The Smiley Smile Message Board

I'll be the one to say it, and I know people will hate me for it but I consider the decision to release it in MONO to be the biggest blunder the producers could make.

It is completly fails to catch the imagination of a new listener. In this day and age, people do not listen to music as in the early-mid 60's in a one-channel format. people use ipods etc which give stunning stereo quality to the listner. And as a young person (I'm 20) I cant stand the mono mixes. I am a HUGE BB fan, and an even bigger fan of Pet Sounds and Smile,

BUT I CAN TELL EVERYONE HERE THAT NOBODY MY AGE WILL LISTEN TO MONO PS OR SMILE

The worst part is that it is fully available in stereo. Even lost vocal tracks like GV could either be reconstructed using modern software (ive seen amateurs do it well even). The other option would be to remove GV from the tracklist, I mean it's not related to Smile whatsoever, so you not just add it a bonus track then, but at least everything else could be stereo.

And why did they include Holidays anyway? what a dull boring track, the outro is the only part which is good ( and even that vocal for the tag was made during the Smiley Smile sessions). And the stereo H&V is terrible as well, I dont know...

I find myself listening only to fan mixes, but the stereo Surf's Up, Vega-tables and Wind Chimes on TSS are excellent!

Now slaughter me....  ;D

Well you did ask for it - the whole point of TSS is to present the session material in the truest and best possible way that Brian originally intended the music to be heard, in the best possible sound quality. The majority of listeners have no issue with listening to the music in mono - the music and ideas are three-dimensional enough to transcend any listening format !

I'm certain that people who would have listened to TSS if it would have been in stereo, but won't for the sole reason that it's in mono, are a very tiny minority.

If you think releasing an album in mono is a disaster for their legacy...  I don't think you've been paying close enough attention to everything that's happened 1967-2012....

I literally do not know anybody who's been like "oh yeah, Smile Sessions" in real life. It's not that big a deal. If it is play it on some shitty mono turntable and pretend like it's 1969. Also, hash joints.

A filthy lie, I'm the same age and I listen (and adore) both the mono Pet Sounds and Smile. I listen to both versions of PS and they both have their own advantages. Releasing Smile in mono in this day and age is doing justice to the original intention - the few stereo mixes are nice and I enjoy many stereo remixes of Pet Sounds but I can appreciate many aspects of the mono mixes.

I'll grant you that non-BB's obsessives our age may have trouble swallowing mono, but I'd wager that many of them wouldn't know the difference and wouldn't be aware that mono was a thing.

Speak for yourself bro. I'm only a few yrs older than you, and I love mono.

I'm 20, been loving both albums since 17. I think Cabinessenceking may be referring to Joe Public though, but then again I have friends my age who are more familiar with stuff from Pet Sounds than they are the car and surf songs thanks to people like Zooey Deschanel singing the praises of this album.

I'm guilty of this. I didn't know what mono was till I got my 8-track recorder.
Pet Sounds and Smile are better in mono imo. In "Here Today" (the stereo version) I can't hear "It makes me feel so bad" after Mike sings "The brand new love affair is such a beautiful thing", but in mono I do.

Mono is awesome and besides that's the only way it would have come out other than fake stereo.

Sigh.


It's not fully available in stereo at all, maybe at most 60%? You wouldn't have vocals for CITFOTM, leads on Wonderful, elements of Vegatables, off the top of my head.... and of course trifling things like the majority of the words on Heroes & Villains (IIRC, there is trickery involved to get the second verse in particular into stereo), or Good Vibrations, the electronic mixes we've heard fans do being nowhere near fit for official release. How fitting for the legacy.

Oh, and I'm 21, and SMiLE has been selling well since its release with nary a complaint besides idiots going 'well why isn't good vibrations in stereo?'. You don't know what you're talking about.

I'm 93, and I gotta say a quibble about the mono/stereo thing is not a big picture issue.

The responses of most suggest there's some trolling being undertaken...

And just how many kids do I see with ONE earphone of their iPod in...and the other earphone in a friends' ear ?

Teenagers are listening in mono all the time.

Mono rocks! 8)

I am rather crabby without my first coffee of the morning, true....

