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Smiley Smile/Wild Honey | 
| Manufacturer: Capitol
Category: Digital Music Album
Buy New: $8.99
Rating:  50 reviews
Sales Rank: 2966
Genre: pop-music
Media: Music Download
Running Time: 0 Minutes
ASIN: B000TDIE9C
Publication Date: April 10, 2001
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
An Elegantly Flawed Disc May 21, 2007
J. Scherer (CinCinnati, OHio)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I feel that this grouping of albums is a blessing in that you can get two important but slightly flawed albums of Tehe Beach Boys for a low price. The music is unbelievable especially Smiley Smile. It is exhilirating to hear Brian Wilson's genius in this stripped-down form. What is there just teases you as to what it would have been if all the problems of Smile hadn't occured. The second half, Wild Honey, is just fun Beach Boys, no psychedelia at all, just fun. It's a great summer album all together, the first half for when your blazing, the second for when your driving around in the hot summer air. I recommend this album.
 Goodbye Surfing, Hello God ! July 16, 2006
K. Lewis (OZ)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Smiley Smile - The "released" version of Smile is here in a smaller scale. If you ever wanted to hear what the Beach Boys would sound like on Hashish and laying on their backs while singing harmony stoned, get this, it's really good.
Wild Honey - White soul before there was white soul and 10 years before Hall & Oates and the white Philly soul movement, The Beach Boys did it in 1967.
 Smiley Smile 2 stars - Wld Honey 4 stars November 16, 2005
Blues Bro (Lakewood, Colorado USA)
5 out of 15 found this review helpful
Smiley Smile simply is the moment when the Beach Boys died. It maybe impossible to imagine now, but up to 1966 the Beach Boys were as respected as artists as the Beatles. Smiley Smile is a rushed album, with practically no instrumentation whatsoever and many under-rehearsed vocals, except for Good Vibrations and Heroes and Villians. If Capitol ever releases a Smile box set as they promised, Smiley Smile will be then send to oblivion, in the hall of shame where it belongs. The world never took the beach boys seriously after that. Wild Honey is actually a very good album, not better than Pet Sounds or Smile, but different than anything they ever did before. Some of the songs and arrangements are totally Brian Wilson at his best. Some of the 'soul' vocals I find difficult to digest and I miss the Beach boys blend on the songs. The extra tracks on the album are ESSENTIAL to any serious beach boys fan, so, if you are, you need this album.
Smiley Smile- 4 Stars Wild Honey- 5 Stars August 23, 2005
allismile0 (Washington, DC)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Letting go of the "what could have beens" with Smile hasn't been easy for many Beach Boys fans- yet it tarnishes a lot of what they did afterwards. There have been many bands that have had aborted projects- some songs found life in other projects. In the progression of The Beach Boys circa 1966-67 there's Pet Sounds, the "Good Vibrations" single, Smiley Smile, and then Wild Honey. There was a time when I might I have thought that Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were steps back artistically; especially when I would put myself to wondering about the aborted Smile project; but in my maturity the steps back artistically have become steps forward humanly. The proceeding albums had less flair and "ambition"; the staple became more and more friendly and subtle- especially when you include the wonderful Friends album.
The enormous ambition that was so much the core of Brian Wilson's progress had turned into personal flights of fancy. The remnants of this, Smile, was rerecorded and turned into Smiley Smile. Parts spooky and haunting, parts comical and silly, the music is complex yet at times astonishingly simple- it was an exorcism and slow return to being the Beach Boys. One major change that started occurring during the recording of this album is that the Beach Boys started recording the music themselves without the assistance of the Wrecking Crew (a famous group of LA session musicians).
Although I have preferred the "Smile" versions of Wonderful, Vegetables, Wind Chimes they are not without plenty of charm. She's Going Bald and Little Pad are fun ditties that have some experimental elements. Although this is a personal estimation I think some of the songs could be very disregarded by the most serious fans such as Fall Breaks Back Into Winter and Getting' Hungry.
Within the same year they had switched tracks to a much more earthy less psychedelic sound. The result is the highly enjoyable Wild Honey. This is a truly great album by the Beach Boys- this was their back to basics album with a new found interest in R&B. It was a group effort on many levels- the song writing was very good and the performances had a passion and honesty that I have found on Pet Sounds without the self indulgence. Songs like Darlin', Wild Honey, Here Comes The Night and Aren't You Glad are on my list of top Beach Boys songs. The Stevie Wonder cover I Was Made To Love Her is actually a surprisingly good cover; Carl sounds quite soulful.
Finally I have to mention Let The Wind Blow- a touching reminder of the power of love- the deepest and most important thing in the world. The sentiment came during a time when many were writing protest songs about everything that was wrong with the world. The simplicity of the desire to give and feel love to one special person in his life resonates so strongly in contrast to the protests and criticisms of inhumanity. The song itself is so simple that it's easy to past right by it but with the feeling of the song hits you it is a sincere plea for more love.
The bonus tracks a cool- there is an amazing live recording from another aborted album; Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring is a cover of a Four Freshmen song that harkens back to Brian's youth. There's also a good version of Can't Wait Too Long once again from the Smile sessions.
I highly recommend these albums. They come as a twofer but both albums are remarkably short; many albums back then clocked in at 40 minutes long because of the time constraints of records-- Wild Honey is only 23 minutes long!)
Also check out Sunflower, Friends, Holland, and Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blues (if you can find it) all top notch albums.
An awesome CD! August 21, 2005
Josh Bakehorn (wishing I was in California)
9 out of 13 found this review helpful
Smiley Smile is a terrific album, and definitely should rank among the most underrated, overlooked masterpieces of the last 200 years.
Sure, it wasn't "SMiLE", but it stands alone as a great work of art with its own merits. The songs, "Heroes and Villains", "Good Vibrations", and the several rare bonus tracks make the CD well worth buying, yet the CD offers much more than that.
If you like offbeat, eclectic songs, you will love Smiley Smile. This stuff is far wackier and stranger than anything the Beatles, Pink Floyd, or anyone else was doing at the time, or really since. But the songs aren't just strange and mystifying; they're also quite beautiful and enchanting.
The vocal harmony work on Smiley Smile is among the best the group ever did. The instrumentation is sparse on some songs, and deliciously rich and intricate on others. The album is an amazing tapestry of wild sound effects, beautiful vocals, haunting instrumentation, gorgeous melodies, psychedelic clownery, and genius concepts.
I could go on and on about Smiley Smile. It's one of my personal favorite albums and I never get tired of listening to it. But Smiley Smile is only half (in volume) of what the CD offers. I don't have much to say about Wild Honey other than there are several good songs on it, and it's a solid album with a consistent sound. The production is minimal as is most of the instrumentation. Overall, it's a good album worth owning if you like the Beach Boys.
The bonus tracks on this disc are just amazing. You get to hear an alternate version of Heroes and Villains often referred to as the "Cantina" version, and some of the tracking sessions for Good Vibrations, which is really quite cool. There's also a wonderful a capella song, originally from the 4 Freshman, that the Boys do with incredible grace and remarkable beauty. "Can't Wait Too Long" is apparently a SMiLE-era outtake that was never used, but it's hard to see why; it's a great song.
Basically, if you are a Beach Boys enthusiast and really like Brian's experimental side, you must get this CD. These Capitol "two-fers" are a great value, and this one in particular is a real gem.
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