I currently own early rainbow pressings of both of these records and was wondering if there are better pressings out there. I am aware that the green label 80s reissues get a lot of praise around here. I've also read about the 2014 reissues of these as well and have heard good things. Does anyone have experience with both and able to give their opinions on the best sounding pressings?
Capitol "greenline'' pressings are the best followed by the Brother/Reprise pressings from the 70's which were my go-to copies for many years.
Seconded. I have the "greenline" of Friends. Cut by Jay Maynard. It's very good, but so was the Brother/Reprise twofer I used to have. I have an early '70s UK Capitol 20/20, which is very nice.
I did a 'Friends" shootout between the rainbow, green and recent reissue. The reissue was lacking compared to the other two. I felt like I wasn't hearing everything i was used to hearing. For the Rainbow and green label, both were very good but the rainbow felt like it had more body and definition to the instruments (especially the horns on the title track...) I could be happy with either but I kept my original rainbow.
I think the green label beach boys albums are really nice. I personally found the green label wild honey to beat out an original mono. The above shoot out was just my impression on that given day. I think the green labels deserve all the praise they receive. I have several as my go to BB albums.
I have all of the AP pressings for the Beach Boys records and a green label mono Wild Honey as well as the stereo remix from 2017, but Friends and 20/20 are the two records where I felt unsatisfied with the current pressings I had. I owned the 2014's of these as well as some dodgy original rainbow labels, but didn't know if there was anything better. I just bought the green label Capitols for Friends and 20/20 and did a shoot out between them all last night. The green labels won EASILY. The detail and stereo separation was so much clearer (especially on Friends). Just a shame 20/20 isnt a very good sounding album in general. A lot of the songs just sound muffled on vinyl, cd, streaming... Would love Mark to remix this record!!
In your defense of preferring the rainbow labels, my rainbow copies are not in the best of shape, whereas my new green labels are mint. Found them both online pretty cheap too! I listened to them again today though, i love them!
20/20 sounds just fine. I recommend the Pastmasters disc. 20/20 don’t need a remix. Perhaps you need to find a suitable mastering
I'm looking for a good copy of both these albums right now- great thread! I was wondering if any other pressings might best the 2014 remasters, looks like the green labels are worth a listen. Interesting how these later Capitol green labels are so well done- I've also read great things about the green mono Wild Honey, tho I'm quite satisfied with my 2017 stereo.
Those 67-69 albums are great. I can attest to the sound quality on the green label pressings for Wild Honey, Friends and 20/20. Actually, a copy of 20/20 arrived earlier today. Thank you, to forum member @FranzD. I'm certain the green label of Smiley Smile sounds good, too. But, I recently went with a 180g AP vinyl. I figured, for a few dollars more than a used green label, I can get a sealed copy. Less hassle and risk. And I am glad did. I highly recommend a green label Wild Honey.
I’ve had several super clean US originals of these (as well as a green Capitol 20/20), but my keepers are UK originals of both. Copy tapes notwithstanding, there’s something I found compelling about those that made me keep those. They also look great with the laminated sleeves.
You are welcome! BTW my green label Smiley Smile sounds great and is in excellent condition. I have not compared it to other versions, but I definitely feel settled with this one.
For 20/20 you had a very different experience than me - the 2014 was noticeably better than my Capitol LA first press, Brother promo 2-fer and green label Capitol. It finally sounded like the big blanket was removed from over the speakers. I literally just received a 2014 still-sealed Friends that I got on Discogs, hope to do a shoot out between it and my US LA first press (promo copy, for what it’s worth), Brother promo 2-fer and Green label Capitol this weekend. Up to now, my first press LP is the winner.
I did a quick A/B of Friends’ first three tracks of the 2014 and my 1968 LA stamped promo and my findings are… inconclusive sorry to say. I need to do a needle drop to do a much ‘tighter’ comparison. But I will say the 2014 seems more dynamic, and the voices and instruments more distinct so I’m leaning towards it. But it’s the overall EQ I want to take a deeper listen for - on both LPs the vocals are a bit muffled / reduced high-end but that’s not true of all the other instruments which leads me to believe the vocal ‘sound’ was due to the recording, the mixing or both but not the mastering. Anyway more to come. But the presentation on both of these LPs are the best I’ve heard them on vinyl and I think I’ve heard all US pressings. Equipment used as listed in my profile. And again, only for the first three songs.
I played friends this weekend. I started with the green and switched to the rainbow. My review still stands. Green label is very nice but the rainbow just seems to have more information. Green Label was quieter though.
Disagree, 20/20 is a sonic mess, starting with Do It Again. Listening to the TwoFer CD now, after the original vinyl three times last night. I'm not sure how capitol let it out the door this uneven, guessing they didn't care about the Beach Boys at the time.
As far as Do It Again is concerned, I really like the mix on Made In California. It’s listed as a 2012 stereo mix, and I feel like it has a solid amount of clarity.
For 'Friends' I've got a copy the Brother/Reprise two-fer vinyl from the 70s. It sounds fantastic. The bass on Anna Lee the Healer alone is huge. The 20/20 pressing is bad. There you go.