KK I knew I was gonna upset some people, apologies!

Its just that mono is epic for loud speakers, but bad for head-sets/earphones
And as for the CIFOTM chorus there exists stereo vocal, check AlternateBrian's mix from some years ago.

And the comment stating that they screwed up 1967-present, though perhaps true in the sense of no great continuation of Smile, I would consider Smiley Smile to be among their top 4-5 albums and it only happened because Smile failed to materialise.

And please don't call be ignorant on the topic, I've read way to much about this and enought posts on this forum to be deemed 'well-informed', ofc that doesnt prevent me from making mistakes or forgetting some important info.

They might to a stereo version later to cash in more on Smile ^^

I'm 17 and feel some 60's music is just meant to be in mono, e.g Beatles, Beach Boys, Bob Dylan etc. Also what is the likelhood that anyone who is interested in buying this type of material in the first place would be put of by the mono aspect? Probably about 11 people. :p

Alright.  I'll bite. 


You're 20.  Your Brain isn't even finished growing.  You won't know sh*t about sh*t for at least another 8 years or so.  When your brain finally stops growing, you'll realize that what you just said is completely ridiculous. 

Not slamming you.  I used to be 20.  I still say ridiculous things from time to time, but boy you should have seen the stupid things I thought back when I was your age. 

It's alright.  We all have horrible music taste like you do when we're 20.  LOL.  You're not old enough to know the difference between mono and stereo; your underdeveloped Brain still thinks that stereo means there's more speakers. 

Lock yourself in a room with Phil Spector's "Back to Mono" box for 3 years, that should straighten you out. 

It's only a matter of time until Capitol releases some kind of stereo edition of Smile. Otherwise, why not include such a mix in the box set? Obviously digital technology could allow them to build something that approximates or simulates a stereo experience for the people (and there are many) who prefer it. Capitol won't leave a dollar on the table if they can help it.

I think the above flurry speaks for itself.

In my opimion, it was released in mono becauzse it was Brian's decision to allow it's release, and he had final approval over the set. It was generous and kind on the pro9ducers' part to respect his preference in this matter.

Agree. I think there's still enough in the pot to get another release out of SMiLE. Barnyard with backing vox; one of the other four versions of Wild Honey-era SU; much of the disc 1 stuff in stereo as implied. Who knows what else.

Not that I'm complaining... bring it on (and put an end to all these fan mixes that are floating about!)!   ;D

This thread should be about SMiLE in duophonic, which would have been a disaster for the Beach Boy's legacy.

If your saying The Beatles 2009 remasters from 'Please Please' me up to 'Abbey Road' are better in stereo than mono.. well y'no...
there are fans, and there are music fans

I think you're right on the money. Without taking a stand on the issue I can tell you that there's a big backlash against the box set on other non-BB-boards I'm on (just look at the youtube comments)........and I understand them. How do you explain that Pet Sounds sounds tremendous in stereo and that Smile was released exclusively in mono?

What did you say? I can't hear you! I'm listening to Sgt Peppers 2009 stereo remix!

ha ha welllllll that ONE i may give you - although i also prefer the mono of that too, gotta say i do prefer listening to what the band intended you to listen to ie mono/stereo
Arthur Lee's Love - the Stereo remaster/remixes are WAYYYYY not as good as the Mono originals

There is a big difference between making a digitally-extracted stereo mix listenable versus going above and beyond to present it respectfully and without removing any musical content. Lots of people here complain about the lack of a stereo Smile, as if it's some sort of grand mystery and oversight on part of the producers. I find this amusing: like the experts who have worked with this stuff for years, who do this for a living, are going to receive revelatory technical advice from anonymous message board users, most of whom have zero experience at professional audio engineering.

Whether you realize it or not, the expectations we have for fan mixes are profoundly different than what we (and the general record-buying public) have for professional releases. Speaking as a big, big proponent for investigating digitally-extracted stereo and someone who has made contributions in this regard, I have never heard a fan mix that I preferred over the professional release, including my own. When you clear your head and pull yourself back from the excitement, they just don't sound as good.

