Smiley Smile/Wild Honey [Remaster] by Beach Boys (The) (CD, Apr-2001, Capitol/EMI Records)

These two albums were released in 1967 after the collapse of Smile. Although they might sound nothing like Smile or the Beach Boys, they are two of the finest in their entire catalog.

Smiley Smile is a very weird album. Pet Sounds conveyed emotions so well and this album is not an exception but unlike Pet Sounds whose vibe was joy and love Smiley Smile conveys the lost of faith to continue on. The way Brian and Carl sing the songs is a little depressing because you can hear and feel their loss of faith. They sound so broken and this is very apparent in songs like Wind Chimes and Wonderful. This is the album that was Smile's replacement and you can hear in some parts of the album it teasing you of its demise. The end of Vegetables, for example, is a snippet of the unaltered Smile track. It alone makes you want to hear what Smile would have been because there is so much emotion and complexity in that little snippet. Two things about the album, the fist thing is; do not get this album if you are expecting to hear Smile, the second is that the first time I heard it I thought it was not very good but after a couple listens and after hearing Brian Wilson Presents Smile (you should get this album to trully appreciate Smiley Smile's charm and to understand why it sounds so depressing), this is my favorite Beach Boy album.

Wild Honey sounds very minimally produced. It has some very great moments and it is a great album. It does not sound as weird as Smiley Smile but it sounds different. The whole thing is very short but it manages to give out a very soothing vibe, I think done intentionally after the whole Smile disaster.

If you like the Beach Boys you should hear this just to hear a completely different side of them. These two albums, specially Smiley Smile, show that Brian Wilson was still making great music even after losing his greatest piece of music, Smile.