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48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Beatles in Mono at Long Last, 14 Sep 2009
There has been so much discussion over the last 40 years and recently on these pages as to which mixes (Mono or Stereo) are the most historically important, which versions did the Beatles spend most time on and crucially which sound better.
There is no doubt that George Martin and the Abbey Road engineers spent more time on the Mono mixes as that was the way most people would hear the records due to AM radio and cheap single speaker turntables. Stereo until 1968 was seen as a niche format for a hardcore of hi-fi enthusiasts.
As to which are most historically important, IMO they both are. Every album apart from Please Please Me was released the same day in mono and stereo (PPM was a month later) and according to EMI session documentation the same people responsible for the monos did the stereo. As to which sessions the Beatles attended that can't be determined for certain. There is no doubt from Revolver onwards they did take more of an interest in the mixing process but that is 4 years after they first entered Abbey Road, it would have been very difficult for the Beatles to attend mixing sessions pre 66 due to touring and other commitments.
As to which sound better, well that is subjective, some albums sound better in Mono some better in Stereo, some albums like Help it can be down to individual tracks. For certain both versions are fun to listen to, sound completely different and discovering the mix variations are one of the joys of being a Beatles fan. In the simplest possible terms mono is all about impact and depth where as with stereo it's about width, soundstage and space between the instruments.
On then to the Beatles in Mono.... So what actually is included. Well contrary to a few reviews EVERYTHING that has a dedicated mono mix is in there, including the original stereo mixes of Help and Rubber Soul and the never released Yellow Submarine EP which has true mono mixes of It's all Too Much, Hey Bulldog, All Together Now, Only a Northern Song and Across the Universe. What you won't find is Yellow Submarine (Mono version was a fold-down of the stereo), Abbey Road and Let it Be and the singles from Ballad of John and Yoko onwards as they were Stereo only. Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, Sgt Pepper and the White Album make their CD debut's in mono.
I must say from an aesthetic point of view this really is a Beatles fans dream. Every album resembles their UK first press vinyl counterpart to the finest detail with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour which was a US only LP in 1967. The quality of the cardboard, the artwork, inner sleeves and extra's are first class. Anyone who has previously bought Japanese manufactured collectable pieces will know what I'm talking about. There is the reason for the price difference between the mono and the stereo boxes, the build quality and the quality of materials used to compile the mono box far exceeds the stereo.
As for the sound, we have good news here as well. A victim of the loudness wars these are not, as the original press release stated there has been no noise reduction, compression or limiting used in the remastering process. The transfers are first rate and EQ has been used very sparingly, if at all in some cases and there is certainly more bass than on the vinyl as in most cases this was reduced at the cutting stage on the original LP's. It is great to hear these without the surface noise of my original LP's and the groove distortion as the needle tracks closer to the label on the inner most tracks. Are they better than the vinyl over all? Well I have a combination of 1st press UK vinyl and Japanese Red wax editions from 1982 and they are as detailed as the JPN vinyl but lack a bit of the warmth of the UK vinyl. No fault of the remastering, it is just difficult to achieve when tube gear was used at every stage of the mastering and cutting stage for the 1st press vinyl which adds a lot of natural warmth. Overall these are the best digital versions of the mono releases and it is difficult to see how they could be improved.
So are they worth the money? Well there in lies the question only you as a consumer can answer. I spent 2 days listening to these albums that I have listened to thousands of times over the years and had 2 of the best days I have ever spent as a music fan. One thing I will say is that the Mono mixes are best heard the good old fashioned way with 2 speakers and an amp, crank it up and fill your room with sound. You just do not get the same experience from headphones.