Record labels are't perfect, and I'm sure compromises were made, but the fans here who antagonize Capitol are viewing the company through the narrow lens of the Capitol from 40 years ago. What evidence is there that Capitol is demanding a stereo release of Smile? Why pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into such an effort for results that will only cater to a very small market, some of whom will hate it anyway? Whether it was the producers' decision, Brian's decision, or whoever, going mono was the smartest thing the company could have done to find a balance between sound quality, market appeal, money, and getting it released on time -- all factors that fans never have to consider and conveniently ignore.

Austin: Well Said. 

I don't think it's quite fair to attack him based on his age.  Preferring stereo to mono isn't exclusively a "young person" thing - everyone has their tastes.  Perhaps he could have been a little less blunt about it, but there's nothing inherently wrong with not being a fan of mono.  And moreover, his complaint was more based on the fact that more people are going to listen on iPods or other mobile devices rather than big speakers, which isn't the ideal way to listen to mono anyways.

I'm not saying I agree with his thesis (I think Smile works well in mono, and Austin made some good points as well), but I don't think the insinuation that his opinions are wrong because he's 20 is justified. 

Yeah, right on, Austin.

It can't be complete, and in stereo, without sounding messy, or overly digitally processed, or simply having vast swathes of it missing. It's that simple. What were they supposed to do?

And everyone knows youtube comments are the cesspool of public opinion anyway.

Thank you Austin, you said it exactly. I raved over seltaeb1012002's fan mix he just posted, it's amazing, but if something like that got released as 'The Definitive SMiLE', everyone here would line up to kick Linett and Boyd in the nads. They did the respectful thing, as they had to do.

Mono is rubish. Just like black and wite filmz and steem enjens. I also h8 classicle musik cos they didnt even no how 2 rekord musik then they just wrot it on paper. How stoopid is that? Old stuff suks.

It's IMPOSSIBLE to release a full SMiLE in stereo. Unless you can find

1. The Good Vibrations vocal multitracks

2. The Barnyard multitracks

3. The missing You Were My Sunshine vocal multitracks

4. The missing Cabinessence lead + truck drivin' man overdubs

5. The ability to magically make Our Prayer (which was recorded on one mike) in stereo

6. The multitrack for the acetate vocals on Child is Father of the Man

Past that, most of the major bits of TSS have already got stereo mixes (Heroes and Villains, Vega-Tables, Wind Chimes, backing for Cabinessence, Surf's Up, technically Holidays and Look), and the only thing that

You're going to have a hard time explaining this to the casual music fan who whorships his Pet Sounds box.

A:  I made a duophonic SMiLE - Child sounds awesome!

B: I can understand having a preference to stereo over mono (I mainly play records, and, for the borad, I'm 16), but saying one is unlistenable? It just doesn't make sense to me. I Know there ares ome songs that come out today with very little stereo, maybe a single sound effect in the left ear, and yet you don't complain about that!

C:
I thought we had these?

Not for the track, apparently. the vocals are in stereo, and exist in the vaults, but Mark and Alan didn't put them on the box.... not even on the backing vocals montage  :'( :'(

I didn't read any responses to the original post, but I am also 20 years old, and that's just not correct. Let's be honest, modern day stereo is almost mono. Seperation is really, really narrow. Wide stereo of the 60s is a thing of the past. SMiLE in mono is actually closer to the format most young people are listening to.

In addition to that fact, I think most people hearing this material for the first time are drawn to the MUSIC, not the format the music is in.

I myself like Mono and Stereo for a variety of different reasons. There are bad mono mixes and there are bad stereo mixes.  The SMiLE Sessions (Disc 1) sounds really clean, and is in fantastic quality. The fact that we can all own this material in such a nifty package is a joy. Just enjoy it.

Two more statements I'd like to make:

If somebody your age is too close minded to listen to music because it's in mono, than he or she probably won't be open minded enough to listen to music from 1966/1967, period.

Most people under 30 don't even know what "mono" means, they'll probably hardly realize why it sounds somehow different than most of the other music they listen to.

So where's your post complaining that there's no stereo mix of Smiley Smile

The casual music fan doesn't OWN the Pet Sounds box...the casual fan undoubtedly owns only the album.

