FINALLY! The U.S. Albums will be complete!

Is it worth getting any? I have all the 2009 stereo remasters. Debated getting one possibly for the mono mixes, which album(s) has mono versions that noticeably differ from the stereo version?

I don't have the new version, but the AHDN soundtrack should have a few noticeably different mixes--"I Should Have Known Better," "If I Fell," and on the U.S. version, an extended "I'll Cry Instead."

If you wanna go a little further, "I Call Your Name" (on Second Album) has a completely different intro, and "Paperback Writer" (Hey Jude) is way better in mono. Unfortunately, Sgt. Pepper and the White Album have the most substantial differences but they're not available individually.

Originally Posted by ringo_rama

If you wanna go a little further, "I Call Your Name" (on Second Album) has a completely different intro, and "Paperback Writer" (Hey Jude) is way better in mono. Unfortunately, Sgt. Pepper and the White Album have the most substantial differences but they're not available individually.

Hey Jude is in stereo only, so you won't be getting the mono "Paperback Writer" on there.
If you missed out on the U.K. mono box set, which would have been mine recommendation, I think you can get some of these early U.S. albums which orignally were just fold downs but now uses the 2009 mono versions. "Meet the Beatles" "BEATLES VI".

However there also some unique U.S. mono mixes which were used. The Beatles second album, "Something New" "Beatles 65" and ofcourse "Yesterday and Today" feature the most unique U.S. mono mixes. See also the link I have posted.
It's a confusing mix bag this.

Billboard 200:

US Albums Box: 48
Hey Jude: 72
Yesterday & Today: 74
1: 84
A Hard Day's Night: 102
Revolver: 143
Rubber Soul: 170
Meet The Beatles!: 171

Originally Posted by MagicalMysteryDolphins

Billboard 200:

US Albums Box: 48
Hey Jude: 72
Yesterday & Today: 74
1: 84
A Hard Day's Night: 102
Revolver: 143
Rubber Soul: 170
Meet The Beatles!: 171

Amazing .... after "All These Years Ago"

I bought a few of the individual CDs. What I heard was the American mixes gleaned from the 2009 remasters. If a guitar or vocal part was double tracked on the British mix and single tracked on the American, then that is how the song is presented on these new CDs. I think of it as the American titles with a face lift. The Dave Dexter-izations are removed.

But to give Dexter his due, he did what was done to create a stereo mix from mono tapes in the early sixties. 48 track mixing consoles and pro tools software did not exist in 1965. It was the era of echo chambers and electronic delays and reverb units. That is why we have the term "fake stereo". It's mono sound tricking you into thinking it's actually stereo.

In the notes in the 2009 CDs mention that several songs are presented in mono on them - because fake stereo has fallen out of favor. So I guess that same thinking is in effect here.

One plus to the new American versions is the use of the reproduction inner sleeves. (Back in the vinyl days I used to like looking at the inner sleeves and seeing the adds for other albums.) Also the CDs have a protective poly sleeve, ala the Mono Box.

When I listened to the Yesterday And Today CD I heard all the little things that separated the American mixes from the British ones. I just heard them in better clarity, it was very much like listening to Yesterday And Today ... Naked.

Originally Posted by Winston O' Boogie

Amazing .... after "All These Years Ago"

Well, yes and no.

Yes, on one hand, it is amazing that a band that hasn't been together for 45 years is still able to chart recordings that have been issued and reissued in one form or another. But the first week counts all the pre-order sales, and it isn't that surprising that the collector crowd--still sizable but shrinking--placed orders to have the box or the individual titles they wanted that first week. It is a known commodity--no reason to wait for reviews or hear friends talk about it--and the first week rush up the chart wasn't unexpected.

What MAY have been unexpected was the second week. Only HEY JUDE remained in the top 200, barely, at 191. Everything else was gone from the chart. There may be the secondary interest this week given the hoopla of the anniversary of the Sullivan appearance. I'd like to know what Apple/Capitol projected for sales for the first month or so, and then see how close they got to it. These may well be performing just as they thought it would--and I doubt we'll ever know--but I suspect this second week is a major disappointment. Think about how many times you've seen endcaps at Wal-Mart or Best Buy filled with albums that charted no better than these did the first week. I can't come up with anything like this; the endcaps are for visibility for those items they think will be flying out of the store.

JcS

Originally Posted by Joey Self

Well, yes and no.

Yes, on one hand, it is amazing that a band that hasn't been together for 45 years is still able to chart recordings that have been issued and reissued in one form or another. But the first week counts all the pre-order sales, and it isn't that surprising that the collector crowd--still sizable but shrinking--placed orders to have the box or the individual titles they wanted that first week. It is a known commodity--no reason to wait for reviews or hear friends talk about it--and the first week rush up the chart wasn't unexpected.

