The Beatles in Mono

[HuskySpade]

AKers,

As a fellow audiophile/music recreation enthusiast, im here to offer a recommendation and gather some other opinions on "The Beatles in Mono" for those debating whether or not to pick up the $300 boxed set.

Let me assure you, if you are a big Beatles fan, this boxed set is worth absolutely every penny it costs.

For those who havnt had a chance to check one out, let me just point out a couple of the nice touches Apple did to make the limited edition mono boxed set more special than the stereo boxed set - and a must own for Beatles fans who love their stereos...

PACKAGING & PRESENTATION
The packaging is wonderful. Apple successfully "re-created" the record sleeves that all of our favorite 33rpm vinyls came in. These are exact and I mean EXACT mini-replicas of the record sleeves. Everything done to scale sized around a CD.

Not only does Sgt.Peppers open up to the colorful picture of the Fab Four, we also got the "Sgt.Peppers Cutouts" card along with it. Lets also not forget the paper sleeve with the red streaks among the bottom. And the CD itself, is the actual Parlophone label in all its glory that was on the wax.

Magical Mystery Tour comes with a hard case and the full color booklet included with the original pressing of the vinyl and its own paper record sleeve with the circular center cutout.

Revolver's simplicity remains true to that of the original record as well. Staying true to the front and back covers of the record case. The paper sleeve has the "Important ->" reminders stating proper record care. Just like the Revolver vinyl had.

The others? Well, I'll leave that for your surprise... Just think back to your original Beatles records and imagine a mini-version of that in its exactness... Sleeves, perhiperals, labels.... Everything...

SOUND:
If you thought the stereo remasters sounded good, than you absolutely owe it to yourself to have a listen to the mono remasters. The stereo remasters brought out a sound quality we'd never heard from a Beatles recording before, brightening up everything from instruments, contrast and definition. These improved characteristics really shine on a good high fidelity system, so make sure your taking a listen on your home stereo, not your car stereo.

One of the main differences you'll hear in the mono versions is a much stronger presence of vocals. One of the most notable songs is "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" from the Sgt Peppers album. If you listen to the stereo version, and then listen to the mono version, they are both significantly different in character.

Because technologies and such changed dramatically throughout the recording of the Beatles catalogue, many of the different albums vary in sound and nuance. The mono remasters bring out these differences offering a very unique listening experience for every album. As my roommate put it; "It sounds like the record..." and I added, "yeah..just without the picks!"

I don't want to give away anymore surprises. But any real Beatles fan, might want to think twice before passing up this limited edition boxed set... Because before we know it, they'll be gone...

So you've heard my opinion. Any other AKers pick up this boxed set that would like to loan an opinion?

 

[Tube King]

Before you know it they will be on the internet auction sites at half the price. Anyone remember the limited edition boxed sets they put out a few years ago called anthology? You can find them for under $5 brand new un opened.

 

[JonL]

Before you know it they will be on the internet auction sites at half the price. Anyone remember the limited edition boxed sets they put out a few years ago called anthology? You can find them for under $5 brand new un opened.

That may be so, but the OP has done a nice job reviewing the set. I agree with his assessment. There are a few other threads that discussed it.

 

[Panotaker]

I might be the exception here, but these Beatles mono sets are starting to get me mad. I already bought the individual stereo CD's at Target for around $135. Why can't they sell the mono CD's individually the same way? If you want the mono versions, you have to buy the whole set and it's not exactly cheap. I already have the liner notes, just sell me the flac files, I'm just going to put them on my hard drive anyways. Or sell the CD's individually like they did the stereo CD's so I can just buy the one's I want. CD's have enough room that they could have put the mono and stereo versions on one CD. They are not getting any more of my money. I'll just wait it out and wait until the used mono ones start showing up and get them then.

 

[jdwk]

well those mono LP Beatles boxed set (the red one) that came out about 1985, and sold for just over $100 now sells for more than $2000 and almost $4000 when sealed. The antholgies are $5 dollars now because there is ALOT more of them pressed and they really could have done a better job, the mono box set is going to have FAR fewer copies and they couldnt have done a better job, buy 2 in ten years you will get your $600 dollars back and enough extra money for a a good sized chunk of your mortgage one month. Mark my words.

