The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set Review
By Marvin Marks on Sep 14, 2009 in Features
I know a lot of people are suspicious of these new remastered Beatles CDs. How much better could they sound really? I think those of us who had only heard the 1987 CDs were most suspicious since we grew to love The Beatles from those CDs that everyone kept saying were mastered so horribly.
But now that I’ve opened up my Beatles in Stereo Box Set and I’m actually hearing these new remastered CDs (and I haven’t got a chance to listen to every album yet, but I’ve heard most of them) I’m pretty stunned at how much better they sound. I’ve read someone compare it to seeing a movie in HD for the first time after you’d only previously seen it on DVD, but I think it’s more like seeing a movie in HD after having previously only seen it on an old slightly distorted VHS tape.
The most obvious differences I’m hearing (and the differences I’ve seen many other listeners mentioning as well) is how much clearer and more well defined the drums and the bass are. It turns out Ringo was actually a pretty great drummer. And while most who know The Beatles music know that Paul laid down many awesome bass lines with The Beatles, they’ve never sounded so good before.
But it’s more than just the drums and the bass cutting through the mix more, it’s all of the little details that are now more clear. It’s being able to hear the vocal harmonies voice by voice. It’s hearing little bits of percussion that were previously buried in the mix. There are so many things I’m hearing in these mixes that I had never heard before (and I’m a real Beatles freak who has listened to all of their albums many, many times.) It’s just amazing.
I have no reservations in saying that this Stereo Box Set is a “must buy” for any Beatles fan. If you want to really HEAR The Beatles in all of their glory than you have to get this. I think you will be amazed at how much better these remastered CDs sound than the old CDs you probably own now. Those old CDs sound sort of “muffled” in comparison. They will be good as coasters once you get the new ones.
Oh yes, there’s also the great packaging (much better than the old CD packaging) and you get a free DVD which includes short documentaries on the making of every album (they contain nothing new to anyone familiar with The Beatles but they should be interesting to new fans.)
What about The Beatles Mono Box Set? You’ve probably heard from purists that that is the box set you really need to get (and I’ve got it too.) But to be honest, I think I’ll end up listening to the stereo box set a lot more because it just sounds so fantastic. Maybe it’s just because I’m used to the stereo mixes, but the wide panning doesn’t really bother me like it does some people.
That’s not to say I’m saying you shouldn’t get the mono box, there are some really interesting mixes (some like “She’s Leaving Home” sound really significantly different) and they really are the mixes that the band intended people to hear. So yes, get the mono box too if you can afford it. But I would recommend the Stereo Box over the Mono Box for fans who can only afford one or the other. And I would definitely recommend the Stereo Box to newer fans. As cool as the Mono Box Set is (and it is really cool to hear albums like Rubber Soul, Revolver, & Sgt. Pepper in their original mono) I do think it’s probably more of a necessity for truly hardcore Beatles fans than for more casual fans.
One more note: These recordings have been remastered not remixed. There’s a big difference there. If you are expecting radically different mixes you will be disappointed. This is a matter of making the mixes that we already know sound better not remixing them so they sound more “modern” (ie vocals and drums up the center.) I can understand the desire for remixes (check out the Yellow Submarine Songtrack for remixes of 15 Beatles songs) but I think the unusual mixes are part of these songs character at this point and it’s too revisionist for my taste to remix them on their official releases. Perhaps remixes can be made available as an alternate way of hearing these albums, but they shouldn’t be the standard.
Those of you in the UK should go to the Amazon.co.uk Beatles Store.
In Canada: Amazon.ca Beatles Store.
Box Sets, The BeatlesBecome A MusicByDay.com Music Blogger.
And yes, I am aware that Help! & Rubber Soul were actually remixed in 1987… (the original stereo mixes are available as a part of the Mono Box Set.)
Marvin Marks | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
And yes I’m aware this blog has had nothing but Beatles stories for awhile now… What can I say… the Beatlemania is a powerful force.
Marvin Marks | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
Skip; I am all about Mono. Compare “Pet Sounds” in Mono or “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” in Mono, all so much better than the Stereo mixes. Stereo is for nerds. The Beatles in Mono is essentially the new bible. I only listen to music in Mono, I have Mono. Mono means one, and I am at one with the planet. Mono!
