User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 522 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 398 out of 522
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Mixed: 39 out of 522
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Negative: 85 out of 522
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DaleJun 6, 2005If you are a fan of BW or the Beach Boys, Smile may (or not) tickle your fancy, but if you are just a casual fan taken in by the critical acclaim it has received from this site (like yours truly), DO NOT PURCHASE THIS ALBUM before listening to it first. It is overrated by any standard and most may find the dated sound and (lack of) song structure rather unpalatable.
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JoeGMar 9, 2006I wanted to love this, I really did. It's from a genius isn't it, one of the great lost treasures of 60's pop! A few of the sequences (Heroes and Villians) are excellent, but I struggled to warm to much else, some of which is positively flaky. I've just sold it on Ebay, and hope the buyer enjoys it more than I did.
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markhJun 8, 2006greatest album ever. hahahahahahahahahahha yeah right, refund please.
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hitchynonejusthitchy!Oct 13, 2005
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GraemeHMar 28, 2005Did they put the wrong CD in the case when I bought this? I bought based upon these reviews but was disappointed. It's OK but not great.
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MichaelVMar 7, 2005Comparisons to Beatles Sgt. Pepper. Critics are dreaming. My copy of this is for sale. Very disappointing.
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ScottSJun 25, 2005
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ChadSJun 26, 2005
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CaseyBJun 5, 2005
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StevePJul 4, 2005Hugely overrated. I believed the hype ... the missing masterpiece ... the follow up to Pet Sounds. All the hype is rubbish. If the album had come out 37 years ago it would now be considered a very average 60's album with a couple of good tracks.
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evansDec 23, 2004
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MikeONov 6, 2005Surf's Up and Good Vibrations are superb, but we already knew that. The versions on Smile are inferior to the Beach Boys. Heroes & Villains is good, the rest is average to weak. What was all the fuss about? This is really the most over-hyped album of all time, yet it is still rates a 6/10 due to the 3 tracks mentioned above.
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ACriticOct 6, 2005I enjoyed the CD. Some of it. The songs were very unique and experimental, and had very different affects to them. "Our Prayer" was harmonic and bright, "You are my Sunshine" has a very dark sound to it. "Roll Plymouth Rock" was beautiful. Although, some of the tracks (Barnyard, Mrs. O'Leary's Cow), were a miss for me. A real mix I would recommend for anyone to listen to.
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AgatheMMar 19, 2005It's OK, but what's the big deal?
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JohnWAug 3, 2005It's ok, but it's a far cry from anything great. It's just an update of the Beach Boys. Nothing new, nothing fresh.
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CKbiggieMar 26, 2006wanted to like this, but 4 listens later was trying hard to stay awake. the critical fervor is completely baffling... a very mediocre album.
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robertvDec 13, 2004
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JackLMar 12, 2006
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IlliniqAug 21, 2006
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BenjaminBunnyDec 13, 2004
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BrendanDFeb 19, 2007
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davebJul 21, 2007
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fagrJun 20, 2007how did this shit get up here... it seems that when critics see the beatles or the rolling stones or such oldies they feel the obligation to slap a 100 on it. NOT GOOD, put me to sleep
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FredMMay 21, 2008
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SebastianWDec 15, 2009I may just not understand its context, I may just not be enough of a Beach Boys fan, but considering this album takes the throne on metacritic, I find it's simply too counter-modern and envisions its listeners too narrowly.
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MarkS.Apr 26, 2008I've always found Wilson annoying, sorry. Probably the most overrated album in history
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GeneDSep 13, 2008
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Mar 28, 2022I can't understand who (apart from Brian Wilson, who apparently ran out of money in 2004) needed this album. It's bland, secondary, and has nothing to do with the magic of the old Beach Boys. The production is also not amazing. I was terribly bored (but I did like two tracks - unfortunately, these were the two I already knew).
Awards & Rankings
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Smile is quite simply the greatest triumph in the history of pop music.
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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.
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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]