A fistful of Beach Boys Pet Sounds 60th anniversary vinyl releases are coming

The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, one of the coolest albums of all time, turns 60 later this year, and we’re getting a series of vinyl re-releases to celebrate the occasion.

At least two of them are particularly collector-worthy. There’s a zoetrope version of the album, a picture disc that shows a quartet of little animated scenes as the disc spins. This one costs £32.99.

Or for £49.99 you can have The Pet Sounds Sessions Highlights, a dual LP set pressed on white and green “splatter” vinyl.

It’s a completionist’s set that doesn’t include the standard tracks themselves, but instead a stack of oddities and outtakes including alternative mixes, A Cappella versions and backing-track-only mixes.

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There’s also a version of these highlights on standard black vinyl, for £35.99, but that’s nowhere near as fun in our book. Or you can get a two-CD edition for £12.99.

For the real audio nuts out there, there’s the Definitive Sound Series edition. This is limited to 6,000 numbered copies, each with a certificate of authenticity. It's mastered from 1972 analogue tapes at the RTI pressing facility in California. These tapes are pretty special, having been apparently rarely used since their creation.

We’re yet to see this sold directly in the UK, but we do know it costs $100 in the US. One other US release is the $54.99 “vinylphyle” set, a two LP set that includes recordings of the classic album in both mono and stereo.

All of these vinyl sets will be available from May 15th, which is the day before the album marks its 60th birthday.

And if you have quite enough copies of Pet Sounds, thank-you-very-much, there are some other bits to note, too.

Pet Sounds T-shirts and hoodies go on sale at The Beach Boys store later this week, on March 27th. And from May 15th you’ll be able to listen to the massive 90-track full collection of Pet Sounds Sessions tracks — originally released as a 4CD set in the 90s — on streaming services.

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