Pet Sounds - Stereo [VINYL]

Product Information

Yes, I once declared the DCC Compact Classics edition best but I think that was before I heard the Carl and the Passions twofer! Now it's no contest. Band [The Beach Boys] – Al Jardine*, Brian Wilson, Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson (2), Mike Love Universal International Music B.V. Gerrit Van Der Veenlaan 4, 3743 DN, Baarn, Netherlands. BIEM/SDRM. LC 01846. 00602547822291. Before I get started, let me emphasize, that when I mention anything that I've seen posted on Steve Hoffman's forums, that i have not been a member of the forum for more than 4 years, therefore the opinions that I mention are not my opinions. Ironically, given the love and respect that exists around the world for this album, the 1966 US release failed to achieve the kind of success that had been anticipated or the level of sales achieved by the band’s earlier albums. Pet Sounds made No.10 in the US. In the UK it fared far better, making No.2 on the album charts, the most successful of the band’s albums to that point.

Again: Pet Sounds 50th anniversary box set on the way Do It Again: Pet Sounds 50th anniversary box set on the way

This record has so often been written about and reviewed that all I want to do here is get to the sound of this recent reissue mastered by Kevin Gray from the original analog tape, and compare it to previous issues. The blu-ray features the hi-res 5.1 surround sound mix, which has been out before of course, but additionally contains a new hi-res instrumental version of the album And then there are the vocals that include Brian’s most poignant ever performance on the sublime, ‘Caroline No’, Mike Love on ‘Here Today’, as well as Carl Wilson’s heart-stopping tour de force – ‘God Only Knows’. The fourth CD features a capella versions of the songs on the album and this is where The Beach Boys collectively shine. The soaring harmonies of ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, the beautiful harmonic counterpoint of ‘I Know There’s An Answer’, and ‘I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times’ are all surf-soul music With that being said, this mono reissue isn't the best sounding version of the album, technically. However, it's the one that connects with me most. I love the stereo version as well, however the mono mix intended by Brian Wilson has an almost magical property to it. The instruments blend together like a carpet strewn about a finely sanded off, glossy wood floor - this is including the beautiful vocals. I Just Wasn't Made For These Times has an absolutely cinematic feel in mono, where the vocals drown out the instruments to a point where it feels very grand and definitive. The instrumentals sound absolutely divine in mono, especially Pet Sounds, which I would say is actually better in mono rather than stereo's odd timing issues. Pet Sounds evokes something gorgeous within one, and whether it be stereo or mono, one thing's for certain: it's a classic for a reason. As for the stereo vinyl debuts of "The Beach Boys Today", "Summer Days...and Summer Nights", "Beach Boys Party" & "Smiley Smile", there is no reason why Capitol Records themselves couldn't offer those stereo mixes on vinyl. Capitol owns the recordings, after all.It has a crazy dated and needless LH (Large Hole) 1 1/2" die-cut finish, what's wrong with a 4 prong OC (optional Centre) Dinked Centre ( Didn't EMI-Bovema finally realise the needless USA Large Hole die-cuts and go with Dinked OC centres!) Flawless strings and brass and percussion and absolutely gut-churning bottom end with a tight and symphonic feel. You want me to heap praise? Here goes … Both recorded and released in 1966, this record evolves endlessly with each listen, perhaps the first record to be considered a concept, from beginning to end listeners are immersed in an intense linear personal vision arranged around the vagaries of love affairs, the painful introverted anxieties that are the gut wrenching precipitates of the unstable chemistry for most all emotional relationships, where this trenchant ebbing cycle of love songs blisters forth infused with the impact of a shatteringly evocative novel. What, you didn’t know all that? Or perhaps in knowing such details, the record would take on a much darker form. This record was the lynch pin around which the recent Brian Wilson bio-pic "Love and Mercy" spun. I highly recommend that movie to anyone who is a Wilson or Beach Boy fan.

Pet Sounds (2017, 200 Gram, Gatefold, Vinyl The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (2017, 200 Gram, Gatefold, Vinyl

When people discuss the mixing of Pet Sounds, there's often an objectivity to the remarks - they say Stereo is definitively superior because you can hear more of the instruments than mono. However, this is missing the rather spiritual experience of listening to music, and instead taking it as an analytical "this MUST be better" stance. The best album with one of the worst covers ever (well, at least of that era), has only grown in stature since it was first released in the Spring of 1966. Pet Sounds features some of the greatest LA musicians of the period. There are guitarists as varied as, Glen Campbell, Barney Kessel, Tommy Tedesco and Al Casey. On keyboards there’s Larry Knetchel, drummers, Hal Blaine and Jim Gordon along with French Horns, violins, an electric Theremin, and all manner of percussion instruments, including Coca-Cola cans. Listening to Brian encouraging, demanding and cajoling the musicians on the session tapes is like a master class in record production. The five-disc Collector’s Edition is presented as a hardcover book and features the remastered original album in stereo and mono as well as session outtakes, alternate mixes and said live recordings. Seriously, it’s just Pet Sounds, what are you talking about. Yes, that’s the statement I’ve wanted to make for nearly fifty years now, though I don’t, as I fear the pitchforked mob that would storm my castle late into the night, smash my rather expensive stereo and distribute my precious record collection among themselves.

I've heard several songs from that album, but like yourself I haven't heard the whole album in its entirety. i agonized over which pressing to get for years...until the AP came out. thanks in part to this review! I went into this listening session believing that the Carl and the Passions "twofer" offered the best sound. I came away thinking that this new one from "Analogue Productions was overall the very best, though in a few small ways the Carl and the Passions "twofer" was at least as good in some ways, better in some and not as good in others.