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Beatles fans who really know the history of the band and the context of how their albums were recorded already know the historical importance of the original mono mixes and thus have probably already ordered The Beatles In Mono Box Set (if they have been able to find it in stock anywhere!) But those with not quite as much knowledge of The Beatles history (but who may love their music just as much) may find all of the fuss about mono mixes a little bit confusing. This review is aimed at that second group of fans.
The Beatles first 10 albums (all of their albums through 1968's White Album) were mixed in mono (they were also mixed in stereo) because mono was considered to be the "standard" at the time. It was the way that most people listened to music in the 1960s. It wasn't until the late '60s that stereo took over the marketplace and became the new standard (and it has remained as such ever since, despite the best efforts of 5.1 surround sound.)
The Beatles themselves spent much more time working on their mono mixes than they did on their stereo mixes. In fact they would spent a great amount of time working to get the mono mixes "just right" with the band's producer (George Martin) and their recording engineers (including Geoff Emerick.) On the other hand they showed almost no interest in their stereo mixes. Stereo was an "afterthought" and because of that many people think that their stereo mixes suffer in comparison.
Stereo was a very new thing at the time and the way that most of The Beatles songs were mixed in stereo now sounds very strange compared to the stereo mixes that have come since. Many of their stereo mixes feature all of the instruments on one side and all of the vocals on the other (or similarly haphazard sounding panning.) It can be quite irritating to listen to these kind of mixes, especially on headphones. This is one of the big reasons that the mono mixes may actually sound superior to the stereo mixes.
Personally, as someone who grew to love The Beatles by listening to the stereo mixes I find the mono mixes to be quite a revelation. Many of these mixes really sound significantly different than the stereo mixes I'm used to. For example "She's Leaving Home" from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is sped up so that it's both faster and higher tonally. Another example from that same album is the much more prominent phasing effect on the vocal in the mono version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" vs. the stereo version.
Possibly the coolest thing about this Beatles In Mono Box Set is that it includes The White Album in mono and this is the first time that The White Album's mono mix has ever been released in the United States on any format (including LP & tape!) Why? Because in 1968 only the stereo mix was released in the US but in the UK both the mono and stereo mixes were released.
Not only that, but there are actually four mono mixes included in the box set which have never been released before anywhere on any format! What are they? The four new Beatles songs that were included on the Yellow Submarine album in 1969: "Hey Bulldog," "It's All Too Much," "Only a Northern Song," & "All Together Now." These mono mixes were never released before because only a stereo version of Yellow Submarine was released in '69.
But Yellow Submarine is not included in the mono box because no mono mixes were made of the George Martin instrumentals that fill up the rest of the album. Instead, those four previously unreleased mono mixes of the Yellow Submarine songs are included as a part of the Mono Masters double disc compilation set of the mono mixes of The Beatles non-album songs.
If you're like most Beatles fans then you already own all of their albums on CD (in stereo) and you may be wondering why you should buy the same mixes on CD again just because they are "remastered." In fact I can imagine that you may be quite skeptical about it. The appeal of The Beatles Mono Box Set is easier to understand. After all, those mono mixes have never been made available on CD before and some of the mono mixes have actually never been released in any format before! So to me it's obvious why any curious Beatles fan would want to hear those mono mixes ("as The Beatles were meant to be heard") but what about The Stereo Box Set?
Well, I have been listening to the CDs in the Beatles In Stereo Box Set pretty much non-stop since I got it and I am absolutely amazed at how much better they sound than the old CDs. I think the best way to describe the improvement in sound is like watching your favorite movie first on an old VHS tape and then in Blu-Ray HD. Yes, it's the same movie with the same plot, but it sure looks a lot better in blu-ray. Yes, these are the same songs, with the same (brilliant) music but they sound immeasurably better on these new CDs.
In fact, that may not even be a good comparison, because with music I think it's more important that you can clearly hear each part to really fully appreciate the music. And that's the great thing about these remastered stereo mixes, little bits in the music that were hard to hear before are now clear as a bell. It's amazing all of the things I'm hearing in these songs for the very first time even though I've heard all of these songs hundreds of times before.
What they've managed to do with these remasters is really a miracle. They managed to capture all of the original analog warmth and "feeling" of the original tapes (these CDs sound much "warmer" than do the old ones) and they've also managed to make all of the music more "clear" so that individual parts can be heard without straining to hear them. The bass cuts through the mix like never before. The drums sound much more powerful (they were often buried in the old mixes.) And the vocals are much more clear. Now instead of it just being a wall of sound sort of effect, you can really pick out each of the vocal harmony parts. To my ears, this is a big improvement.
Again, I was very concerned that all of this "power" and "clarity" would come at the expense of the warmth of the recordings, I was concerned that they would suck the life and ambiance out of the recordings. I was worried that they would participate in the "loudness wars" and compress these recordings to death. I'm happy to say that they none of they managed to avoid all of these potential pitfalls.
Along with the great sound, I think most fans will be very pleased with the excellent packaging. It's really a huge improvement over the old CDs. For example The White Album now comes with a poster, just like it did back in the day when it was sold as a vinyl LP!
I have no reservations in recommending that every Beatles fan buy this box set. It would also make a fantastic birthday or Christmas gift for a Beatles fan in your family.