Previously unreleased mixes dedicated mono mixes for “Hey Bulldog”, “All Together Now”, “It’s Only a Northern Song” and “It’s All Too Much”; Quicktime mini-documentaries on the making of each album; booklet written by Kevin Howlett/Miniature reproduction of the original album graphics and inserts/Includes the following albums: “Please Please Me”, “With The Beatles”, “A Hard Day’s Night”, “Beatles for Sale”, “Help!”, “Rubber Soul”, “Revolver”, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, “Magical Mystery Tour”, “The Beatles”, “Past Masters” (includes singles, EP’s) ---

I’ve got blisters on me fingers! It’s all from putting in and taking out these newly remastered classic albums from one of the most important musical groups of the 20th century-The Beatles. These seminal albums sound terrific in this great remaster boxed set. With "Help!" through "The Beatles" appearing on CD in mono for the first time, we get to hear what The Beatles themselves considered the definitive versions of their albums. Nicely packaged with sharp reproductions of the original LP sleeves (at least as they appeared in the UK) this set is missing a two classic albums "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be" where the band had adopted the stereo format as their preferred format at the time. They've done a very nice job of also reproducing the inserts that appeared with the original vinyl releases of these albums. ***

While "Yellow Submarine" was mixed as fold downs for mono, there are dedicated mono mixes for the new songs included here. The "Past Masters" set sounds terrific--"Paperback Writer", "Revolution" and other tracks sound punchier than their stereo variations (that's not to imply that the stereo versions are bad--they just don't quite have as much punch as the original single mixes which were designed to be heard on radio and knock off the socks of listeners. ***

"Pepper" in particular benefits from this release with "She's Leaving Home" played back at a slightly different speed, slightly different edits and sound effects for many of the tracks included. The big news though is that unlike the stereo set (which I think sounds quite good as well despite some peak limiting)the mono CDs have the full dynamic range of the original recordings. ***

You'll also hear differences on some of the mixes (and the running speed for "Don't Pass Me By" which is played back at a different speed than the stereo version)"The Beatles". As to which one you prefer, it depends on what you were raised on. For me hearing everything from "Help!" on in mono has been fun because as a kid we had a stereo so I heard the unusual stereo mixes that George Martin and his team put together. I'd also add that for "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" we get the original 1965 stereo mixes for both albums as bonus tracks on the mono discs for each album. This is a nice plus since many fans were dissatisfied with George Martin's 1987 remixes (which are on the stereo stand alone and box set releases of each respective album). ***

I'll admit that I haven't had the time to listen to all the recordings completely here more than once since receiving this set--there's so much here to appreciate. Little details are evident in the mastering here that weren't evident in the first four albums when they were original released in mono on CD (many sounded muddy compared to the original British vinyl--the U.S. Capitol vinyl couldn't compare to the British versions since they were more than one generation away from the mastertapes). The early first four CDs had other issues because they were transferred on a stereo machine even though they were in mono. That is remedied here. Choice vinyl versions of these albums blew away many of the original first four albums released in mono and that's not the case here (although some fans will perfer the vinyl versions to the CD simply because of the medium and the analog sound). ---

Sound:

Supervised by Allan Rouse the remastering Guy Massey, Steve Rooke and others at EMI stays true to the original sound of the mastertapes with minimal tinkering done just to make them sound as natural as possible on CD. Hats off to EMI who were roundly criticized for taking so long to re-release the band’s back catalog and for sometimes fumbling the earlier transfers to CD as they do an exceptional job here making sure that the Beatles reenter the digital age without damaging the quality of the recordings themselves. Dynamic range is kept intact and the recordings are as tasty and warm as a rich desert without sacrificing any definition, clarity or detail.

The booklet is nice but does avoid a lot of the controversies that often surrounded some of these albums. Briefly covering the band’s career, the circumstances of the recording with a generous selection of previously published and unpublished photos the essay by Kevin Howlett provides us with information on the charting of many singles/albums and other bits of trivia. ***

“The Beatles Mono Box Set” should have had the “making of” DVD that was included in the stereo box set or, at the very least, an additional short documentary would have been nice to include as part of the package but other than that it’s a very nice release from EMI. They’ve given the band their due. --

Final Words: