My Tribute to Brian
I was in the midst of this album collage project with help from The Beach Boys fan community on Reddit when the sad news of Brian Wilson’s passing rocked the world on June 11, 2025, 9 days before his 83rd birthday. As fans, we all knew this day was approaching since the news of his dementia and being assigned a conservator. I had a very hard time dealing with his death that day.
In a sense, it felt like losing a friend who had helped you through some of your most difficult times, but as we fans have read about and witnessed his well-documented traumatic and turbulent life, I also felt a sense of relief for him. Losing his wife last year, Melinda, who saved him from the sadistic grip of Eugene Landy, had to be devastating for him. She was the key to Brian reclaiming his life, and with her love and support, we would have never gotten to see his magical touch on music in his later years with Brian Wilson Presents Smile or That Lucky Old Sun. Heck, we might have never gotten Brian’s Smile if Melinda wasn’t there to support him, but also Darian Sahanaja, who Brian recruited with his band Wondermints to be his backing band, who’s Smile mixes and gentle encouragement gave Brian the courage to release Smile after more than 3 decades of fan speculation and mixes for what it would and could have been.
Ultimately, when all is said and done, the world of Beach Boys fans and music artists, all who have felt Brian’s extraordinary importance in their lives from his music, have contributed to the tidal wave of tributes that have been pouring in. It is surreal to no longer have him in our physical world, a man who is the epitome of perseverance and triumph from a lifetime of abuse, manipulation, and mental illness, but who made the most sophisticated, heartfelt, and revolutionary pop music (or any music) of the modern era, which reached deep and touched all of our hearts. Even though in his career with The Beach Boys and later as a solo artist he wrote many love songs, Brian’s music wasn’t trendy or “cool” in the traditional sense. What it lacked in cool factor it more than made up for due to its remarkably disarming nature, showing a pureness in its directness, which Brian was well known for with the way he was throughout his life and during his struggles. Through his music, he humbled us and taught us what’s most important in life. You will be missed dearly and eternally Brian. Our hearts were forever changed by your music. Now you can finally join your brothers Carl and Dennis and rest in peace… thank you for all the Good Vibrations. Love and Mercy.
The Ultimate & Peak Essential SMiLE-Core Albums Project
I was working on my own tribute to Brian’s legendary, greatest album that never was, and unreleased masterpiece, Smile, since mid-April. Between 2020 up until now, something happened to me. I became completely OBSESSED with The Beach Boys. While my only article for them was for their 50th Anniversary box set Sail On Sailor - 1972, which was posted in 2022, I realize I have been sorely missing The Beach Boys in my life, and I intend to change that with more Beach Boys-related articles in the future. This collage project was born out of my desire and need to hear more albums like The Beach Boys’ Smile, or it’s closest album relative, Song Cycle by Van Dyke Parks, who was integral to Brian’s songwriting process at the time. These albums I feel are some of the greatest, albeit avant-garde, and revolutionary music that exists today, and I wondered to myself while listening to them on repeat, ‘how many albums truly sound like or are recorded in the same style or spirit as Smile or Song Cycle?’ This set me on a path that I never knew existed and a project that I never expected would grow so organically, with crucial help from The Beach Boys fan community on Reddit, and those who never stopped making their Smile-affirming album recommendations. What you see above as the cover photo of this article is the final version of The Ultimate Smile-Core & Companion Albums Collage - Powered by r/thebeachboys. These 49 albums are some of the best prime examples of albums that were created that have a style or spirit akin to Smile, whether through direct influence or the same desire to create music that is extraordinary, otherworldly, and challenging to conventional music norms.
The final breakdown in album count for how this got made:
33 of these albums were recommended on r/thebeachboys, 2 albums are by The Beach Boys and Brian, 1 album is a known quantity (Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle), 5 albums were recommended by me, and 8 albums I found through researching Smile-like albums.
The Peak Essential SMiLE-Core Albums Collage
This is the purest distillation of all the 49 albums that were selected in the Ultimate Collage, The Peak Essential SMiLE-Core Albums Collage, which consists of only 9 albums, and shows how much it changed from my original 9 albums collage.
From my very first post, up to the final Ultimate Collage post, and then the final, hyper-focused Peak Essentials Collage post, the progress is visible in the following collage pictures, showing my initial determination, and further iterations with help from the fan community. I will explain the albums included in each round in the sections below.
Round 1: Smile-Affirming Music Albums #1-9
In this very first round, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I considered a “Smile-affirming” album, which means albums that contain music that is an affirmation of what Smile means or Brian was trying to do in the context of modern and traditional music. They are albums that are not genre specific, but rather an eclectic mixture of styles and a tribute to music that has come before, or are forward-thinking, revolutionary conceptions of where music is heading with the invention of newly realized recording techniques or songwriting methods. I believe that this is some of the most exciting music of our time.
My initial determination and albums 1-9 are as follows:
1. The Beach Boys - SMiLE (or Smile Sessions)
2. Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
3. The Moody Blues - Days of Future Passed
4. The Millennium - Begin
5. The United States of America - The United States of America
6. The Four Seasons - Genuine Imitation Life Gazette
7. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
8. Pepe Deluxé - Queen of The Wave
9. The Avalanches - Wildflower
If you would like to read more about my assessments and reasoning for these selections and all future picks in the subsequent rounds, you can click on the Round Headers above them to go to the specific Reddit post on them. There’s simply too much to explain in this article.
