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Beach Boys top CD reviews

Written on October 30, 2011 by Lucy Coughlan

The Beach Boys
The Smile Sessions

DATES: 1966-’67.
DISCS: 5 CDs, 2 LPs, 2 singles.
DETAILS: It’s been lost and found, bootlegged and traded, endlessly praised and furiously debated. It was even remade by Brian Wilson in 2004. But now, after more than four decades, Smile — the most famous unreleased album in history — has finally been freed from music jail. 
Intended as the followup to Pet Sounds, Wilson’s overly ambitious “teenage symphony to God” proved to be his personal and professional undoing. Thanks to a crippling cocktail of drugs, Wilson’s mental instability, group infighting (Mike Love supposedly hated it) and bad business decisions, the out-of-control project was abandoned after some 80 sessions and the tapes were shelved for decades (although some songs were recycled on later Beach Boys albums). This exhaustive undertaking extensively mines those sessions and masters to resurrect Smile — and usher you behind the curtain of mystery that surrounds its troubled creation.
The first CD features the main event: The entire 19-track opus in all its mono glory, assembled from the original recordings. The Americana travelogue begins with the a cappella vocals of Our Prayer, moves through familiar fare such as Heroes and Villains, Vega-Tables and Surf’s Up, takes idiosyncratic detours into the Barnyard and the Workshop, and culminates in the immortal and transcendent Good Vibrations. Eight bonus tracks — stereo segments of Heroes and Villains, a demented demo of Vega-Tables, a solo Surf’s Up, a glorious backup vocal montage and more — hint at the stunning breadth of Wilson’s obsessive perfectionism. The other four discs take up that torch and run a marathon. Following the lead of the 1997 Pet Sounds Sessions box, there are scores of session highlights — snippets of the myriad musical and vocal takes destined to be layered and stitched together into songs — presented in a manner that literally deconstructs the songs to their core elements, taking you inside the music and its labyrinthine construction (while showcasing Wilson’s ability to act as everything from cheerleader to taskmaster to capture the glorious sounds in his head). One entire CD is devoted to Good Vibrations; Heroes and Villains gets most of another; bits and pieces of studio chit-chat and tomfoolery (Brian Falls Into a Piano) add some levity. For the old-school vinyl huggers, two LPs in the set have all the original mono cuts plus a handful of stereo mixes. Finally, along with the musical treasures, the box has physical goodies: A 3D cover with original artwork, a poster, and a 60-page book of photos, anecdotes, recording info and liner notes from Wilson, Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston and others. It’s enough to put a grin on any fan’s face.
DUH: No DVD documentary? Seriously?
DECISION: I doubt even Brian Wilson would listen to the 100-plus working tracks repeatedly, but there’s no denying the historical significance of the set.
DAMAGE: $100. Too much? Don’t frown; the double-album vinyl version and a two-CD set with one disc of cherrypicked outtakes are also available.

RATING: 5 (out of 5)

Susan Boyle
Someone to Watch Over Me

Susan strikes again. Apparently not content with her previous travesties, Boyle turns more classics — victims this time include Depeche Mode, Tears for Fears, Joni Mitchell and the ABBA dudes — into orchestral pablum for spinster aunties and their kitties. Add this to the endless list of reasons why Simon Cowell should be dragged naked through the streets and soundly beaten.

Download: The first four Black Sabbath albums

RATING: 1 (out of 5)

Cowboy Junkies
Sing in My Meadow: The Nomad Series Vol. 3

Bring the noise. For the penultimate release in their Nomad series, these alt-country brooders get down ’n’ dirty with a gnarly set of late-night psychedelic blues. Out go the minimalist melodies, dirge- like pacing, fallen-angel crooning and ethereal ambience; in their place come the distortion pedals, bluesy slide guitars, funky beats and powerfully haunted vocals. Outstanding in its field.

Download: Continental Drift; Hunted

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Dan Mangan
Oh Fortune

Fortune has been Mangan’s friend lately; the Vancouver singer- songwriter’s sophomore set Nice, Nice, Very Nice earned him widespread and much-deserved praise. But rather than rest on his laurels, he thinks outside the acoustic troubadour box on this third disc, expanding his warm, earnest folk-rock with everything from scritchy post-rock sonics to swelling orchestrations. Oh yes.

