Before you hit the 'no' button on "was this review helpful ?", let me say up front that my review is based entirely on the *sound quality* of this set. It does not reflect the actual music itself, which has been described in detail in many other reviews here.

If you care about the sound of these songs, please be warned that the remastering job was horrendous. These songs have been remastered using a progam called No-Noise (or a similarly-like program) which basically acts as a Dolby system like we used to find on analog casettes. The life has been sucked out these recordings and they sound very compressed and quite "digital". If you want to hear this for yourself, please compare any song (try "In My Room" for example) from this set to the older 'Endles Summer' compilation disc. When the vocals enter on the older set, they sound rich, full, warm, etc. The same vocals on this set have zero impact - they are flat, cold, sterile, and lacking any sense of dynamics whatsoever. There is no comparison. The dynamics that are found on the older and frankly superior-sounding set are gone. There is no more warmth or excitement left in this newer set. It is a shame, since there is wonderful music here. The problem with noise reduction programs such as No-Noise is that when engineers try to remove the hiss from these older recordings, this hiss or "line noise" cannot effectively removed without affecting the entire signal. Some engineers DO take caution not to overdo this process, but on this recording it has been way overused - and consequently ruining this collection sonically.

I post this because I work hard for my $$$ and when the recording industry charges this amount of money for a set of music that they want us to believe is SUPERIOR sounding due to the fact that it is newly remastered, it is a crime. This is a poor remastering job and the public ought to be aware of it.

If sound quality does not interest you, then by all means go ahead and enjoy this set. But if you are a bit hesitant, please try to hear a friends copy to decide for yourself if 'Good Vibrations' is worth the $$$.

I hope this helps. I will never sell my 'Endless Summer' disc as it is sonically superior to this set in every musical aspect.

I truly feel sorry for the fellow from Pleasanton, California. The whole appeal of this set is that the Beach Boys have too many greatest hits albums already, and the box has room to disseminate many lesser-know treasures. I shudder when I think of a listener "fast-fowarding to get to the songs I know" and skipping over masterpieces like "This Whole World".

Good Vibrations would probably bore a non-fan, but it's not intended for those who just want to hear "Surfin' USA" ad nauseum. It is nothing less than essential for a fan for the 30-minute psuedo-Smile album on Disc Two, the tracks from Brian's shelved solo album on Four, and the mislaid gems like "4th of July", "Baby Blue" and "Hang onto Your Ego" spread over the set. For a band with as many unissued-on-CD lps as this, who can complain about the selection of the glorious Warner-era tunes (their inclusion was a big reason for my purchase, as I'm a 17 year-old who missed the vinyl era and can't get these tunes elsewhere)? And as for the complaint about too many of these songs being redundant for fans; I had no idea you could actually get bored with songs like "Wouldn't it Be Nice?".

If you're a lover of pop music and willing to spent many hours alone and spellbound and gripping your headphones, buy this box and don't look back.

These cds contain a through sampling of the Beach Boys' music. From start to end, the listener can trace the changes and influences of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys. No matter what era of the Beach Boys the listener prefers-the early sand and surf tunes, the experimental Pet Sounds era, or the pop disco of the seventies- the set contains plenty of representative songs from each. Because these songs are in an approximate chronological order, the band's evolution and inner struggles play out and one can hear the early tentative songs of a group groping for a sound to call their own before moving from the derivative styles of other artists to the establishment of a distinct style. We can almost hear Brian Wilson's boredom with the surf sound as he tries to push into new territory with the Pet Sounds recordings. Wilson fades into obscurity as the other band members begin to assert themselves with such songs as Carl Wilson's "Wild Honey" and "Gethca Back" and Dennis Wilson's haunting "Baby Blue." Finally, the band breaks down into tired formulas, having spent themselves in Brian Wilson's experimentation, and now settle for singing the cliches. There is something for everyone, and just about all of it is good music.

Most of this box set was recorded in mono due to Brian Wilson being deaf in one ear and of course 1960s ancient recording technology. I beleive Capital did a fine job with the song selection of this Beach Boys box set. If your looking at this box set as a greatest hits collection you're looking in the wrong direction. "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys" is a greatest hits collection with a following of The Beach Boys through their illustrius history. The booklet is very informative, the outakes disc 5, is really interesting especially hearing "Good Vibrations" played live before it was even released. On disc 5, "God Only Knows" along with the "Good Vibrations" sessions is an incredible facinating look into the disection of two of the most argueably popular pop songs of all time. I don't look at this box set as a great Beach Boys Box Set, but there is something in it for every Beach Boys fan. Please Realize that The Beatles had Lennon and McCartney and the greatest record producer of all time in Sir George Martin. The Beach Boys had talented musicians, but the majority of Beach Boys output was that of Brian Wilson. Brian Wilson in reality had to go up against The Beatles all by himself.

Brian also produced 10 Beach Boys albums by the tender age of 23. The Beatles had George Martin producing all their Magnum Opuses. The Beatles were great, there is no argument from me there, but by (Pet Sounds) 1966 Sir George Martin and The Beatles soon realized that a man named Brian Wilson was just as talented musically, or far surpassed any of The Beatles in musical talent individually. If the missing songs are bothering you, buy all the "Capital Re-issue Twofers" with there expansive linear notes, extra and alternate tracks. Remember the limited sound quality of "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys" is due to Brian Wilson being deaf in one ear, as he could only hear in mono, not in stereo like the average person can. Anything that was recorded in mono and was put in stereo during the 1960s, was called Duo-Phonic, and beleive me as I tell you the original Mono recordings sound vastly superior to any Duo Phonic stereo remastering. Duo Phonic was just fake stereo and did not help the original vastly superior sounding mono recording. "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys" may seem overkill for casual Beach Boys fans, but as I listened to each cd from 1-5 the music plays the Beach Boys history right in front of your ears.

Bottom line: "Good Vibrations: Thirty Years Of The Beach Boys" is essential to any Beach Boys fan to learn their history and to realize they were more than beach and sun music. Ps. This box set is some really good listening, if you give it a chance..............

The Beach Boys - perhaps the greatest vocal group of all time - are also just about the best thing to ever happen to American Rock`n'roll. And the proof is on this box set - a FANTASTIC, well-done compilation.

For the die-hard fan, 5 discs is of course, not NEAR enough space to encapsulate all of Brian Wilson's music - indeed, his genius, onto. Nevertheless, whether its the die-hard fan supplementing his or her Beach Boys catalog, or the casual BB's fan (and perhaps the die-hard to be?), looking for a REAL introduction to the Beach Boys - this is a GREAT box set.

More than a "greatest hits" package, its a chronological journey into the BB's story (which proves once again, that truth is stranger than fiction), their rise and fall, the shining moments, and irrefutable proof of Beach Boy leader, Brian Wilson's genius.

"Greatest hits" are included of course, but there's also rare unearthed studio material, live stuff - heck, the 30 minutes of never before (officially) released SMiLE material is worth the price of the box set ALONE! To echo another reviewer's comments here, compared to SMiLE, Sgt. Pepper sounds amateurish. If you haven't heard this stuff yet, you've got to - its intense!

Fantastic music, great liner notes, even a cool sticker - from "Surfin'" to "Kokomo," this box opened the door to the world of Beach Boys/Brian Wilson music and transformed me into a HUGE fan - I suspect it will do the same to you. The music is simply too good to deny.