The Smile Sessions MONO - a disaster for the Beach Boys' Legacy

[Cabinessenceking]

I'll be the one to say it, and I know people will hate me for it but I consider the decision to release it in MONO to be the biggest blunder the producers could make.

It is completly fails to catch the imagination of a new listener. In this day and age, people do not listen to music as in the early-mid 60's in a one-channel format. people use ipods etc which give stunning stereo quality to the listner. And as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

The worst part is that it is fully available in stereo. Even lost vocal tracks like GV could either be reconstructed using modern software (ive seen amateurs do it well even). The other option would be to remove GV from the tracklist, I mean it's not related to Smile whatsoever, so you not just add it a bonus track then, but at least everything else could be stereo.

And why did they include Holidays anyway? what a dull boring track, the outro is the only part which is good ( and even that vocal for the tag was made during the Smiley Smile sessions). And the stereo H&V is terrible as well, I dont know...

I find myself listening only to fan mixes, but the stereo Surf's Up, Vega-tables and Wind Chimes on TSS are excellent!

Now slaughter me.... 

[D409]

Well you did ask for it - the whole point of TSS is to present the session material in the truest and best possible way that Brian originally intended the music to be heard, in the best possible sound quality. The majority of listeners have no issue with listening to the music in mono - the music and ideas are three-dimensional enough to transcend any listening format !

[shelter]

I'm certain that people who would have listened to TSS if it would have been in stereo, but won't for the sole reason that it's in mono, are a very tiny minority.

[stack-o-tracks]

If you think releasing an album in mono is a disaster for their legacy...  I don't think you've been paying close enough attention to everything that's happened 1967-2012....

I literally do not know anybody who's been like "oh yeah, Smile Sessions" in real life. It's not that big a deal. If it is play it on some shitty mono turntable and pretend like it's 1969. Also, hash joints.

[MaxL]

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

A filthy lie, I'm the same age and I listen (and adore) both the mono Pet Sounds and Smile. I listen to both versions of PS and they both have their own advantages. Releasing Smile in mono in this day and age is doing justice to the original intention - the few stereo mixes are nice and I enjoy many stereo remixes of Pet Sounds but I can appreciate many aspects of the mono mixes.

I'll grant you that non-BB's obsessives our age may have trouble swallowing mono, but I'd wager that many of them wouldn't know the difference and wouldn't be aware that mono was a thing.

[seltaeb1012002]

as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

Speak for yourself bro. I'm only a few yrs older than you, and I love mono.

[GuyOnTheBeach]

as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

Speak for yourself bro. I'm only a few yrs older than you, and I love mono.

I'm 20, been loving both albums since 17. I think Cabinessenceking may be referring to Joe Public though, but then again I have friends my age who are more familiar with stuff from Pet Sounds than they are the car and surf songs thanks to people like Zooey Deschanel singing the praises of this album.

[over and over]

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

I'd wager that many of them wouldn't know the difference and wouldn't be aware that mono was a thing.

I'm guilty of this. I didn't know what mono was till I got my 8-track recorder.
Pet Sounds and Smile are better in mono imo. In "Here Today" (the stereo version) I can't hear "It makes me feel so bad" after Mike sings "The brand new love affair is such a beautiful thing", but in mono I do.

[MBE]

Mono is awesome and besides that's the only way it would have come out other than fake stereo.

[hypehat]

Sigh.


It's not fully available in stereo at all, maybe at most 60%? You wouldn't have vocals for CITFOTM, leads on Wonderful, elements of Vegatables, off the top of my head.... and of course trifling things like the majority of the words on Heroes & Villains (IIRC, there is trickery involved to get the second verse in particular into stereo), or Good Vibrations, the electronic mixes we've heard fans do being nowhere near fit for official release. How fitting for the legacy.

Oh, and I'm 21, and SMiLE has been selling well since its release with nary a complaint besides idiots going 'well why isn't good vibrations in stereo?'. You don't know what you're talking about.

[Alan Smith]

I'm 93, and I gotta say a quibble about the mono/stereo thing is not a big picture issue.

[The Shift]

The responses of most suggest there's some trolling being undertaken...

[absinthe_boy]

And just how many kids do I see with ONE earphone of their iPod in...and the other earphone in a friends' ear ?

Teenagers are listening in mono all the time.

[SMiLE Brian]

Mono rocks!

[hypehat]

The responses of most suggest there's some trolling being undertaken...

I am rather crabby without my first coffee of the morning, true....

[Cabinessenceking]

KK I knew I was gonna upset some people, apologies!

