‘In Mono’ - newest Beatles for sale

It is rare for a band that broke up 40-years ago to still have an impact on the musical world, yet The Beatles not only influence artists to this day, but were one of the best selling acts of 2009.

In Sept. of 2009, the group’s catalogue was re-released and remastered for the first time since the 1980s. Amidst these releases was a box set which many hardcore fans had been waiting for: the Beatles albums in their original mono mixes.

“The Beatles In Mono” is quite a curious listen. From “Please Please Me” in 1962 to their self-titled (“White Album”) in 1968, the mixing of their albums were supervised by the band themselves; the stereo versions were mixed by their producer, George Martin.

There are some striking differences between the mono mixes and the stereo mixes, more noticeably from “Help” and after. The differences include different tempos of certain songs, different takes of songs and once in the “Revolver” era and beyond, the sound effects and studio tricks have noticeable differences.

Another interesting aspect of “In Mono” is the albums are packaged as replicas of the original U.K. vinyl releases. It would take another article to explain the differences between the U.K. and U.S. releases of their albums up to “Revolver.” Since the original CD releases were distributed in the U.K. versions, most people are familiar with these versions.

“In Mono” covers all their albums except “Let It Be” and “Abby Road” because there were no mono mixes of those records. The songs from the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack have been included in the “Mono Masters;” the mono equivalent of the “Past Masters” singles and b-side collection. These make up for the “Let It Be” tracks that are missing from the “Past Masters” collection.

Here is an album by album review indicating what each has to offer. Some may contain little to no differences, while others contain more. This is mainly due to the early records were not as different from mono and stereo.

Please Please Me

The album which introduced the world to The Beatles has a great sound on this collection. Though there are no big differences, the sound quality is incredible and has a deeper sound from the 1980s CD release.

With the Beatles

Much the same as “Please Please Me,” “With The Beatles” does not stray much in sound from the stereo and mono, but is a much better upgrade from the CD release in the 1980s.

A Hard Day’s Night

Here the differences can be noticed. The vocal pitches on “If I Fell” sound bitterly matched between Lennon and McCartney. “I’ll Be Back,” the eerie finisher of the album sounds much more stark and foreboding than the stereo mix.

Beatles for Sale

There are certain little aspects on “Beatles For Sale” that sound different from its stereo counterpart; but that may be more towards how the different use of the stereo channels and mono spread the sound out differently. The mono mix sounds more compact.

Help!

Now the changes begin to be prevalent. The biggest noticeable difference begins right away with the song “Help!” It is actually a different take of the song; the vocals sound different and the instrumentation starts and stops in a less fluid way than the stereo version.

Also included on the same disc is George Martin’s original stereo mix of the album, which is also slightly different from the stereo mix heard today. Only an audiophile would be able to nit-pick through all three to make a comprehensive list of differences.

Rubber Soul

As with “Help,” this also includes Martin’s original stereo mix as well. The songs sound richer in mono; especially tracks like “In My Life,” “Norwegian Wood” and “Nowhere Man.” The frantic guitar licks on Lennon’s untypical Beatle-esque murder/revenge tome “Run For Your Life” sounds more menacing, though there is no evidence that this is any different from the stereo mix.

Revolver

Here is where the group’s studio prevalence and interest begins to emerge. “Eleanor Rigby” has a crazy amount of vocal overlap from McCartney, which gives it a more haunting sound than in the stereo mix.

“I’m Only Sleeping” contains more backward guitar sounds, the vocals sound a little more distorted and the overall sound has a softer, dream-like feeling as opposed to the stereo mix.

“Tomorrow Never Knows” has a strikingly different way the tape-loops  that make up the acid drenched psychedelic opus sound more like an intense inner trip through the mind’s eye. They seem to swirl in and out more and faster; Lennon’s vocals sound even more like a ghost screaming through a cave that is amplified to 11.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Bånd

This is the way the band intended the album to sound, and it sounds cleaner and dreamier sounding than the way Martin made the stereo mix. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” has cleaner, more natural sounding phasing and McCartney’s bass lines are not as overwhelming as they are in stereo. They blend more naturally in the mono mix.

