SMiLE
by Brian Wilson
  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Sep 28, 2004
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 522 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 398 out of 522
  2. Mixed: 39 out of 522
  3. Negative: 85 out of 522

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  1. erikb
    May 7, 2007
    3
    one of those albums that you'll force yourself to hear all the way through because you "should," and then realize it is totally impossible to listen to. Can't really say I enjoyed this one at all, which is tough to admit given all the hype. Maybe I don't "get it" but I think the emperor's new clothes comment got it right.
  2. DaveN
    Aug 5, 2005
    3
    Who would have thought that the band Brian really wanted to play in was the Moody Blues?
  3. DuncanL.
    Jan 2, 2010
    3
    The great thing about this being the best rated album by the music critics is that it shows very clearly just how superficial and sheep like those critics actually are. This is no more than a piece of fluff good for a couple of spins and then put away at the back of the cupboard with that Nirvana record. But hey there are plenty of other sheep who agree with them so they must be right.
  4. MattM
    Nov 7, 2004
    3
    Pretty freakin' boring. The only really good songs are the ones we've heard before: "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains."
  5. mattf
    Oct 27, 2005
    3
    I just don't get it and I've listened to the album many times. Best album of 2004. No way!
  6. JacobQ
    Nov 16, 2005
    3
    Those demons in ol Brians head should have stayed there and not recorded on cd. I'm putting this "gem" on ebay...
  7. radar
    Oct 13, 2005
    3
    It sounds cold and overproduced. Go for the originals, folks. This was done just as good before.
  8. BenC
    Apr 28, 2007
    3
    The original is incredible, this is mediocre at best. It has so many stops and starts in the middle of songs that it gets annoying. Tedious is the one word i would use to describe this new album
  9. Jessthespider
    Jul 29, 2019
    3
    Just like the beach boys and most of the music from this time. It's boring repetive and not very good. Maybe I am just a cynical person but I couldn't stand this albumm
  10. GiovanniO
    Aug 17, 2006
    2
    Why are most reviewers giving this album a 10? When you rate an album do you consider overall enjoyability for adults that did not grow up in the 60's? As an open minded individual I can appreciate any music regardless of age or type, but as a reviewer I could not give a 10 to an album based on its history or lenght of creation. Rome was not built in a day but it fell in one...
  11. DustinB
    Oct 26, 2005
    2
    I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I can only imagine that fans of Wilson's past work must remain enamored, because the songs Heroes and Villians, Wind Chimes, and of course, Good Vibrations, save this album from being entire awful. Listen to songs Barnyard and Vega-tables to realize that Brian Wilson has nothing interesting left to sing about. Actually, don't listen to I feel like I'm taking crazy pills! I can only imagine that fans of Wilson's past work must remain enamored, because the songs Heroes and Villians, Wind Chimes, and of course, Good Vibrations, save this album from being entire awful. Listen to songs Barnyard and Vega-tables to realize that Brian Wilson has nothing interesting left to sing about. Actually, don't listen to them, just take my word for it and skip this album entirely.… Expand
  12. AndyMcD
    Jul 5, 2005
    2
    Ummmmm... We get it Brian, you like singing "doo wop." Just because this was acceptable in the 60's, doesn't make it so now. Pretty darn overrated.
  13. AH
    Nov 20, 2006
    2
    Credit must be given to the level of creativity and variety on this album. In saying that however, variety without purpose and cohesion can be a bad thing and this album, after about Track 11, becomes really tiresome. Track 12 Vega-tables is just a montage of goofy sounds and nonsense.
  14. ButchAutomatic
    Aug 11, 2008
    2
    Ouch! Brian, like Paul McCartney, should relaize when it is time to sit back and enjoy their spoils. Guys - you did well - it's time to stop before you implode and totally ruin what could be fond memories for us. LEARN A NEW HOBBY!
  15. kaylix
    Aug 9, 2008
    2
    What is going on here? This wasn't as great as the reviewers claim. I could barely listen to the whole album. Based on the reviews I kept hoping there was something better in the next track. I gave up and deleted it from my music library.
  16. chipdIII
    Oct 13, 2004
    2
    Why did it take 37 years before it came out Brian? "Because it's mostly utter cock and it took me to completely lose my mind before I gave in to my money loving bastard label. ha ha ha wibble." This should have a really remained a myth.
  17. David
    Dec 16, 2004
    2
    No No No No!
  18. Bruce
    Oct 27, 2004
    2
    You can take a pile of horse manure, mould it into the shape of the Statue of David and people will call it art, simply because that's what they are supposed to say. Of course in reality, it's really just a pile of shit. I'm sure Brian Wilson is "smiling" all the way to the bank !
