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002.
Brian Wilson
Smile
Nonesuch Records
Receiving the award for "Outstanding Alumni Contribution".
"Who would have thought that Brian Wilson could have overcome his
mental problems to record this, his magnum opus, as he envisioned
it waaaaaay back when? The backstory to this album made it doubly worth
the wait."
-austin
"Like Usher, I have a string of 2004 confessions. First confession:
I was never (like some I know) head-over-heels in love with SMiLE
as a pop legend or a song-set for that matter. A Pet Sounds man
in full, I never saw much beyond mythological campfire-story appeal
in the mangled, unpolished SMiLE bootlegs I'd heard. To me, listening
to the SMiLE bootlegs was very much akin listening to a bootleg
Velvet Underground live set. Both function as windows into the underdocumented
history of a legendary band, and I understand that appeal for what it's
worth. However, both bands are legendary primarily for their landmark
statements on album. Those great albums are the documents which first
hook in the fans who will later scour the earth for countless expensive
bootlegs and imports. I will say that the interesting thing about SMiLE
was the fact that its mythology pivoted around its status as a lost
album, and the belief many held prior to 2004 that it was a masterpiece
which would have perhaps superseded Pet Sounds if realized.
"Second confession: when I caught wind of the recent sessions for
the new SMiLE album, I smugly waited for what I thought would
be the disappointing result. I'd seen footage of Wilson perform in recent
years, and doubted his abilities to hand in a good vocal performance
much less stay focused enough to see through an ambitious album project.
Upon listening to the new release, I was pleasantly surprised with Wilson's
singing and extremely impressed with the talented youngsters he'd surrounded
himself with in making the album. Some 37 years later, the songs of
SMiLE can finally stand on their own legs together as an album
lost no more, and on par with some of Wilson's greatest achievements
as a member of the Beach Boys. This is certainly no small feat for an
aging talent struggling with emotional and mental instability.
"Finally, my third confession: I still love Pet Sounds more."
-r. johnson
"After decades as a near invalid Brian Wilson finally dusted the
cobwebs off his feeble brain to present the world with a lost masterpiece
that had long since faded into pop music myth, when it was remembered
at all. At turns charming, funny, ecstatic, mischievous, joyous, and
achingly beautiful, the most amazing thing about Smile is that
after 37 years of neglect it was just as potent and wildly original
as it was when first conceived-that it lived up its myth-filled reputation
as the best of all lost albums. Now it's simply one of the best albums,
period. Folding several divergent narratives within its complex movements
and crammed with all manner of subtexts Smile is the history
of America's westward colonization, the slow death of Native American
cultures, a loss of faith and its redemption through a child's wondrous
view of the world, the fall of empires, the words of the earth itself,
and Brian Wilson's own autobiography. Listening to Smile now
its possible to see all this, but one can also imagine an alternate
universe where it was the #1 smash hit of 1967-with teenagers joyriding
to the wild sounds of "Heroes and Villains" or dancing at their senior
prom to the chilling splendor of "Surf's Up", and finding in its notes
their own uncertain future and slowly fading past."
-exadore
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