Pet Sounds

I've been listening to the newly-issued stereo pressing of the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" since it arrived in the mail a few days ago. I have to tell you, this is one of the best reissues I've heard in recent years.Many think that the stereo version of "Pet Sounds" is inferior to the mono version. To me, the stereo version is also a revelation. I've had the stereo and mono versions on CD for several years now and both are amazing. In my opinion, this is on-par with an MSFL recording. It's that clean. It's like listening to a totally different recording than the mono. The mono version sounds so good for nostalgic reasons... it's classic. The songs sound like the way they were originally heard by most people on the radio or an old record player.The stereo version is like a piece of art. It sounds absolutely HUGE, bright and alive...you are submersed into it.Both versions are so brilliant. Listen with and without headphones. A good pair of cans will really bring out the depth.I believe this is pressed on 200g vinyl. Feels significantly heftier than 180g. "Pet Sounds" is simply a watershed moment in album-oriented music.This is the must-have reissue LP of the year.

The 1 star is NOT directed towards the album, but rather this specific pressing. This is one of the greatest albums of all time and it's a shame that it has such a poor rerelease.I bought this pressing three times, two times from local stores (one mono and one stereo) and the latest time on Amazon (stereo).Every record I got had absolutely horrendous sound quality (vocals sounded screechy, bass was muddy, pops everywhere,etc.) and had numerous visible defects, with the Amazon one being warped.It may be that I've run into a ridiculously unlikely situation, but I'm not giving this pressing a 4th chance. I instead decided to order a 200g record from Analog Productions with the hope that I'm just not cursed .

It's a bad pressing! I did not read reviews in advance and wish I had. I also had the same skip in Let's Go Away for Awhile along with a skip on the other side. I thought that strange for a new record so I sent it back (something I rarely bother to do) and they sent me a replacement WITH THE SAME PROBLEM! So a whole batch must be bad, and judging from the reviews, it must be a lot of them! I'll be returning my 2nd copy to get my money back.At least I had a laugh out of it: I was unfamiliar with some of the songs on this album, but I knew it was recognized as an album for being a "concept album," etc. So when it skipped I thought for a little bit "Oh, this is their 'experimental' part!" I kept washing dishes. 5 mins later I realized I was still listening to the same 5 seconds of music and realized it wasn't experimental haha

The music of course is classic, but the 2016 pressings of the 50th anniversary Stereo and Mono LPs on the UMe label are terrible. On a whim I bought both the Stereo and Mono here and both had tons of scuffs, divots, finger prints, scratches, and residue of dried liquid. The Mono had a sharp unfinished edge that was slicing thru the cheap paper sleeve. Both had little depressions or divots in a few songs. This wasn't just a case of needing to give it a good cleaning, you can't clean scuffs and depressions. Just no quality control at all. I've noticed this with ALL vinyl reissues from the UMe empire. In the last few years I've had the same issues with their reissues of: REM, Velvet Underground, Elvis Costello, Nico. Multiple titles by most. OK. I get it. If it's on UMe I won't bother any more. Obviously they don't care about making a decent product. It shouldn't be so difficult.I'm in my 50s and have been buying LPs since I was a kid in the 70s and have never seen such frequent poor quality from one particular label. It's like they deliberately mistreat the LPs during manufacture and packaging. If I could regularly get great pressings, even on indie labels, in the 90s and 00s for $10- $15, why would I pay over $20 for such a shoddy product? This label should be ashamed of it's product and the artists on it should switch to a label that gives a ****.

Update 10/25- I ended up getting this same version from a local shop and it was perfect. Same 2016 version. The two copies I got were so bad, and this third one was clean the whole time. However based the Amazon versions and other reviews I cannot give more stars.This review is for the 2016 mono vinyl version of Pet Sounds.I don't want to start an argument or debate about this album but I don't agree that this is the best, or one of the best, or close to the bests. It's mediocre. I think there are probably three or four good songs on here. Most of the album just sounds sloppy, like trying to copy too many other artists' styles and ideas at the same time. Or like they used bicycle horns, finger cymbals, and Coke cans. I mean, they had a Best Of album released a couple months after this one. So someone knew something was not going to work out. I really like a few tracks on this album but over all its probably 3 stars at best.But why the 1 star rating? Because there are so many snap, crackles, pops on this than a box of Rice Krispies. I've received records that looked like it went through, at least one, game of Frisbee Golf that played without issues. I've also received used records that were in better condition than the quality of this.I had to return both copies because the extra noise was so distracting that it had to be turned off. That sucks because I would have enjoyed listening it this. Even though this album was not as popular as their earlier ones, or other albums from the same time, it was really influential to other great bands (Beatles, Talking Heads, Frank Black, Weezer, and so on, etc.).

