The Beatles Mono Masters Review - Why the Mono Masters Compilation is a "Must Hear" Set

Non Album Tracks?people listened back on mono record players at
These days bands tend to put all of their bestthe time. So The Beatles actually spent a lot
songs on their albums so when you hear aboutmore time perfecting their mono mixes than they
the non album compilations for The Beatles (Pastdid the stereo. Because of this many people
Masters in stereo and Mono Masters in monoconsider the mono versions of their songs to be
respectively) you may think that it's just adefinitive.
collection of underwhelming B-Sides that weren'tThe Beatles Mono Box Set (which is the only way
good enough to make it on the band's classicto get the Mono Masters compilation as it is not
albums such as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Clubsold seperately) features The Beatles albums in
Band & Abbey Road.mono on CD for the very first time.
But in actuality, nothing could be further from thePreviously Unreleased Mixes (Yellow Submarine)
truth! Many of the band's most famous songsBecause the original Yellow Submarine album
were never included on their albums. The Beatles(1969) was released only in stereo (their first
actually liked to keep their singles and their albumsalbum released only in stereo) the mono mixes
as seperate as possible so songs like "Daythat were made for the four new mono mixes
Tripper" & "Hey Jude" were never includedincluded on the album were shelved until now.
on an album and likewise albums like The WhiteThis means that the Mono Masters set includes
Album & Sgt. Pepper's had no songs releasedthe very first release (in any format) of "Hey
as singles.Bulldog," "All Together Now," "It's All Too Much,"
Mono?& "Only A Northern Song" in mono.
The Mono Masters double CD compilation includesThey were included on the "non-album" set
the original mono mixes of all of The Beatlesbecause the entire Yellow Submarine album could
non-album tracks (and the four new Beatlesnot be included because the instrumentals that
songs on Yellow Submarine, more on that below.)make up most of the album were never mixed in
But why should you care about mono mixes? Wellmono, thus it made more sense to include these
back then stereo wasn't seen as nearly asfour tracks on the Mono Masters set.
important as the mono mixes because most