The Smile Sessions

Sealed - Brand new 180 gram 2LP audiophile vinyl with gatefold cover. Made in EU.

First time, collected and compiled - the legendary 1966-'67 sessions for the never-completed Smile album.

The Smile Sessions is a compilation album and box set recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on October 31, 2011 by Capitol Records. The set focuses on abandoned recording sessions from their unfinished 1966–67 album Smile which – if completed – would have followed the group's 11th studio album Pet Sounds. It features comprehensive session highlights and outtakes, while the first 19 tracks comprise an approximation of what the completed album might have sounded like.

The compilation is the first and only package devoted to the 1960s Smile recordings originally produced by Brian Wilson, arriving after decades of public anticipation and numerous false starts. The project was led primarily by audio engineers Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, and Capitol A&R director Dennis Wolfe, with Wilson acting as a remote supervisor, assisting the engineers with some mixing decisions. Previously, Wilson had completed a solo album based on Smile in 2004, which Boyd, Linett, and Wolfe used as a blueprint for The Smile Sessions. Wilson later stated that while the compilation is "not a far cry" from his original vision, he prefers his 2004 version. It is preceded by the similar box set The Pet Sounds Sessions (1997).

The Smile Sessions received virtually unanimous critical acclaim upon release.^[1] It was voted number 381 in Rolling Stone's 2012 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time"^[2] and won the award for Best Historical Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards in 2013.^[3] The Los Angeles Times encouraged its inclusion in "every library of American recording history," deeming it an essential learning tool for university composition departments, music professors, budding recording engineers, and composers.^[4] A spiritual successor, 1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow, followed in 2017