Beach Boys vinyl reissues thread.*

Anyone comment on the AP stereo albums?

 

The vast majority of the comments are similar to "What are they saying over on the Hoffman Forums?".

 

These (stereo BBs) are definitely better than the Beatles stereo remastered vinyl. I know, I'm stating the obvious..

 

Universal Music - but they've taken great pains to duplicate the original Capitol artwork as closely as possible. i.e. they had to put "Universal Music" on there somewhere.

 

I wasn't sure what label they were on, hence why I've only just responded. The Sunflower says "Capitol" and Surf's Up says "Brother" but that means nothing at all these days. BOTH were released a few years ago and sound fantastic and there was a big thing about them being cut from analogue masters on here at the time. I'm surprised anyone could have missed that? I think they were released in 2010 and part of the Back To Black reissue series. IIRC, some were saying they were some of the best releases ever put out under that release banner. Admittedly that didn't say much but they were considered to be excellent issues. I don't need AP's of these anyway as I have the most recent reissues and they're still available at a fraction of the AP price (to an EU buyer anyway).

 

Please see above!

 

They were actually released through the "From The Capitol Vaults" banner, at least here in North America, on June 16, 2009. I think they are very well done reissues.

 

Yes, I stand corrected. They were from "Capitol Vaults" - thank you for clarifying this!

 

Great - thanks for the info. I've seen these at my local record shop and just figured they were digital- great to know they are analogue.

 

Cool - do you think they sound better than originals?

 

I have a first press Artisan copy and there's no beating it. The lower frequencies are nowhere near as good on any other copy. This pressing was also worked on by Carl and Stephen Desper. They are also quite cheap to pick up. I got mine for the same price as these AP LP's in very great condition.

 

I can't agree more. Yesterday I listened to my MFSL CD and I couldn't believe how awesome this album sounds in stereo. Now I can't wait to hear the new stereo pressing. By the way, I think the stereo uses first-generation tapes for all of the songs.

 

The MFSL Surfer Girl LP is also one fine sounding piece of vinyl, the lead tracks on both sides are demo quality.
One of Stan Ricker's best efforts.

 

I also have "Surf's Up" on an original US pressing and I'd have to agree with JohnstonR65's findings; it does sound quite a lot better than the "Capitol Vaults" reissue in the bass frequencies. There is a real slam and deep bass groove on the originals that is somehow lacking on the latest repress. With that said, the 2009's are not expensive AND they do still sound wonderfully rich and vibrant - you probably would never know (or care even?) any better if you couldn't do a side by side comparison. The 2009's are very good indeed and do not suffer from any typical digital thinness or lack of dynamics. They purport to be analogue and I've got no reason to doubt they are.

 

On the way to the subway in the middle of a blizzard I stopped at a local shop to pick up a few BB albums - both are pressings from the Capitol From The Vaults reissue series: Today and Endless Summer.

I'm not sure if Endless Summer was cut from a digital or analog source. I suspect it's digital... In addition, I didn't use the forum search tool to research the consensus on the SQ of this pressing. I know there is a DCC CD version.

I did compare a few tracks on Endless Summer to the following from the recent AP reissues: Surfin' Safari, Surfer Girl, Little Deuce Coupe and In My Room. I found the AP/Kevin Gray cuts to be better sounding ( no big surprise) - richer, warmer, better clarity. In My Room was much superior in every way.

I don't know if the reissue of Endless Summer is a fair comparison or not. I am convinced, for me, the APs are the way to go, with the exception of the mono Pet Sounds. It would take a lot to best the DCC vinyl pressing.

 

Well, it depends on the tape really. We still don't know what the source is. Maybe it's the tape that DCC used in the nineties or even the same metalwork, who knows.

 

Carl Wilson, Mastering Engineer.

 

Impex made a pretty decent blunder on the back cover of the Miles Davis E.S.P. reissue. It's missing the tracklisting for Side 2. The tracklisting for Side 1 looks pretty lonely there...

 

Thanks for posting your views in this thread , you've brought plenty to the table . Cheers , hope that blizzard wasn't too severe.
Keep warm & enjoy the music.

 

OK. I wasn't really thinking of anything other than the SQ of the records themselves. For me the packaging is the icing on the cake. But you make a fair point.

 

Forgive me if I missed it but after digging through this thread I can not find the answer.

Do we know the release date of Pet Sounds yet?

 

I believe all the SACDs will be released May 1st, per my earlier post. As for vinyl, I have no clue.

 

Does anyone know why some of the vinyl is being released 5 months earlier than the SACDs? Surely all the SACDs are ready as well. I have noticed this trend with many other MFSL/AP releases.

 

thanks, I am interested in the vinyl.

 

AP's website seems to say May 1st as well.

http://www.analogueproductions.com/index.cfm?do=detail&Title_ID=95587