I bought the Mono Box Set, then purchased the "left-over" Stereo albums (Let It Be, Abbey Road, and Past Masters I & II), and noticed some changes from the 1987 releases.

01: The most obvious addition was to Yellow Submarine - John Lennon's "a life of ease" refrain is now inserted after Ringo's "And we live a life of ease."

02: Baby You're A Rich Man is now deliciously a few seconds longer. I was always hoping to find a longer version of the song, because towards the end it starts to get that jubulous vibe, but the fade out came too quick. But now the extended the fade, and nobody is more happy about it than I am.

There's more, and I'll think of them later. Did you guys notice any changes, for better or worse?

Sorry, didn't mean to start a war......

Back to my point. The original thread discussed the upcoming releases, release dates and whatnot. I am the one who first posted the box of vision info,which many here took advantage of; go there and check if you wish. Once released,that threads purpose was finished.

Now we have people LISTENING to the discs,you know, Listening,as opposed to having them on their shelves and bragging about owning them or staring at them on their shelves in a dimmly lit room when no one else is around.....

Thus, these music fans feel a desire to discuss the nuances they have found in these highly anticipated releases. What is the fucking problem? Isn't this the actual point of posting on a forum? To express your thoughts and receive feedback?

Dozens of redundant Star Wars threads are OK but 2 threads on the most recent releases by the most popular band in history is to much?

I will continue to use this site as a source of info.....obviously my contributions here are unneccessary.

So, I'm minding my own business, clicking on forums and BOOM, I find a thread about my current favourite subject, the mono remasters.

Happilly I click and am treated to a discussion on...FORUM RUDENESS?

God I love DVDTALK.

[benedict writes: To allow the original thread to continue in a more positive vein. I have split and moved the off-topic posts to a discrete thread in Feedback. I would ask all further contributors to this thread please now to stay on-topic].

And now comments about the actual purpose of the thread.

I have noticed quite a few interesting mono cuts of songs I previously heard only from the stereo cuts. Although I had read about them, I didn't think they would be all that different. But there is a noticeable difference to me (after hearing the stereo versions of these songs soooooo many times). This is especially true about the early recordings. While I'm still on the fence about the superiority of these tracks, I truly believe that the MONO versions are more interesting simply because they are different.

Dr. Obvious has spoken.

I would have loved to have gotten the Mono recordings, but the set was SO damned expensive and after buying the Stereo set and the Beatles Rock Band LE, I just couldn't see ponying up again for another set. Part of me still thinks it's hard to get excited over mono recordings, but I know they're supposed to sound better.
I wish they would have just done the right thing and included both versions like The Beach Boys did with their wonderful Pet Sounds remaster. Of course, that would have left millions on the table, and we know that would never happen with this catalog. Bottom line : I'm about 80% happy with the set and 20% regretful that I didn't get the Mono versions instead.

It's important to note (for those who may not be aware), that the first 4 beatles albums were originally released on CD in their mono incarnations and that is what we have had for the last 20+ years. The versions in the Mono Box are the same mixes that have been out all this time, but with much better tape to digital transfers.

Now, from Help! on, the old CD's are stereo versions whereas the Mono Box features, as expected, the original mono mixes on CD for the very first time. Most of which I find pretty noticably different from the stereo versions. I think they sound great on computer speakers and otherwise cheap audio devices. After all, they were mixed to sound "lively" on inexpensive transister radios and turntables back in the 60's. On a nice stereo system I much prefer the stereo versions, even the early "ping-pong" stereo mixes.

My 2 cents.

"I got blisters on my fingers!" is gone from Helter Skelter (Mono Box). I'm bummed about that.

It was never on any of the mono mixes of that song.

mono mix, stereo mix - shouldn't really matter. It was a part of the song, and now it isn't. The history of the song has been altered.

No, the history of the song was that it was never on the mono mix. I prefer the mono White Album anyway, but the stereo version is interesting. I do need to pick it up. Don't really miss "blisters", plus in the long run most people are going to know the stereo version anyway.

The "Blisters" portion of Helter Skelter is intact on the Stereo Box?

Yes, I can confirm that it is still on the Stereo disc, but as Cartload said - it's not on the Mono mix and never has been. It doesn't change the history of the song.

I do wonder why they would include an isolated, random vocal on the Stereo mix, but exclude it on the Mono mix? It's not like it would benefit from the Stereo treatment or anything. When the White Album was released as a CD in 1987, it was essentially the first time anybody born after 1970 heard the album. For all intents and purposes, what we heard on those Beatles CD's was "it," and "it" became "our history." I mean, it became the standard for people of the cassette/CD Age. Now to exclude anything from said standard is a bit of history alteration. From my perspective, at least.

