Pet Sounds - Stereo [VINYL]

Product Information

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. The more recent Capitol edition mastered by Ron McMaster definitely captures the spirit of the original, but the bass is soft and squishy and the distinct instrumental layers are softened and mushed together. The big no no is the limited edition repro Holland EMI-Capitol 7" of God Only Knows/Wouldn't It Be Nice in yellow vinyl that has come out as a tie in/teaser 45 and is discounted when bought with the vinyl album. This UK pressing has the most horrible wonky and out of phase sound I never heard of this recording. 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.

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1995, Vinyl) - Discogs The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (1995, Vinyl) - Discogs

Capitol/UMe will issue a 50th anniversary edition of The Beach Boys‘ 1966 album Pet Sounds this June that will feature the much-delayed blu-ray audio and four CDs of content including previously unreleased live recordings. Analogue Productions – APP 067-45, Capitol Records – ST 2458, Universal Music Special Markets – B0019909-1 Flawless strings and brass and percussion and absolutely gut-churning bottom end with a tight and symphonic feel. Over at Hoffman's forums there are serious rumblings of discontent towards Acoustic Sounds/Analog Productions owner Chad Kassem, and even one consumer who professed to be a fan of Kassem's products suggesting that he needs to administered some "tough love" by his customers, and referred to Mr.Kassem as "A Greedy Bugger".Took awhile up here in Canada, but I finally got my copy. As you said, Michael, one need not be afraid of the stereo version. My copy is dead quiet, beautiful vinyl. The sound is easily the best for Per Sounds that I own: the mono reissue from 1977 green label Capitol and the recent Capitol Vault series release. And not just the bottom end, either; mids and highs are so much better...no harshness, smooth yet crisp. Band [The Beach Boys] – Al Jardine*, Brian Wilson, Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson, Dennis Wilson (2), Mike Love Acoustic Sounds' L.P.'s may feature heavier album covers than regular Capitol L.P.'s, but it's not the album cover that you play. As for the idea that Analog Productions' pressings area necessarily better than regular Capitol vinyl, that may not always be true. Some people on the Steve Hoffman forums who bought Analog Productions' mono vinyl reissue of "Pet Sounds" have reported off-center grooves on "Side One", and have stated that it is audible. Capitol Records – T 2458, Capitol Records – T-2458, Capitol Records – B0024728-01, UMe – B0024728-01

The Beach Boys – Pet Sounds (Vinyl) - Discogs

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. 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. I originally owned the AP 33 rpm Stereo (200g) and that sounded fantastic except for the IGD near the end of Sloop John B. Decided to pony-up for the 45 rpm and does take care of that issue. Although don't love 45's and the breaking-up of an album's flow, it does win out over the 33 purely on sonics. So, I spent the better part of last evening comparing this latest mono mastering by Kevin Gray at his Cohearent Audio mastering facility, with: 1) a mint original Capitol issue, 2) the Brothers Records "twofer" with Carl and The Passions' So Tough (2MS 2083), 3) The Brothers Records stand-alone reissue (MS 2197), 4) The DCC Compact Classics reissue mastered by Steve Hoffman (cut by Kevin Gray) and the Capitol reissue of a few years ago. 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!)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.

Pet Sounds From Analogue Productions | Analog Planet Pet Sounds From Analogue Productions | Analog Planet

The influence that Pet Sounds has had, began even before it’s release outside the USA. On Monday, 16 May, 1966, Bruce Johnston, who was then the newest Beach Boy, arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport carrying a copy Pet Sounds that had come out in the USA that very day – well in advance of its UK release. 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. On my pauper’s system ~ Technics SL Q3, Audio Technica (model??), DCM CX-17 bookshelf pair, and Denon crap AVR ~ my NM minus minus DCC copy has got body. I think KG & SH brought out the lows. 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. Wilson spent almost a half-million 2015 dollars producing the record to his definition of musical and sonic perfection, mixing it to mono, his preferred format, in part due to his hearing in mono.

Tracklist

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. On ‘God Only Knows’ it is just Carl, Brian and Bruce that are singing and on the acapella version, when they finish their vocal, a voice asks, “How was that? Was that cool?” It’s Bruce Johnston asking the question and it is the perfect coda for not just the song, but also the album, because Pet Sounds is arguably the coolest record of all time. This is the kind of record that makes life worth living, reaffirming the notion that pop music is the most admired art form in the world.