The Beatles

My oldest son is very much into the Beatles and now he takes me on a ride. We did Rubber Soul, Revolver and now the White Album (my fav album is probably Abbey Road, there's some great (heavy) vibe on there, love the sound of it).
 
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Mosh said:
Have you listened to them in mono yet?
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Only select songs through YouTube. When I was younger I wanted to get the mono box as well, but that never came about and I’m pretty much satisfied with the stereo box. Although some day I might pick the other one up just for the hell of it.
 
Lemmy preferred the mono versions (according to the Lemmy documentary).
On the earlier lps, i might like mono better, but stereo on the last few lps.
 
I'm still playing a lot of Beatles lately, discovering more albums with my son. Today's listening session to A Hard Day's Night (1964) and the news about George Kooymans (Golden Earring) brought me to this lovely cover. Love that lead work.

 
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As for the stereo/mono debate, I have compared pretty much all of them and I think it's somewhat blown out of proportion.

Yes, there is the terrible and insane stereo version of Rubber Soul where you get all the instruments in one channel and all the vocals in the other, which is a complete torture listening to in headphones (which I don't believe is even available anymore), but other than that... yes, there is a noticeable difference, but it's not like it's a different music altogether. A cowbell here, a jangly guitar there. It's fine, it feels somewhat different from time to time, but I still mostly listen to the stereo versions (because they're more easily accessible on Spotify - which is currently my preferred way to listen to music, especially in car).

In fact, at least IIRC, the most interesting (i. e. the most different) was the mono version of the White Album, which (again IIRC) was semi-official anyway.
 
I’m not sure if much is blown out of proportion, you described it pretty much as is: the mono is marginally different than the stereo and is often more listenable because things aren’t panned weird.
 
I like (wide) panning. More room. Makes it easier to hear the individual contributions (something I am into, like e.g. in jazz).
 
Well, if not mistaken, I have heard all Beatles songs! My son guided me through all albums and non album songs. A lot !
I found out that this band is more than just sweet happy sing a long songs or experimental/influential.

I enjoyed discovering songs with cool riffs like Paperback Writer or Day Tripper. And then there's songs with vocal harmonies that go straight through the heart like "I'll Be Back"! Also their psychedelic or orchestral moments were interesting.

In the future I'll try to post a list of my favourite 50 songs. To be continued.
 
So you’ve done the anthology sets and that sort of thing too?

Looking forward to the top 50. Also are you going to check out any solo material?
 
Forostar said:
I found out that this band is more than just sweet happy sing a long songs or experimental/influential.
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The one thing I love most about The Beatles is that they were constantly pushing themselves as artists. Yes, Revolver is most famous for all the studio trickery they threw in it, but the songs are also just really frickin' good. The melody are great, their voices are crisp and clean (even Ringo, who's honestly a better singer than is given credit for), and a lot of the lyrics are poignant and hit home. Obviously their music is more 'simple' than what came after them, but even so, they feel really intricately woven pieces of music.

Looking forward to that top 50!
 
MindRuler said:
A Beatles Top 50....interesting.
I might post mine too. :)
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I have selected more than 100 (the favs from all the stuff I've heard) and need to bring it down.
Mosh said:
So you’ve done the anthology sets and that sort of thing too?

Looking forward to the top 50. Also are you going to check out any solo material?
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To be honest, I had not done the anthology CD's. We could still do this.
Will check some solo material, but not before the the top 50. ;)
 
Forostar said:
To be honest, I had not done the anthology CD's. We could still do this.
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The Anthologies are really cool, but I'd only recommend them if you were interested in some songs The Beatles didn't release on the studio albums or if you really like experiencing some behind-the-scenes looks at how the songs evolved. They're really more for completionists. The original 12 UK albums + the US Magical Mystery Tour + Past Masters is really all one needs if you're just starting out with them. But it's up to you, like I said, those three are really cool, just not necessary IMO.
 
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