Pet Sounds is an album that (at least for me), I could never get into when I was younger. It was a bit too strange and out of this world for my immature brain to handle. But as I have grown older, I have started to understand the appeal of the album and why it is considered one of the finest records ever made.Even now, after playing it quite frequently for the past few months, I can still understand why Pet Sounds may rub people the wrong way. It does not have any specific style and instead chooses to utilises many different sounds, some fairly normal for the time and others that are quite unusual. Fans of the band will be quick to point out the fan favourite tracks like the opening, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Sloop John B and of course God Only Knows. Three stand out songs and for a very good reason.The album as a whole is an interesting muddled mess of psychedelia and '60s pop. It is very progressive in a way and strange in so many ways. It is too soft to be a rock album, it's too complex for a pop album and the concept is so elaborate that it should by all means put off people from both sides of the fence. But for whatever reason, it works beautifully. It just takes a little time to appreciate.The copy of the album I own presents the album its original mono as well as a more recent stereo mix. The original sound is very warm, has a traditional '60s production and fits in perfectly with the rest of The Beach Boys catalogue. You could argue that it's exactly how the album should sound and should always be played that way. However, I have grown to appreciate the stereo mix just as much. Where the mono provides us with how it should sound, the stereo gives us an interesting alternative. By separating the tracks and hearing them with a lot of space between each instrument, it's fascinating. It lets you hear a lot of details that can be easily missed in the original print.I'm not going to pretend that I understand the concept behind the album. But I can say that after many years of listening to it, I finally understand why people love this record so much. It was an extremely daring project by the standards set in the '60s and is an album that has very rarely been matched on a technical and creative scale.Pet Sounds is worth a purchase, no questions asked. It may seem a bit strange at first, but put on a pair of headphones and listen to the details. I would happily bet that you'll always find something new with every listen.

I have always been a fan of the Beach Boys...saw them 3 times in 60s, then when they recorded Fun,Fun,Fun, with Status Quo in 90s and finally at Hyde Park in 2001 again with SQ.....But when my daughter gave me the Platinum Collection as a xmas present couple of years back...it whetted my appetite again....I started with Dennis Wilson POB....I can't begin to describe the how it made me feel....so raw, heartfelt and pure genius, so I moved onto Pet Sounds....it brought back so many memories of my teen years...an excellent album from another genius....I also ordered BB party! uncovered and unplugged...made me laugh and cry.....now waiting for the other albums I have ordered....Now a complete Beach Boy fan!!!!

Normally I would choose mono over stereo for 60s album but this mix was supervised by Brian Wilson. Haven't done comparison but I can tell you this sounds better than any cd version available and believe me I have many cd versions. This was originally released in one of the worst covers ever and this 50th anniversary edition has done nothing to improve that. However it is 180g and at the time of review it was priced low and of course it is timeless.

I was a big fan of a lot of Beach Boys single hits. The Best of the Beach Boys was a a favourite for playing on my friends 8 Track player in his car when we were teenagers but I never got into Pet Sounds. I have tried and tried but I just find it wet and tedious. The lyrics are immature adolescent and uninspiring. It is telling that one of the best know sounds from this album is an arrangement of a traditional song; Sloop John B is one of the more successful songs here.Sure I can hear some interesting instrumentation in places but it also sounds a bit mainstream pop of the era in an over orchestrated way and the list of musicians looks a bit like a roll call for a Cecil B DeMille epic.It a desperate effort to get into this album I have just bought it on vinyl as I thought that gave me the best chance of catching up with the revisionist view of this album as a masterpiece and while the 50th anniversary vinyl edition has a really bright sound and if you are a fan you will not be disappointed, it presents the album brilliantly, unfortunately after a couple of listens, many of the songs still sound lame to me.If you love this album, my opinion shouldn’t matter at all, I dare say there are albums that I love that you would not like. If Pet Sounds ever clicks for me I will certainly update my review but as of 27 June 2021 I still feel that the original, contemporary reviews were largely spot on

I bought the deluxe edition of “Pet Sounds 50th anniversary”, not the box set. I already have the Pet Sounds Sessions box set released in 1996 and to be honest … I listened to it a few times. Why would I give a small fortune for a release when I know I will only listen to it a few times more. I won’t discover anything new except for the two versions of “I know there’s an answer” and “Good Vibrations: master track with partial vocals”. These songs are not on my new deluxe edition although there was plenty of room for it on cd1. We blame marketing strategy!So what do I have now?The mono mix of the album on cd1 is different from the previously released ones because now they have found a “superb mono master from 1972, originally supervised by Carl Wilson”. Does it give me a new listening experience? Not really! The instruments stay far behind the vocals (and maybe even more so then before … or it’s been a while to remember). A good thing is that we can listen to the instrumental album on cd2 (when you buy the box set you have these instrumentals also but they are spread across cd2 and 3). Wonderful, sometimes complex, arrangements.Cd2 ends with live recordings (all previously unreleased). The main reason I bought the album again. 4 times “God Only Knows”, 2 times “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” and 1 time “Good Vibrations”, “Caroline No” and “You Still Believe In Me”. Couldn’t they find live recordings of other Pet Sound songs? We blame marketing strategy again! But we can compare what we have. My opinion is that the 80’s and 90’s versions are the best. Probably because the recording equipment was much better so the sound quality is warmer but also because they have some nice arrangements. Especially the “Sloop John B” Universal Studios version from 1989. Brian Wilson is clearly audible although, in that time, already working apart from The Beach Boys.I read Capitol Records will release a 50th anniversary edition of “Good Vibrations” somewhere in the fall. Maybe thanks to marketing strategy “Good Vibrations: master track with partial vocals” will be on it!I wait for a decent quality blu- ray release.