Pet Sounds [Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

The Beach Boys | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B00005ASHM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  DVD Audio  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (711 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,437 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #71 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Baroque Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

If you need some pointy-headed pundit to sell you on the merits of Pet Sounds, your money might be better spent on an ear specialist. Brian Wilson's gift to 20th-century music elevated this pop album into a beguiling musical and emotional cogency that still operates outside pop culture's fickle space-time continuum--and limited critical lexicon. There's never been another record to compare (Rubber Soul, its inspiration, is close; Sgt. Pepper's, its response, misses the point), and certainly no album has been as dissected, overanalyzed, and predigested for public consumption. In 1997 Capitol Records devoted an entire four-disc box set, The Pet Sounds Sessions, to its thorough deconstruction. The techno-marvel centerpiece of that project--the album's first true stereo mix, painstakingly conjured out of multitape session sources by producer-engineer Mark Linett (under Wilson's supervision)--was at once heresy and revelation. Now the label has gratifyingly seen fit to offer both mixes on a single disc (along with alternate versions of "Hang On to Your Ego," the original title of "I Know There's An Answer"), an idea that should please the orthodox and heretics alike. And while the album has always clearly been The Brian Wilson Show featuring the Beach Boys, David Leaf's concise new notes attempt to be more inclusive of a wider band perspective. The result (three of the five band members claim credit for the album title) sometimes resembles Rashomon. If Pet Sounds forever crystallized the band's various creative (in)differences, it also became Wilson's grand karmic joke on his band mates; its burgeoning reputation (Mojo magazine's panel of pop experts once elected it greatest album of all time) guaranteed they would sing its songs--and praises--until the end. And if putting two different versions of the same album on one disc seems like overkill, look at the bright side: it's a perfect excuse to listen to the glorious Pet Sounds twice. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

Brian Wilson's 1997 remix of Pet Sounds lets us finally hear this immortal album in stereo. Hang on to your ego for a total of 27 tracks!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

223 of 233 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Discivering Wilson's Pet February 28, 2006

By Matthew Kindelmann

Format:Audio CD

I'm a Beatles connoisseur. A die-hard. I've walked across Abbey Road (with a cigarette in hand, though it was too brisk to go barefoot), quaffed pints in the Reeperbahn, and could point out fifty "Paul is Dead" clues. I've burned through a bookshelf of biographies about the band and I noticed that the Beach Boys' 1966 album Pet Sounds is continually mentioned whenever the end of the Beatles' touring days and the start of their `studio years' is discussed. With its 40th anniversary looming I started to wonder about Pet Sounds.

I always dismissed the Beach Boys as a half-baked band who parlayed a bunch of sunny tunes into a bubblegum legacy. While Brian Wilson could be considered the group's only gifted musician, but the boys could definitely sing. Gorgeous harmonies filled their 45s, but their words were always about things which were alien to me like surfin' and California sunshine. So, why the hubbub surrounding Pet Sounds? "No one is educated musically until they've heard Pet Sounds...It is a total classic record that is unbeatable in many ways", Paul McCartney proclaimed. Wow. Powerful, yet not as bold as what Beatles Producer George Martin said: `Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper wouldn't have happened... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." What the hell made Beatle Paul, Sir George Martin, and countless other music luminaries bow to 1966's Pet Sounds? I was about to find out.

The other night I dug out my copy of Pet Sounds, which I half-heartedly listened to a few years ago before tossing it to the back of my collection, and I listened to it...and listened again. My original lukewarm judgment of the album mirrored the American record buyers of 1966 when LP peaked at #10 and failed to go gold. I spent the evening playing and replaying the album.... A hearty auditory diet of Pet Sounds followed for the next few days. It became the soundtrack of my driving, my meals, and even my showering and shaving. The songs grew on me like a suntan-and I became more and more engulfed in its richness and splendor with each listen. As Pet Sounds connected with me through my earphones, I thought about how striking the sounds were and how naive I was to have dismissed them years ago....

After suffering two nervous breakdowns, twenty-three year old Brian Wilson stayed home in L.A. while the Beach Boys (with Glen Campbell filling in for Wilson) continued to tour in autumn of 1965. He suddenly had time to work on his new project- a project that was to show his newfangled musical vision- but was unsure of his direction until the Beatles' Rubber Soul became the catalyst for his new mission. "Rubber Soul was a collection of songs ... that somehow went together like no album ever made before, and I was very impressed. I said, 'That's it. I really am challenged to do a great album." Fueled by barbiturates and good vibrations, Brian Wilson diligently worked through January and early February 1966 with lyricist Tony Asher penning songs with lyrical themes which evoke both the passion of newly born love affairs and the disillusionment of futile romances. Brian looked beyond the conventional guitars and keyboards when he hired and recorded some of the industry's best session musicians to play the backing tracks for the new material. Breathy saxophones, rolling accordions, piping flutes, Baroque harpsichords, pounding tympanis, regal English and French horns, and even some melodious oddities like Coca-Cola bottles, bicycle bells, and a ghostly sounding theremin are all interwoven into the album's rich fabric. When his band mates returned from their three-week tour of Japan and Hawaii, they laid down the immaculate vocals that blanket the record.

The result is an astonishing and harmonious orgy of sound. Wilson painted a dense and melodic landscape whose hills far out number its valleys. Pet Sounds is a gem from the opening blissful guitar plucks of the youthful anthem Wouldn't it be Nice to the crestfallen sounds of the barking dogs and passing train of the dirge Caroline, No. Brian's buttery voice on You Still Believe in Me and Don't Talk (Put your Head on my Shoulder) sends shivers down my spine. The heavenly God Only Knows, with its wintry sleigh bells and clip-clop percussion, melting vocals and marriage of horns and strings, make this an album highlight. Brian hands younger brother Carl the lead and the band recorded one of the loveliest and most divine songs ever heard on a pop album. " It's a favorite of mine...very emotional, always a bit of a choker for me," McCartney said of the song. The song's unorthodox opening line of "If I should ever leave you," is the cherry on top of the sundae for me. Perfection.

