:-)

Well, it was just a mere 44-year delay. But the Beach Boys' infamous follow-up to their classic "Pet Sounds" album, "Smile," is finally coming out.

What Rolling Stone calls “the most famous unfinished album in rock 'n' roll history" will be released as a two-disc set called "The SMiLE Sessions" on Nov. 1, which will include an approximation of what was intended to be the completed "SMiLE album," plus tons of previously unreleased material, including studio chatter, bonus tracks and alternative versions of some songs. A deluxe four-disc set will also be released full of additional recordings -- as bootleggers know, they're never-ending -- from the sessions and a 60-page hardbound book of unpublished photos.

I'm smiling -- I don't think a meal goes by that I don't find myself singing "Vege-tables" to myself, and god knows "Good Vibrations" is one of the all-time great pop songs. But having already owned two "definitive" bootlegs and Brian Wilson's (surprisingly good) 2004 rerecording of the album, and then seeing the box set's steep $170.73 price tag plus the endless other special editions -- "The SMiLE Sessions 2CD edition paired with a limited edition SMiLE t-shirt," "The SMiLE Sessions 2CD edition paired with a limited edition autographed lithograph." "The SMiLE Sessions limited edition box set with light-up SMiLE Shop window on lid, autographed," "The SMiLE Sessions limited edition box set with light-up SMiLE Shop window on lid, autographed, paired with a custom-made SMiLE surfboard by Hobie" -- something tells me it's the Boys' bank accounts that will be smiling most of all.

Order HERE.

Order HERE.