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Lee Newman said:
I am on a Beatles kick tonight quite unexpectedly but went a different way…
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The Beatles - Meet the Beatles (from The Capital Albums Vol. 1)

My parents didn’t have any Beatles records in their collection. I had a copy of 20 Greatest Hits and the White Album on cassette. My dad was stationed in Japan for a year when I was in middle school and he came home with tapes of the CDs of Magical Mystery Tour and Yellow Submarine. He told me they were all the hits which was bizarre to me when I was older, it wasn’t until I was much older that I realized if he and my mom did hear The Beatles growing up (my mom certainly did as both her brothers had Beatles vinyl), it was these weird alternate reality versions.

Edit: it dawns on me as I listen to the stereo mix that I know why hard panning doesn’t bother me as much as it does some of you guys. I spent a lot of time in college and young adulthood listening to the weird original stereo mixes of the Beatles.

Edit edit: man the masters used for this are all over the place. It’s kind of jarring especially in headphones.
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It’s not really an a-b on this, but…
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The Beatles - Please, Please Me

This is a 1987 SRC. Reading SID codes is for the birds. This has a much smoother presentation. The Meet was hotter almost to the point of clipping at times and had an almost garage edge to it. The mono mix on that CD was much more consistent than the stereo, those varied in quality even levels.

This CD is only Mono (much to my surprise it isn’t until the later CD reissues - the ones currently in print - that there was a stereo mix of this on CD.) Anyhow, it is The Beatles I grew up with very smooth, poppy, professional.

Edit - what were the heads at Capitol smoking anyhow? How did Twist and Shout not make the cut on the first album or the second more rock and roll oriented album?
 
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The Beatles - Please Please Me (from the Mono box)


Huh. I wouldn’t have expected the 87 to have been as close to this as it is. The biggest difference is instrument separation. The one thing the stereo mix of Meet had going for it is that there were less instruments in each track so despite the harshness of the mix, the instruments stood out - especially given there presence in only one ear. This replicates that but in both ears. So it rocks a bit more than the 87 but feels just as polished. But it doesn’t feel like the top or bottom is missing as much as I had been lead to believe in the 87s.
 
Lee Newman said:
View attachment 199840
The Beatles - Please Please Me (from the Mono box)


Huh. I wouldn’t have expected the 87 to have been as close to this as it is. The biggest difference is instrument separation. The one thing the stereo mix of Meet had going for it is that there were less instruments in each track so despite the harshness of the mix, the instruments stood out - especially given there presence in only one ear. This replicates that but in both ears. So it rocks a bit more than the 87 but feels just as polished. But it doesn’t feel like the top or bottom is missing as much as I had been lead to believe in the 87s.
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The Beatles - Please Please Me (from the Mono box)

It’s not even subtle. This is a rock band. Everything is just… more? Even in mono, the stage is just wider. The separation better. Man, the cymbals… you get that “shsss” from it being tapped and then closed with a pedal. The delay in vocal reverb is distinct. It’s all livelier and more detailed. Even the cd version of this edition seemed politer. This feels like there are four guys behind some glass in the next room.
 
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Giorgio Moroder – Scarface (Original Motion Picture Score - 40th Anniversary Edition)
La-La Land Records – LLLLP 2008, 2022/2024

White w/ Red Splatter "Chainsaw" variant limited to 750.

Cut by Adam Gonsalves at Telegraph Mastering
Pressed at Waxwork Records

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