J.A.W. Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 CD Pacific has low stock of the Mono box; price: $216.61. Thanks Hans!! I'll have to place an order- latert though- no time now. You're welcome. I hope it'll still be there by that time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Just got my Mono box in the mail today. It's pretty. Haven't broken the shrink wrap yet, but plan to tonight. Does anyone know or understand the rationale for including the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul in the box? I presume they differ from the new mixes in the Stereo box. Also, why only these 2 albums? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Oh, I don't know whether anyone's linked to this previously. It's a great interview with George Martin and his son Giles: Wall St Journal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) Just got my Mono box in the mail today. It's pretty. Haven't broken the shrink wrap yet, but plan to tonight. Does anyone know or understand the rationale for including the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul in the box? I presume they differ from the new mixes in the Stereo box. Also, why only these 2 albums? I've mentioned this elsewhere in the thread, but I'll say it again: In 1986, when George Martin was preparing the CD reissues, he found that the UK stereo mixes of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" were substandard (to his ears). He prepared new stereo mixes for the CDs, and these are the mixes used on the new stereo issues of "Help" and "Rubber Soul." Some completists, however, have been clamoring for the original stereo mixes ever since, so to appease this vocal minority, they have included these mixes on the Mono box. I don't feel that I HAVE to hear the original stereo mixes, but I am curious as to whether or not I already have them as part of the Purple Chick remasters... Edited September 11, 2009 by Alexander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) Does anyone know or understand the rationale for including the original 1965 stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul in the box? I presume they differ from the new mixes in the Stereo box. Also, why only these 2 albums? As was posted earlier in this thread, the Stereo box has the 1986 mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul that were used on the 1987 CDs. I don't know the answer to your other questions. Edited September 11, 2009 by J.A.W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) CD Pacific has low stock of the Mono box; price: $216.61. Thanks Hans!! I'll have to place an order- latert though- no time now. You're welcome. I hope it'll still be there by that time Yes, thanks Hans. After your prompt, I cancelled my order with Amazon (scheduled to ship 3-6 weeks from now) and placed an order for the set with CD Pacific which still shows "low stock". I've never dealt with them before but I assume that they are a trustworthy seller. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Edited September 11, 2009 by Norm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefan Wood Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 Got the mono box in today. Will crack it open after I absorb the Siouxsie BBC recordings set I got a week ago.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 In 1986, when George Martin was preparing the CD reissues, he found that the UK stereo mixes of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" were substandard (to his ears). He prepared new stereo mixes for the CDs, and these are the mixes used on the new stereo issues of "Help" and "Rubber Soul." Some completists, however, have been clamoring for the original stereo mixes ever since, so to appease this vocal minority, they have included these mixes on the Mono box. Sorry. I still don't fully understand. Are the new stereo discs simply the old mixes (let's disregard Help and Rubber Soul for the moment) somehow cleaned up and sonically improved - greater sonic range, less hiss, somehow clearer and sharper to the ear - somewhat analogous to polishing a piece of silver? Or are they somehow remixed? I don't see how a mono master can be remixed. So I guess George Martin created new stereo mixes for Help and Rubber Soul in 1986 that made these songs sound different than prior? And people are clamoring for the old sound, so those were included on the mono discs? But then why weren't they just included on the stereo discs? That seems a more natural place for them. Presumably, if you like mono enough to buy the mono box, you wouldn't much care about the stereo mix, especially one considered substandard. I obviously wouldn't last 10 minutes on the Steve Hoffman forums! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 So, we are still talkin' 'bout that old English group? Still have a bunch of Capitol/Parlophone/Apple lps from "back in the day". Have not played them in 20 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjzee Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 So, we are still talkin' 'bout that old English group? Still have a bunch of Capitol/Parlophone/Apple lps from "back in the day". Have not played them in 20 years. I have two cool boxes from the early '80's, both from England. One is The Beatles 45's box (reproductions of all the original 45's, with copies of the original covers...and newly-created covers when the originals didn't come with them), the other is The Beatles EP box (similar concept...cool covers and liner notes!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.W. Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) In 1986, when George Martin was preparing the CD reissues, he found that the UK stereo mixes of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" were substandard (to his ears). He prepared new stereo mixes for the CDs, and these are the mixes used on the new stereo issues of "Help" and "Rubber Soul." Some completists, however, have been clamoring for the original stereo mixes ever since, so to appease this vocal minority, they have included these mixes on the Mono box. Sorry. I still don't fully understand. Are the new stereo discs simply the old mixes (let's disregard Help and Rubber Soul for the moment) somehow cleaned up and sonically improved - greater sonic range, less hiss, somehow clearer and sharper to the ear - somewhat analogous to polishing a piece of silver? Or are they somehow remixed? I don't see how a mono master can be remixed. So I guess George Martin created new stereo mixes for Help and Rubber Soul in 1986 that made these songs sound different than prior? And people are clamoring for the old sound, so those were included on the mono discs? But then why weren't they just included on the stereo discs? That seems a more natural place for them. Presumably, if you like mono enough to buy the mono box, you wouldn't much care about the stereo mix, especially one considered substandard. I obviously wouldn't last 10 minutes on the Steve Hoffman forums! I don't know what exactly you mean by "sonic range" and I haven't heard the stereo remasters, but from what I've read on the Hoffman forum I understand that on the stereo box (not on the mono set) peak limiting and some additional compression were applied compared to the old albums, resulting in less dynamic range - not that there was much dynamic range on the old albums anyway As for the hiss, they applied only a few minutes of noise reduction on the stereo box (again, not on the mono set), so I'm guessing the hiss should be audible. They wanted to avoid any damage to the music that is often an effect of too much noise reduction. I'll leave it to others to answer your other questions, but I'm guessing that they did not remix anything. Edited September 12, 2009 by J.A.W. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 11, 2009 Report Share Posted September 11, 2009 (edited) Hans' summary of the stereo remasters is quite accurate. Although there is some compression and peak limiting on the stereo remasters, in my opinion the Beatles' stereo recordings generally have never sounded as good as they do on these new CDs - and that includes on original stereo pressings from the 60s in great shape. These recordings frankly generally needed a little help and they really nailed things overall, a bang up job by the Abbey Road team. The remastered WHITE ALBUM is the first version I've ever heard that doesn't sound thin and shrill - even the best vinyl pressing I've heard (the UK Neumann-cut white vinyl from the 1970s) can't hold a candle to it for sheer enjoyment and musicality. I have not yet bought the stereo RUBBER SOUL and HELP! stereo remasters - though I will. I am not a big fan of the 1986 George Martin remixes, mainly because I found them rather pointless (why add digital reverb to a 40 year old recording that really didn't need it?), but who knows, if the new versions are as good as the other stereo remasters I've picked up so far I might change my opinion. The mono boxed set CDs I've listened to so far (PEPPER, HELP!) also sound very good - those were transferred basically flat (according to interviews with the Abbey Road engineers) and have no compression. So very faithful to the original tapes, I guess, but frankly I think they could have used a little goosing - they are a bit "dead" sounding relative to the old mono vinyl LPs, which must have been cut with a little top end boost I'm thinking to add needed "sparkle". Don't get me wrong, the remastered mono CDs (and, includedin that box, the "original 1965 mix" stereo RUBBER SOUL and HELP! CDs) are definitely keepers, but I think they could have been even better had they not been afraid to do a little EQ tweaking. Ah well - the engineers are to be commended highly overall, I think, because they did outstanding work, and you can't please everyone all the time. I'm a Beatles fanatic - it's imprinting, basically, extends beyond rational thought and logic - I mean no way does the stuff come close to measuring up musically to jazz, but I still enjoy it immensely. My dad bought me a little all in one Montgomery Ward stereo when I was in third grade along with 3 albums - HEY JUDE, a John Denver LP, and I can't remember the third one. Not only was this my real introduction to the wonderful world of music, but HEY JUDE especially bowled me over and I've been a huge fan of the band ever since. It's musical comfort food, basically. The older I get the more I appreciate their early albums - used to be they were looked down upon as simplistic but in many ways they never topped the straightforward charm of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT. Edited September 12, 2009 by DrJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul secor Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It would be nice to see a jazz thread ignite this kind of excitement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It would be nice to see a jazz thread ignite this kind of excitement. I thought the same thing about 10 pages in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Listened to both the mono and stereo versions of Hard Days Night and honestly can't say which I prefer, they both sound fantastic. What a great record,I've had to rethink me previous ideas about best Beatles albums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free For All Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It would be nice to see a jazz thread ignite this kind of excitement. I thought the same thing about 10 pages in! I remember a lot of excitement about these two....