Vinyl Reports

It was 60 years ago this week that Brian Wilson taught bands to play a different way with the release of The Beach Boys’ masterwork LP Pet Sounds on May 16, 1966. As part of this celebration, Capitol/UMe have been pulling out the stops with a barrage of analog joys related to this milestone recording (and some digital ones too).

More specifically, as part of this 60th anniversary celebration, UMe/Capitol issued both audiophile and ultra-audiophile versions of the core Pet Sounds LP — which we will tell you more about when we review them both here on AP Analog Planet tomorrow, Friday, May 22, 2026. [Update, 05.22.2026: You can read that combo review right here.]

Today, we will instead be reviewing the first-time vinyl release of The Beach Boys’ The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP set, which came out via Capitol/UMe on May 15, 2026. Its content (25 tracks in all) was culled from Capitol’s mostly like-named 1997 30th Anniversary 4CD box set, The Pet Sounds Sessions.

First, some mile-high perspective on the expectations the band and its record label had at the time of the original Pet Sounds release may be helpful to readers not (yet!) intimate with the rich backstory of this incredible music.

In short, inspired by The Beatles’ December 1965 Rubber Soul album (also on Capitol), Brian Wilson set out to create a more sophisticated, adult-themed, end-to-end listening experience that wasn’t simply about surfing and fun fun fun. With Pet Sounds, he created a song cycle wherein every song is excellent — something that wasn’t always the case for pop-music full-album releases, prior to this creative burst — and in which the production techniques set new standards for pre-recorded music production in general.

Incredulously, back in the day, Pet Sounds was considered by the band (and the music industry!) to be a bit of a failure in the U.S. upon its initial release, relative to the success of prior Beach Boys LPs. While there were hit single releases, the album as a whole only reached the #10 spot on the pop music charts, while over in the UK, it fared a good bit better, reaching #2. Now, by most artists’ standards, having a Top 10 album would be considered a fine success, but such were the professional goals that The Beach Boys — and The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, for that matter — were reaching for at that time.

Chart performance aside, Pet Sounds of course went on to be globally recognized as a musical, compositional, and production landmark, inspiring no less than those very same Beatles to then stretch boundaries even further by creating June 1966’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, just a year later.

It can arguably be stated that Pet Sounds changed the face of music, how artists thought about albums conceptually, the scope of their compositions, the depth of lyrical content, and overall production elevation. To say that Pet Sounds raised the bar is, in short, an understatement. Many still consider it the greatest album ever made.

Okay — now that all that important background has been said, let’s dive into the M.O. of The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP set. From its official accompanying press materials, we learn of the intent: “Providing deeper insight into the making of the album, The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights compiles standout material from the 1997 Grammy-nominated 4CD box set, The Pet Sounds Sessions, which documented the legendary 1965–66 recording sessions. The new collection features 25 alternate takes, a capellas, and tracking sessions, all making their vinyl debut.

“Available as a 2CD set and across multiple 2LP configurations — including standard black vinyl and limited-edition splatter/color variants — each format includes new liner notes by longtime Beach Boys historian Howie Edelson, along with a detailed sessionography.”

Each LP in the Sessions Highlights set comes housed in a simple but still audiophile-worthy protective plastic inner sleeve. It’s worth noting that the LPs themselves feature period-accurate rainbow design Capitol labels (which were also on the original Pet Sounds LP in 1966).

The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP black vinyl set is available from Music Direct for an SRP of $37.99, and you can order it here, or via the MD link graphic ahead of the tracklisting section below. The groovy, opaque white-green vinyl edition is available from The Beach Boys’ official site store here for $49.98, while other color vinyl variants (like the yellow vinyl option seen below!) can be found elsewhere online for a typical SRP of around $37.99. (It’s also worth noting for all of our fellow BB completists that, coincident with this release, the full 90-track Pet Sounds Sessions box set will make its debut on major streaming platforms concurrently.)

Breaking down some of the DNA underlying The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP set, we know from the liner notes that new mastering and lacquer cutting was conducted by Grammy-winning engineer Evren Göknar (who spent some 25 years mastering in house at Capitol Studios!) and now runs his own Evren Göknar Mastering facility. According to information we received directly from UMe, the discs were manufactured using a Direct Metal Master (DMM) process at Conectiv — a relatively new company formed out of the roots of legendary media company, Technicolor — with pressing plants in Mexicali and Guadalajara, Mexico.