What MAY have been unexpected was the second week. Only HEY JUDE remained in the top 200, barely, at 191. Everything else was gone from the chart. There may be the secondary interest this week given the hoopla of the anniversary of the Sullivan appearance. I'd like to know what Apple/Capitol projected for sales for the first month or so, and then see how close they got to it. These may well be performing just as they thought it would--and I doubt we'll ever know--but I suspect this second week is a major disappointment. Think about how many times you've seen endcaps at Wal-Mart or Best Buy filled with albums that charted no better than these did the first week. I can't come up with anything like this; the endcaps are for visibility for those items they think will be flying out of the store.

JcS

Good points, I'm wondering if this was a miss step by Apple/Capitol? The collector's market for such items are shrinking but does that mean so is the desire for Beatle product? for us who would at least like "Something New" ....

Would expect Apple's pretty much milked the diehard fan base dry by now. As for new or casual fans, doubt very much they'd purchase this collection. So would guess most people that plan on getting it have already bought it.

Originally Posted by hibgal

Would expect Apple's pretty much milked the diehard fan base dry by now. As for new or casual fans, doubt very much they'd purchase this collection. So would guess most people that plan on getting it have already bought it.

Do agree with you, the cash cow has been milked over and over again over the years. But on the other hand, these new CDs are a way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

Another blast of Beatles albums on the Billboard 200 after the CBS telecast.

1 - #37
Abbey Road - 119
Sgt. Pepper's - 132
Rubber Soul - 134
White Album - 159
A Hard Day's Night - 189
Love - 191
Meet The Beatles! (US) - 192

Originally Posted by Blackguard

Do agree with you, the cash cow has been milked over and over again over the years. But on the other hand, these new CDs are a way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary.

I too ordered the the new 2014 US CD set from Amazon, since I found a great price of $96 with free shipping, last week.

Then I started reading the reviews, and thought I just paid too much for some nice mini LP artwork, 'cause that is basically all you are getting here that is new.

As much as people complain about the 2004-06 Capital CD set, at least they are the real thing, not the UK mix, like this new set.

Thankfully 24 hours later, when I came to my senses, I cancelled my Amazon order without a hitch.

My personal take on it is, if you already have the 2004-06 Capital set, don't bother, just buy the individual ones to complete your set.

If your contemplating buying this set, but really want the true Capital sound, get the 2004-06 set, and buy the individual albums that are missing. You can even buy "The Beatles Story" on Ebay, since that is the only one you can't buy individually from the 2014 set.

If you've already purchased the 2014 set, then just enjoy it for what it is!

A Late Coming Update.

I found American monaural vinyl copies of A Hard Days Night and Yesterday & Today. I played them against the CD versions, and I was hard pressed to hear any real differences between them.

The producers of the new CDs made the right re-mastering decisions.

Originally Posted by Blackguard

A Late Coming Update.

I found American monaural vinyl copies of A Hard Days Night and Yesterday & Today. I played them against the CD versions, and I was hard pressed to hear any real differences between them.

Big difference in the Stereo versions. BIG!

Are you commenting on the lack of echo and reverb on the stereo versions? Engineers at Capitol created the American Stereo versions by way of processing the mono tapes through electronic delays and possibly an echo chamber as well. At least they were kind enough to call the resulting sound Duophonic.

Fake stereo has fallen very much out of favor in the past 30 years or so. So the US CDs use either the true British or American stereo tapes.

Originally Posted by Blackguard

Are you commenting on the lack of echo and reverb on the stereo versions? Engineers at Capitol created the American Stereo versions by way of processing the mono tapes through electronic delays and possibly an echo chamber as well. At least they were kind enough to call the resulting sound Duophonic.

Fake stereo has fallen very much out of favor in the past 30 years or so. So the US CDs use either the true British or American stereo tapes.

If your asking me, yes I’m commenting on the lack of Dexterized Echo & Reverb as we in N.A. grew up listening to. It may have fallen out of favor, but it’s not true to what the albums were and what we heard growing up.

The Capitol CD box sets are true to the real experience. Do these new mixes sound better? Of course they do, they are 2009 U.K. remasters, unlike the Capitol CDs that are not remastered.

Rip-off, and I’m more than happy with the real Capitol box sets.

Originally Posted by Bongo

The Capitol CD box sets are true to the real experience. Do these new mixes sound better? Of course they do, they are 2009 U.K. remasters, unlike the Capitol CDs that are not remastered.

Actually Capitol did remaster the 2004 and 2006 box sets. They were superior in sound quality to the CDs issued in 1987.

My own take on the newer CDs is that they allow us to hear what was lost in all that added echo. More of the intended mixes. Fake Stereo or electronic re-channelment was in and of it's time. It had it's time, and we've moved on from it. RCA Records holds a place for the worst re-channeled mix of all time. RCA engineers placed a speaker at the the top of a staircase, two microphones at the base to record the resulting "mix".

Had this been an experiment to find out if a stereo mix could be made this way, I could forgive them. No, they actually released an Elvis Presley album with the staircase mix. Bad Enough already, but it gets worse. They destroyed the original well balanced mono master tapes afterward. Talk about a crime.
There is a happy ending, several decades later release quality copy tapes of those songs were discovered and re-issued. RCA was able to recover from a major mistake. For many years mono sound was the norm, the transition to stereo was not with out its birth pains.