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I got it for Festivus, and I had similar doubts about it the first couple times I played it.
But now I think it's brilliant. My route into it was the second suite, from "Wonderful" through "Surf's Up." These are, first of all, really sophisticated melodies (if you don't think so, I dare you to try and sing them!), and the Brian Wilson trademark vocal counterpoint is out in full force.
Then there's the way he recalls other parts of the piece. The way that incidental theme from "Good Vibrations" shows up in the middle of "Song for Children" is just the kind of jaw-dropping surprise I'd hoped this record would contain. And the various settings of "Child" that are clearly related, but different: this is brilliant at the level of Wagner.
As for the super-Spector production I have almost no idea what you mean. I think the new version of "Heroes and Villains" is actually weaker than the original, disappointingly so. I think the orchestral instruments are used for incidental color, rather than constant "sweetening." I don't see how the harpsichord in "Wonderful" or the xylophones in the first bit of "Wind Chimes" can be seen as anything wall-like; they're extremely subtle, not to mention gorgeous. I do find the rhythm section a little too modern, almost mechanical in a way, and maybe that's what bothers you.
Happens I also have a theory of what Smile is about, which allows me to put up with the goofiness and pretentiousness of Van Dyke Parks. The original idea was to make a distinctively American answer to the Beatles, and Parks interpreted that as a way of thinking about his and Wilson's own roots. As Californians, they were aware of having ridden this great wave of manifest destiny across the continent, amber waves of grain and all, and then bumping into the Pacific and wondering where else there was to go. Bear in mind now that the CD as we have it today is *not* what they wrote in 1966, which in turn is probably not what they were hoping to achieve-- but some of the bits are there. "Roll Plymouth Rock" is obviously about the Pilgrims landing, and the beginnings of our problematic relationships with the native Americans. "Cabin Essence" deals with the sod-busters laying out farms, and then the train coming through and hastening the pace of the expansion. It's a simplistic, rose-colored version of our history, but that's part of why they called it "Smile"-- they wanted to make their audience feel good about themselves.
I think I even have a handle on "Surf's Up," but it would take all day to explain :-)
I assum there's stuff that they never finished that would have made Smile even better. The original plan involved an "Elements" suite, with "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" representing fire, and being followed by the water image in "In Blue Hawaii," and maybe "Wind Chimes" is supposed to invoke air, but earth got left out (or maybe given short shrift in "I'm In Great Shape"). It's also likely that the order of the songs isn't what they would have done in 1966. In fact what are the odds that Wilson remembers his original intentions clearly? He dug into his trunk, pulled out the manuscripts, and tried to piece them together in a musically interesting way. This is what we get-- flawed, to be sure, but for my money it's as good as anything that's come out in the 21st century.
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