#BESTTHINGS2011 // BEACH BOYS - The SMiLE Sessions (Capitol)

Conversely both the most anticipated and least likely to actually exist #bestthing2011 was the first official release of Brian Wilson’s thwarted 1967 “teenage symphony to God” - The Beach Boys’ SMiLE as the behemoth The SMiLE Sessions boxset. 5-cds, 2-lps, 2 bonus 45s, a poster, and a hardcover book (the set also comes in a much more digestable 2-cd or 2-lp formats) all housed in a thick-ass box with a diorama front of the original SMiLE lp cover - this thing has every angle of the format-fetishist market cornered.

When I first sat down to listen the SMiLE album as it is presented here in this set, I found it hard not to feel like I was listening to some sort of Beach Boys compilation. I had heard most if not all of the recordings before either on the many SMiLE bootlegs I own (1 tape! 1 lp! 1 cd!), on past Beach Boys boxsets, as bonus tracks on Beach Boys reissues, or as the revamped versions of SMiLE songs that appeared on later Beach Boys releases. After a few go-rounds though, it began to sink in - this wasn’t some post-millennial mashup of Beach Boys material, this was the real deal. Once I was able to wrap my head around that, the true majesty of SMiLE began to unfold and all I could ask myself was - Sgt. Pepper’s who?

Beach Boys - “Heroes And Villains” from The SMiLE Sessions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blRPcqg6-94

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#BESTTHINGS2011 is a series focusing on the “best things” released in 2011. Bucking arbitrary numerical distinction, these postings will appear in no particular order with no particular concern for whether they are original releases or reissues from this year. I’m hoping to post one a day for the remainder of the calendar year or until I run out of best things to write about. Not sure which will come first.