7 Years Later, is The Beach Boys Smile Sessions Box Set Worth it?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Spammers, May 12, 2018.

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  1. Bill

    Bill Senior Member

    Location:
    Eastern Shore
    Get the box so they'll milk the catalog by issuing more, rather than that symphonic ca-ca. At least we'll get outtakes.
     
  2. Grunge Master

    Grunge Master 8 Bit Enthusiast

    Location:
    Michigan
    This is going to get people riled up I'm sure; Apple should have paid attention to the SMiLE box set when they put together the Sgt. Pepper one last year.
     
  3. sandmountainslim1

    sandmountainslim1 Vicar Of Fonz

    I have heard nothing but good things about the Box but myself I went for the European single disc of SMiLE and I'm happy with that. I prefer it to my Unsurpassed Masters 16 disc
     
  4. Brian_Svoboda

    Brian_Svoboda Senior Member

    Location:
    Virginia
    Yes! Sell plasma if you have to.
     
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  5. Jerry c.

    Jerry c. Forum Resident

    I always loathed The Beach Boys, but bought the 2 disc set due to the hype. Ended up loving it.
     
  6. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Better than the Pepper box
     
  7. Jerry c.

    Jerry c. Forum Resident

    Pepper box was a bust. I wish I had just returned it.
     
  8. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Here's the review from BestBuy:

    I have always been a beach boys fan & had collected every album they put out since their first one in the early 60's. I was excited to hear that SMILE Sessions was being released but what a dissappontment it was. Just a compilation of junk that couldn't be made into a hit album. I listened to the first CD and packed the whole thing back up and put it in my closet. Big waste of money. The only things of value are the nostalgic vinyls and notes. Too bad Carl Wilson put out such a bad product when he is such a musical genius.​
     
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  9. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    I agree (and I'm a hard core Beatles fan and completist). With both boxes, we were partially paying for the elaborate packaging, but the Smile Box, with 5 CDs, 2 vinyl LPs, 2 vinyl 45s, a hard cover book, a paperback picture book, a way cool 3d cover, and a BIG poster, gave us much more bang for our buck as well as 4 discs plus of session outtakes as opposed to the 2 discs of them on the Pepper box.
     
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  10. If I Can Dream_23

    If I Can Dream_23 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    I adore the Smile box and feel it a treasure trove on par with last year's Pepper box (which is probably the most well done box I own, all around). But, like that Pepper box, it's likely "too much of a great thing" if one isn't overly-crazy about the album or artist. I love both albums and thus both boxes were welcome and worthy celebrations of the albums at hand in my view. I've played and used the Pepper box far more though (basically a whole year uninterrupted at this point). :)

    But Smile is still more than worth the plunge in my opinion. Again, especially if you think you might delve deeper into it or become hooked.

    I've become a "super deluxe box" nut in general though. Not that I'm interested in every one that pops up, but between Pepper, Smile, various Elvis boxes, the Zeppelin boxes, etc, there are a good handful or so that I just couldn't resist. I only wish every album I liked could get these treatments! Not that I could afford them all but...
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2018
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  11. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Good call that you bought the box. Worth every penny and then some. Although on vinyl is my favorite way to listen to the album proper, I've played the whole box several times and will play it all again and again. If you're into the background and creation of the album, I would recommend listening to all of the session outtakes on the CDs at least once. They're a joy!
     
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  12. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    Seriously? From BestBuy (which probably had some copies of it for sale)? "Vinyls?" "Carl Wilson?" For real? Or a joke?
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2018
  13. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    You'll be fine with the vinyl.

    The entire box is on streaming services...it's cool to do a deep dive into the tracks like that, but unless you're a historian or writing a book on Brian, it's not the kind of thing you're going to listen to more than once or twice. Get the regular album on vinyl, and save your $50 for another album.
     
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  14. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    LOVE the Smile, box but didn't know about the upcoming Philharmonic album. Just sampled "Fun Fun Fun" (the only preview available on Amazon) and love the orchestral backing. I'm a completist so I'll be getting it. Thanks.
     
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  15. Al Smith

    Al Smith Forum Resident

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  16. Jimmy B.

    Jimmy B. .

    Location:
    .
    I have the 2 CD set. It's great. I've listened to it maybe three times since it came out.
     
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  17. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    I did return it. It was that bad to me. I love the original mixes, though.
     
  18. Lownote30

    Lownote30 Bass Clef Addict

    Location:
    Nashville, TN, USA
    You probably have a good idea of where my vinyl came from. :evil:
     
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  19. The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man Forum Resident

    Wha-a-a-a-at? ‘Smile’ was released?
    When?
    Does Brian know?
     
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  20. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

     
  21. TheLazenby

    TheLazenby Forum Resident In Memoriam

    Location:
    Pittsburgh
    Absolutely. Though the standalone 2-LP set seems to be a nicer-sounding pressing than what's in the box, the CD's, book and 7" singles are indispensible.
     
  22. manco

    manco Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Jose, CA
    Absolutely. It's the holy grail of popular music.
     
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  23. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    If aesthetics are your number one priority in life then the Smile box is indispensable.
     
  24. plentyofjamjars67

    plentyofjamjars67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan
    Agree. Most successful Frankenstein edit of em all. Though it's not too different from the old boot tracklistings, the revision or whatever here works really well.
     
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  25. Cameron.39

    Cameron.39 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Nottingham, UK
    I'd suggest no, don't buy the box for now. It's rather exhaustive, listening to hundreds of small fragments of tracks. The album itself is quite hard to digest owing to the very diversified selection of tracks. Once you're into that, then get the box. But even as a fan, I found it a bit hard going after a while. I only really listen to the LP now, which does have a selection of bonus tracks on side four. Curiously, out of everything released, there's no stereo mix of the album! I bought the boxset to piece together a stereo mix (as most the fragments are in stereo), which I got about half way through before life got in the way.
     
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