a la Brian Wilson's SMiLE.

Why don't more bands use this? I'm hard-pressed to think of one record that has recurring melodies/harmonies/bridges etc.

Broken Social Scene's last record had the tiny vocal bit that the chick sings on two or more songs, and it's awesome.

Is it too hard for a band to do properly or don't they even think about it? Or do most people think it's stupid?

Random thoughts:

I think it's very difficult to get this kinda thing right, especially if you're aiming for a pop song. "Good Vibrations" = genius. "Heroes & Villians" just doesn't have the effortlessness which "Vibrations" seems to have (seems, because there was certainly nothing effortless about the creation of it). Somehow "Good Vibrations" works on first listen, whereas a lot of the rest of Smile takes multiple listens to crack.

Others off the top of my head:
Strawberry Fields Forever
Bohemian Rhapsody
Baba O'Riley

Probably some other Townshend stuff would fit, though he was writing for concept albums, which can lead to show-tune-ism and unfortunate meandering.

Is this stuff just prog rock limited to 3 minutes?