Meet The Beatles, Again
09/09/09 was a significant day in Beatles history. As many have noted, the fact the Beatles took over pop culture again on that date was not an accident: the number nine figured prominently in earlier Beatles work: “One After 909”, “Revolution #9”, “#9 Dream”, and so on. As John Lennon pointed out before his death, the number 9 is the highest number in the universe.
And the Beatles have proven once more that they are at the top of the pop universe, forever and always. On 09/09/09, The Beatles Rock Band was released to great acclaim. Gamers everywhere can now choose which Beatle they’d like to be – John, Paul, George, or Ringo – and play along with Beatles classics on their TV or computer screens.
On the same day, The Beatles Stereo Masters was released. Hard to believe, but except for the original CD packaging at the dawn of the digital era in 1987, most Beatles music remained untouched.
One reviewer described this box set as Beatles on steroids, and it’s true – this is the best sounding Beatles music ever put on disc. Even if you know every note by heart, the music leaps out at the listener anew.
It is amazing not how this music holds up, but how well it was constructed. There can be no question now that Lennon and McCartney were on par with Rodgers and Hart. Their songwriting skill and structure continues to bring new surprises for 21st century ears.
But the holy grail for Beatles fans – and I include myself in this category, as I own just about everything they ever released on vinyl and CD – is yet another box set released on 09/09/09: The Beatles in Mono.
The monaural box set has already sold out with a limited edition of 10,000 copies, but I have had the opportunity to listen. And wow, is it fresh. There’s something about the sheer density of a mono recording that has a power stereo can’t match. Stereo may have the capacity to surround you, but mono can punch you in the chest.
And that’s how I would describe some of the best revelatory material on the monaural box set. Anyone familiar with the Beatles canon knows their studio experimentation was legendary in the later years of the group, and appropriately, these remasters get really interesting during the Help!, Rubber Soul, and Revolver era.
“We Can Work It Out” takes on a new urgency. “Strawberry Fields Forever” seems even more melancholy as more of the accompaniment can be heard in the mono mix. “Lady Madonna” chugs along with confidence. The beefy horn section on “Got To Get You Into My Life” sounds like they are sitting in the room with you. And on “Revolution,” you can almost feel John Lennon’s spit hitting the microphone.
As Paul McCartney said recently, it’s as if you are in the studio. That is true. These recordings bring you to Abbey Road in a way no other release made possible.
But the reason the mono box set has been craved for so long by Beatles collectors is because of its unique mixes that have been unavailable in the CD age. “She’s Leaving Home” is in a different key; “Thank You Girl” has a completely different harmonica part. There is a different intro to “I Am The Walrus” than the one that’s become so familiar. These are but a few examples.
Never again will a rock group enjoy the kind of mass media penetration the Beatles enjoyed in their day. The Beatles transformed the top 40 into high art. Forget about lunchboxes, mop top wigs, and cartoons – this box set, for once and for all, preserves the Beatles as we should remember them: as the greatest self-contained band of the rock and roll era.
Michael Bird is a band director for Tallassee City Schools.
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Finally! After almost a year and a half since Montgomery locals were turned up on Direct. Picture quality is great. ...
Mono Box isn’t sold out, just the first pressing of 10,000. More are being pressed but it is taking more time than the stereo box because of the tedious mini-album reproductions. Rest assured, if EMI can make money of you, they will.