The original Pet Sounds Sessions box set content was produced by Brian Wilson, with co-production by Mark Linett and David Leaf. Original mastering was handled by Joe Gastwirt, and the stereo mix was created by Mark Linett under the supervision of Brian Wilson.

You, of course, may be wondering what source materials were used to make this new 2LP set, and without going into uber-heavy techno-speak beyond the scope of this review, we did confirm from UMe that the CD-quality — and Brian Wilson supervised/approved — 16-bit/44.1kHz masters from that aforementioned 1997 box set were used. But don’t fret, analog and hi-res purists: it all actually sounds really good!

This overall wonderful Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP set begins with a glorious, full album side of vocal-only tracks on LP1, Side 1. Yes, it’s just the vocals in all their multipart familial-harmonic brilliance, without the backing instrumentation. (There is some limited bleedthrough, but nothing we’d consider intrusive.) They sound perfect, in every way — and even members of The Beach Boys themselves consider these vocals to be the peak of the band’s efforts. Listening to them isolated like this is akin to hearing the finest of choral quintets — only they’re singing Brian Wilson’s music! All of these tracks sound utterly amazing — mesmerizing, really!

LP1, Side 2 gets into some of the instrumentals and outtakes that were extracted from the recording sessions tapes. Many amazing moments are included, such as an alternate version of “God Only Knows” (LP1, Side 2, Track 5), that features a rather curious saxophone solo on it! It is clearly not necessarily better than the final version, but it is still tremendously interesting to consider the arrangement options Brian was exploring for the song along the way.

One of my all-time favorite moments from the original box set — which was also included as bonus material on the 2003 Pet Sounds DVD-A and the 2016 expanded 4CD/1BD reissue of The Pet Sounds Sessions — is the vocal snippet of “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” (LP2, Side 3, Track 3). This demo-disc-worthy track only lasts for about a minute, but it is simply a stunning isolation — a demonstration of the purity and precision of The Beach Boys’ harmony blend as arranged and recorded by Brian Wilson.

First, Brian sings the lead/guide vocal for the segment. And then they play it back again, this time including all the intense and densely layered harmonies of Brian with the rest of the band. The word breathtaking almost captures the feeling one gets when listening to this moment — but even that feels incomplete. Spine-tingling is far more accurate. My advice: play this track loudly!

The inclusion of recording-session progress tracking for “God Only Knows” (LP3, Side 4, Track 3) is quite remarkable in its own right. Akin to what it might have been like watching one of the great painters such as Degas, Van Gogh, or Picasso create a masterpiece, on this track, we hear in real time just how clear and fully formed Brian Wilson’s vision for the song was in his head at the time. He had the roadmap worked out, as he confirms details down to overall feel and pacing of the track.

Can you imagine how some of these musicians must have felt when they realized they were working on one of the greatest songs ever written? In the gatefold-printed liner notes that were newly penned by Howie Edelson, Wrecking Crew keyboard legend Don Randi recalls the sensation of what it was like working with Brian at that time: “After going over the same amount of bars over and over and over again — never knowing what the song was — you start saying, ‘I hope he knows what he’s doing,’ because you’re getting tired and a bit aggravated. And then all of a sudden, you hear the next refrain and you suddenly realize, my goodness gracious, there’s genius there. He was hearing it all the time.”

One curious choice here is the inclusion of identical vocal-only tracks for “I’m Waiting for the Day” on two different discs (LP1, Side 1, Track 3; and LP2, Side 4, Track 1). Given the multitude of other available gems on the set, one would think that one version would be enough. (If we get any clarification as to why this is the case, we will add it in here.) For what it’s worth, this is the only track on the album that was originally a co-write between Mike Love and Brian Wilson.

The packaging on The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights is a lot of fun! The cover features an authentic 1960s vibe, including super-sturdy tip-on style gatefold packaging featuring Pet Sounds’ iconic green and yellow colors. In addition to Edelson’s new gatefold liners, the set also includes a handy bonus LP-sized fold-out insert with session information for 15 tracks (though take note that it doesn’t correspond to the running order of these 2LPs). This is all really interesting to look at, as it namechecks so many incredible Wrecking Crew musicians who worked on Pet Sounds, including Carol Kaye, Barney Kessell, Larry Knectel, Tommy Tedesco, Hal Blaine, Lyle Ritz, Glen Campbell, and more. These are icons, and every one of them is a music legend!

