I just got a call from my local independent record shop telling me they have me a copy of the MONO Beatles CD box set in for me. It's on hold. But here's the thing: I already have it! I got it the day it came out from Best Buy! They had two copies, and I was second waiting in line outside before they opened. Problem is, being the perfectionist I am I didn't like the dent in the box! It appeared it had been dropped! So I never did open it! DOES the new one that just came out have a different catalogue number? Is it the same? Is it considered less valuable being a second pressing? Anyone have any details or further info?

My understanding is that the music will be the same. Hope that helps.

Oh my...now wouldn't that freak collector's out. Put one new bonus track on the second generation set and watch the craziness ensue.

I just read a thread at sh.tv about this subject. Someone claimed the only discernible difference is that they glued the back cover to the box on the reissue and didn't on the original issue (or vice versa). Of course, you have to remove the shrink wrap to tell which is which. I also saw awhile ago where someone was selling just the outer mono box (having cannibalized it). If the box dent is bugging you that much, you might check to see if his box is still available. It would have to be cheaper than buying a new set just for the box...

Not that it's bugging me that much, but for being such a limited edition (and PRICEY!) thing, it would be nice to not have the big dent in it. Speaking of which, I just discovered today a DENT in my car's front bumper! THAT probably happened in the parking lot at Best Buy too! Damn Geek Squad!

Here's that sh.tv thread I mentioned above, for what it's worth:

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showt ... p?t=198314

I've got a question maybe somebody can answer. What with all this talk about how hard it is to find the mono copies of the CD's,does anybody remember the last batch of the "Capitol Albums" that got released 6-7 years ago? There were several albums included,and mono versions of everything. I get that they were the US versions,but the Cd's included both stereo AND mono versions. I'm just wondering if people have forgotton that some of that stuff is already out there in mono? I'm a big fan,but not a diehard,so maybe somebody else can share some thoughts on that....

SteveO

Somebody HAS!!!

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=47679

Appreciate that link & Info Frank. Lots to look at there,but I can browse as I go along....

collector choice sent me an email today saying that the mono box is back in stock.

wow, did the promoters and marketers do a job on the public on that one or what?

I bet there will be Mono CDs sold seperatly next.

Do not trust these Music Companies

It's out there, but a recent listen on my main system comparing the USA Capitol boxes of a few years back to this one showed that in addition to the US reverb drenched masters.......... the old US boxes are horribly BRIGHT. These are miles better.

Oddly enough, "Help" and "Rubber Soul" in the MONO box contain the MONO mixes followed by the STEREO mixes as in the series to which you refer. None of the others do. Could they be derived from the above mentioned Capitol series somehow?

Nope. The stereo versions heard on the mono CD are the original 1965 stereo mixes (which, admittedly, are the same as some of the mixes used by Capitol). The stereo versions of those two CDs are remasters of the 1987 remixes.

Bear in mind as well that some of the mono versions in the Capitol boxes are exclusive to Capitol like I'll Cry Instead and What You're Doing (with the loud drumbeats)

OK, a second pressing of the beatles mono box.

the same beatles mono box that had a "limited" run and drove many people crazy trying to get one, even to the point of paying exorbitant prices just to get one.

i wonder who the marketing genius was on this. i bet he got a big big bonus, and all the original mono box sets he could sell on ebay

Received word my Mono box set is on it's way. Should have it by Weekend!

Rick A.

OK, why? I can't figure out why they ultimately put out THREE versions (MONO, STEREO '65, STEREO '87) of two albums.

Because those are the two albums that George Martin chose to remix for the '87 CDs, likely because of the hard panning of the vocals in the original stereo mix.

To paraphrase George Mallory, "Because they are there."

That's exactly the reason why.
He didn't like the hard panning with the voices on one side and the music on the other, so he remixed it in '87 so that the voices would be centered (like the mono version). He considers these mixes to be the definitive stereo versions of Rubber Soul and Help.

That's pretty much it, except that the '65 Help! stereo mix isn't nearly as w - i - d - e as the Rubber Soul mix, hell a couple of the songs ("Help!" & "Another Girl") are virtually identical to the '87 mixes. I think what happened was that they caught some flak from fans for releasing the first four CDs in mono, so they decided to release all the remaining discs in stereo. It wouldn't surprise me if their plan at the time was to remix all of the remaining discs, but they caught even more flak for remixing the two that they did, so the rest of 'em came out as the standard stereo mixes.