Lost Concept albums

In rock and roll music there are two albums that are synonomous with one another: Smile, by the Beach Boys, and Lifehouse, by The Who. Both were concept albums, and both of there authors(Brian Wilson and Pete Townshend, respectivly) suffered break downs and were unable to finish the work. My question is: WHich is the greater "lost album".
In recent years both Townshend and Wilson have returned to there projects. Of Course Brian Wilson just released a new Recording of "Smile", while Pete Townshend released a mammoth box set on his website of the "Lifehouse" demos.
Now to answer my own question, I think "Lifehouse" is the better lost album, and here is why. First the resulting album, "who's next" is arguably The Who's best album. I dont think i need to re-iterate what songs are on. The Beach Boys resulting album, "Smiley Smile", is definatly not all that great, the only real hit being "Good Vibrations". Finally, and this is a personal thing i guess, I've always had a problem when an outside writer is brought in to work on lyrics, like on "Smile". These are the two big reasons why i think "Lifehouse" was the better project. That however is not to say that 'Smile" is not good. I am currently listening to it right now, and it is an enjoyable album.

Lifehouse rules. I spend 100 bucks importing that behemoth box set, and I love every minute of it! I can't really compare Smile to the scale of Lifehouse. I've tried to listen to bootleg versions of Smile, but it just sounds too "light" to get a message across for me. And Pete Townshend's techno-rap version of Who Are You is amazing!

Offcourse lifehouse, the beach boys suck hard.

I listened to Smile last night and it was incredibly facinating. Brilliant, even. To think that Brian Wilson could go back and finish it and even re-record it is bloody awesome.

And come on, Smiley Smile isn't all that bad.

Lifehouse was a good concept, and I quite enjoyed the idea of getting the audience involved and frankly, the idea of a 'universal chord' sent shivers down my spine. But while Pete Townsend was good at writing, I imagine he didn't totally produce or do that much on the recording aspect. I tend to respect Brian Wilson more on that front, considering he was (and is) a producer genius. Listen to 'Good Vibrations' or even Pet Sounds and it's obvious he was a perfectionist who was good at getting good sound textures. Editing? Great at it. I think 'Good Vibrations' is in nine seperate parts, and yet they all fit together.

So, yeah, while I like the idea of Lifehouse, Smile got my ginch a little more well.

Lifehouse of course, but there is nothing wrong with the Beach Boys.

definetly lifehouse

Who's Next wipes the floor with Smiley Smile but I haven't heard the "finished" versions of either project yet.

Hey! "Heroes and Villains" from Smiley Smile was a good song!


But PT wins, hands down.