CATAGORIES: GENERAL NONSENSE, MUSIC — Houston @ 6:44 pm

Regarding the Beatles new remastered mono CD release, I must say I am very impressed. First sonically, these are very balanced. The sound is warm, as close to vinyl as I suppose the CD format can get. Second, and more importantly, these mono mixes are vastly superior to any of the stereo mixes IMHO.

From Please Please Me to The Beatles, all post session mixing was done by the Beatles and George Martin in Abbey Road Studio II with a single speaker in the center of the console. Following this mono mix, the Beatles and Martin considered their work done (with a few minor early exceptions… a few guitar solo’s must have been flown in during the mix down … see Matchbox in mono and stereo for an example). Others, rarely with Martin’s supervision, prepared the stereo mixes. Oddly, they seemed to take little time to match these up (why did they slow down She’s Leaving Home?) This blog would take up a few pages to catalog the differences.

The first thing that struck me was how “perfect” these versions are. Beside an excellent balance between instruments and vocals, Martin and the Beatles worked to present their best performances (ex: no Lennon lyric screw up on Please Please Me…. Yes, I know, it may be charming, humorous, human, but it’s not what they wanted for an official release). These mono mixes of the performances sound like your in the studio, more intimate, rather than the stereo which sounds like some idiot was out to prove that stereo meant you could place completely different sounds in each speaker. The stereo mixes’s sound space is beyond artificial. Unfortunately, the stereo remasters were not remixed (for a sample of the possible, get a copy of the Yellow Submarine extended release…blue cover version.. these are excellent remixes).

This weekend, while driving around, I listening to The Beatles and was amazed at the guitar sounds, in particular Clapton’s work and the solo work on Happiness. It’s as if the amp is a 10 feet away not on stage in an auditorium. Super clean.

The mono set is for anyone who loves this music and wants to hear the performances for the first time again. Stunning.