Could this whole remaster campaign have been done differently and cheaper? A lot of reviews on here show people have strong feelings about this if their anger is misdirected somewhat. Poor EMI bear the brunt when in actual fact they can't release ANYTHING by the Beatles without Apple signing off on it. It was Apples decision to retain the 87 remixes of Help and Rubber Soul on the individual releases, we have the Abbey Road engineers to thank for the original Stereo mixes being on the Mono set as a bonus. It would have made sense to have the mono and stereo on the same disc for the individual releases there by having more people exposed to the mono mixes, although how they would have sold a 4 disc White Album is beyond me. As the 4 main shareholders of Apple are Paul, Ringo, Yoko and Olivia we have to take it that this is the way they wanted them released, they have every right to release these as they see fit, they are the artists.
One thing is for certain, they will cost you a hell of a lot less than it will to collect these on vinyl and as it has often been quoted "You haven't heard Sgt Pepper till you have heard it in Mono" never a truer word said.
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Joyous, 10 Sep 2009
Working my way through these. Made it through Help! so far. The album that has leapt to life the most so far has been Please Please Me, which had always sounded a little on the twee side before -- talented kids playing in the studio for the first time. But as soon as I Saw Her Standing There starts I hear the dirty thumping grit of Hamburg.
Hearing the mono mixes in the headphones gives you one complete sound, as though the Beatles are in front of you. Gone are those tracks where the drums are all over to one side and the vocals on another. You get the whole blast. Another eye-popping moment is Ticket to Ride, that soaring guitar (played by Paul so the back of the mini-album cover says) with Ringo's drums pile-driving in overtop. I've Just Seen a Face takes on a new urgency. And the track I'd always kind of ignored before, You Got Me Dizzy Miss Lizzy, now hearkens back to that rough and ready band that jumped out at me on the Please Please Me album.
All the cliches are true with this release: I'm hearing the Beatles with fresh ears, and I do honestly understand what people mean when they say that the mono mixes were the way these songs were originally meant to sound. I'll need no other versions, thank you. The only stereo Beatles I'll want to hear from now on are Abbey Road and Let It Be. I can't wait to move on to Rubber Soul next.
And yes, drinking this Kool-Aid has been a pricey quaff, but a flavorful one which lingers on the palette like a fine wine.
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37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautifully made and packaged, essential for fans, but be realistic about the sound, 10 Sep 2009
It doesn't look much from the outside, a simple glossy white slipcase box that is half the size of the one for stereo, and at first glance it looks poor value, considering the high price and the fact that it contains fewer CDs than the other.
Open it up though and your opinion will change. This was put together with exquisite attention to detail. The CDs and probably the whole package was made in Japan. Each CD comes in a resealable transparent sleeve, protecting the cardboard mini-lp inside. Then you get a paper inner sleeve as well as a thin poly sleeve round the CD itself.
Replicas of the original inserts are all present and correct, more so than with the stereo set. For example, the stereo "White Album" has the four colour pictures of the individual Beatles printed on a fold-out sleeve, whereas the mono version replicates the original by having them on separate cards; and the gatefold opens at the top, just like the earliest UK release.
But how about the sound? The important thing to realise is that the mastering has endeavoured to replicate the sound of the original mono vinyl, though with a few light touches to repair faults - though let me emphasise, these are mastered from the original analogue tapes. If you want to hear the Beatles as they sounded to their first listeners, this is definitely the best way to do it, short of searching out original vinyl in good condition, an arduous and expensive task.
Listening to the Mono has several advantages. More attention was paid to the mono at the time, and early stereo mixes with crude right and left separation are poor and irritating by modern standards.
That said, if you value clarity above authenticity, you may well prefer the stereo, especially since a key defect of the stereo, the lightweight bass, has been corrected in the 2009 masters. The mono mixes sound that bit rougher, though in compensation they have a rightness to them that makes stereo hard to go back to once you get used to them.
My suggestion: stereo for the casual fans - it's cheaper and may well please you more - but if you really want to know how the Beatles sounded back in the day, the mono is the only choice. The biggest fans will want both - there are lots of differences small and large. You also get the earliest stereo mixes of Help and Rubber Soul, nice for completists.
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