Also @ cablegodden, almost everything necessary for Pet Sounds in stereo exists, which is not the case for Smile.

it's on spotify and youtube  :-\

To those who don't like mono, the vinyl says hello.

Check out those popularity ratings on Spotify and how many views Beach Boys songs have on youtube.  The number of people listening to these albums through those sites cannot justify a stereo Smile release.

Mono is the definitive way to hear '60s Beach Boys.  It would be a shame in SMILE were released in only stereo!

Sorry, but you're plain wrong about young people not being interested in mono.  In fact, it seems like there has been a 'Back to Mono' trend in new music lately.  There are several new bands releasing mono tracks and mono albums.

Glad to see the lost art of mono tracks and albums coming back. This whole thread is inane and pointless, SMiLE was never meant to be in real stereo.

Beach Boys albums never released in Stereo:

1 - Surfin Safari
2 - Today
3 - Summer Days
4 - Party
5 - Smiley Smile
6 - Wild Honey

Pretty good company!

honestly, if you don't tell people something is mono, a lot of times they don't even notice ... especially on vinyl.

This thread sucks balls.

This board is starting to suck balls with annoying posters starting threads over the place.

A "disaster?" 

Typical exaggerated and over-the-top assessment common of Generation Y.

As your listeners get younger and younger you'll be hard pressed to find any who know the difference between mono and stereo mixes, and why for ten years or so most LP releases were mixed both ways.  Forget young folk - for most people these days music is background to something else, played through smartphones, earbuds, mini-speakers and TV rigs; wherein fidelity, let alone stereo, are NOT big concerns.

There's a funny YouTube, which may be partly staged, where a dad shows his 13-year old daughter an LP and she is nonplussed, unable to comprehend what it is or how it works.   (That said, turntables and vinyl are selling pretty well, in the big cities, to mostly younger listeners and club DJ-types).

I hate to be blunt, but here's the score;
Mono is sound out of one speaker
Stereo is two corresponding sounds out of two speakers

That difference means diddly squat to me, and I'm sure many others, someone said something to me regarding the issue once - "What would you prefer; bad stereo or good mono?"

And listening to some of those early 60's stereo mixes (early Beatles, Mamas & Papas, various other early/mid 60's bands) I always try to find the mono mixes because that broken stereo is actually MORE distracting over headphones. The fact of the matter is (as stated ad nausium on this board) until the mid/late 60's stereo was nothing more than a novelty, and until the advent of 16 and 24 track recording consoles, wasn't usually achieved very well.

I understand that Mono may be jarring for some people used to stereo, but what would you prefer, a very good Mono mix with deep sound and a clean soundscape, or a distracting Stereo mix with vocals hard panned one direction, a Mono rhythm track in the middle, whatever sweetening hard panned the other direction, and whatever else shoved somewhere for the sake of it being present (which with quite albums from this time frame is the only possible mix, or some configuration of this)

We were lucky with Pet Sounds because of the recording process at the time made decent stereo possible (which is ironic since I'm sure Brian was one of few producers who WASN'T thinking about stereo in 1966). I may be incorrect here (and please correct me if I am wrong), but I don't think a great deal of bouncing down was done during the SMiLE sessions at least not to the extent to Pet Sounds, which would mean even if these multi tracks were still present, a decent stereo image wouldn't be too realistic with a few of the tracks.

I know this post sounds like I'm whinging but I'm not, I'm just pointing a few things out. It's not a disaster, it's an album mixed in the most realistic way it could have been, it doesn't affect the quality of the music :)

Brian was never capable of hearing his work in stereo. So why be surprised that it is in mono? I really didn't like the stereo of PS. So many things got lost in transition. My parents are in their 60s and they can't tell mono from stereo. However I can and I am 23. So don't put all of us young people in a box.

Here:
Someone made a stereo mix of it, and it sounds fabulous, but Smiley Smile is a pure fan thing, Smile itself could've attained a larger following like PS has.

I'm still just a kid but I am part of the the earplugs generation of music fans, and stereo Smile is to me the best music available for the human ear (next to classical compositions) and stereo PS ofc. MONO Smile sounds old, I understand with many of the missing pieces but are any of them crucial????

