The Beatles in mono vinyl box set

	£		1,250
	$		1,656

The Beatles get back to mono in a limited edition 14 LP box set!

180-gram LPs pressed in Germany by Optimal Media

Newly remastered for vinyl from the analogue tapes by Sean Magee and Steve Berkowitz

Cut to lacquer on a VMS80 lathe

Exclusive 12" 108-page hardbound book with rare studio photos!

"The EMI representative told me that after absorbing the criticism heaped on the digitially sourced stereo box - including the extensive AnalogPlanet.com coverage, which was correctly construed as constructive criticism - the decision was made to produce the mono LPs using an all-analog mastering chain. ... Berkowitz told me that in his opinion and in the opinions of many, the mono mixes were the more important reissues and I agree." - Michael Fremer,AnalogPlanet.com. To read Fremer's full report, including his exclusive access to one of the mono mastering sessions, click here.

A seriously audiophile-minded undertaking! The Beatles in mono is how most listeners first heard the Fab 4's first recordings, when mono was the predominant audio format. Up until 1968, each Beatles album was given a unique mono and stereo mix, but the group always regarded the mono as primary.

Now comes The Beatles In Mono vinyl box set - 14 180-gram LPs for sale individually and as a lavish, limited boxed edition featuring a 12" 108-page hardbound book with rare photos and fascinating archive documents.

The release includes all nine original mono mixed U.K. albums plus the original American-compiled mono Magical Mystery Tour and the Mono Masters, a three LP collection of non-album tracks also compiled and mastered from the original analogue tapes.

As mentioned in the quote above, analog expert and viny guru Michael Fremer, ofAnalogPlanet.com, says EMI representatives heard and responded to criticisms concerning digitally sourced mastering used to produce The Beatles Stereo Box Set on vinyl. For the mono version, the decision was made to use an all-analog mastering chain to the degree possible.

"It's important to remember that the tapes have aged - some as much as fifty years - and the monitoring, playback and mastering equipment have changed as well, even though the work was done in the very same room in which the originals were mastered. Solid state has replaced tubes in the cutting chain," writes Fremer.

The Beatles' mono albums have been newly mastered for vinyl from quarter-inch master tapes at Abbey Road Studios by Grammy-winning engineer Sean Magee and Grammy-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz. While The Beatles In Mono CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital remasters, for this new vinyl project, Magee and Berkowitz cut the records without using any digital technology. Instead, they employed the same procedures used in the 1960s, guided by the original albums and by detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.

Working in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles' albums were initially cut, the pair first dedicated weeks to concentrated listening, fastidiously comparing the master tapes with first pressings of the mono records made in the 1960s. Using a rigorously tested Studer A80 machine to play back the precious tapes, the new vinyl was cut on a 1980s-era VMS80 lathe.

Fremer says the lathe was equipped with a Neumann SX-74 cutter head. The originals were cut on a Scully lathe, perhaps with a Westrex cutter head.

This is really a deluxe reissue project, done properly, and with careful attention to detail. Beatles collectors and even casual fans of the Lads from Liverpool will be transfixed. Treat yourself!

 

 

