson's compositional genius.

The average user rating for this album is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 338 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ken S. gave it a1:
Were it not for "Good Vibrations", I would have given it a ZERO. What a disappointment. Pitiful.

d h gave it a10:
Perfect. Only comparable to the Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Alex T gave it a10:
Quite simply one of the greatest albums I have ever heard. It evokes a feeling of happiness and makes you appreciate the musical genius that is Brian Wilson. The arrangements, harmonies, melodies - everything about this album is perfect. While I can understand why some may find this album to be "childish", it is important to understand that it is not only intentional, but characteristic of this particular genre. Created in a different fashion it would lose much of it's effect. A bonafide pop triumph!

nick m. gave it an8:
This isn't the highest rated album on metacritic. The highest rated is London Calling by The Clash, which scored a 100. My score is just the avg, this isn't my actual score.

C G gave it a0:
Completely overrated, unless it is placed in the children's section. By the way, I still think "Pet Sounds" is as charming as ever. I would normally give this a 4 or so, but it seems my duty to help average out all of the Wilson worship. The only musical "genuis" more overrated is Frank Black and that whole Pixies mess.

John L gave it a10:
One of the greatest albums ever. The harmonies, arrangements and melodies are brilliant. The lyrics too. People who say this is an over-rated album have clearly not listened to much music. I feel sorry for you.

Justin B gave it a10:
Wondrous!

SMiLE by Brian Wilson

SMiLE
by Brian Wilson