Its just that mono is epic for loud speakers, but bad for head-sets/earphones
And as for the CIFOTM chorus there exists stereo vocal, check AlternateBrian's mix from some years ago.

And the comment stating that they screwed up 1967-present, though perhaps true in the sense of no great continuation of Smile, I would consider Smiley Smile to be among their top 4-5 albums and it only happened because Smile failed to materialise.

And please don't call be ignorant on the topic, I've read way to much about this and enought posts on this forum to be deemed 'well-informed', ofc that doesnt prevent me from making mistakes or forgetting some important info.

They might to a stereo version later to cash in more on Smile ^^

[SamMcK]

I'm 17 and feel some 60's music is just meant to be in mono, e.g Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan etc. Also what is the likelhood that anyone who is interested in buying this type of material in the first place would be put of by the mono aspect? Probably about 11 people.

[Ron]

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

Alright.  I'll bite. 


You're 20.  Your Brain isn't even finished growing.  You won't know sh*t about sh*t for at least another 8 years or so.  When your brain finally stops growing, you'll realize that what you just said is completely ridiculous. 

Not slamming you.  I used to be 20.  I still say ridiculous things from time to time, but boy you should have seen the stupid things I thought back when I was your age. 

It's alright.  We all have horrible music taste like you do when we're 20.  LOL.  You're not old enough to know the difference between mono and stereo; your underdeveloped Brain still thinks that stereo means there's more speakers. 

Lock yourself in a room with Phil Spector's "Back to Mono" box for 3 years, that should straighten you out. 

[Summertime Blooz]

It's only a matter of time until Capitol releases some kind of stereo edition of Smile. Otherwise, why not include such a mix in the box set? Obviously digital technology could allow them to build something that approximates or simulates a stereo experience for the people (and there are many) who prefer it. Capitol won't leave a dollar on the table if they can help it.

[Jon Stebbins]

And please don't call be ignorant on the topic, I've read way to much about this and enought posts on this forum to be deemed 'well-informed'...

I think the above flurry speaks for itself.

[Peter Reum]

In my opimion, it was released in mono becauzse it was Brian's decision to allow it's release, and he had final approval over the set. It was generous and kind on the pro9ducers' part to respect his preference in this matter.

[The Shift]

It's only a matter of time until Capitol releases some kind of stereo edition of Smile. Otherwise, why not include such a mix in the box set? Obviously digital technology could allow them to build something that approximates or simulates a stereo experience for the people (and there are many) who prefer it. Capitol won't leave a dollar on the table if they can help it.

Agree. I think there's still enough in the pot to get another release out of SMiLE. Barnyard with backing vox; one of the other four versions of Wild Honey-era SU; much of the disc 1 stuff in stereo as implied. Who knows what else.

Not that I'm complaining... bring it on (and put an end to all these fan mixes that are floating about!)!   

[SMiLE Brian]

This thread should be about SMiLE in duophonic, which would have been a disaster for the Beach Boy's legacy.

[AllIWannaDo]

as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

Speak for yourself bro. I'm only a few yrs older than you, and I love mono.

If your saying The Beatles 2009 remasters from 'Please Please' me up to 'Abbey Road' are better in stereo than mono.. well y'no...
there are fans, and there are music fans

[cablegeddon]

I'll be the one to say it, and I know people will hate me for it but I consider the decision to release it in MONO to be the biggest blunder the producers could make.

It is completly fails to catch the imagination of a new listener. In this day and age, people do not listen to music as in the early-mid 60's in a one-channel format. people use ipods etc which give stunning stereo quality to the listner. And as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

The worst part is that it is fully available in stereo. Even lost vocal tracks like GV could either be reconstructed using modern software (ive seen amateurs do it well even). The other option would be to remove GV from the tracklist, I mean it's not related to Smile whatsoever, so you not just add it a bonus track then, but at least everything else could be stereo.

And why did they include Holidays anyway? what a dull boring track, the outro is the only part which is good ( and even that vocal for the tag was made during the Smiley Smile sessions). And the stereo H&V is terrible as well, I dont know...

I find myself listening only to fan mixes, but the stereo Surf's Up, Vega-tables and Wind Chimes on TSS are excellent!

Now slaughter me.... 

I think you're right on the money. Without taking a stand on the issue I can tell you that there's a big backlash against the box set on other non-BB-boards I'm on (just look at the youtube comments)........and I understand them. How do you explain that Pet Sounds sounds tremendous in stereo and that Smile was released exclusively in mono?