Download: Post-War Blues; Rows of Houses

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Divide a crumb and you have … two crumbs. Ditto Oasis, it seems. 
While singer Liam Gallagher and the rest of the band get their Brit- rocks off in Beady Eye, ousted guitarist and songwriter Noel works his own side of the street on his solo debut, delivering a set of psychedelic-tinged rockers and strummy anthems inspired by late-period Beatles and Kinks. So who wins? We all do.

Download: If I Had a Gun … ; AKA … What a LIfe!

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

Down With Webster
Time to Win, Vol. II

Just when you thought it was safe to be proud of Canadian music, along come DWW. On their first major-label album, the T.O. sextet devote their time and energy to proving they can crank out rap-rock party anthems every bit as moronic, vapid and derivative as LMFAO or 3OH!3. 
Kids who think this is good music: I assure you it gets better. As for
DWW: Time to grow up. Or shut up.

Download: Professional; Big Wheels

RATING: 1.5 (out of 5)

Toby Keith
Clancy’s Tavern

Say what you will about Keith, he’s no slouch: This is the baritone twanger’s 17th studio album (counting two holiday discs) since 1993, and seventh in as many years. But for a guy who works that hard, he sounds relaxed. Named after his grandma’s bar, Clancy’s Tavern is a straightforward batch of working-man honkytonk and romantic ballads that goes down smooth. Another round?

Download: Tryin’ to Fall in Love; Beers Ago

RATING: 3 (out of 5)

Reckless Kelly
Good Luck & True Love

It always comes down to love and luck. After a foray into political songcraft and a tribute to Pinto Bennett, these Austin-based Oregonians get personal again for their seventh disc. Against their usual backdrop of rough-hewn roots-rock, Steve Earle soundalike Willy Braun and his pals look at romance and fortune from both sides. The
message: Even the losers get lucky sometimes.

Download: She Likes Money, He Likes Love; I Never Liked St. Valentine

RATING: 3.5 (out of 5)

DOWN/STREAM

Flaming Lips
7 Skies H3

Remember when Wayne Coyne and co. released that six-hour song I Found a Star on the Ground a few weeks back? Turns out that was just a warmup. The Oklahoma freaks upped the ante by unveiling a 24-hour track — that’s right, a day-long song — on Halloween. For $5,000, you can buy it on a hard drive encased in an actual human skull. Or just stream it for free online. Your call.

flaminglipstwentyfourhoursong.com

Mazzy Star
Common Burn | Lay Myself Down

It has been 15 years since Hope Sandoval and Davie Roback of Mazzy Star released their last album Among My Swan. But the duo are reportedly putting the finishing touches on a disc due next year (hey, why rush?). If it’s anything like the two tracks they just released, fans won’t be disappointed: These dreamy, minimalist ballads find them picking up right where they left off.

Guided by Voices
The Unsinkable Fats Domino

Hey, kids! The club is open again! Robert Pollard and the classic ’90s lineup of Guided by Voices will release Let’s Go Eat the Factory — their first album since 1996’s Under the Bushes, Under the Stars — on New Year’s Day. Here’s a sneak peek: This 114-second indie-rock nugget that comes with all the ’60s garage riffs and Who-style vocals you expect. Break out the Budweiser.

DVDs

Kings of Leon
Talihina Sky

You think your family is weird? Try being KoL. The band of brothers (and a cousin) take us to the backwoods to meet the kin — from preacher parents to redneck uncles — in this revealing self-produced doc. Along the way, they unflinchingly examine their troubled transition from innocent kids doing the Lord’s work to dope-smoking sinners playing the Devil’s music. This explains a lot.

RATING: 4 (out of 5)

Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam Twenty

After two tumultuous decades of triumph and tragedy, these Seattle stalwarts are still alive — and thriving on their own terms. Filmmaker friend Cameron Crowe tells the tale via the usual mix of cool archival footage (all the way back to their second gig) and reverent new interviews (and a visit to Eddie Vedder’s trippy house). Sure, it’s one giant butt-kiss. But what else did you expect?

RATING: 3 (out of 5)

 

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