Mozart Breath | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
I can definitely see the argument for mono over stereo for the first 7 or so Beatles albums… but once you get to around Magical Mystery Tour it seems clear to me that the stereo mixes are superior… and of course for the last couple of albums there are only the stereo mixes anyway.
I am listening to Please Please Me (the album) in stereo now and it’s true that the panning is a bit intense with the vocals all in the right and then the heavy reverb. I can see rocking the mono on this one. But I still like the stereo, it’s just a bit weird.
As far as mono vs. stereo with Piper… I haven’t heard the mono version - but I love it in stereo. It’s hard for me to imagine “interstellar…” without the crazy panning.
Marvin Marks | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
But listen to the stereo version of “Help!” (the song) vs the mono version… to me the stereo version sounds a LOT better. The mono version just sounds like it’s underneath a blanket or something. I don’t know man. I dig being able to hear all of the parts of the music. I’m not into the wall of sound thing.
Marvin Marks | Sep 14, 2009 | Reply
I can’t believe how excited I am about these albums after all these years I’ve been listening to their music since I was about seven (1971) and I’ve got Beatlemania again. The mono box set blows me away, but I will buy all the stereo albums one at a time.
MIke | Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
I just want to thank you for this review since I agonized over which to purchase. With two kids in college and money a factor, I went with the stereo set and now I am awaiting its arrival. I didn’t preorder so I have been waiting about a month! I am sick with H1N1 right now so I don’t think I could have a listen yet but by Monday when they arrive I should be right as “Rain.”
Dave Schlom | Oct 1, 2009 | Reply
Have you heard Pet Sounds in surround? You are many then, not alone, not just one…many!
It is a great mix!
David Valentine | Oct 28, 2009 | Reply
I haven’t heard Pet Sounds in surround… sounds like a nice time. But I don’t have a surround system set up right now. I’ve got some 5.1 surround mixes in the past, and I enjoy them — but at the same time, I don’t often find myself bothered enough to actually go to the trouble of listening in 5.1
Marvin Marks | Oct 28, 2009 | Reply
Good article. I hope they will be remixed someday, though. Ideally, they should be re-released as the Talking Heads were re-released, with both a remastered and remixed CD/DVD included in one packet. That way, everybody is happy.
Bill | Nov 2, 2009 | Reply
Bill,
I have mixed feelings on the remix concept… I do like hearing the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack remixes (which are mixed in a much more “modern” way) but… at the same time I think there’s a certain charm to the original stereo mixes, even when they are totally screwed up. It’s just another thing that sets The Beatles music apart from almost everything else.
I think the original stereo mixes should be available… but I guess it wouldn’t do too much harm to have a remixed version of their catalog available… if so though, I think it should only be in a box set (like the mono box set) so that it’s not confused with their official original stereo mixes.
Marvin Marks | Nov 3, 2009 | Reply
BTW, I think that’s the reason for the mono CDs only being available in the mono box set, they don’t want the average customer (who may not be as knowledgeable) to accidentally pick up the mono CD and to be annoyed by it. I really think it makes sense actually… as most of the Beatles fans who are hardcore enough to want to original mono mixes, are also hardcore enough to want all of them.
Marvin Marks | Nov 3, 2009 | Reply
There could be a box set called “The Beatles in REMIXED Stereo” heh… I’d buy it… and I’m sure I’m not the only one… so they’ll probably do it at some point.
Marvin Marks | Nov 3, 2009 | Reply
Yes, they are a bit cleaner but I can’t believe they spent four years on this and didn’t remix some of them. Listen to Eleanor Rigby on Yellow Submarine and you hear it as, I believe, it should be heard. Wonderful strings that are positioned properly. Paul’s voice centered too with no annoying “switch” in the panning a few words in. As for the radio broadcast at the end of “Walrus” being mixed to mono and John’s voice having to be in “false stereo” to accomodate this, well, listen to what Sir George and his son managed to do with it on “Love”. Proper stereo! Why couldn’t they have done this on “Beatles re-mastered”?
steve chambers | Nov 26, 2009 | Reply
Not so sure, Marvin…they didn’t seem to mind the average consumers being annoyed by the mono versions of several albums when they first issued the catalog on CD. Rather, they seemed to relish it!
StavinChain | Nov 26, 2009 | Reply