A bitch about the bitchers.

[theCOD]

Andrew says wait until the box is released, THEN you can criticize it.

SMiLE is released.

Anyone with criticisms is being ungrateful.

Starts thread complaining about it.

[37!ws]

I'd love to write/compile a book of all the complaining about every Beach Boys-related release that happened since, oh, the dawn of the online Beach Boys fan community.

[theCOD]

I'm sure that'd be a real page-turner. You could call it "Fake Harpsichord."

[Mike's Beard]

Some of you guys must have the ears of a bat!!! This sounds amazing as I'm listening to it, it could have been recorded yesterday!!

[endofposts]

I just lost enthusiasm over the years and have heard the bootlegs too much.  I'm sure I'd be happy with it if I could somehow justify parting with the money to buy it.  I might buy the two disc set some time in the near future.  I'd love to have the booklets and whatnot in the boxed set.  I can't complain about something I'm not prepared to pay that much money to own, at least at this point.  Other than I wish they'd have released it years earlier, but people say the technology didn't exist to put it together that well years ago.  So maybe I can't complain?

[SG7]

What is this suppose to be, the blueboard?   

[Ron]

The reported errors are all on the 2-CD set, you know, the one the general public is going to buy, and the only one some of us will unfortunately be able to afford. Besides, the noises are on important tracks. I'll hopefully be able to correct the high-pitched noise in Dada, but I won't be able to erase the noise in the only mono version of Cabinessence we have.

OK, then let's wait for the deluge of complaints to Capitol and amazon from Joe Q. Public and the massed returns to local retailers. I'm sure it'll be a thread on the Hoff board - who knows, might even make USA Today.  We'll see.

My point is not to ignore the alleged errors, but rather to have presented them in context, and less unfavourably. Say "thanks" first, then "however, this bothers me...". Simple good manners (yes, I know you probably have the opinion that good manners and I are complete strangers: I read about them in a book).

I completely agree with you Andrew. 

[Ron]

I know I'm just a newbie here as a poster, but I've been reading for years, so I'm sorry if I'm stepping out of line.

Grow some balls, your opinion is just as valid as anybody else's on this board, regardless of if you just came in on the last truck or not.  Don't let people intimidate you. 

[Ron]

BTW, if there's background vocals missing in the 2cd set, doesn't that actually please the elite who spent too much money and bought the 5cd set?  What are you bitching about.  You got yours.  Is there a contract somewhere that says the first set of tracks on the 2cd set are the same as the first set of tracks on the 5 cd set?  Of course not.  Maybe they did it on purpose. 

[Ron]

There's this one album, the name is fleeting me right now, but there is talking and hissing peppered throughout the entire album. I can't believe they released it like they did. Oh yeah, it was called Pet Sounds.

Relatively speaking we are incredibly lucky to be hearing this set. We have room to criticize, obviously, but I wish some people would put a few hisses and pops in perspective.

Exactly.  Brian was SLOPPY AS sh*t in the studio, so to hear that this album is sloppy (according to the pedantic, good word whoever used that above!)... to hear that the album is sloppy means Brian must have had something to do with it. 

[Ron]

There's this one album, the name is fleeting me right now, but there is talking and hissing peppered throughout the entire album. I can't believe they released it like they did. Oh yeah, it was called Pet Sounds.

Relatively speaking we are incredibly lucky to be hearing this set. We have room to criticize, obviously, but I wish some people would put a few hisses and pops in perspective.

FFS, it's 2011, not 1966, and this project has been in the works for a decade or two, it hasn't been rushed out like PS was.

Do you get your milk unpasteurised? Would it be okay if you did? Will you be scratching your CDs tonight for added authenticity?  Thought not…

The science has moved on.

Unfortunately my box set hasn't… maybe my tone will change when it lands…

Harrumph!

Damn.  Bitch much?  Why did you even buy it?  ITS OLD.  ITS FUCKING 50 YEARS OLD.  Hell take it back. 

[The_Holy_Bee]

I know I'm just a newbie here as a poster, but I've been reading for years, so I'm sorry if I'm stepping out of line.

Grow some balls, your opinion is just as valid as anybody else's on this board, regardless of if you just came in on the last truck or not.  Don't let people intimidate you.  

Wow - I believe the content of my post was that people should show a little respect either way on the issue of any glitches on the set. Comments like "Grow some balls," though I thank you for the medical opinion, is exactly the kind of unpleasant and condescending remark I was talking about.

On the other hand, by refusing to be intimidated by it, I'm following your advice, so I guess it's still a win.

I didn't want to get dragged into this kind of stuff - I've tried to keep my posts fair, impersonal, constructive and polite - but if this is the way it's going I'm happy enough just to read for a bit.

EDIT: Oh, and one more thing: the missing vocals are on Disc 2 of the Box Set - "Barnyard Master Take" - not a track replicated on the 2-Disc Set. While we're giving constructive personal advice, what about actually trying to find out what's being discussed before weighing in? You'll save yourself and everybody else some time that way.

[Ron]

Some of you guys must have the ears of a bat!!! This sounds amazing as I'm listening to it, it could have been recorded yesterday!!

It's not a problem with their ears.  It's a problem with their minds.  You have the same exact ears they have, as do I.  They just have f***ed up expectations about what an unreleased album from 50 years ago that was never completed, recordeded half-assed, and then largely abused and lost should sound like.  They're pissed that their little downloaded version of pro-tools that they used a hacked serial code for, gave them a slightly different sound when they mashed their bootlegs together, than what Mark pulled off with Brian's approval using the original cells Brian dripped sweat and blood on. 

