Over the course of yesterday (Monday), I listened to a few albums on various formats, randomly picking out albums I fancied in that moment, these were as follows..... Frank Sinatra - "In The Wee Small Hours" John Mayall with Eric Clapton - "Bluesbreakers" Jimi Hendrix - "Smash Hits" Duke Ellington & Johnny Hodges - "Side By Side" Sammy Davis Jnr - "The Wham Of Sam" It wasn't until the end of the day that I realised that these albums had one thing in common, they were all in glorious MONO! Come this morning and after hearing songs by The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Kinks on the radio, I decided to have a 1960's beat boom day. Also having been inspired by the previous days listening, I decided to pull out The Rolling Stones Mono box and played seven of that sets albums which were in order of appearance..... Let It Bleed Between The Buttons The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones No 2 Flowers Now 12 x 5 I then followed this up with two LP's from The Beatles Mono Box.... A Hard Days Night With The Beatles And finally I came to the Kinks... Kinda Kinks Arthur The Kinks Are Well Respected Men Over the course of the last two days I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing every one of these wonderful albums in their original mono format, so much so I thought why not start a thread to see what MONO albums folks around here are playing. So folks, the question for everyone is what MONO albums are you all currently brightening up your days with?
Simon & Garfunkel - Sounds Of Silence: I love their music, but I was never a huge fan of this album... Finally hearing it in Mono really changes that though. It's a dedicated mix and some of the songs just sound much punchier this way. It's about as Rock'n'Roll as S&G ever got, some exciting stuff and highly recommended in Mono! I also have Wednesday Morning and Parsley Sage in Mono, and they sound great too, just a little less of a difference compared to the Stereo versions though. Now I need to find my holy grail: Bookends in Mono! I'm afraid my UK Mono version is a foldie... Oh and a little off-topic, but Bridge Over Troubled Water in Quad is great too, and a beautiful quiet pressing. It nicely rounds out my alternative / non-stereo S&G collection.
I've been listening to a lot of mono albums lately, although only streaming as I am still waitong for an oppertunity to aquire physical copies. First that come to mind:
I recently picked up the Acoustic Sounds vinyl reissue of Masterpieces By Ellington and it may be the best sounding mono recording I've ever heard.
This is a classic example of trolling! If mono is not your thing then please don't post and ruin it for those that do enjoy it.
last week was my mono week. i listened to: cream -disreali gears mono uk reaction blue label simon and garfunkel -uk mono parsley sage rosemary and thyme beatles - sgt peppers uk mono yellow black parlaphone buffalo springfield - 1st album USA mono yellow and blue atco label.
Firstly please don't call out moderator actions. Secondly, trolling and thread craps ruin the thread not the music and that is also what you are doing.
Mayall & Bluesbreakers - Crusade, which was an album I've had for years in stereo and it never clicked... picked it up recently as a Sundazed mono reish and now I think it's the cat's meow...
All wonderful albums. Often times over the years I've bought albums for the music concerned never thinking if they were mono or stereo, it's only years later after suddenly hearing the album in stereo that I've realised I'd actually bought a mono version and heard how different each of them were.
Those mono Sundazed Mayall LP's are outstanding, I'm so glad I bought all three because they are getting harder to find these days.
for me sometimes it has more "magic" than a stereo press? i also feel like im transported back to a time i never lived. this thread inspired me. right now im listening to procol harum 1st album mono USA Deram.
I was the same way when it came to Mono or Stereo. In some cases we have no choice but to listen in Mono. Anyone who will only listen in stereo is missing out on some great music such as the album I spun yesterday.
I couldn't agree more. If I only listened to stereo then I'd be depriving myself of hearing some of the greatest music ever made, no early Elvis or early Rock 'n' Roll, no Louis Armstrong, no Nat King Cole Trio or early Sinatra..... the list goes on.
this got me thinking about velvet underground and nico album. i just checked discogs. a USA mono with full banana intact and emerson torso on the back will be slightly more than 1000$ i just added it to my wantlist. i think in 3 years i might be able to afford it right now i have a bootleg mono reissue with a non peelable banana. however it has the emerson torso on the back so thats pretty cool.