Thank goodness UMG stands for"Usually Minimal Gaff's"

Having now secured a copy with the retro silver on wine 'dome' labels and vile plastic inners I can reveal the facts.In it's favour the jacket/sleeve is thick and well printed (no paste backs here) the pressings are thick and well done, the bar code is discrete and not a feature.Against.Sadly Randall Davis has duped us on this 24 track compilation and he hides the truth in his tiny inside sleeve note"most of the tracks are presented in their original mono and mono single mixes" what he means is he can not locate the stage tapes and have correct and proper 90 degree stereo soundstage masters made!16 tracks are the same ol' over and over and over again mono mixes2 are dodgey duophonic fake stereo tracks (wishey washy hi-lows and vile)6 are true stereothe list!(Side 1) 1 D 2 - 6 M(Side 2)1 M 2 S 3 - 6 M(Side 3)1 M 2 S 3-4 M 5 S 6 D(Side 4)1 M 2-4 S 5-6Worst EMI (Every Mistake Imaginable) gaff/cock-up's:- Side 3 Track 5 Cottonfileds although its stereo, its sadly an earlier version and taken from the 20/20 album and tie-in Euro 7" single. It is not the crafted bouncy kicking steel guitar playing jews harp twainging Al Jardine creation for a USA and UK single. This version is as dull as can be! Total and needless dissapointmentSide 4 track 6 the Beach Boys edited medley this is presented in mono! When it was mixed and edited for Stereo talk about ending on a low note.I can not stress enough The Beach Boys were made for stereo they are a perfection 3-part harmonies vocal group and mono just does not show the craft or excellence. Again on this third USA Compilation the boys have been so let down,Spirit Of America, Endless Summer and now this. (The USA are not alone the UK Greatest Hits (B&W pic, vile lime green target labels) Should have been called Duophonic Hits, 20 Golden greats ( 10 per side tight groove low fi and all Duophonic) Summer Dreams (compiled by a 'Record Collector' expert) a mish mash of mono duophonics and a couple of Stereo's.Brian is finally aware of his aural limitations in his stereo mixing skills he called in an expert and has had Pet Sounds finally mixed to stereo perfection. This Compilation and the other two USA one's need the same!This is just an excuse for a great sleeve!

Whilst its nice to see the front of the gfd sleeve what's more interesting and informative are the labels used! So many options with USA Capitol Silver text on Wine, Rainbow, Green text logo on Salmon Pink, Target /C on lime green, Black on Redbe nice to know which the original first pressings came with.A run down of the track's sonics would be really useful too:- Crisp Clear Muddy mono stereo duophonic? Spirt Of and Endless Summer both have a wide range of mushy vile duophonic mixes and very few crisp clear stereo mixes or clean mono mixes on both the Salmon pink label pressings. Capitol have never done right by the guys esp on vinyl with crisp clear full 180 degree soundstage stereo mixes of every gem these guys committed to tape. Brian was incapable of mixing stereo he only heard in mono (thanks to Murry) You don't hiret a one eyed guy to produce and edit the effects and visuals in a 3D movie. You don't put out Disney's Fantasia in B&W, Madonna's UK Immaculate Collection, Melanie's Garden LP with out scratch and sniff! So why put out a vocal group with perfect 3 part + harmonies and pitch recordings mucked about with as if recorded in a floor to ceiling tiled shower with towels over the microphones??? WhyHopefully now Capitol as gone to UMG a complete revisit to the vaults and proper AAD stereo masters should be made and the vile Duophonic mushy tampered with creations 2nd and 3rd generation tape masters consigned to the Universal back lot vaults to tempt fate :) (Sadly they had a fire there!)Tip: Never ever trust a Beach Boys album or compilation EMI -Capitol release until you have personally heard it.

Amen. While I don't fully understand all of the technical jargon you mentioned, it helps explain why I found this compilation to sound pretty sh!tty...And I find the cover to be a little creepy - like the American Dream is to be a big fat guy w/ a 'MOM' tattoo, seemingly intoxicated whilst surfing (until he hits the shore at which time he'll hop on his skateboard) with a big burger, a pizza and a mousekateer hat floating in the air nearby. I'm sure he was on his way to rescue the cross-eyed beach bunny being gored through the head by a dumbbell bar (which is being lifted with one arm by some muscle head under water) before he was strangled senseless by a guitar-playing octopus. Nearby, another well-tanned broad with some serious lips, snorkels in the nude well-ABOVE the water (while a scuba diver in a medieval diving suit flies his pseudo-Japanese flag from a periscope which allows his shoulder to scan the beach). Finally, the Gator-Sailor is diggin' those mammary glands with the high-beams on to his immediate left. She's probably watching the pussy-fish playing on the inner-tube. All in all, a beautiful Sunshine Dream...?