Beach Boys Remastered… Again

ITโ€™S BEEN A big year so far for the oldest โ€œboysโ€ in rockโ€™nโ€™roll, with their first โ€“ and almost fatally flawed โ€“ album in decades, a huge tour, and now, two new compilations: the single disc Greatest Hits, and the two-CD Greatest Hits: 50 Big Ones.
But probably of more consequence to hi-fi lovers are plans to release new remasters of 12 of the groupโ€™s studio albums.
But hang on a minute, didnโ€™t we already get some remasters just a few years back? Well, yes, and I thought they sounded pretty good, too. But fans will be asked to fork out one more time for the discs (and digital) releases, most of which feature both mono and stereo mixes.
For the record (ha-ha) these are: Surfinโ€™ USA, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe, Shut Down Volume 2, All Summer Long, The Beach Boys Today!, Summer Days (And Summer Nights!), Beach Boys Party!, Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Sunflower (stereo mix only) and Surfโ€™s Up (stereo mix only).
Weโ€™re told that these releases mark the stereo debut of Smiley Smile and Beach Boys Party!, while The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Summer Nights!) โ€œare being released in stereo for the first time in their entiretyโ€. This means weโ€™ll get to hear classics like โ€˜Good Vibrationsโ€™, โ€˜Help Me, Rhondaโ€™, โ€˜I Get Aroundโ€™ and others in stereo for the first time.
Whatโ€™s wrong with this picture? Well, just when The Beatles realised that their earlier albums sounded best the way they were recorded and intended to be consumed โ€“ in mono โ€“ someone has decided on a bit of reverse psychology for the Beach Boys. Itโ€™s weird because Brian Wilson is famously deaf in one ear, and was only ever interested in mono as a consequence of this affliction.
As for whether the Beach Boys albums will sound any better than the original issues, or the HDCD ones, or the first batch of remasters, only a detailed A/B listening session on good gear will provide an answer.
But one thingโ€™s for sure: for everyone except for the most dedicated disciples of the BBs, one of the greatest hits compilations together with Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile and possibly a couple of later albums (depending on personal preference) will probably do.
The groupโ€™s early stuff sounds clunky and uninspired to these ears, and over the years, Iโ€™ve grown to love their least successful albums from the late โ€˜60s and early โ€˜70s. These include Wild Honey (โ€™67, which isnโ€™t mentioned as a remaster), Carl & The Passions (โ€™72, ditto) and Holland (โ€™73, ditto). Hopefully, re-rubs of these great albums will be announced in due course. GARY STEEL

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Steel has been penning his pungent prose for 40 years for publications too numerous to mention, most of them consigned to the annals of history. He is Witchdoctor's Editor-In-Chief/Music and Film Editor. He has strong opinions and remains unrepentant. Steel's full bio can be found here

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GARY STEEL has been thinking about vinyl vs. streaming vs. compact discs (etc) and just wants it all to stop.
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