So, all music fans have a list of albums that they know they’re supposed to own, but for one reason or another they just haven’t gotten around to getting them yet. Often whatever it is that you’re currently “into” manages to take priority over the works of vital historical significance- especially when funds are tight.
So, bienville finds that Pet Sounds is still missing from his CD collection, though he has for years intended to purchase it.
I have never heard the new Pet Sounds recording that Brian Wilson released a couple of years, but have always just figured on buying the 1966 Beach Boys version.
But now I’ve just listened to Smile and it just blew me away! Wow! What an incredible album! If this is the kind of work that the Brian Wilson of the new millennium is putting out, I’m starting to think I ought to check out the 2002 recording of Pet Sounds.
So, who can compare and contrast the two recordings for me? Which one do you like better?
P.S. I also really dig the 1998 Imagination album, but the only track I’ve heard from Gettin’ in Over My Head (the song that featured Elton John) was so unbelievably crappy that I never bothered to listen to the rest of the album.
I’d go for the mono + stereo mix of the Beach Boys version, myself, but admittedly I don’t care at ALL for the sound of Mike Love’s adenoids and that might hamper my continued enjoyment.
Hmm…if the band for the live Pet Sounds is fundamentally the same one that plays and sings on the new SMiLE, I thought they sounded better than the Beach Boys on the SMiLE songs, so that might be more worth your time. It probably would be for me.
I tend to get tripped up badly by solo Brian Wilson, too, though. Normally I’m not a fan of rerecordings, but the band he’s got now is pretty tight, so…
Something tells me I haven’t been much help. And that somebody needs to recommend a version for me too.
As has been suggested, the stereo + mono disc of Pet Sounds is your best bet. Personally, this is one case in which I prefer the remix (the stereo version) to the original. I don’t think the original is artistically compromised in any way with the redone version (and, AFAIK, Brian Wilson had a lot of input on the remix.)
Smile is awesome, too, ain’t it? Simply transcendent album.
If you want just one, definitely go for the original. The live version is wonderful, but even though it’s a loving and accurate recreation of the studio version, the mood is radically different. The bittersweet melancholy of the original is overshadowed in the live performance by the sense of celebration.
“If you can yell louder than this I’ll give you all a dime…”
Important distinction: Brian’s voice is far from the enrapturing instrument it used to be. Assuming the new Pet Sounds recording is essentially the same as the live performance I saw from that tour, Brian has other singers hit the high notes for him or else changes the keys of songs to make them easier to sing.
I’ll fall in with my fellow Dopers: the Capitol twofer CD is absolutely the way to go. If you fall in love with the record and absolutely have to have more, you can get the Pet Sounds Sessions box, which has isolated vocal mixes, instrumental mixes, fly-on-the-wall studio recordings, and other cool stuff. (The stereo mix was first created for this set.)
For Pet Sounds, I got the stereo + mono version, loaded both onto the Mac at work, and ended up deleting all the mono cuts.
The jury is still out for me on , though. Maybe a few more listens will help.
And don’t forget Wilson’s two-disc live release, him on piano and the Wondermints backing him. The 1 minute cover of BNL’s “Brian Wilson” is as surreal as anything you’ll find on SMILE.
, though. Maybe a few more listens will help.