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Rolling Stones Mono Box Set (lp or cd)

I wanted to get the ball rolling. I thought that including both formats here would be beneficial to the entire discussion. I personally have little experience with the Rolling Stones. However, I think I can add an opinion in the form of having heard lots of music from this era and how this box relates to the Beatles Mono Box. I'm currently using my stereo cart. I've listened to the first 5 lps in chronological order.

One thing that has stood out to me is how consistent these 5 lps are in sound quality. ( "Out Of Our Heads", US has more pronounced bass, haven't listened to the UK yet.) This is kind of unusual in my listening experience. Compared to the Beatles Mono box which wasn't as consistent, album to album. I find the detail, the ambient retrieval, and the bass overall to be very good. What bothers me is I feel it is recorded too hot as well as I feel the overall sound seems somewhat very slightly artificial. ( I never felt this way listening to the Beatles Mono box). These last two issues may have to do with the re-mastering chain. It may be the quality of the mics, the recording venue, etc...I don't know. I don't have the originals to compare. There is the dimensional character of the soundstage that is very nice as was the Beatles. The vinyl itself is super quiet but I see that a few of these will need to be flattened. So far, there isn't an pressed "off-center" issue.
astro58go
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,087 posts
 

Ian Stewart was the 6th Stone. The pianist on a lot of British invasion records is Nicky Hopkins, heard on albums by The Kinks, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group (I saw him live with Beck on the first U.S. tour), The Stones (Satanic Majesty’s Request, Beggars Banquet), and even The Beatles ("Revolution"). In the 70’s he moved to the States and worked with The Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Jerry Garcia Band. He made three solo albums, and died in 1994.

Steve Hoffman has posted pictures of Abbey Road studios in which the recording equipment is visible, pointing out the tube limiters the studio used. Steve claims those limiters are known to be not very good sounding, and may very well be responsible for the less-than-great sound of The Beatles albums.

jafant's avatar
jafant
20,088 posts
 
Yep- Nicky Hopkins had a hand in it as well (no pun).
jafant's avatar
jafant
20,088 posts
 
astro58go-

an update: last night I unboxed my Japan import of this Mono box set.
As always, the weight (10 lbs) and packaging is outstanding! This special set in on SHM-CD in 7 inch cardboard sleeves that reflect the original 60's albums sleeves (UK & US). It will be quite awhile before I open it.

As soon as I find the more domestic set for actual listening, I will keep you posted. Happy Listening!
tostadosunidos's avatar
tostadosunidos
1,197 posts
 
I appreciate Ian's (who was an original member of the Stones) contributions as well as Nicky's (who was so good in the first Jeff Beck group)--but they don't start to compare to the difference in sound that George Martin made.  The Stones' longevity is inconsequential to me since they peaked somewhere around Sticky Fingers, not long after the Beatles' demise.  And if you compare the sound of that recording to Abbey Road--no contest.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,087 posts
 

Halleluiah! Tostado, I am so weary of The Stones continuing to be held up as The Greatest blah blah blah long after they started sucking. Which was a long, long time ago. Why they weren’t written off after they put out a disco album is an absolute mystery to me.

I don’t expect 1960’s Pop or Rock albums to sound very good. As Pete Townshend said, they were made to sound "good" (whatever that means) on car radios. About the worst sounding are The Who albums prior to Tommy. So thin and brittle, nothing like they sounded live, which was extremely punchy (thanks to Keith Moon and John Entwistle, who sounded SO awesome!), like a direct-to-disc LP and the Decca/London cartridge.

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