On vinyl, Capitol's three original "Best of the Beach Boys" albums from the 1960s are woefully incomplete -- and that's whether you're talking the 11-track US versions or the very different 14-track British EMI versions. Also, I'm not going to make anyone listen to "Long Tall Texan."
The ‘70s/80s double albums (Endless Summer, Spirit of America, Sunshine Dream) are better, but include nothing from the post-Capitol years. You could add "Ten Years of Harmony" (which covers 1970-80), but that's eight album sides that have a fair amount of filler, and you'd still have to hunt down clean copies. For the price, you could save a lot of legwork and just buy the new 80-track set.
The three hits collections from 1999-2000 are fine, but they aren’t on vinyl (20 Good Vibrations, 20 More Good Vibrations, Best of the Brother Years). The same goes for 2012's "50 Big Ones." (Which also is so-so on its choices... I refuse to accept "That's Why God Made the Radio" as a track that's more worthy than, say, "Til I Die.")
On CD, I always go back to 1993's "Good Vibrations" box, since it seems to include every single and album track I could ever want. Again, though, it's not on vinyl. And about a third of disk one is demos/curios which interrupt the flow, disk two has a bit of repetition in the “Smile” material, and disk four starts to drag half-way through (around 1977). Disk five is just rarities, and doesn't work at all if you just want the best material.
So, this expanded vinyl edition of "Sounds of Summer" had me excited till I saw the price! Then I saw that it includes several lame late 70s tracks ("Come Go With Me"?!). And they made space for those, but not for gems like Surfin', Little Saint Nick, Caroline No, Cabinessence, Busy Doin' Nothin', Bluebirds Over the Mountain, Break Away, Slip On Through, Got to Know the Woman, Deirdre, The Trader, and River Song.
And then… side 12 is blank?! I've read that they capped this at 80 tracks, and that's why side 12 is blank. But why?! Think about this...
Remember when the Beach Boys were being inducted into the Rock Hall in 1988, and Mike Love criticized Mick Jagger? Well, the Stones have already put out an 80-track best of (“Grrr!” from 2012). If Mike Love is so bothered by the Stones, why didn't he push to include more than 80 cuts here? They have a whole extra side! He could have finally found a way to beat the Stones! Both bands celebrate six decades this year... Love is 81; Mick is approaching 79. I doubt that either band will be issuing another set like this.
The other things I noticed are minor: the disks are housed in reimagined Capitol inner sleeves, showing all the band's LPs. They look very cool, but I have to wonder: why is Stack-O-Tracks shown BEFORE Friends and Wild Honey? And where is Sunshine Dream (since its two predecessors are included)? Not owning the set, I also wonder if the two lame 90s albums are included (Summer In Paradise, Stars and Stripes Vol. 1).
My only other comment is on the remix of "Cotton Fields," which I was able to hear on the CD version: it's a trade off. The original soars, but has some weird HF hash. The new mix has more clarity, but is missing some bass (there's a pedal note I just love). In general, I don't enjoy stereo remixes of the Beach Boys since the originals were so powerful... but if the price comes down, I may have to try these new stereo versions to see how they rate.
NOTE: There is a 2LP version of this floating around in an identical jacket. Some, but obviously not all, of this review applies to that, too.
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