2003 greatest hits album by the Beach Boys
| Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys |
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| Released | June 10, 2003 (2003-06-10) |
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| Recorded | 1962–1988 |
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| Length | 74:39 |
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| Label | Capitol |
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Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys is a greatest hits album of the American rock band the Beach Boys, released on June 10, 2003 by Capitol Records. The original collection was the most comprehensive single-disc compilation of the band's music, with 30 tracks including nearly every U.S. Top 40 hit of their career, except for "The Little Girl I Once Knew" (1965) and "It's OK" (1976).
On June 17, 2022, foreshadowing the band's 60th anniversary celebration, Capitol released an expanded three-disc edition of the compilation, including newly-remastered (and, in some cases, remixed) versions of the classic tracks.[4] It received a mixed to negative response on Beach Boys fan forums. Some of the new mixes were deemed "flat-out unlistenable" and the overall sound quality described as "brittle"[5][better source needed] and "almost offensively bad."[6][better source needed]
Release and reissues
Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys was released into a market already containing numerous Beach Boys compilations, including Endless Summer (1974) and three Greatest Hits volumes: Volume 1: 20 Good Vibrations (1995), Volume 2: 20 More Good Vibrations (1999), and Volume Three: Best of the Brother Years 1970–1986 (2000). Nevertheless, Sounds of Summer reached number 16 on the US charts (their highest peak since 15 Big Ones in 1976), and had a lengthy 104-week stay. Currently certified triple platinum, The Very Best of The Beach Boys: Sounds of Summer was re-issued with a DVD component in 2004 with the regular edition remaining available.
In 2007, a follow-up album, The Warmth of the Sun, was released which contains other fan favorites and hits that were not included on Sounds of Summer.
In 2011, Mike Love stated, "Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys is fast approaching selling three million copies – if it's triple-platinum, which is, you know, pretty good. And by the time this 50th celebration is over, it'll probably be more than triple-platinum."[7]
The album was re-released on February 7, 2012 as the Celebration Merch Set which featured the original CD along with a T-shirt celebrating the band's 50th anniversary.[8]
2022 remix and remaster
A three-disc expanded edition of the compilation was released on June 17, 2022, as part of the band's 60th anniversary, and contains 50 additional (previously released) Beach Boys songs.[9] The reissue was curated by Mark Linett and Alan Boyd.[10]
The collection features 24 new mixes including two first-time stereo mixes, as well as 22 "new and improved" stereo mixes, based on a new digital stereo technology, allowing for a separation the original mono backing tracks for the first time.[11] The new edition is available on three CDs or six vinyl records. All tracks from the original Sounds of Summer album were included in a new Dolby Atmos remix on the expanded Sounds of Summer.
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