http://mixonline.com/ar/audio_pet_sounds_surround/ Sounds like it's done, but when will we see it? Or SURF'S UP? Anybody heard anything definite.
Wow, scary! I don't like all that talk about no-noise. Also, very funny how they realize Brian mixed to mono on purpose because he (Brian) knew you couldn't screw up the way he wanted it to sound with bad speaker placement, etc.. Now we have the opportunity to really mess it up with 5.1! Thanks for posting the link.
I wouldn't worry about it. Mark Linett actually really dislikes it - he's gone on the record as saying what a mistake it was when he used it in the early '90s. That's no secret, but keep in mind, all of these remixes *do* have Brian's blessing. I don't know about the 5.1 mix, but I know Brian was involved a bit in the stereo mix.
using 2 cd players with discs from the box set and a 4 track reel deck I already did a surround mix (backing tracks in the rears, vocals in front) and I thought (as do all my friends) that it was a more open, natural way to hear it. You really feel in the middle between the musicians and the singers, even tho you know they were recorded in different spaces of time. it's a lot of fun, and I'll buy the surround DVD-A when it's released but I'm not one to worship at the alter of Pet Sounds. I find it often whiny and morose. I think 'Lets Go Away...' is my favourite. I can't stand Sloop John B. To me, this album signals the BB's decent into hell. Musically fun in places, but very self-centered lyrics that seemed very out of place at the time (there was a -reason- it sold so poorly, and it wasn't just because BB fans were generally teenyboppers).
Having Brian's input on this is about as useful as having Ray Charles input on the new DVD restoration of "In The Heat Of The Night", isn't it?
Huh? One copy will do me just fine. I'm very excited to hear the 5.1 mix. Break out your pitchforks and torches, ye villagers, it's time to roast the heretic!
well, it's certainly more unhappy at least 'get around' had bubblegum going for it I have a cousin who lived with us for a while in the 60's, and in '64 she saw the BB's here in town and enjoyed it. For the next 20 odd years, that was the last positive thing I heard about them. I liked the era of '65 when they cut really good tracks like 'Youre so good to me' and the intro to 'California Girls' which thankfully was not nearly as whiny as most of their other tracks (and, might I say, rather weak albums). When Endless Summer came out, they began to get re-evaluated based on a number of things: there was a 50's nostagia boom on which the BB's barbershop harmonies fit in nicely with, surf being basically the last holdover of 50's style rock, and also in '74 I wouldn't say the music was terribly exciting. Some good albums abounded but it was the prog era and 50's R&Rollers just in general couldn't cope with that There was some good soul music/proto disco but that was a different animal. Once American Graffiti hit, many of the people of that era longed for the simplicity that was abundant in popular (read R&R) music. Elton's Crocodile Rock fit right in during the '73-'74 period, and it was played to death. I didn't buy the BB's ES album then but about a year later when I heard it I admit I didn't like it. i hated that version of Help Me Rhonda (not that I ever really liked that song to begin with) but it was interesting that it totally avoided Pet Sounds and everything after. I like some of the Smile stuff just becoz it's so weird...at least they were experimenting with new sounds and it had some humor, which I find lacking in Pet Sounds. I admire the boldness of the change of direction and musical textures in PS, but if I were them, I would never have expected it to be a hit. It was a rather notable flop compared to their previous 'file under teen' releases, and in an era of early hippie lets-change-the-world-and-love-each-other ethics, the withdrawn naval gazing of PS was about as out of place as Smashing Pumpkins at a fundamentalist revival
I don't think that Pet Sounds sold that poorly - seems like it crept up into at least the Top 20 (Beach Boys experts help me out here) - it was also hampered by a BB Greatest Hits set released around the same time. I still don't enjoy that album much - too introspective for me - also was an early entry into the "let's live in the studio" era - I'm a firm believer in 3 hours, 4 songs, next please... Let me put on some protective gear before the excrement hits the whirling blades...
Right!! Now you understand!! You could also say that John Wesley Harding was out of place too, but look what that led to! My opninion? I'm not totally impressed with surround mixes, but any any rate, I can already hear the best mix of Pet Sounds anyway, the one that moved me. And I only need one speaker to experience that... Michael Nelson
This might be part of my problem - I never got the DCC and maybe I'd be more impressed hearing that take on how it could sound...
PET SOUNDS was a top ten album; hardly the commercial failure it's been made out to be. But Capitol thought it was too radical and uncommercial for their #2 rock act, and didn't bust their humps promoting it. Sold respectably, I'd say, but Brian probably expected a bigger success than he got. Yet it was referenced by fellow musicians so much in the next few years after release he must have felt vindicated. He was aiming high, to his credit, and a #1 position would have done the trick. He had to wait for "Good Vibrations" to get all the acclaim and million-selling status he thought PS would receive... As for the stereo mix, probably Brian finally consented to have it redone, provided the mono mix was also kept around. And so it is: a mono/stereo CD edition, now a DVD-A on tap. Since the Beach Boys have divided into camps, they have to do a consensus to get anything done. Brian was part of the stereo decision, no doubt, but so were the others. But beyond consent he probably wasn't involved in any other way. I'm still amazed that he occasionally tours. ED
I think it saved his life and I'm happy for him. May he live on. A good soul, I'd Run to see him if ever tours locally here in FL...
Nahh...Brian can hear in one ear, while Ray can't see at all. Sure, he won't get the full sense of a stereo or 5.1 mix, but I'm sure you'd agree that even when listening in mono one can still get an idea of how a mix sounds. Things like echo and levels don't change... Just cover up one of your ears the next time you listen to the Beatles' stereo mixes. I have no doubts you'll be able to tell the difference from the mono mixes...
