I admit to being a bit of a Smile freak. Yes, I put together a fake smile album a few years ago from tracks from the box set, later albums and some stuff off the internet. Yes, I have had conversations about what could have been--would the Beatles have been blown out of the water? Would the course of musical history have been radically different? I saw the Pet Sounds tour and freaked out when Brian said, "these are some songs that will make you 'smile'." But all of that is irrelevant now. You can listen to actual tracks from the soon-to-be-released album here Smile Official Website At first, I was shocked/disappointed/outraged that Brian Wilson wasn't using the original sessions and had instead re-recorded them. But listening to these tracks, I'm pretty damn excited. What impresses me the most so far is how much the vocals have the same feel as the old tracks. Cabinessence sounds great. I can't wait for wind chimes. I don't really care about the "what could have been" stuff anymore. I just want to listen to it.
