Silent Planet Records knows how to throw a good birthday party. While Hit Radio is populated with boy bands and midriff girls who are younger than your car, Brian Wilson turned 60 years old this summer. And although many young VH1-watchers may only recognize Wilson as that guy the Barenaked Ladies sang about, Wilson's innovation and influence in rock music cannot be denied. With Making God Smile, Silent Planet has assembled more than twenty artists to pay tribute to this legendary singer/songwriter/producer with renditions of his songs that are often both true to the original and fresh at the same time.
Phil Keaggy's version of "Good Vibrations" is spot-on accurate from the vocal layering down to the way the drums were miked. Keaggy explains in the liner notes that the theremin sound was replicated with a guitar and vocal mix. Kevin Max & Jimmy A's U2-inspired version of "Help Me Rhonda" is given a fresh spin, and Terry Taylor digs up a whimsical rare gem, "Vegetables."
Another stand-out on the album is Jan Krist's rendition of "Wouldn't it Be Nice." In the liner notes, Krist explains the significance of the song to her, as she recounts her experience watching the movie Roger and Me with her husband, and the ironic touch this song gave as a background to the scenes of run-down, desolate streets in Flint, Michigan.
Jason Harrod and Derrick Harris add reverent versions of "In My Room" and "Don't Worry Baby," respectively, and Brooks Williams gives us an inspired rendition of the title track of what many have called the best record ever, Pet Sounds.
The second disc, available from the Silent Planet website (the single-disc version is available in stores), features alternate edits of the first two songs from disc one, plus Harrod & Funck's "Brian Wilson's Room." Among the remaining six songs are wonderful renditions of Wilson and Beach Boys songs such as Frank Lenz & Richard Swift's version of "Caroline, No," the Lost Dogs' a cappella cover of "With Me Tonight," and Jacob Lawson & Riki Michele's take of "Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)."
The second disc is half as long as the first, and although the music is brilliant, the distribution between the two discs seems a bit odd, especially considering the alternate edits. Despite this small detraction, Making God Smile is as good a tribute album as has been released in some time, and Wilson is a most deserving subject. Great care was obviously taken in researching and recording these songs, and it is evident that each of these artists is grateful for Wilson and what he has meant to music over the
last 40-plus years. The album's title is a tribute itself, both to the unreleased Beach Boys record, Smile, and to the spirituality evident in Wilson's music (Wilson called Smile a "teenage symphony to God.")
Making God Smile should be on the must-have list of any fan of the Beach Boys or Brian Wilson. For those unfamiliar with the musical seeds Wilson has planted in the world of pop and rock, this album is a great place to start. With any luck, it will inspire a peak in sales of Wilson's catalog.
Happy birthday, Brian Wilson.
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Other coverage for this album
The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Ken MuellerIn honor of tunesmith Brian Wilson's sixtieth birthday, the folks at Silent Planet records have put together a pretty decent tribute album. While most tribute albums tend to be pretty uneven affairs, this one, with few exceptions, is quite good. The large majority of the tunes are from the Beach Boys catalog, including the "lost" album Smile, while a few are from Wilson's solo work in later…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Chris MacIntoshI can remember back in 1964 wandering the halls of the local high school in my sophomore year with two other guys trying to perfect the harmonies to "In My Room" by the Beach Boys. Fortunately for the rest of the world that is as far as my singing career ever went. Also fortunately that was just the tip of the iceberg concerning the music of Brian Wilson. Although my personal taste has always run…The Phantom Tollbooth 2002Reviewed by Trilisa M. PerrineWhen a project of the magnitude of Making God Smile is undertaken, the result is often unsatisfactory to those who are fans of the originals. But alas, this two CD tribute to Brian Wilson was refreshing and well put together. The interpretations of Brian's songs ranged from fairly direct reproductions ("Good Vibrations" by Phil Keaggy) to the slightly strange and experimental ("Help Me Rhonda" by…