Would it be illogical to keep the songs the same, abeit the mixing of the Mono or Stereo "sound?" I don't see what "sound" has to do with keeping or breaking away from I've Got Blisters On My Fingers!

Because they mixed the two versions on different days, and they probably couldn't remember what they did on one day (possibly stoned out of their minds) to recreated it exactly on the next day.

The Beatles were quite clear in their preference for mono through Magical Mystery Tour. They helped mixed the mono versions of all of their albums through MMT, and left it to Abbey Road engineers to make stereo mixes without their input.

The White Album was the only album mixed in both formats with input by The Beatles (after The White Album they went stereo only, the songs in Yellow Submarine, recorded before or during The White Album sessions, had mixes in both formats), and the band took advantage by making the two mixes quite different, including the famous "Blisters on my fingers" ending to Helter Skelter. There are tales from people who worked The White Album sessions of Lennon and McCartney sitting in the mixing booth laughing their heads off at the changes they were making from one format to the other. They were probably, as slop said, stoned out of their minds.



No, no, and no again. It's silly to say that everyone born after 1970 only heard The White Album or any Beatles album only on CD. I don't know about you, but my dad had a record collection and a turntable. Heck, I heard a lot of The Beatles from their American releases, which prior to Sgt. Pepper were mix and match albums with songs from different British albums. But I can recognize that the band didn't intend the albums to be released that way, and I'm not griping that the new box sets don't include the American tracklistings. So just because you are used to them a certain way doesn't mean that the band should have changed music recorded and mixed 40 years ago to fit your preconceptions.


Yes, it would be completely illogical. Beatles collectors have searched for years for good mono recordings of the band's catalog. The changes are exactly why people have been searching them out. It's fascinating to hear how the band used different parts or takes on different mixes of the songs. The stereo versions are still there and aren't going to change. Why demand the mono mixes change, especially when that in and of itself would be changing history? Are you also mad they didn't include mono versions of Abbey Road and Let It Be (which don't exist)?

Just answer this for me: why did they feel they had to take out the spoken lament from the mono mix? It's not music, it's speech.

Actually, it was "I've got blisters on ME fingers!", so it sounds as if the stereo remasters have been altered, too.

I did a headphone comparison last night listening to both the mono version and stereo version of Sgt. Pepper and I vastly enjoyed the stereo version more.

I understand someone preferring the stereo mixes, but for a forum that extols the benefits of Original Aspect Ratio, I find it somewhat contradictory that people willingly ignore the wishes of The Beatles themselves.

As for Sgt Pepper, Within in Without You and Good Morning Good Morning make the mono mix worth it alone.

It wasn't taken out, it was never there in the first place. And I don't believe John or Paul spent much time on the White Album Stereo Mix, I think George was the main Beatle for the Stereo sessions.

This statement is so wrong, it's laughable. Born in 1971, I had worn out my vinyl copy of the "White Album" long before 1987. My older cousins, born between 1959 and 1968, had all The Beatles's albums on vinyl and we grew up listening to them religiously in the 70s and 80s.

Trust me, if The Beatles "wished" there were no stereo mixes, they would make them disappear. Why would they release the stereo mixes as the main release if they truly felt the way you think they do.

The Beatles make every decision regarding their catalog nowadays, not some suit sitting behind a desk.

After listening to Sgt. Pepper, the damn thing is made for stereo. Granted the early releases' stereo sounds phoned in. But Pepper sounds divine.

And regarding OAR comparison, I rarely see anyone on this forum bemoaning the fact that a mono or plain stereo mix was dropped for the new 7.1 dts soundtrack or whatever.

Vision vs. Sound. Apples and Oranges and not a very good comparison.

Different strokes for different folks. I think Sgt. Pepper is truly brilliant in mono, whereas the stereo loses some of the impact.

And I think Drop was saying wasn't that The Beatles desired the stereo mixes to disappear, but rather that the mono mixes be unaltered.

And Buttmunker, I have no clue why they decided to fade Helter Skelter back in for stereo but not mono. I'm not, unfortunately, a Beatle. But have no fear, the stereo version still has it just the way you like it, so you should probably listen to it that way. I prefer the White Album in stereo anyway.

Not surprised by that at all . . . I have found that mono doesn't lend itself well to cans. However, in a straight 2-channel speaker set-up that soundstage tends to shine. IMO, of course.

It's not like Helter Skelter is the only song that is different. The White Album has changes all over the place.

I used to bemoan it. But almost nobody cares, and I quit bringing it up. This thread seems to be the logical outcome. People arguing whether it's even relevant that the original artists wanted the music to sound that way. I've been wanting to hear the original mono mixes for thirty years.

Yeah, it's pretty unbelievable to me that there really are people who are saying "Forget what The Beatles wanted, I can't live without Ringo's throwaway line at the end of a song!" I'm thankful we got the mono mixes at all.