Perhaps the most startling difference here is “She’s Leaving Home.” On the stereo mix, this sounds like a sappy ballad of a child leaving her parents for something happiness. The mono mix is a tempo faster and is more like a pop song than a ballad. McCartney has been on the record as being unhappy with the stereo mix; it was not the way he intended it to sound. It is a mystery as to why this difference occurred.

There are many other differences on the mono version as well. The chicken clucks that segue “Good Morning, Good Morning” and the “Sgt. Pepper’s” reprise bleed more into the latter track than in stereo. The verses on “Fixing A Hole” are sparse in comparison to the stereo mix.

“Within You Without You” sounds (somehow) weirder than the stereo mix. There is also a noticeable different sample at the end; the laughter which ends the track is different from the stereo version.

This version is no doubt superior to the stereo mix. The sound quality is warmer and feels not as compacted as the stereo version. Another plus is that, since the disc are replicas of the original vinyl, it comes with the cardboard cutouts.

Magical Mystery Tour

Much like “Sgt. Pepper’s” the soundtrack to the Beatles’ psychedelic film failure has some strange differences than the stereo version. Sound effects come and go in different places, in some areas the vocals sound more powerful or subdued. Yet, it is a toss-up between these versions.

“I Am The Walrus” is better on the mono mix; Lennon’s distorted vocals are more prevalent. The sound effects appear in different areas or not at all. This is heard after the first verse when things stop after Lennon sings “I’m crying.”

The cool thing about this box set is that “Magical Mystery Tour” is packaged in the limited edition version with the 24 page gatefold book when the album is opened.

The Beatles (The White Album)

Beatle fans will forever argue which version of this album is better. It is also the first time the mono mix has had an official release in the U.S. It was widely bootlegged when CDs replaced vinyl as the dominate tool for the medium, and it is perhaps the most different in comparison between the two mixes.

“Back In The U.S.S.R.” has more airplane effects and even use different plane effects from the stereo version. While that is neat, the song is still annoying.

The same is true with “Ob-La-De Ob-La-Da.” The handclaps are missing, which was an aspect of the song that seemed unnecessary. While this omission certainly helps the song, it does not save it.

“I’m So Tired” sounds like a different take. It seems looser and McCartney’s singing with Lennon on the chorus sounds just a bit off, even more than on the studio mix. Lennon also sounds a little angrier during the chorus as well.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” hands down one of the best songs on the album, has a warmer transition going in and coming out than the stereo version. It also sounds like there are more overlapped vocals as well.

“Don’t Pass Me By,” Ringo’s best song with the group (songs about octopuses have never and will never be cool or good). The mono mix is different. The tempo is faster, his vocals sound like he was sucking on helium, and the string section is more prevalent. It has a country-western sound to it missing from the stereo version as well. This sounds weirder than the stereo version.

“Yer Blues” suffers on this mix, due to the subdued bass and guitar lines for the bluesy rocker from Lennon.

“Helter Skelter” is shorter, omits Ringo’s screaming about his blisters and seems to have a slightly faster tempo. It sounds compacted, McCartney’s vocals seem to have an edgier presence on it and temporarily can make one forget the Charles Manson connotation to it.

The packaging includes the original, uncensored poster and the four photographs of each Beatle that was included with the vinyl release.

Mono Masters

This is an interesting collection, but once again the differences are not as apparent until the mid-to-late 60s songs appear. Hearing the songs from the “Yellow Submarine” soundtrack (most recorded during “Sgt. Pepper’s”) do have some audio superiority, especially Harrison’s “Only A Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much,” which sound freer and have breathing space which allows listeners to hear more little details in the songs.

And in the End...

This is a great collection. The sound quality is, in this reviewer’s opinion, better than the stereo remasters that were released at the same time. These recording were treated differently in the remastering process.

What is irritating is that this set is more expensive than the stereo box set and contains fewer albums (“Let It Be” and “Abby Road”). While it is cool to have these presented in the original vinyl format, it quickly becomes annoying pulling the CDs out and putting them back in because the format was never intended for CDs, which are vastly smaller than vinyl. Also, for the price, why didn’t they tag on the stereo mixes as well. They did for “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” but not for the rest.

Other than those issues, these albums are clearly superior to the stereo versions, both in sound quality and the basic fact these are they way The Beatles intended them to be heard. Certainly Martin’s stereo mixes have some moments which are better, overall the mono set is better.