tongue-tied Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 Generally I'm waiting for my Mono box, but I listened to a few stereo remasters today, such as "Old Brown Shoe" since it's stereo only, holy holy something it sounds great! Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I've always liked that song. Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 yeah, i love that song too, but i'm sure it's in mono on the vinyl Blue Album i've got - shame my record player is buggered up, cos i can't check. i guess that it's a fold down if it is mono then. Link to post Share on other sites
Edie Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I snagged both in V0. I have to say, this is one of the few times I don't feel even the tiniest bit guilty about this, since we have both bought so much Beatle music in various forms over the years and we'll probably buy these anyway I am putting the mono versions from the beginning through rubber soul in mono on my ipod, and the balance in stereo. I think that's about how I heard them the first time. We got a stereo sometime in the mid 60s, if I recall. Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 I snagged both in V0. I have to say, this is one of the few times I don't feel even the tiniest bit guilty about this, since we have both bought so much Beatle music in various forms over the years and we'll probably buy these anyway I am putting the mono versions from the beginning through rubber soul in mono on my ipod, and the balance in stereo. I think that's about how I heard them the first time. We got a stereo sometime in the mid 60s, if I recall. you've gotta prefer Revolver in Mono, surely?! the one album i've been a little let down by these remasters is Sgt. Pepper - neither the mono nor the stereo seem to stand up to the old scratched vinyl mono version i grew up with as a kid. Link to post Share on other sites
Nowhereman65 Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 ANYONE PLEASE HELP! (Pun intended)... I would love to download the mono set in flac but since my downloading heyday is over I don't have an account to the exclusive sites... I had an oink account but we all know how that went... Any help (invite?) would be greatly appreciated, TIA- David Link to post Share on other sites
Edie Posted September 6, 2009 Share Posted September 6, 2009 you've gotta prefer Revolver in Mono, surely?! I have them both - only just DLed. I was trying to make an educated guess how I heard them first. All I know is that, upon first listen of "A Hard Days Night", I can almost hear the hisses and pops we had on the records - it's that good Edit: Holy crap -- Come Together is a revelation! Who knew it ever sounded like this?? All the vibrations and end of notes are way more pronounced then I recall with earlier versions. Certainly it could have been lousy equipment I was listening with, but this is pretty amazing. I like it! Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Hollinger. Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Just got home to see the mono set had finished. Put on Here, There and Everywhere and just pissed my fucking pants. Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 I have not heard the mono box set yet... (subtle hint, yea?) Link to post Share on other sites
Littlebear Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 When we'll all have our copies, we'll have to make a thread as to know which versions we prefer between the mono and stereo remasters. At least I'm interested to know about it. Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 (stereo rip w/headphones) Fucking magic! Link to post Share on other sites
indy81 Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 It's funny -- after reading all of the mono vs. stereo stuff here and elsewhere, I thought it would be no contest. But the stereo mixes have much to recommend as well. The mono versions have more kick, but the stereo versions are much clearer due to the separation. With the stereo versions, it sounds like the Beatles are in your living room, while the mono versions are more cluttered and thus a bit..."muddy" isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. In other words, I think it's worth it to have both versions on hand. I need to listen more, but right now I'm not sure which I prefer in some cases. "Revolver" sounds better in mono, but I kinda like "Help!" in stereo. It's a tougher decision than I thought it would be! Link to post Share on other sites
Synthesizer Patel Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 It's funny -- after reading all of the mono vs. stereo stuff here and elsewhere, I thought it would be no contest. But the stereo mixes have much to recommend as well. The mono versions have more kick, but the stereo versions are much clearer due to the separation. With the stereo versions, it sounds like the Beatles are in your living room, while the mono versions are more cluttered and thus a bit..."muddy" isn't the right word, but you know what I mean. In other words, I think it's worth it to have both versions on hand. I need to listen more, but right now I'm not sure which I prefer in some cases. "Revolver" sounds better in mono, but I kinda like "Help!" in stereo. It's a tougher decision than I thought it would be! i'm not entirely bothered about Help! either way really, i'll get around to listening to it properly, but right now it's nice to have all the albums from rubber soul onwards in mono. only beatles for sale is the early album that i can listen to all the way through without skipping tracks. i can see why people might say they prefer the white album in stereo (although, that's personally the one i love in mono), but anyone that thinks revolver or rubber soul aren't best in mono is just impossible for me to understand. i just listened to I'm Looking Through You, and that electric guitar will cut your nose off if you get too close to the speakers - the songs are all so in your face and alive. Link to post Share on other sites
Edie Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 (stereo rip w/headphones) Fucking magic! The mono version almost made me cry. Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Billboard.com articles: Paul McCartney: The Billboard Q&A The Beatles' 'Rock Band': How The Fab Four Went Digital The Beatles: Repaving 'Abbey Road' Rouse passionately defends the decision to go back to master tapes that were last reissued in 1987. "There was nothing really that wrong with the '87 [releases]," he says. In some ways, however, they're no longer up to today's standards. "It's a long overdue overhaul. The minute the CD got invented, everybody thought it was adequate to get the master tape out and put it onto CD. Remastering was something that happened maybe a decade or so later." Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Did they completely underestimate demand for these boxes? The guy at my local indie store said they requested like 10 of them. Then they were cut back to 5. Now they were just told they are only getting 2 of them. Now I have to take time off work, show up at 10am when they open and hopefully get one of them. Either way, it's exciting to hear reviews from people, sounds like so far they are worth the price of admission! I'm still going Mono instead of Stereo though. Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted September 7, 2009 Share Posted September 7, 2009 Is it me or is there no 20 seconds of an orchestra tuning to start the mono version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band? Feels weird after always hearing that part for so long. Link to post Share on other sites
