BEACH BOYS - BEACH BOYS WAIT 37 YEARS TO RELEASE ALBUM

The BEACH BOYS have waited a staggering 37 years to release their legendary lost album SMILE because it was too ahead of its time - and they're anxious about its reception when it hits record shops tomorrow (27SEP04).

The band's frontman BRIAN WILSON worked on the disc from 1966-67 and turned to drink and drugs after his bandmates told him to shelve it, because its daring new sounds threatened their commercial image.

Wilson released snippets of the record in the critically mauled SMILEY SMILE but he's thrilled it's finally completed and can be released to a more appreciative audience.

He says, "The album's very, very close to what we wanted to do. Except for the third movement. It's a rock opera with three movements, is what it really is. It's the long promised answer to a rock opera, that people wanted to hear.

"I think this time people will really understand it better. In 1967 it was too ahead of its time. Way too ahead of its time. So we junked it for many years, 37 years. I had a feeling that people would not like it because it was too advanced. too far out of the pop realm.