 

[ml69]

Patiently waiting for Mono box on vinyl and hoping I don't totally miss the boat on this one...
Anyway, my nephew has the mono set and has nothing but good things to say about it. I bought a couple of the stereo cd's at Costco and they do sound very good. Thanks for the great review btw!
Mike

 

[ekmanning5]

Great review. All I can add is I was especially impressed by the sonic treatment the white album got. I've had a mono copy on cassette all these years, and I knew the mixes were different. But I wasn't prepared for the quality I heard. Outstanding.

 

[icenine]

buy 2 in ten years you will get your $600 dollars back and enough extra money for a a good sized chunk of your mortgage one month. Mark my words.

I do not believe Apple/EMI will sit on these mono masters primarily because they are making money from them. The economic state of the music industry and the sad state of cd sales make it a no brainer to put these out in some manner. As we have already seen the first "limited edition" has already been expanded to a second limited edition. And from what I have read somewhere (do not know if this is true) the number of pressings may have been 10,000 per country. So if this is true there may be around 100,000 copies floating around the world already (US,Japan, Europe, Canada, etc)

Remember the next decade will be mark the 50th anniversary of the British Invasion.....I do not believe EMI will let that go by without some form of marketing blitz. 50th Anniversary Mono/Stereo Edition Please Please Me in 2013?

Of course I could be completely wrong. Time will tell I guess.....

 

[Cornbread]

There were 10,000 Mono Box Sets initially released in the US. When they were basically sold out before they went on sale, another production run was made. Who knows how many were released this time and how many more will be released in the future? On 9/9/09, I went to the local Best Buy and tried to get one of the 3 Monos and 15 Stereo Box Sets they got in. I was too late. They were gone in under an hour.

Last night I was in there again picking up the new McCartney "Good Evening NY City" Deluxe CD/DVD set. There were 4 more Mono box sets and 4 more Stereo box sets along with numerous CD/T-shirt packages. Who knows how many were in the back room? I was at Criminal Records in ATL a couple of weeks ago and saw the same thing. What does that all mean? I guess they are going to sell these sets until there is no more demand.

As for the Mono box, I love the packaging. It is truly for serious Beatles fans and collectors. I own both box sets and prefer the remastered Stereos. I know all the arguments for Mono by the fans, critics, and the Beatles themselves but find the Stereo versions to be a more detailed and involving experience, especially Sgt. Pepper, MMT, and the White Album. I think it is the Stereo versions that have benefited the most from the remastering.

 

[Arkay]

Nice review -thanks! :thmbsp:

As for whether it is right or wrong for them to release the mono box only as a box set, or as individual releases, well, let's face it: selling music is a business, and an increasingly difficult one to make money in. They are going to release things in whatever way they calculate will make them the most money.

My guess is there will be mono boxes sold for months, perhaps years to come. At some point, they may start selling the mono CDs individually, but only after they have sold as many box sets as they think the market will sop up first.

I have both boxed sets, and am glad that I got them, although I agree that they were a bit pricey. I've listened to most of the CDs (a couple more Monos yet to go), and find them to be generally excellent.

The real remaining question is... since the original production run of 7,200 "Box of Vision" cases (with books) to hold both sets sold out entirely (and quickly) within the US, and they have begun to release the second production run for Europe and elsewhere... is it a "must buy", or just a chance to be stupidly fleeced by greedy sellers? I almost hate to admit this, but I think the idea of having the digipacs preserved next to, but apart from, the CDs themselves, makes a lot of sense. I know that no matter how careful I am with the digipacs, they'll eventually get "knackered" from repeated opening, closing, etc... PLUS the books look to be both interesting and "cool" to have, as does the exterior of the box, which is a better size to sit with an LP collection. I'm actually tempted to "waste" enough money to get this. :scratch2: :screwy:????