- I would like to ask why GV must be on Smile? that wasn't the original intention when GV was concieved, as a result it stands out radically in style and lyrical content compared to the main Smile-body

- CIFOTM acetate, interesting to hear for the first time on TSS, but not neccessary and sounds worse than the old chorus IMO.

- Barnyard, not a crucial song, could even be mostly instrumental, no main vocal was ever really done ( the demo is hardly a demo, more like accidentally recorded at a radio station)

- Cabinessence, the 1969 version with longer tag would be epic
-Prayer, same

Now that these small adjustments have been made, why not make it stereo...

This is not for me, I have heard smile and dozens of mixes.

I want the larger public to hear it, and the genious of the music if revealed when hearing it in STEREO, agree or not THIS IS MY JUSTIFICATION for making the thread. Sorry if i upset too many.

true my bad, but got some attention to the topic at least. That is entirely my bad and I regret it.

Good Vibrations was going to be on Smile for the same reason it was on Smiley Smile, where it totally belongs, right?  ::)

The Child vocals, both acetate and usual chorus, don't exist in the vaults in any form, from what I can gather, apart from those mixes.

Come on, how pissed would we all be if they just didn't put Barnyard in Smile? Can you honestly say you'd ditch it?

The Cabin Essence lead and truck driving man don't appear to exist in multitrack form any more. And the mix on 20/20 is just ADD'd into stereo lead/backing vocals in stereo/track in mono.

Wonderful's lead, for instance, only exists on the mono mixdown.

You couldn't have YAMS, and Great Shape would only be an instrumental.

The vocals for the second verse of Heroes & Villains was, at least at the last stereo mix they did (and it doesn't sound very stereo on this new one), not on multitracks. You also couldn't have the Cantina mix, as those takes of the verse and subsequent backing vocals (unique arrangements to that mix, natch) only exist on that copy. So Heroes & Villains could not, in all three BW sanctioned forms (Cantina/Single/BWPS) be done properly in stereo. Ditch it?

I would possibly grant you Prayer, but seeing as they were done in the same studio in the same timeframe as the now-lost Cabin Essence vocal overdubs, there's a high chance they were lost too.


The other way to look at it is this. If they were to release a stereo version of SMiLE tomorrow, the only songs with lyrics would be H&V (without a second verse), Do You Like Worms (Bear in mind it only has 19 unique words in it and a nonsensical chant), Vegetables, Wind Chimes, Surf's Up, and er, Gee?

Sounds great....  ::)

thats funny. i'm 19 and actually prefer it in mono.

Dem der kids...I kent stand 'em.  With der fanciful erefones and dem lit up ipeds.  I dint even kno why dem kids even post on dis board...  :old

Sheesh..seriously you old folk, relax with the Generation Y insults and what not.  I'm 16, I prefer/LOVE the mono mix, and I've defended that point numerous times.  Don't generalize younger members on this board, especially when some of us actually DO contribute in a positive manner. For the few that don't...and they definitely exist...yell at them. Not the whole lot of us.  ;D

I don't think the problem is that he prefers stereo. The issue is that he flat out states that no one his age will want to listen to it in mono. Not only that he uses all caps to really drive his point home.  It doesn't take a 20 year old, 80 year old or 4 year old to know that this is a completely ignorant and stupid statement. As if everyone 20 and under is only programmed to hear stereo. Stereo when done right is great, mono when done right is great and The SMiLE Sessions mono is great. Especially on vinyl.

While I do actually prefer to listen to the fan mixed versions of SMiLE in stereo, I think calling the mono version a "disaster" may be a little bit of an overstatement, sure, it may sound old on headphones, but who cares? You're listening to it the way Brian intended and an official Stereo release is probably unlikely. Not to mention, I don't think they had a whole lot of source material they could have used for stereo mixes.

I didn't say his opinion on stereo vs. mono is wrong because he's 20.  I said his opinion that nobody his age listens to mono blah blah blah was illustrative of his undeveloped brain.

I stand by that assessment. 

