The Smiley Smile Message Board

could you guys tell me what you like about the boxed set? i'm thinkin of buyin it really soon

As someone who knew some of but didn't have much of the material, for me it's wonderful.

PM me  Pumpkinhead

Back to Mono is an awesome box set.
Apart from all the hits you get:

Strange Love- Darlene Love
This Could Be The Night- The Modern Folk Quartet
He Hit Me and it felt like a kiss-The Crystals

The sound quality is not 10/10 on it though. It could do with a remastering job. It lacks a bit something compared to the original records.

Aside from the unbelievable music contained within those 4 discs, I love the Back To Mono button that comes with it.  I did however feel that the booklet could have been a bit more informative.  Well worth the money!

yeah, i dont know if we'll see the light of day on this being remastered with spector's troubles right now...they definatly need a sessions boxed set...highly doubt we'll ever see it

I love the Back to Mono boxset. I have almost all the songs and the christmas album in iTunes, and I listen to it every day. Wall of Sound pop bliss. So powerful, magnificent and beautiful. So much passion.

I really like back to mono.  It could use some work but it is mostly ok.  The original recordings were all "in the red"  but that is just part of the wall of sound.

It is a must have set IMO.  A sessions box would be nice.

There are some unreleased cuts on there that are to die for.  One of my favorite prev unreleased cuts  was Chapel of Love performed by Darlene Love and the Wrecking Crew.
Done to a Stroll dance beat.  How perfect is that?  (strolling down the isle, get it?)

The song has a thousand percent more soul than the Dixie Cups watered down cover.

The Righteous Brother material is dynamite. 

In fact, its ALL GOOD.

Buy it.  And listen to it in your car.  Real loud!

Are you kidding me?  The resulting bump in Spector interest has improved the possibility.  Only death can help an artists reputation like sordid crime.   For example murder and death was a 'shot in the arm' for Sid Vicious' career!  Did you think that record company execs were moralists.  If they are, it is a new phenomenon.

The Back To Mono boxset was listed on Rolling Stone Magazines 500 Greatest Albums list. I forgot the ranking, but they included number of sales for each record listed, and the Back To Mono boxset only sold 60,000 copies. And that's over a 12 or 15 year period. So maybe there isn't enough of an audience for Spector to warrant a remaster.

Interest will pick up when the trial and aftermath media coverage commences (currently scheduled to start next January).  I would be very surprised if a new Spector package isn't being considered and prepared now, for release in that time period .   There is not much coverage of this case right now but when the trial happens the media will massively rachet up coverage.       

amazon.com has the box for $15: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000003BDM/ref=ord_cart_shr/104-8183722-3451915?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

I'm pissed off now. Two years ago I paid over 60 bucks for my copy!  :wall

What the hell is going on!?!?

I went to 4 stores last night trying to find Phil Spector's Christmas Album.  I couldn't find it.  I went home and found the whole friekin' album is on THIS boxset, for 15 bucks! I couldn't believe it was so cheap with all those great tracks on it.  Needless to say, I have it coming my way, and that's pretty cool I basically get the Christmas album for free, plus a great collection of Spector's greatest songs.  Unbelievable value on a boxset. 

That's a great buy, but what I really want is "Back To Mono" remastered in stereo!

 :-D

I understand the desire to listen to these things in stereo.  Everybody expects a revelation like Pet Sounds or something.  But the stereo mixes that have been leaked out on bootlegs are awful.  The way Spector recorded: one track for the main track, one for strings, another for vocals.  The only way these things work is in mono.

 

Not "everybody".  No revelation. I hoped for just about what came out with the stereo Pet Sounds , and I prefer it over mono.  It's closer to what those present in the sessions heard.  Live group music is not in mono.  For me stereo adds a lot of the dimension and life that exists in real time.  Mono is ok but I think it is artificial;  a homogenization of  collective effort.    I view and hear the work of a musical group as something where there are seperate and distinct  individual efforts and a common goal -  the song.  A producer with early Spector's philosophy really seeks, for the most part, to erradicate individual performance by building the 'Wall-of-sound'.  It's an interesting technique.  I have no quarrel with those who want to listen in mono.  Many receivers are equipped with a mono button.  But I prefer hearing both the individual and collective and I think stereo seperation helps achieve that. 

By the way even vintage period Spector productions were not exclusively mono.  For example I have listened to some of his released Righteous Brothers productions in stereo. 
   

   

 

       

Unnecessary and unacceptable. Please check your attitude before posting on this board.

Didn't mean to generalize, I have a habit.  I agree with you about Pet Sounds.  For me there's simply too much "there" there to be reduced to only one track.  While I love both mixes about the same, I can hear the instrumentation and harmonies much better with the stereo mix.  But the substantial amount of tracks Brian used during the production of Pet Sounds, sometimes up to 11 per song, are what led to the creation of this stereo mix.  Since Spector recorded with very few tracks, with no overlap between them, any stereo image created sounds forced and is distracting, and isn't complimentary to the music, IMO.  There's a reason why an official stereo catalog hasn't been made, and why the box set is called "Back To Mono".  Unless you can time travel back to 1963 and hand Spector a 4 or 8 track recorder, they'll probably always be only on bootleg.

.

.

I bought this boxset couple days ago. It's pretty cool even though I think it doesn't sound as good as it should cd wise. The first disc wasn't that great but it was ok, and it was also cool to hear spectors early work!  Now I have something else to do on friday nights besides listening to smile, alone in my flat :D

Maybe if the Beatles eventually release a Capitol Albums Volume 4 or something we'll get Spector's production of Let It Be in stereo..

this box set sounds like crap.  the best thing about it is the button and christmas disc.