The Beach Boys' Smile to finally see release—no really, this time they mean it
After several decades of empty promises, The Beach Boys’ lost album Smile will finally see release later this year—which, yeah right. But no, Capitol swears it really means it this time, announcing that what it’s calling The Smile Sessions is currently being prepared by engineer Mark Linett and archivist Alan Boyd, and that this time everyone involved with the band, including Brian Wilson, is enthusiastically behind actually putting it out after 40 years of waiting, with Bill Gagnon, a senior VP at EMI, avowing, “It’s coming out.” Right—sure it is, Bill Gagnon. Spoken like a total Bill Gagnon. But no, okay, we’ll play along: The Smile Sessions will be available in a two-CD set, an iTunes digital album, and a limited-edition boxed set with four CDS, two vinyl LPs, two vinyl singles, and a 60-page hardbound book by Beach Boys historian Dominic Priore. Oh, well, we guess if it’s a hardbound book, this must actually be happening.