I don't agree with Smile in mono being a "disaster", but I think the argument that the entire album must be all in stereo or nothing for consistency's sake isn't really fair.  Many of the early stereo albums released by the group had some tracks in mono, and if the post-'65 albums had stereo releases this trend would have continued.  I personally wish the box had included stereo mixes of all the tracks that allowed it.

I personally like the mono and stereo (and 5.1 where available) mixes of The Beach Boys catalogue. I would love more stereo and surround mixes, but Ithe technology for a full, commercially-releasable stereo mix of SMiLe is some years away.

Solution: listen to fan mixes, the available stereo mixes (the ones on the vinyl are superlative) and BWPS. I agree with the others that anyone who is going to listen to SMiLe regardless of their age will have to meet it on its own terms. It is just that kind of work.

I would love stereo and 5.1 mixes of SMiLe, Smiley Smile, and Wild Honey...

Incidentally, Cabinessenceking makes a bold, provocative point, but it is not his fault that he is 20 years old, and condescending to him because of his age is classless and undermines any legitimate point either party is trying to make.

I can't imagine.

I'm annoyed by you, too... so don't feel bad.  The feeling is mutual. 

I'm seventeen and all of my friends have no problem with mono. In fact, since we're constantly sharing earphones whenever we're on public transport together, it's often preferred!

I stand by my statement that you are a rude imbecile.

Strictly speaking, it is even impossible to release a full 1966/67 SMiLE in mono - no recorded vocals for Holidays, Look, the verses of CIFOTM and DYLW... not even mentioning ILTSDD. So they had to release an incomplete SMiLE anyway. (Better incomplete than not at all!!!) A stereo SMiLE would only be even more incomplete.

Mono rules!!! ;D IMHO. And I love "Holidays".

I think the opening post is, sad to say, a non-starter. There are numerous reasons why, too many to give all of them.

TSS isn't aimed at a crowd of 14-year olds who start complaining at the moment their music's not in stereo (the same kind of children don't watch black and white movies, because that's 'old hat'). TSS is aimed at a very heterogeneous group of listeners, old and young, a discerning bunch of people, who desired two things: authenticity and listenability.

Messrs. Linett and Boyd have fulfilled these wishes in the best possible way. Period.

Remember the 'colouring' of old Laurel & Hardy movies, or, God forbid, film noir classics? Only very childish people and total fools had some appreciation for that, and thankfully the process died a quick and very deserved death.

Moreover: would any sane person even begin to think about the 'stereofication' of old blues recordings (Robert Johnson, for instance), or classic jazz (early Miles, Louis Armstrong, and so on and so forth), or historical classical music (J.S. Bach's 'Well-Tempered Clavier', as done by Edwin Fischer, wholeheartedly recommended by the way)? Of course not.

Upshot: the way Brian would have done and wanted it to be like.

That's it.

TSS Disc 1 is mono and that's what it is, a mono disc. If a stereo disc becomes available. I'll buy it.

If someone gave me a cake without icing, I'd eat the thing and enjoy it, not just dump it on a shelf and grumble about it. See, once you take a bite, you find it's full of jam and delicious.

Anyone who's dissatisfied with their mono disc, please PM me and I'll send you my address so you can mail it to me. I'm more than happy to stockpile a few spares from when mine wears out.

Let me put it to you this way. As much as it was good for BB's legacy to release Pet Sounds in stereo, equally it hurt their legacy to release Smile in mono. You can say that it's unfair, unjust but just look at the reactions out there. It's obvious.

So you're refusing to listen to it?

Who?

Odd...

Treat SMiLE with the respect it deserves, big speakers, no distractions, eyes closed! If you listen to music this good on an I-pod - you are inhabited by satan!

haha maybe!

I'm just obsessive and I've probably listened to this record way to many times...
I know of no other albums which have become such jigsaw puzzles like this, It really is intriguing ^^

Just about every track that could without some trickery has a stereo mix on the box. The only major things I can think of that don't are Wonderful (which wouldn't have a proper lead ala Cabin Essence) and Do You Like Worms (which is practically an instrumental with some early backing vocals, and already had a stereo mix on the GV box, same as Love to Say Da Da).

