Recording spanned virtually the entire Smile sessions as Wilson experimented with at least a dozen versions of the track, some of which ranged in length from six to eight minutes.

Wilson's bandmates and associates later voiced dissatisfaction with the released version, believing that the mix was vastly inferior to his earlier, lengthier edits.

"[7] Musician Al Kooper, writing in his 2008 autobiography, recalled that Wilson played him a rough mix of "Heroes and Villains" shortly after the release of Pet Sounds.

[6] Journalist Domenic Priore speculated that Wilson may have based the verses on Phil Spector's productions of "River Deep - Mountain High" and "The Bells of St. Mary's" – particularly the former's bass line.

'"[20] Biographer Peter Ames Carlin interpreted the song as Wilson projecting "all of the feelings sensed inside of himself [...] into vibrantly colored, abstract glimpses into another parallel world.

"[6] In Carlin's interpretation, the song describes "a lawless boomtown somewhere out on the fringes of the Old West" as told from the perspective of a narrator who "speaks as a man who has become a part of the scene, but not of it, exactly, because he's still so thrilled and terrified by everything he sees.

"[24] Historian Keith Badman speculated that the "you're under arrest" line from an earlier version of the song may have been inspired by Wilson witnessing an attempted burglary of his Rolls-Royce.

[25] Artist Frank Holmes, who designed the Smile cover artwork, created an illustration that was inspired by the song's lyrics: "The rain of bullets that eventually brought her down".

Holmes recalled of the illustration, "the poultry in the right corner is saying, 'Dude'll do,' a reference to a line in the original lyrics: 'She was unafraid of what a dude’ll do in a town full of heroes and villains.'

[28][29] Recording spanned virtually the entire Smile sessions,[23] with the total production costs estimated at $40,000 (equivalent to $370,000 in 2023), a sum that was possibly three to four times greater than that for "Good Vibrations".

Kent wrote that, during a session, Wilson attempted to recreate a "ghoulish" voice in his head by "taking a tape of some acappella Beach Boys vocal horse-play and slowing it down until it was just this vast swamp-like groan of terror.

[42] "Barnyard" featured animal noises roared by Wilson's Smile coterie, including singer Danny Hutton and his girlfriend June Fairchild.

[42][nb 4] On the recording, Wilson experimented with a tape delay effect that looped the audio signal back into itself cumulatively at a high gain level to create an "explosion" of sound.

[49] On December 15, Wilson informed Capitol A&R director Karl Engemann that the album and its lead single "Heroes and Villains" would probably be delivered "some time prior to January 15".

[59] On March 18, KMEM in San Bernardino conducted a radio survey that reported that Wilson was busy preparing "Heroes and Villains" and Smile, "and he's informed the Capitol bosses that he doesn't intend to 'hold back' on these projects.

"[62] On March 21, band publicist Derek Taylor reported in his weekly column for Disc & Music Echo, "Only a scoundrel would dispute the claim that 'Heroes and Villains' is the most famous single not yet recorded.

"[66] That same day, a Taylor-penned press release, published in Record Mirror and NME, revealed that "Heroes and Villains" was delayed due to "technical difficulties".

[69] Vocal and instrumental tracking on the song lasted from June 12 to 14 at Wilson's makeshift home studio,[70] representing a dramatic contrast from his previous working methods.

[71] According to the group's statements to the press, they abruptly dropped out of headlining the Monterey Pop Festival that weekend because of commitments to deliver the "Heroes and Villains" single to Capitol.

Without informing Capitol, Wilson called his bandmates and, accompanied by producer Terry Melcher, traveled by limo to personally deliver a vinyl cut of the record to KHJ Radio.

[81] Issued on July 24,[1][nb 7] it was the first release on the Beach Boys' Brother Records and failed to match the commercial success of "Good Vibrations" by a considerable degree.

[84][nb 8] On September 2, the BBC hired a film crew to shoot an official music video of the song that featured the group at Brian's home.

"[90] Cash Box called it a "creatively delivered conglomeration of sounds that run the gamut from amusement park hooplah to barbershop harmony" and said that the lyrics "pose some interesting questions.

"[93] Among British reviewers, Disc & Music Echo's Penny Valentine lamented that while she appreciated certain aspects of the song on repeated listens, "the record as a whole [...] is disappointing.

[78] In an editorial published in December, Rolling Stone founding editor Jann Wenner referred to the song as "pointless" and a weak follow-up to "Good Vibrations".

[98] Badman stated that the dismal reception was the direct cause of Wilson's withdrawal from the public eye,[98] while Howard offered that the pressure to follow up "Good Vibrations" with "an equally ingenious hit" likely contributed to the collapse of the Smile project.

[103][104] Darian Sahanaja, a member of Wilson's supporting band since the 1990s, said that, "When I first met Brian, you couldn't even mention the words 'Heroes and Villains'; he’d turn around and walk away or he’d say, 'I don’t want to talk about it.

[23] Eric Luecking of NPR said that while "Heroes and Villains" was more adventurous than "Good Vibrations", listeners could not relate to the song's lyrics, which obscured the single's legacy.

"[71] Stebbins said that while the arrangement was "generously filled with fantastic Beach Boys vocal harmonies and genius musical twists and turns", the record's "disturbingly muddy sound quality [...] undoubtedly hurt its commercial appeal.

Due to technical difficulties, they decided to record the album at Wally Heider's Studio 3 on September 11, a session which included a runthrough of "Heroes and Villains".