"Smile" (sometimes stylized as SMiLE) is an unfinished album by the American rock band The Beach Boys, originally intended to follow their 1966 album Pet Sounds. It was envisioned as a concept LP consisting of twelve tracks assembled from modular fragments, employing the same editing techniques used for their single "Good Vibrations." However, after a year of recording, the album was shelved. The band subsequently released a simplified version titled Smiley Smile in September 1967. Over the next four decades, only a few tracks from the original Smile sessions were officially released, and the project became one of the most legendary unreleased albums in music history.
The album was primarily produced and composed by Brian Wilson, with lyrics and arrangements by Van Dyke Parks. Smile was conceived as a response to the British influences dominating popular music at the time, with Wilson aiming to create a "teenage symphony to God" that would surpass Pet Sounds. The concept involved word paintings, tape manipulation, elaborate vocal arrangements, and experiments with musical acoustics, drawing from a wide range of influences including mysticism, pre-rock and roll pop, doo-wop, jazz, ragtime, musique concrète, classical music, American history, poetry, spirituality, and cartoons. The project included over 50 hours of recorded material, featuring musical pieces, spoken word segments, sound effects, and role-playing. The planned lead singles were "Heroes and Villains," which explored early California history, and "Vega-Tables," a playful promotion of organic food.
The album's completion was hindered by various issues including legal disputes with Capitol Records, Wilson's perfectionism and mental health struggles, and Parks' departure from the project in early 1967. Although most tracks were produced between August and December 1966, very few were finished, and the album's overall structure was never finalized. Wilson, concerned about public reaction, blocked attempts to release Smile in the following years. The band eventually reworked some of the material into new songs like "Cool, Cool Water," and completed only three additional tracks: "Our Prayer," "Cabinessence," and "Surf's Up." The myth surrounding Smile and its unfulfilled potential has inspired many artists, particularly in indie rock, post-punk, electronic, and chamber pop.
By mid-1967, Smile was estimated to be about "50% done." Since the 1980s, extensive session recordings have circulated as bootlegs, enabling fans to piece together hypothetical versions of the album and contributing to its interactive legacy. Capitol Records included a loose reconstruction of the album in the 1993 box set Good Vibrations. In 2004, Wilson, Parks, and Darian Sahanaja arranged a version of Smile for live performances, known as Brian Wilson Presents Smile, which Wilson later adapted into a solo album. He noted that this version differed significantly from his original vision. In 2011, the compilation The Smile Sessions was released, offering an approximation of the original album and receiving widespread acclaim. It won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013.