Pet Sounds is the crest of Brian Wilson's wave. He was able to use inspiration from across the pond and thread it into a richly textured and intricate piece of stunning pop. It was his vision, his baby, his masterstroke. His soul breathes through the vinyl. Read more ›

133 of 143 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Be warned August 31, 2006

By Dudley Morris

Format:Audio CD

First of all, this review has nothing to do with the quality of the album. We all know how great this album is. Just a couple of thoughts about this specific product. This is why I'm giving 4 stars.

First,all of the content on the CD is exactly the same as on the previous mono/stereo release. But, that's to be expected, right?.

You're probably saying to yourself that the real value is in the DVD. Well, all of the DVD material has been released before, except the "Good Vibrations" promo and a short featurette from the BBC where George Martin visits Brian and they discuss songwriting and arrangement. The "documentaries" are edited together from the Endless Harmony DVD and the promo material found on the DVD Audio version of the album. Also, some of the interview footage found on Brian's Pet Sounds Live DVD is also included. You also get the hi-res stereo and 5.1 mixes of the album that were included on the above mentioned DVD-A.

So basically, if you already own the original album, the DVD-A version, and the Endless Harmony and Pet Sounds Live DVDS, you already have everything on this set except for a brief George Martin interview and a "Good Vibrations" video.

I was kind of disappointed with the limited edition packaging, as well. The two discs are housed in a velvet-type covered case with the original CD booklet with all of the production and mixing notes stapled in the middle. This booklet appears to be the same old one that was used with the mono/stereo combo disc, save for the DVD credits. The actual liner notes appear the same.

You know, I feel like Capitol has wasted two great Beach Boys opportunites with the products they released for the anniversaries of Good Vibrations and Pet Sounds.... It seems that they just throw previously released material together in one package and tack on one unreleased item for each and put it out for the fans to buy (again, for the most part). You would think that they would have more respect for the legacy of these recordings.

Anyway, I'm through ranting. If you already have Pet Sounds but you want something extra, pick up the Pet Sounds Sessions box set and skip this CD/DVD. The box is pricey, but you get a better sense of what went into the album. Read more ›

71 of 74 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The CD has been remastered September 9, 2006

By Mark H. Linett

Format:Audio CD

Just wanted to post a correction to the last review. The CD in the new set is not the same as the 2001 edition. The mono album has been remastered from a much better original source tape resulting in a great improvement in the sound if the original album. In addition the bonus track has been changed to the more finished version of "Hang On To Your Ego" which fans have been asking for. Sadly the credits for the disc omitted this info by mistake. While a hi-res 5.1 mix would sound better than the dolby digital , the vocals are not just in the rear speakers. In fact they truly surround the listener.

Mark Linett- engineer/ producer

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great albums ever May 1, 2009

By T. Fisher TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:MP3 Music

This really is one of the great albums ever, and the remastered sound is very good. The only big difference between this MP3 version and the two-disc set of the same recordings is that the set gives you a DVD with a "making-of" documentary and both the original mono mixes and new stereo mixes, plus a bonus track. This MP3 set has only the remastered stereo mixes.

"Pet Sounds" was a groundbreaking record, and had a huge impact on other musicians. It is definitely the high-water mark for the Beach Boys. This is not anything like their early Jan & Dean-inspired surf music. It invented a whole new vocabulary of sounds and forms for pop music.

More than ever before, the Beach Boys' leader, Brian Wilson, decided he was going to go in a new direction and write a cohesive album, over the protests of many others in the band. He was definitely right. The Beach Boys never reached this level of creativity again, but "Pet Sounds" was enough to put them in the pantheon of the greats, even if this quality of artistic achievement was not sustained over time.

Wilson says he was inspired to make the record by the Beatles' "Rubber Soul" album. The Beatles in turn credited "Pet Sounds" as the inspiration for "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Paul McCartney still says he is crazy about the album, John Lennon even acknowledged it, and George Martin said Sgt Pepper's would never have been made without "Pet Sounds". Eric Clapton says it's one of the greatest pop albums of all time and Elton John talks about how it changed the way he and everyone else approached recording. I say this just to underline that it's hard to underestimate the impact this record had on the development of popular music as we know it.

There are plenty of "greatest hits" here.... The album starts out with the classic "Wouldn't It Be Nice", one of the most optimistic and upbeat romantic pop hits ever -- and which also includes incredible layers of sound that deserve a good listening to with headphones. "God Only Knows" was the B-side to that single, but became a major hit on its own. "Caroline, No", "Sloop John B", "Let's Go Away for a While" and "Here Today" were also singles and are probably known at some level by most listeners.

But don't just get it for the hits. A lot of the other songs are slower and more complex, but are really marvels of both pop composition and sound engineering, especially when you think about the 1960s technology they were working with. There are layers upon layers of crystal-clear sounds to enjoy and get lost in.

This album is every bit as impressive a recording as something like Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" -- it just seems "lighter" because, well, it is. It's an optimistic, feel-good record even when its gets sad and melancholy, which it does pretty often. I still can't figure out quite how Brian Wilson pulled that off.

If you don't know Pet Sounds, this deal can't be beat, especially at the $1.99 "Deal of the Day" price on May 1, 2009. Once the price goes up again, also consider one of the CDs or CD sets available out there. You won't regret it! Read more ›