Caspar Llewellyn Smith- "Why I frown upon the Beach Boys releasing Smile"
By DJ M on September 14th, 2011
In Brian Wilson/B. Boys
GUARDIAN "Haven't we been here before? News that the the Beach Boys' Smile is to be released later this year is both confusing and something I really wish they wouldn't do ... Here's my problem: it's never been difficult for anyone interested to track down bootlegs of those sessions. I've got the two-disc Vigotone set that, if memory serves, I bought via mailorder, although I've often seen it on market stalls ... Then there's the problem of any release that claims to be definitive. Wilson never did finish the record in 1967 as his mental health deteriorated ... [T]he best version of Smile, a really happy record but also one of numinous beauty, a record that did make Pepper sound 'meh', is the one that will always exist in our imaginations."