[37!ws]

Faulty comparison....Pet Sounds (and pretty much ALL Beach Boys albums between 1965 and 1967) were mixed in kind of a hurry (which, I believe, is the REAL reason stereo mixes weren't made back in the day), which could explain the stuff during the "Here Today" break and the "She made me feel so bad -- whoops!" from same, the tape rewinding at the beginning of "I Just Wasn't Made For These Times," the tape glitches (that just so happen to be in PERFECT TEMPO so I thought they were drumstick taps) in "Let's Go Away For Awhile," and the double-tracking error on the single version of "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

But as with The Smile Sessions, I didn't hear the aforementioned errors without someone pointing 'em out to me (except for the tape rewind in IJWMFTT), and what I THOUGHT was a legitimate count-in tap is apparently tape glitches...

However -- and I am NOT bitching, just alluding to what was mentioned before (as I haven't noticed any problems, and I'm pretty dog-eared with perfect pitch) -- if what people ARE bitching about happen to be real, honest-to-gosh production mistakes during the making of this set and not beyond their control, well....they had 45 years to get it right.

[runnersdialzero]

Exactly.  Brian was SLOPPY AS feces in the studio, so to hear that this album is sloppy (according to the pedantic, good word whoever used that above!)... to hear that the album is sloppy means Brian must have had something to do with it. 

wat

[Mahalo]

Conspiracy- Any errors were left on purpose so Capitol can charge us for a "Remastered" version 5 years from now.... Just Sayin'

[TV Forces]

I've so far listened to discs 1 and 2 of the 2-cd set.

Then disc 3 of the box set, the two 7" singles, disc 4 of the box set, and all four sides of the vinyl LP.

All I can think of saying is: 

I've heard nothing to object to.  And if I need headphones to hear these things, then I don't care.
I can't stand mono on headphones anyway.

[Pinder's Gone To Kokomo And Back Again]

Wait! So, is the double vinyl set in stereo?

[Andrew G. Doe]

Wait! So, is the double vinyl set in stereo?

Only side 4 - the rest are mono.

[monicker]

Some of you guys must have the ears of a bat!!! This sounds amazing as I'm listening to it, it could have been recorded yesterday!!

It's not a problem with their ears.  It's a problem with their minds.  You have the same exact ears they have, as do I.  They just have friged up expectations about what an unreleased album from 50 years ago that was never completed, recordeded half-assed, and then largely abused and lost should sound like.  They're pissed that their little downloaded version of pro-tools that they used a hacked serial code for, gave them a slightly different sound when they mashed their bootlegs together, than what Mark pulled off with Brian's approval using the original cells Brian dripped sweat and blood on. 

It's unfortunate that some people will get away with this sort of ignorance.

[AllIWannaDo]

wierd the emotions in here tidied into 1st listens everyone's been getting

This is an incredible release, the music and general ambiance given is pretty magical.
It's definitely a great listening experience, but... like some people on here, i too can hear some glitches here and there
which is a shame, to qualify that comment tho, its not a massive ball breaker, and doesn't ruin the listening experience
its just unfortunate i can hear them a little, that's all really.

i think some people are going alittle emtional/OTT on whether its there or not, and if it ruins the listening or it or not. it's there, some notice it, but it's still a mega release! ideally the little blemish's wouldnt be as audible to peoplewith bat ears like myself  but its a minor minor thing for me,

i've just got the 2cd version, however have seen the clips of the boxset and all that and it looks an incredible piece of work.

interested to sample some hi quality home rolled in the coming months, is purple chick's SMiLE obsolete now?

[Fun Is In]

Here I was thinking that the only thing  I had to bitch about was that I wasn't going to see the pre-ordered box from Amazon for a few more days....then the doorbell rang.

NO COMPLAINTS. IT'S HERE! 

[elnombre]

Some of you guys must have the ears of a bat!!! This sounds amazing as I'm listening to it, it could have been recorded yesterday!!

It's not a problem with their ears.  It's a problem with their minds.  You have the same exact ears they have, as do I.  They just have friged up expectations about what an unreleased album from 50 years ago that was never completed, recordeded half-assed, and then largely abused and lost should sound like.  They're pissed that their little downloaded version of pro-tools that they used a hacked serial code for, gave them a slightly different sound when they mashed their bootlegs together, than what Mark pulled off with Brian's approval using the original cells Brian dripped sweat and blood on. 

It's unfortunate that some people will get away with this sort of ignorance.

What 'get away' with an opinion?

[Awesoman]

I just cannot comprehend the mindset of people who call themselves fans, who like me have been waiting years, decades for this day, and who then ignore the towering majesty of the music in this release and bitch about almost irrelevant details. I'm not exactly Pollyanna where the history of the band is concerned, and yes, the box has its problems, but I'm celebrating what has happened without reservations, and also thanking my lucky stars that I'm not as ungrateful as some folk here evidently are. Friday, I was enjoying the early reports but now that glow wasn't faded, it's been tarnished by the petty-minded carpings of those who don't like it that the 'album' proper doesn't follow their chosen roadmap, or choose to listen to the signal and not the music. What is wrong with you people ?  Thankfully, you're far too small a group to have any impact, but imagine how Mark & Alan must feel reading your posts.

Welcome to the Internet, AGD.

[debonbon]

I really hate audiophiles.