Also, in regards to your last point - Today, Summer Days, Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile and Wild Honey were all released exclusively in mono. Every album preceding and proceeding SMiLE were entirely mono. It's not exactly rocket science to think that SMiLE might've been the same had released.

You! Are you so appalled by the decision to release the album in mono that you refuse to listen to it?

Whose reactions, yours and cablegeddons? Out where? What the hell are you talking about? Did mono touch you as a child and now you are scared of it?

Not picking on younger listeners at all.  My point is: not much anyone in the earbud age cares about stereo vs. mono PERIOD.  I am skeptical about the "sea" of complaints about how mono mixes suck donkey dick. I would love URL's to these boards saying "it's MONO! Therefore it blows!! I will have none of it!"  Also someone else beat me to it: most dance/pop records since 2000 or so are modified mono anyway: most everything important centered or doubled side-to-side, with stereo reverb, capable of being played througfh one speaker.  Only bands and DJ's who care bother with cross-channel and surround sounds in their records and stage shows (i.e., Wilco, Flaming Lips, Mogwai, Porcupine Tree).

I agree.  I would certainly welcome as many variants as possible with this stuff and while I understand and endorse their reasoning for doing disc 1 in mono, I still would have liked it if they'd included the stereo mixes wherever possible.  I don't have vinyl capability, so I can't enjoy Side 4 currently.

But I do think anyone who's interested in this kind of music (given its vintage) should be able to deal with mono.  It's all the rage with the hip kids these days!

I'm 15, all my albums are released in both Mono and Stereo.

Nuff' Said.

Tracks that could have had a stereo mix included as a bonus: Do You Like Worms (which did not have a stereo mix on the GV box), Barnyard, Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Which is frustratingly not pieced together in stereo), Love To Say Da Da.  I might be forgetting a few.  Also, it's not too hard to extract the lead from Cabin Essence if they were to go in that direction.

My point was that if Smile WERE to have a stereo version included as a bonus, the idea that it has to be all in stereo or nothing is kind of a strange requirement for a group that often released stereo albums with several tracks in mono.

Smile in Mono a disaster? B U L L

I have never in my whole 25 years in the broadcast industry ever heard anyone negatively critique a release because it was mono (apart from this thread and one idiot on Amazon who was seen by the mass response as an idiot). For things like the Spector release a few years back, and the mono Beatles CDs and - gasp - the recently released Smile set, the mono master has been celebrated not despised.

What next? Crying a river because the mastering sequence went AAD instead of DDD???

What with the internet, you can find Side 4 pretty easily.

And everything that could be mixed in true stereo has been throughout the box.

Someone ought to close this thread.  Back in November we already debated this endlessly, this topic has been completely examined and re-examined hundreds of times.  Obviously it's not a disaster. End of story.

Well, I'm 21 and honestly just having the smile sessions released is nice. Being picky about mono accomplishes nothing as it was how Brian envisioned it. Let the music speak for itself, mono or stereo.

I'm getting outta here Duke.

This says it all.

"Move along people, nothing to see here." -- Frank Drebin

*sigh*

I hate you guys.

I agree, Brian and virtually all other musicians of the era envisioned and recorded in mono not to mention the fact that AM radio stations would have preferred the sound of mono for any songs that they played, especially when promoting a new single. For the most part bands in the sixties intended that their music be heard in mono rather than stereo which was a newer technology at that time.

Man. Listening to music while biking is keen as f*ck. It's almost, maybe THE only thing in this world I love unconditionally, and I miss it dearly now that it's been taken away from me temporarily. Don't tell me I'm wrong because I'm listening to something that I've applied minimal compression to.

Was your bike stolen?

Personally I've been put off cycling and listening to music since a friends teenage daughter was killed by a lorry reversing onto a cycle path, which she probably would have heard had she not had her ipod on.

Seriously, be careful man.  I'd miss your posts.

Man you must be really out of touch with the younguns.  They're picketing downtown here in Charlotte.  They call it the "Occupy Capitol Records" Movement, everybody's up in arms about this damn box set being in MONO.  It's all I've heard about since last fall when it came out. 

Ron, you're alright!  :lol