I can't help it.
I'm totally zany about this Beatles box set day even though I have nowhere near the funds or need to actually purchase it. To top it off, I want the mono version, primarily because I grew up on the stereo versions and am intrigued by the differences in the mix.
It started with Rarities, an album I still have, which was a collection alternate versions and mixes of various Beatles' song. It was the first time I became aware that differences between the mono and stereo mixes even existed-particularly on The White Album. The trouble was, mono was completely phased out by the time I began buying Beatles product.
Until now.
And for a limited time.
There was a brieft scare that the mono version of the box set was competely sold out, but evidently Capitol has shipped a few more units. Did I mention that it's about $50 higher than the stereo version?
A man can dream, can't he? Or maybe he can simply order the treasure trove without the wife finding out about it.
4 comments:
Let's hope the Mrs. doesn't read this blog...of course, once you do purchase it, how exactly do you plan to conceal the box, let alone your delight in enjoying it, from your lady?
It would go immediately down into the man cave and sit next to The Capitol Albums Volumes 1 & 2. She rarely goes into my music area and rarely pays attention to me when I begin going off on ridiculous music tangents. Kind of like this blog.
Interestingly enough, one of the main complaints that I've been reading is that the new cd's are re-mastered and NOT re-mixed. Seems that some people really dug the re-mixed Yellow Submarine that came out in 99 and as well as the Naked re-mix and the Love thing that came out a couple years ago. I may just get the Capitol boxes that came out recently because apparently they are the same as or better than the remasterd versions to be found in the new box sets.
Where on Earth did you hear that? Most Beatlemaniacs treat The Capitol Albums with a tremendous amount of contempt. They were hatchet jobs of the original UK releases and had that faux-stereo treatment. For me, that was the product that I was raised on; I got my dad's hand-me-down Beatles records and destroyed the shit out of them. Rebuying the Capitol box set was a matter of atonement and because I didn't want to buy the rest of the early material on cd only to see it phased out like it is currently. With the box set, you could probably pick up the Capitol box for a steal.
Myself? I may hold off now. I just read something where the mono remasters are similar to my original stereo mixes in terms of dynamics, while the new stereo mixes are pretty loud and detailed. I'm thinking of just doing Revolver onward with single stereo mixes with maybe keeping an eye on the stereo box at ebay for a steal. They have the documentaries on there too, which sound cool. Then, the collector in me says "Get the mono box" while the Beatlemaniac in me wants to hear those mono mixes. It's kind of like hearing them new all over again.
Dude, I'm telling you. When I first heard "Helter Skelter" in mono from Rarities it was bizarre! The thing sounds different, there's a bunch of weird noises floating in and out of the mix, and it's about a minute shorter without Lennon going "I've got blisters on my fingers!" at the end. The liner notes said that that was probably the song with the most notable difference, but it would be cool to hear some of the other tracks too without the panning and shit; I'm so used to that now after 40 years of hearing nothing but the stereo. With that being said, I'm totally excited about the Abbey Road remaster, which I hear is just amazing. I've always felt that Abbey Road was overrated, but there's always time for a reassessment. I thought that was about Rubber Soul, but now that one may have moved up past The White Album and Revolver as my favorite.
Here's something interesting that I read on Pitchfork: if Abbey Road were just released today, it would have been just 2003 when With The Beatles was released. That just blows my mind and reaffirms how this band were just so fucking good.
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