SMiLE

Editors’ Notes Almost four decades since he began working on his masterpiece, Brian Wilson finally released his own version of Smile in 2004. Painstakingly pieced together with his crack touring band, the songs burst forth from the opening “Our Prayer,” a hymnlike chorus of angelic voices. The carnivalesque roller-coaster ride of “Heroes and Villains” and the psychedelic-pop rush of “Good Vibrations” both shine, along with the ambitious lyrics of Van Dyke Parks and Wilson’s inventive arrangements on baroque-pop highlights “Cabin Essence” and “Surf’s Up.”