The Beatles in Mono

Over the past few years I've come to really appreciate a lot of The Beatles work, especially their later output (save for Sgt. Pepper, which I still haven't really grown attached to). Rubber Soul, Revolver, The White Album, and Abbey Road are all great albums. When the box sets came out I debated which one to get, and almost went with the stereo intially. But really, the early albums don't make much sense with all the seperation (especially if listening in headphones), and since mono's the way they really meant their music to be heard up until their last few albums, I thought this would be the way to go.

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First of all, the packaging is some of the best I've ever seen. The outer case is solid and inside are lp replicas, complete with the outer plastic protective sleeve and the inner sleeves (they give you two options - a sort of rice paper, transparent sleeve, and a paper sleeve...I think both are great and I'm torn on which ones to use). Even the cd labels are like the records themselves.

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The sound is great so far. It does lack a little punch at times, and the sound isn't as full, but the clarity is defintely there. With ears so used to hearing in stereo, the mono at times can be a little dull, but I quickly get past it and appreciate hearing all the details.

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This is also my first real exposure to their first five albums, which are all great even if they do rely a little too much on covers.

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All in all this was a great purchase and one I'll have fun taking care of and listening to for years to come.