| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| John9 |
Posted - 10/09/2009 : 11:30:29
With Love of course, for the first two albums we get the mono and stereo versions on the same disc. When The Byrds' 1965-69 music was remastered, Legacy created new mixes which tried to preserve the strengths of both the stereo and mono recordings. And now of course we have (arguably)the most revolutionary catalogue of all beautifully, but also expensively, presented side by side in separate mono and stereo editions. After an initial, selective listening session, Please Please Me definitely sounds better in mono - listening to it makes you feel as though it's 1963 again! Revolver though I think is a different case. I'm Only Sleeping has extra backwards guitar in mono, and for that reason alone, I wouldn't be without it. But Tomorrow Never Knows sound absolutely fantastic in stereo. I believe that the argument that The Beatles always intended their music to heard in mono is valid only up to a certain point - perhaps until their fourth or fifth album. By 1966 in Britain, stereo was definitely seen as the technology of the future even if most people could not afford it for the time being....one advertising slogan that year ran "stereo is well worth the extra". In a way the situation was analagous to that of colour TV which, after many false starts, arrived here in 1968 - initially of course at a prohibitively expensive price. The Beatles in 1966 had become fascinated by experimental sound - and it must have been apparent to them that the emerging technology could play an important part in that. I cannot believe that the (considerable)differences between the mono and stereo versions of Sgt Pepper were purely accidental...the album of course was loaded with all kinds of trickery and mischief! And the Beatles themselves of course had no touring to do afterwards....just a little bit of transcendental meditation! By the time you get to The White Album, it is the stereo that, in the main has the extra sounds - there's no "I've got blisters on my fingers" on the mono.
I don't suppose for one minute, the debate will end here. When I awoke this morning, remembering that I had parted with all that cash for the sake of completism, I resolved to live on cheese on toast for the next month..........though now I come to think of it, I'm not so sure about the cheese! |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| bob f. |
Posted - 10/09/2009 : 22:20:41
No, l.k. we don't have ANY cheese. I was just wasting your time.
...what the world needs now... |
| caryne |
Posted - 10/09/2009 : 14:20:40
Obviously I was only a small child when the Mono/Stereo changeover first happened so I really got into listening to music in Stereo. However, with music produced prior to that era I prefer listening to it in the way it was meant to be listened in when it was first recorded. I must admit I prefer all music in it's orignal state, I don't have that much time for 'remastered' stuff either. Yes, it may sound 'technically' better but, for me, it loses something when it is cleaned up. I realise that some music appeared pretty much exactly when the Mono/Stereo changeover happened and, with that, it's a matter of trying to ascertain what the artists actually wanted it to sound like. It's not that hard to ascertain whether something was originally meant to be listened to in mono or stereo. |
| rocker |
Posted - 10/09/2009 : 14:19:22
You know in a way I'm kind of glad that there are two mixes for the songs. Before this debate over mono and stereo I automatically assumed that stereo would be much better. For me,I think it is but I've found as we've been discussing the Beatle catalog that some of those songs do sound better to me in mono than stereo.
And if there's an argument for one over the other I think the fact that I got "tainted" because of classical gave me a bias to stereo since in classical there are many "lines" going on at the same time. With mono you just don't get to hear those musical lines separating as you do in stereo. Hearing the lines then in that case I find is much much richer in the listening experience. To hear all those disparate notes/lines coming together to from a great whole is just something. That's why I think listening to the Beatles in remastered stereo particularly should be a treat for listeners. Their music now will never be old and listeners will now get more out of their great legacy. |
| lemonade kid |
Posted - 10/09/2009 : 14:03:00
Good one, john9. Yah!---starting in maybe '66, stereo started to catch up to mono. It starts to become a personal preference. Rubber Soul in mono for me, but Revolver is 50/50. Peppers sounds wonderful in stereo, but certain MONO tracks such as the slower and trippier Lucy, faster Leaving Home, crisp Within You with extended laughter, upfront searing guitar Good Morning, & Paul's improv at the end of Reprise make it the only mix I listen to. I haven't heard the White Album but I've read 50/50 on that too--mono richness vs stereo "extras".
What about Mystery, j9? My box hasn't come but I read that the mono is a fuller more satisfying sound, hands down?!
Da Capo mono is my preference and Byrds first mono. Mono Fresh Cream and Electric Music mono are the definitive mixes, but stereo Disraeli Gears, Are You Experienced are better; then back to mono Left Banke & mono vinyl Yardbirds (they only released the awful rechanneled stereo on all the Yardbird releases in the US).
What a trip!
Blonde on Blonde mono blew me away with a cleaner mix that brought out sounds I hadn't heard before and is one of my most highly recommended MONO LPs.
It gets really hard with my loyalty for mono as 1967-68 rolls in. Mostly mono mix downs start showing up and many mono LPs released are inferior to the stereo counterparts.
So it can be an adventure, but with so many side by side releases, it has become easier for us all to enjoy both. They find ways to get us $till, those 60's masterpieces of the golden age of rock and roll!
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Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might,
and when you laugh, laugh like hell,
and when you get angry, get good and angry.
Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough.
--william saroyan
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