LP 1: Please Please Me 1. I Saw Her Standing There 2. Misery 3. Anna (Go To Him) 4. Chains 5. Boys 6. Ask Me Why 7. Please Please Me 8. Love Me Do 9. P.S. I Love You 10. Baby It’s You 11. Do You Want To Know A Secret 12. A Taste Of Honey 13. There’s A Place 14. Twist And Shout
LP 2: With The Beatles 1. It Won’t Be Long 2. All I’ve Got To Do 3. All My Loving 4. Don’t Bother Me 5. Little Child 6. Till There Was You 7. Please Mister Postman 8. Roll Over Beethoven 9. Hold Me Tight 10. You Really Got A Hold On Me 11. I Wanna Be Your Man 12. Devil In Her Heart 13. Not A Second Time 14. Money (That’s What I Want)
LP 3: A Hard Day’s Night 1. A Hard Day’s Night 2. I Should Have Known Better 3. If I Fell 4. I’m Happy Just To Dance With You 5. And I Love Her 6. Tell Me Why 7. Can’t Buy Me Love 8. Any Time At All 9. I’ll Cry Instead 10. Things We Said Today 11. When I Get Home 12. You Can’t Do That 13. I’ll Be Back
LP 4: Beatles For Sale 1. No Reply 2. I’m A Loser 3. Baby’s In Black 4. Rock And Roll Music 5. I’ll Follow The Sun 6. Mr Moonlight 7. Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey 8. Eight Days A Week 9. Words Of Love 10. Honey Don’t 11. Every Little Thing 12. I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party 13. What You’re Doing 14. Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby
LP 5: Help! 1. Help! 2. The Night Before 3. You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away 4. I Need You 5. Another Girl 6. You’re Going to Lose That Girl 7. Ticket To Ride 8. Act Naturally 9. It’s Only Love 10. You Like Me Too Much 11. Tell Me What You See 12. I’ve Just Seen A Face 13. Yesterday 14. Dizzy Miss Lizzy
LP 6: Rubber Soul 1. Drive My Car 2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) 3. You Won’t See Me 4. Nowhere Man 5. Think For Youself 6. The Word 7. Michelle 8. What Goes On 9. Girl 10. I’m Looking Through You 11. In My Life 12. Wait 13. If I Needed Someone 14. Run For Your Life
LP 7: Revolver 1. Taxman 2. Eleanor Rigby 3. I’m Only Sleeping 4. Love You To 5. Here, There And Everywhere 6. Yellow Submarine 7. She Said She Said 8. Good Day Sunshine 9. And Your Bird Can Sing 10. For No One 11. Doctor Robert 12. I Want To Tell You 13. Got To Get You Into My Life 14. Tomorrow Never Knows
LP 8: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 2. With A Little Help From My Friends 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4. Getting Better 5. Fixing A Hole 6. She’s Leaving Home 7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite! 8. Within You Without You 9. When I’m Sixty Four 10. Lovely Rita 11. Good Morning Good Morning 12. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 13. A Day In The Life
LP 9: Magical Mystery Tour 1. Magical Mystery Tour 2. The Fool On The Hill 3. Flying 4. Blue Jay Way 5. Your Mother Should Know 6. I Am The Walrus 7. Hello, Goodbye 8. Strawberry Fields Forever 9. Penny Lane 10. Baby, You’re A Rich Man 11. All You Need Is Love
LP 10 & 11: The Beatles “The White Album” 1. Back in the U.S.S.R. 2. Dear Prudence 3. Glass Onion 4. Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da 5. Wild Honey Pie 6. The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill 7. While My Guitar Gently Weeps 8. Happiness Is A Warm Gun 9. Martha My Dear 10. I’m So Tired 11. Blackbird 12. Piggies 13. Rocky Raccoon 14. Don’t Pass Me By 15. Why Don’t We Do It In The Road? 16. I Will 17. Julia 18.Birthday 19. Yer Blues 20. Mother Nature’s Son 21. Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey 22. Sexy Sadie 23. Helter Skelter 24. Long, Long, Long 25. Revolution 1 26. Honey Pie 27. Savoy Truffle 28. Cry Baby Cry 29. Revolution 9 30. Good Night
LP 12, 13 & 14: Mono Masters 1. Love Me Do (Original Single Version) 2. From Me To You 3. Thank You Girl 4. She Loves You 5. I’ll Get You 6. I Want To Hold Your Hand 7. This Boy 8. Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand 9. Siie Liebt Dich 10. Long Tall Sally 11. I Call Your Name 12. Slow Down 13. Matchbox 14. I Feel Fine 15. She’s A Woman 16. Bad Boy 17. Yes It Is 18. I’m Down 19. Day Tripper 20. We Can Work It Out 21. Paperback Writer 22. Rain 23. Lady Madonna 24. The Inner Light 25. Hey Jude 26. Revolution 27. Only A Northern Song 28. All Together Now 29. Hey Bulldog 30. It’s All Too Much 31. Get Back 32. Don’t Let Me Down 33. Across The Universe 34. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)