The vinyl pressing I was sent for this review is also fun, featuring glorious-looking opaque white with green-gray splatter. Now, normally, I would consider this a no-no as far as audio quality goes — and the reality is that there is a little bit of surface noise that you’ll hear periodically — most notably at the very end of the each side and in the deadwax, but also occasionally on some of the inner tracks as well.

But overall, for this sort-of fun pressing, it sounds really good, especially for a highly patterned disc. Even when pumping up the volume, I didn’t really hear much if any of the typical low-level “whoosh whoosh” sound one often hears on translucent patterned discs. The opaque vinyl helps mask that a bit, I suspect.

That said, remember, you can easily get The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights 2LP set on standard black vinyl — and, as AP editor Mike Mettler attested to me from spinning his own copy of that version of the release, none of the splattered surface-noise issues are present on any of its four sides.

As for my ratings, overall, I have to give the Music on The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights a 10 at least. This is effectively a behind-the-scenes snapshot of the making of one of the most influential important albums in pop music history — and even though they are “just” backing tracks, outtakes, and alternate mixes, the underlying music is still fantastic — and I’ll even forgive the duplicated track.

As far as the Sound rating goes, even with the CD-grade sonics, this 2LP album remains a very enjoyable listen, all things considered. Thus, we here at AP think The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights should get at least an 8 collectively for Sound, taking into account that some of the tracks are more raw demos and the like, which noticeably have more compromised sonics native to them. To be more specific, the splatter pressing is more like a 7, and the black vinyl is an 8, and sometimes 8.5 (mostly for the beauty that is LP1, Side 1), hence the overall 8 rating.

Whether you are a deep student of Pet Sounds who already owns the original 30th Anniversary box set or are a newer Brian Wilson/Beach Boys fan making a first deep dive, The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights is a fun collection worth owning on vinyl.

We will see you all back here tomorrow for our deep dive into the core Pet Sounds LP reissues mentioned at the outset of this review!

Author bio: Mark Smotroff is an avid vinyl collector who has also worked in marketing communications for decades. He has reviewed music for eCoustics, among others, and you can see more of his impressive C.V. at LinkedIn.

THE BEACH BOYS
THE PET SOUNDS SESSIONS HIGHLIGHTS
2LP (Capitol/UMe)
MUSIC: 10
SOUND: 8

Original recordings produced by Brian Wilson
Original sessions compilation produced by Brian Wilson
Original compilation co-produced by Mark Linett and David Leaf
Original session highlights edited by Ramone Breton and Mark Linett
Original session mastering by Joe Gastwirt

Session Highlights 2LP set produced by Frank Collura
Session Highlights 2LP set mastering and lacquer cutting by Evren Göknar, Evren Göknar Mastering
Session Highlights 2LP vinyl manufactured at Conectiv, Mexico

LP1, Side 1
1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Vocals Only)
2. You Still Believe In Me (Vocals Only)
3. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only)*
4. Sloop John B. (Vocals Only)
5. God Only Knows (Vocals Only)
6. Here Today (Vocals Only)
7. I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times (Vocals Only)

LP1, Side 2
1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Stereo Track And Backing Vocals)
2. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Brian Wilson’s Instrumental Demo)
3. I’m Waiting For The Day (Mike Sings Lead)
4. Sloop John B. (Carl Sings First Verse)
5. God Only Knows (Sax Solo, Alternate Version)
6. Hang On To Your Ego (Alternate Mix)
7. Here Today (Alternate Version)

LP2, Side 3
1. Wouldn’t It Be Nice (Highlights From Tracking Date)
2. Trombone Dixie (Highlights From Tracking Date)
3. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocal Snippet)
4. Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) (Vocals Only)
5. That’s Not Me (Highlights From Tracking Date)
6. Here Today (Stereo Backing Track)

LP2, Side 4
1. I’m Waiting For The Day (Vocals Only)*
2. Caroline, No (Stereo Mix, Original Speed)
3. God Only Knows (Highlights From Tracking Date)
4. Good Vibrations (Highlights From Tracking Date)
5. Good Vibrations (Stereo Backing Track)

*Track included on both LP1, Side 1 and LP2, Side 4