Customer Reviews

Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!) [Vinyl]

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This is one of several recent Beach Boys vinyl reissues from Capitol. Some of the albums (Sunflower, Surf's Up) have the "newly remastered for vinyl" sticker, while others (Today!, Summer Days, Pet Sounds) boast a sticker that simply says "faithfully restored." The sound on this one is clean and clear, all the original artwork has been preserved (including the photos on the inner sleeve), and the 180 gram vinyl has a nice, substantial feel.

An interesting note about this one - the front cover claims this is "Duophonic Stereo" and the catalog number is listed as DT 2354 (the D is for duophonic). The bottom of the back cover says "Duophonic is an exclusive Capitol electronic development designed to enrich irreplaceable monophonic high-fidelity recordings that have proven their lasting popularity. It brings to these great performances a brilliant new two-channel sound that takes full advantage of the reproduction characteristics of today's finest stereo phonographs."

I remember the original 1960's vintage Capitol duophonic vinyl records that had the "fake stereo" - i.e. a mono recording separated out into predominately bass tones in one channel and treble tones in the other channel to simulate stereophonic sound, usually with stereo reverb added. It was horrid! Thankfully this vinyl release is NOT fake stereo - it is presented here in the original mono format. Which makes me wonder why they even bothered putting the "Duophonic Stereo" banner on this release - it should have just been released as mono catalog number T 2354.

At any rate, these Capitol reissues are a must-have - perfect for vinyl enthusiasts, collectors, and anyone who wants the album artwork in something larger than the tiny CD liner note size. The sound is beautiful - every bit as good as on the Beach Boys double-album CDs, if not better. Plus the packaging and original artwork. I own them all. There's nothing like opening a brand new LP and enjoying the sound of virgin vinyl. You can't go wrong with the albums in this series.