HungryHippo Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 omg, the Rubber Soul in stereo is mind bending! i've always dug the mono version so this is a real treat for me. i had to stop myself from getting out of my chair to turn over the record when i remembered i was listening to mp3s. that's bad. Link to post Share on other sites
bobbob1313 Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 I wrote my most recent music column for the school paper on the remaster of Abbey Road. Every household has certain immutable laws of nature that all members of a family must abide by. We didn’t have a lot of these types of rules, but we had a few. For instance, my mom is from Puerto Rico and my dad is from Pittsburgh, so I have lionized Roberto Clemente my entire life. To this day, I won’t abide speaking ill of the greatest right fielder in the history of baseball. Another rule was that you had to like the Beatles. I was raised under the shadows of John, Paul, George, and Ringo almost literally; we practically had a shrine in our living room with an original Hard Day’s Night movie poster and various other knick knacks related to the fabs. Even at the deepest depths of my sister’s over-emotional, sensitive guy rock phase, the Beatles were always the one thing we could all agree on. It was something I had just accepted as a part of my being until I was in about 8th grade; I liked the Beatles, they were my favorite band. But in 8th grade for some reason, I decided I needed to delve deeper into their catalog, and started with a copy of Let It Be that I nicked from my uncle’s house so I could burn it. If you remember back about 2000 or so, CD burning technology was still a little raw, so the burned copy I had produced a lot of blemishes in the rerecording process. But still, I listened to the hell out of that album. I had been operating under the auspices that I loved the Beatles without knowing what it was I loved about them. It was like an 8th grader raised in a Reagan Republican’s household discovering “Atlas Shrugged” and figuring out why what they believed was right the whole time. I can’t remember the last time I had a really original, fully immersive relationship with an album, but this was certainly the first time. To this day when I hear “I’ve Got a Feeling”, it doesn’t feel quite right if it doesn’t skip at least twice during the intro like my copy did. I am having somewhat of a similar experience as I sit here listening to the newly remastered copy of Abbey Road, my favorite Beatles album, I recently procured. Because it’s a remastered version, I guess I’ve been paying more attention to individual details than I normal would. Maybe it’s because I already know I love the songs (each and every one on this album in particular), but I’m noticing little things that I’ve never taken note of before. I could write a weekly column about Paul McCartney’s bass playing from Rubber Soul on if my editor would let me, but even saying that, it must be noted that Paul is by far the biggest beneficiary of these remasters. Where before his playing sounded like big fat dollops of paint on a music sheet due to the way it was mastered on the original CD releases, on this new CD release it truly reminds you of why Paul was the most melodic bass player in music at this point, as it should be. But the best part is the little unintentional things you find when you listen for the details. A spare vocal that didn’t get cut out properly, the random missed guitar note, John flubbing a lyric that you may not have noticed before; these are the things we accidentally fall in love with in music, much like my butchered copy of Let It Be. I’ve already written a column about these reissues when they were announced, but that wasn’t really about the music. I complained about Apple using it as an excuse to squeeze as much money as possible from fans, and that still holds true. The limited run box sets have been creating artificial demand, so if you have your gripes about the massive monolithic money making machine the Beatles are, you’ll have plenty to complain about. But as for me, as I sit here falling back in love with the first band I ever liked and then subsequently loved, I’m having a hard time finding the words for it. Link to post Share on other sites
TCP Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 ANYONE PLEASE HELP! (Pun intended)... I would love to download the mono set in flac but since my downloading heyday is over I don't have an account to the exclusive sites... I had an oink account but we all know how that went... Any help (invite?) would be greatly appreciated, TIA- David I have not heard the mono box set yet... (subtle hint, yea?)Let me know if you guys find out anything. I had a waffles account but I guess it got deactivated. I know the stereo version is available in flac and mp3 at 2 of the 3 most commonly used open-bit torrent sites but the mono is nowhere to be found. Link to post Share on other sites
brianjeremy Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 A nice write up on Pitchfork. Link to post Share on other sites
tongue-tied Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Let me know if you guys find out anything. I had a waffles account but I guess it got deactivated. I know the stereo version is available in flac and mp3 at 2 of the 3 most commonly used open-bit torrent sites but the mono is nowhere to be found. Radiohead messageboard ateaseweb has a Beatles remaster thread 4x as long as Via Chicago's, and it's so much more illegal... Bobbob -- nice article, but I have to make a slight disagreement and put Paul's bass at a close second to Ringo's drumming. The remasters are so much more percussive- drums and pianos are no longer heard as if through a concrete wall. Listening to the Abbey Road medley yesterday, I was simply thrilled to hear Ringo kicking so much ass. Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 The word that keeps coming into my mind is 'crunchy'. Nice piece, Chris. If Wilco is Beatlesque, it's John's lyrical bass lines which are the connecting thread. Link to post Share on other sites
Gobias Industries Posted September 8, 2009 Share Posted September 8, 2009 Let me know if you guys find out anything. I had a waffles account but I guess it got deactivated. I know the stereo version is available in flac and mp3 at 2 of the 3 most commonly used open-bit torrent sites but the mono is nowhere to be found. I picked up the mono box set at a specific website, thanks for asking though. If you are looking for the mono box set, let me know. Are the last three stereo remasters worth picking up? Like, really-damn-good-I-should-die-if-I-don't-pick-them-up? Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted September 8, 2009 Author Share Posted September 8, 2009 I'm listening to somebody's MP3 rip of the mono box, but it's a shitty rip, which completely misses the point of the whole thing. I guess I'll just wait until mine arrives and try again. Starting to wish I'd upgraded my shipping option ... I probably won't get it for another several days. At least the stereo box will arrive tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites
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