And please keep in mind that the album positions keep shifting because they are sorted chronologically by their release dates.
Round 2: Smile-Affirming Music Albums #10-12
This was my first follow-up post after so many album recommendations came rolling in on my post. Woo boy, if I only knew what I was in for.
6. The Monkees - Head (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
8. Cornelius - Fantasma
11. Miracle Musical - Hawaii, Part II
Round 3: Smile-Affirming Music Albums #13-16
I thought I was done with this post, but fans kept goading me to do more. This round includes more psychedelic and rock picks.
8. Todd Rundgren - A Wizard / A True Star
9. XTC - Skylarking
11. The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage: Animation Music
12. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around The World
Round 4: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Albums Collage #17-20
Now we’re in business, something really great was coming together with so many rich and thoughtful recommendations.
6. Tiny Tim - God Bless Tiny Tim
9. The Tokens - Intercourse
10. Paul McCartney - RAM
13. The High Llamas - Hawaii
Round 5: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Albums Collage #21-25
Albums are coming left and right. Are we losing focus? That was and is the main concern here. Hopefully these latest additions are another close bet on Smile-affirming albums.
2. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
7. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes
16. Ween - The Mollusk
20. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
22. Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz
Round 6: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Albums Collage #26-30
This is the final 5 album round before it starts getting really crazy, with 6 albums per round!
3. Bees Gees - Bee Gees’ 1st
5. Donovan - The Hurdy Gurdy Man
10. J. K. & Co. - Suddenly One Summer
22. The Flaming Lips - The Soft Bulletin
23. of Montreal - Coquelicot Asleep in The Poppies
Round 7: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Music Albums Collage #31-36
We’re at 36 albums now. At this point I was starting to see Smiles everywhere. I guess that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
5. Love - Forever Changes
7. Harpers Bizarre - Anything Goes
8. The Byrds - The Notorious Byrd Brothers
11. The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle
15. Sagittarius - Present Tense
17. The Turtles - The Turtles Present The Battle of The Bands
Round 8: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Music Albums Collage #37-42
I was getting tired, but I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. I decided I wanted to close this project out an even (or odd rather) 7 x 7 49 album collage. Also, some users’ Smiles were turning upside down. The Smiles were closing in on me.
Please note: this post was the very first retcon or album switch. I originally picked Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends, but I realized I made a miscalculation. I ultimately switched it for Jellyfish - Spilt Milk.
8. The Who - The Who Sell Out
10. The Rascals - Once Upon a Dream
12. Randy Newman - Randy Newman
23. Harry Nilsson - Harry
28. Dukes of Stratosphear - Psonic Psunspot
29. Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
Round 9: The Ultimate Smile-Affirming Companion Albums Collage #43-49
We made it! I can’t say I thought it would go this far, but there were just too many recommendations, and to not include them would make this project feel incomplete. Little did I know that this wasn’t quite the end…
27. Stevie Wonder - Songs in The Key of Life
31. Wondermints - Wondermints
33. Beck - Odelay
40. Tally Hall - Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum
43. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
44. Jan And Dean - Carnival of Sound
49. Beyoncé - COWBOY CARTER
THE POST PRODUCTION POST: 4 Albums Got Switched Out
This was a final reflection on the Ultimate Collage. After sitting with it for a little more than a week, something didn’t sit right with several of these albums. After a little bit more research, I settled for 4 more albums retcons.
25. Love - Forever Changes —> Brian Protheroe - Pinball
35. Os Mutantes - Os Mutantes —> Mr. Bungle - California
39. Stevie Wonder - Songs in The Key of Life —> Jim Noir - Tower of Love
48. Beck - Odelay —> Mild High Club - Skiptracing
The Final Full Circle One Shot Post: Peak Essential SMiLE-Core Albums
The final full circle post was meant to show how much this 9 album collage changed from my very first 9 album collage. It is titled Peak Essential because it contains the closest SMiLE adjacent albums in terms of songwriting, musical styles, composition, melody, vocal arrangements, and album structure. The final 9 albums are detailed below.
1. The Beach Boys - SMiLE (or Smile Sessions)
2. Van Dyke Parks - Song Cycle
3. Paul McCartney - RAM
4. Jellyfish - Spilt Milk
5. The High Llamas - Hawaii
6. The Olivia Tremor Control - Black Foliage: Animation Music
7. Mr. Bungle - California
8. Brian Wilson - That Lucky Old Sun
9. The Avalanches - Wildflower
I also made an Apple Music playlist - Smiley Smiles: A playlist of albums that sound like Smile.
If you would like the Spotify version, that comes courtesy of Reddit user u/zachstonekin.
If you’ve made it this far, you win the hi-resolution collages for the Ultimate and the Peak Essentials collages. Just click this text. Enjoy!
I also made an Apple Music playlist - Smiley Smiles: A playlist of albums that sound like Smile.
If you would like the Spotify version, that comes courtesy of Reddit user u/zachstonekin.
Be sure to stay tuned for the SMiLE-Core Albums: Femmes Edition headed up by u/zachstonekin!
Until next time, thank you for all the wonderful music, Brian…
Until next time, thank you for all the wonderful music, Brian…