Lousy Stereo Mixes (offshoot of Cream thread)

[Uncle Al]

Comments about the less than ideal stereo image in the "Fresh Cream" thread got me to thinking: what other songs have a "poor" stereo mix, that would lend themselves to a remix (or flat out just sound better in mono)?

First thought - "Going Home", Rolling Stones, Aftermath. The Decca CD I have sounds pretty good throughout, the image is wide but clean. When you get to this song - ooo faa - entire backing track left - vocals too loud and centered - vocal echo (also too loud) and guitar overdubs right. Does this sound better in mono (I never heard it)?

Anybody else??

[lukpac]

Any of those early Stones RCA tracks, actually. The Last Time, Satisfaction, Get Off Of My Cloud, etc... Under My Thumb is good, though. As are the stereo Chess tracks.

[Vivaldinization]

A few examples:

Two notable Zombies/related releases (O&O and Argent) sound...well, less than stellar in their current mixes.


As for something that just sounds better in mono, the Association's Six Man Band--which is, let's face it, the hardest thing they ever did..^_^--is pretty much engineered for its mono mix, where it actually sounds like a rock song instead of just a stab at one.

-D

[Steve Hoffman]

The KING of bad stereo mixes:

RUBBER SOUL

Four-track masters mixed to twin-track, badly. Nothing worse than that, eh?

[ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: Steve Hoffman ]

[Andrew]

Two oldies that sound awful in stereo: "I'm a Believer" and "Do You Believe in Magic" :cool:

[Uncle Al]

Yeah - I gotta go with Steve here, what WERE they thinking when they mixed Rubber Soul? There are bootlegs of alternate mixes which sound far better than the "oficial" versions.

I have heard the story about Sir Martin concerned about mono/stereo compatability, and the previously discussed 3db "fold down" error - but somehow I put this in the catagory of "urban legend".

Or gross miscalculation.....

[ November 01, 2001: Message edited by: Uncle Al ]

[lukpac]

Originally posted by Uncle Al:
Yeah - I gotta go with Steve here, what WERE they thinking when they mixed Rubber Soul? There are bootlegs of alternate mixes which sound far better than the "oficial" versions.

I have heard the story about Sir Martin concerned about mono/stereo compatability, and the previously discussed 3db "fold down" error - but somehow I put this in the catagory of "urban legend".

No, that's it. Martin wanted to produce a stereo mix that was "mono compatible". Not urban legend, unfortunately.

[luke j. chung]

What's even worse is that when Sir George and engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith were doing the stereo mixes for "Rubber Soul", they did stereo mixes of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" in the same exaggerated style of separation, creating the "Grand Canyon" hole-in-the-middle effect for those two songs that you hear! :rolleyes:

[jkerr]

Rubber Soul:
I just never understood GM's concern with mono/stereo compatibility. I mean, was there any concerns with the previous 3 lps!?

If he wanted to experiment fine. But with a major release? Rubber Soul is one I'd really like to hear re-mixed again. Especially since 87 re-mix is not great either.

[lukpac]

Originally posted by luke j chung:
What's even worse is that when Sir George and engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith were doing the stereo mixes for "Rubber Soul", they did stereo mixes of "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" in the same exaggerated style of separation, creating the "Grand Canyon" hole-in-the-middle effect for those two songs that you hear! :rolleyes:
You want to know what's even more crazy? When Peter Brown remixed those two songs for the 1966 best-of LP, and used the same goofy separation! Vocals way over on the side...

[Todd Fredericks]

Yes, the stereo "Rubber Soul" mix is terrible. I enjoy the mono one better because it sounds more like a band playing rather than a studio-layered creation.

I'm not a big fan of the stereo versions of Dylan's early work. It always sounds strange that his voice, guitar, harmonica are coming from different directions. Does he strum his guitar far left, sing in the center and contort to the right when he toots the harmonica? I hope he didn't hurt himself when he did that. He must have done yoga...

Todd