The Beatles Remastered CDs - Stereo & Mono Box Sets Out on 9/9/9

CDs were still pretty new technology at this time and so it shouldn't really be too surprising that the original mastering job done for The Beatles albums first release on CD wasn't particularly good. In fact it's now seen by most experts as a downright lousy job. The packaging for these CD releases wasn't particularly good either.

September 9, 2009: The Beatles Remastered

On 9/9/9 (a cool reference to "Revolution #9") all of The Beatles albums are being re-released on CD in both stereo and mono. This is significant because these CDs are all newly remastered and should sound better than ever before. It's also significant because this is the first time that the original mono mixes of The Beatles albums are being released on CD.

The stereo albums will be available both for individual sale (they will be the new standard Beatles CDs) and as part of The Beatles Stereo Box Set. This box set will include a remastered stereo mix of every single song The Beatles officially released from 1962 through 1970!

The mono mixes will not be available for individual, but only as a part of the special limited edition Beatles Mono CD Box Set. This set includes all 10 of The Beatles albums which were originally mixed in mono (that's 1962's Please Please Me through 1968's self titled double album which is best known as The White Album.) It does not include their final three albums (Yellow Submarine, Let It Be, & Abbey Road) because those albums were never mixed in mono in the first place. Like the stereo mixes, the mono mixes are also newly remastered and they should sound fantastic.

The Significance Of The Mono Mixes

As I mentioned previously, this is the first time that the original mono mixes of The Beatles albums are being released on CD.

It may be hard for some people to understand why anyone would want to hear mono mixes of The Beatles albums. After all, isn't mono a very outdated way of listening to music? Well certainly it is. There's a good reason nobody is recording or mixing albums in mono these days. But you must understand the context of the original recordings in order to fully appreciate the importance of these original mono mixes finally being available on CD.

For most of the 1960s (up until about 1968) mono was the standard way that people listened to music. Because of this it makes sense that the band's producers (George Martin, Norman Smith, & Geoff Emerick) and the band themselves (who were increasingly involved in the production of their albums over time) were focused primarily on the mono mixes.

They would spend many hours getting the mono mixes "just right" and then just throw together the stereo mixes very quickly. Simply put, the stereo mixes were little more than an "after thought" in comparison with mono. It's because of this that many hardcore Beatles fans now believe that these original mono mixes represent the "real" Beatles albums. It's why they are so excited that these mono mixes are finally going to be available on CD in the Mono Box Set.

Some Claim Mono Beatles Albums Sound Better

But it's more than simply a matter of historical accuracy that excites Beatles fans about these new mono Beatles CDs. It's also the fact that many have claimed over the years that the mono versions of the albums (in particular Sgt. Pepper) sound better than the stereo! In a way that makes sense. They spent so much more time on getting the mono mixes right, so it makes sense that they would sound better. Plus stereo mixing in the 1960s was a very experimental new thing and a lot of the stereo mixes of The Beatles songs sound downright "weird" today.

Among those who have claimed that Sgt. Pepper sounds better in it's original mono was none other than John Lennon himself.

Hear Clips Of The Remastered Beatles Songs

If you've already got all of The Beatles stuff on CD, you may be wary about buying it all again. But the cool thing is you can hear clips of the remastered Beatles songs online to see what all of the fuss is about before you make your decision on whether you want to splurge on 9/9/9.