The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds (1LP, Mono, 33RPM, 200g)
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Performed by The Beach Boys : Brian Wilson (vocals, bass guitar, keyboards), Mike Love (vocals, percussion, saxophone, Electro-Theremin), Al Jardine (vocals, rhythm guitar, bass guitar), Bruce Johnston (vocals, keyboards, bass guitar), Dennis Wilson (vocals, drums, keyboards).
Written by Brian Wilson (all tracks), Tony Asher (A1, A2, A3, A4, B1, B3, B4, B6), Mike Love (A5), Michael Ruff (A3), Terry Sachen (B2)
1 LP, Stoughton tip-on jackets
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 200g
Record color : black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Mono
Studio
Record Press : Quality Record Pressings
Label : Analogue Productions
Original Label : Capitol
Recorded July 12, 1965 - April 13, 1966 at Columbia Studios (Hollywood, CA), Gold Star Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA), Sunset Sound Studios (Los Angeles, CA), Western Studios (Los Angeles, CA)
Mastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio
Originally issued on May 16th, 1966 in mono
Reissued in Nov 2015
Tracks :
Side A :
- Wouldn’t It Be Nice
- You Still Believe In Me
- That’s Not Me
- Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)
- I’m Waiting For The Day
- Let’s Go Away For Awhile
- Sloop John B
Side B :
- God Only Knows
- I Know There’s An Answer
- Here Today
- I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times
- Pet Sounds
- Caroline No
Awards:
TAS Super LP List! Special Merit: Informal
Michael Fremer's 100 Recommended All-Analog LP Reissues Worth Owning - Ranked 55/100!
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of All Time - Rated 2/500
Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time - "Sloop John B" - Rated 278/500
1000 Recordings you must hear before you die - Ranked 61
Reviews :
"one of the most innovative recordings in rock", 101 Albums that Changed Popular Music (2009)
"It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water…I love the album so much. I've just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life. I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album." – Paul McCartney
"All of us, Ginger (Baker), Jack (Bruce), and I consider Pet Sounds to be one of the greatest pop LPs to ever be released. It encompasses everything that's ever knocked me out and rolled it all into one." – Eric Clapton
"Overall though, this new reissue is the best sounding of all. The bottom end has more weight and solidity and the instrumental separation and front to back layering is nothing short of astonishing compared to the pleasing mush offered up by other editions. ... Pet Sounds belongs in every serious rock record collection and if you're going to have but one version this one from Analogue Productions is the one to have." Michael Fremer, AnalogPlanet.com
"Produced, composed and arranged by Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds stands as the Beach Boys' pinnacle. The album is brimming with beautiful ballads, exotic instrumentation, lush five-part harmonies, and aching sentimentality. Recorded largely with session players from L.A.'s fabled Wrecking Crew, Pet Sounds was Wilson's chance to step away from songs about surfing and cars, instead crafting tender songs about adolescent love, both newfound and lost, as well as innocence and bewilderment. Analogue Productions' two-disc 45 RPM, 180-gram stereo album boasts exceptionally detailed separation and aptly showcases Pet Sounds' shimmering sonics. Mark Linett produced this stereo mix with an assembled digital multi-track master that synched the original four-track instrumental master with the four- and eight-track vocal overdub master. It was then mixed to 15 ips 1/4-inch analog tape with SR noise reduction. How good is it? Carol Kaye's picked Fender P-Bass is tight and punchy on the intro to "God Only Knows," and the clarity reveals the swelling emotion of Carl Wilson's angelic lead vocal to announce that you've entered the Church of Rock 'n' Roll. Say amen." Greg Cahill, The Absolute Sound, December 2017
« The best Beach Boys album, and one of the best of the 1960s. The group here reached a whole new level in terms of both composition and production, layering tracks upon tracks of vocals and instruments to create a richly symphonic sound. Conventional keyboards and guitars were combined with exotic touches of orchestrated strings, bicycle bells, buzzing organs, harpsichords, flutes, Theremin, Hawaiian-sounding string instruments, Coca-Cola cans, barking dogs, and more. It wouldn't have been a classic without great songs, and this has some of the group's most stunning melodies, as well as lyrical themes which evoke both the intensity of newly born love affairs and the disappointment of failed romance (add in some general statements about loss of innocence and modern-day confusion as well). The spiritual quality of the material is enhanced by some of the most gorgeous upper-register male vocals (especially by Brian and Carl Wilson) ever heard on a rock record. "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "God Only Knows," "Caroline No," and "Sloop John B" (the last of which wasn't originally intended to go on the album) are the well-known hits, but equally worthy are such cuts as "You Still Believe in Me," "Don't Talk," "I Know There's an Answer," and "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times." It's often said that this is more of a Brian Wilson album than a Beach Boys recording (session musicians played most of the parts), but it should be noted that the harmonies are pure Beach Boys (and some of their best). Massively influential upon its release (although it was a relatively low seller compared to their previous LPs), it immediately vaulted the band into the top level of rock innovators among the intelligentsia, especially in Britain, where it was a much bigger hit. » AllMusic Review by Richie Unterberger
Ratings :
AllMusic : 5 / 5 , Discogs : 5 / 5 , Rate your Music : 4.18 / 5
Michael Fremer : Music = 11/11, Sound = 11/11
Greg Cahill, The Absolute Sound : Music 5/5, Sonics 4.5/5