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted September 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It would be nice to see a jazz thread ignite this kind of excitement. I thought the same thing about 10 pages in! I remember a lot of excitement about these two....... Definitely! The recent Miles 50th Anniv. box had quite a bit of discussion too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It's the fucking BEATLES! Best. Group. EVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexander Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 The rock era of 1964-1970(?) was due mainly to the fact that the industry didn't have a clue what the kids were up to and didn't dare try to control for fear of mssing out on the next big thing. For all the off-the-wall brilliance that found its way onto way during those years, there's stories to be be told of innumerable quantities of pure nothing that sat beside it on store shelves. It seemed like damn near anything and everybody could get some kind of a deal with somebody. And why not? People who had careers befre Beatlemania, like the Beach boys, fell prey to the old ways. Nut post-Beatlemania, for a few years, there were no rules. Now The Beatles did hit a lull going in 1965. Beatlemania was over, the singles came out one at a time, other bands & styles were peeping up, but...The Beatles had made such a huge impact here - and across the world - in 1964 that they became the de facto face of the "youth revolution", which was what the industry was trying to get a grip on. So whatever the Beatles did, it was ok. So that means that a mediocre album like Beatles For Sale could be turned into two less than stellar albums in the states, a movie that was ok but nowhere near the masterpiece its predecessor was could be allowed a free pass, and becuase they kept putting out some really great singles and becuase youth all over the world were riding the still-cresting wave that Beatlmania had triggered, 1965 turned out ok for The Beatles. 1966 could have been the year they lost it, but instead, they bumped it up a notch or two, as did the world. And itr wasn't just rock either...I've heard it posited that The Beatles and the Coltrane quartet were riding parallel paths in paralle dimensions. Kinda out there in one way, but not in another... Beatles For Sale, mediocre ? No Reply,I'm A Loser, Baby's In Black,Eight Days A Week, I'll Follow The Sun, Every Little Thing are mediocre ? Having grown up on the Capitol albums, I have to say that I prefer "Beatles '65" to "Beatles for Sale" (and I like the US "Rubber Soul" at least as much as I like the UK version). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldB3 Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 It would be nice to see a jazz thread ignite this kind of excitement. I thought the same thing about 10 pages in! I remember a lot of excitement about these two....... Definitely! The recent Miles 50th Anniv. box had quite a bit of discussion too. Deservingly so all three are classics that I go back to regularly. Re: KOB 50th. Just when I thought I would never want to hear KOB again the 2 disc remaster including the Miles 58 sessions blew me away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 (edited) These reissues have generated excitement (and hence discussion) because it takes us back to an exciting period, an exciting time in our lives and to music that is just damn good that we took it for granted, plus one of the greatest groups ever, as was said. Edited September 12, 2009 by Brad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasing the Korean Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 You're all drunk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrJ Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 You're all drunk. Hiccup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinuta Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 Listened to Beatles For Sale in both mono and stereo and must go for the stereo this time. There's none of the old wishywashy vocals on the right, band on the left anymore, just an exquisitely balanced sound that is beyond comparison to the old cd. Rocks big time, and then some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Lark Ascending Posted September 12, 2009 Report Share Posted September 12, 2009 I'm a Beatles fanatic - it's imprinting, basically, extends beyond rational thought and logic - I mean no way does the stuff come close to measuring up musically to jazz, but I still enjoy it immensely. Whether it measures up musically to jazz (or anything else) is a matter of academic interest only. If this stuff moves us I don't think we have to make excuses for immersing ourselves in it again. Even though I didn't own a Beatles record until 1973, they were part of the sountrack of my childhood via the radio. I can't put an exact date on it - must have been between '62 to 64 but I can recall laughing at those plastic Beatles hair caps in the shops and singing the early hits in the playground. Certain records place me in exact places - 'Fool on the Hill' in our garden in Singapore, 'Hey Jude' in the kitchen in Gloucestershire, 'The Ballad of John and Yoko' on Porth Beach in Cornwall. Even aside from the pleasure of the sounds themselves, this music carries powerful associations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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