Sunday, 19 July 2015

The Beach Boys - Surfin' USA (mono & stereo)



Rating: 4/5

Review:
A welcome issue



It's good to have this on CD.  I was 9 years old when Surfin' USA first came out and it's a real pleasure to me to be able to hear it in clean, well-transferred digital sound.

The music itself is…well, it's a nostalgic record of Brian Wilson finding his songwriting feet and The Beach Boys beginning to develop that wondrous sound.  In truth, anyone coming to this cold nowadays might be pretty underwhelmed and if it weren't The Beach Boys most of it would probably just be forgotten by now - but it *is* The Beach Boys and some of us remember it with huge affection.

The transfers are good, although I'm not that keen on the stereo versions, some of which have been re-worked from mono originals.  That's OK, though – the whole thing costs next to nothing and I just play my loved mono versions, and you can play whichever you prefer, or both.

This is a really welcome issue, it's well mastered and it's a proper bargain.  Recommended – especially to nostalgic old gits like me.

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