Original producer Brian Wilson writes in the liner notes to The Pet Sounds Sessions: It was a heart and soul album; I worked very, very hard on it.

[5] Overseen by Brian Wilson and produced and engineered by Mark Linett, the set includes the first stereo mix of Pet Sounds.

Advances in recording technology allowed the compilers to digitally sync multi-track stems that had been ping-ponged numerous times prior to their final mono mixdown.

Among them, alternate vocal parts used for the bridge of "Wouldn't It Be Nice" and the end of "God Only Knows" due to the original tracks no longer existing.

Biographer Timothy White said that "The Beach Boys apparently didn't get the track selections until late in the production phase, and they all had misgivings about how Capitol envisioned it.

"[9] Q gave the "enlightening" box set a perfect score and wrote that "the backing music tracks sans vocals opens your ears to a bevy of awe-inspiring nuances previously obscured by singing.

"[14] The New York Observer's D. Strauss called the stereo mix "pointless", adding, "I must admit that, as a music geek, listening to Mr. Wilson hold myriad consultations on when to beep the bicycle horn in 'You Still Believe in Me' carries a portentous thrill".

[18] The compilation was pivotal to the inception of the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, as director Bill Pohlad enthuses: "It's just so beautiful and impactful for me to listen to that.