  19. Dave
    Apr 12, 2005
    2
    I kepy checking the date of these reviews, in case it was April 1st. Then I thought it might like the Hasselhof reviews on Amazon, just a whole lot of effusive hilarious praise for a total turkey. Right now, I am bewildered because this album is so .. banal, uninteresting, lame, mediocre. Utter shite. Brian Wilson's voice is aweful and the soprano chorus thing in the back is I kepy checking the date of these reviews, in case it was April 1st. Then I thought it might like the Hasselhof reviews on Amazon, just a whole lot of effusive hilarious praise for a total turkey. Right now, I am bewildered because this album is so .. banal, uninteresting, lame, mediocre. Utter shite. Brian Wilson's voice is aweful and the soprano chorus thing in the back is irritating. Can I trust any other reviews on this site now??… Expand
  20. TboneM
    Jun 29, 2005
    2
    Most. Overrated. Ever.
  21. BrianS
    Apr 9, 2006
    2
    Bought this album based on Metacritic review - deeply dissapointed
  22. AncaM
    May 10, 2006
    2
    big disappointment! it's not the 60's or the 2000's, it's a very weird mixture that personally i don't understand and can't relate to it!
  23. JPublius
    Apr 15, 2007
    2
    Horrid. The updated lounge band production of this album is so far from the mid-60s Beach Boys magic as to be unrecognizable. The great myth of "Smile" is that it was somehow unfinished, as if Wilson were on the cusp of writing great new material that would link everything together when pressure from his bandmates and label forced him to stop working on the record. This is ridiculous: Horrid. The updated lounge band production of this album is so far from the mid-60s Beach Boys magic as to be unrecognizable. The great myth of "Smile" is that it was somehow unfinished, as if Wilson were on the cusp of writing great new material that would link everything together when pressure from his bandmates and label forced him to stop working on the record. This is ridiculous: Smile was as finished as it was ever going to be, mostly due to its principal songwriter/producer having reduced himself to drug-addled mush. The Smile sessions were a story of diminishing returns, capped by endless studio tweakery at the end to produce the recording Wilson himself had promised Capitol by Jan 1967. The music was there--as numerous bootlegs and "rough mixes" conclusively prove. It wasn't the best pop album in history, and it was never going to be. But it was certainly far superior in every aspect to the mess the group released in its place, the career-killing disaster known as "Smiley Smile." It was also far superior to this slicked-up recording, with its mind-bogglingly awful version of Good Vibrations featuring lyrics not by Mike Love, which,given almost endless lawsuits that have marred the group's existence since the 60s, is probably the real reason why the original Smile never saw the light of day then, nor in the 80s, nor now. Sorry, Brian-worshippers. I just cannot get into a shallow re-recording of a famous lost album by a composer/singer long past his prime backed by studio musicians who just don't get it. The real Smile exists out there--it always has. You just have to look for it...… Expand
  24. GavinF
    May 21, 2008
    2
    I downloaded this purely because of the high ranking it received on this site and I have to say I though it was dreadful. It's all bee-boop-a-doo-daa non sense. Good Vibrations being the only exception.
  25. MIkeY
    Nov 20, 2009
    2
    I give it a 2 because there are only two real songs on the album. The two are excellent (Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villains). The rest does not make any sense.
  26. danielb
    May 3, 2007
    1
    What a disappointment! All time highest score in Metacritic? Now I get it, Rock "critics" only give value to their own nostalgia and deep in their hearts they despise any music created after 1969. This album is not bad in the same way that some elevator songs are acceptable and even catchy. I don't care about the lyrics, the music in Smile is plain boring and no grandstanding about What a disappointment! All time highest score in Metacritic? Now I get it, Rock "critics" only give value to their own nostalgia and deep in their hearts they despise any music created after 1969. This album is not bad in the same way that some elevator songs are acceptable and even catchy. I don't care about the lyrics, the music in Smile is plain boring and no grandstanding about now genius Pet Sounds was will convince me of the contrary. Let me say it again: the music is utterly boring. It is the same annoying high pitched whining for 40 minutes. Can Rock critics talk about the music of the albums they review for once? If I wanted … Expand
  27. DanD
    Feb 13, 2010
    1
    It sounded like Brian Wilson threw mud at the wall while high on drugs through this entire album until "Good Vibrations" magically appeared. Frankly it was the only track where the mad combination of his doo-wops and strings and novelty sounds worked together. I'm sorry, but even a monkey could type the Iliad if he tried enough times.
  28. brianwilson
    Oct 2, 2004
    1
    It sucks, overrated piece of trash.
  29. harrypotter
    Oct 9, 2005
    1
    Opt for the Beach Boys originals instead. This is the sound of some demented old geezer trying to relive his glory days while equally demented old critics and musos oddly lap it all up. The emperors new clothes springs to mind. Waste of time. Complete and utter.
  30. ScottY
    Jul 9, 2005
    1
    I don't get the high ratings this one receives. The music just seems like a slightly updated version of the stuff the Beach Boys were doing in the 1960s. What's so great about this album these days?
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best Album of 2004
3
#3 Most Discussed Album of 2004
15
#15 Most Shared Album of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
97

Universal acclaim - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. Tiny Mix Tapes
    100
    Smile is quite simply the greatest triumph in the history of pop music.
    Read full review
  2. Village Voice (Consumer Guide)
    100
    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.
    Read full review
  3. Los Angeles Times
    100
    "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]
See all critic reviews »