NewsThe Who / My Generation mono CD
On 19 November 2012 The Who will issue a single disc MONO CD of their 1965 debut My Generation.
The mono version has been issued a few times over the last few years, on various reissues (mainly in Japan), but this release will see the original mono mix widely available to all, at a low price.
The original Mono version is though to be as close as possible to how the band envisaged it sounding in the studio and contains overdubs which were lost in previous Stereo masterings.
This CD completes a busy autumn release schedule for the band, with the Live in Texas DVD already out, and the Live In Hull and Studio Albums vinyl box due soon.
Track listing:
- 1. Out In The Street
- 2. I Don’t Mind
- 3. The Good’s Gone
- 4. La La La Lies
- 5. Much Too Much
- 6. My Generation
- 7. The Kids Are Alright
- 8. Please, Please, Please
- 9. It’s Not True
- 10. I’m A Man
- 11. A Legal Matter
- 12. The Ox
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Got this today. No info about who did the remaster. Pretty basic booklet with zero information but for a fiver, i’m not complaining. It’s how it should be heard.
A few notes:
– The overdubs weren’t “removed” for the stereo remix. Rather, the 3-track tapes with the proper overdubs are apparently lost. Thus several songs are either missing overdubs or have slightly different parts.
– A new 2 CD set was released in Japan this year. Same track lineup as the 2008 set, but with different packaging and different mastering. Unlike the 2008 set it does not have any limiting, and thus is not as loud.
[…] had a few questions about the mastering of forthcoming issue of The Who‘s My Generation Mono […]
Well, I don’t know a lot about the UK edition (which was also used as the Japanese standard edition), but a Japanese edition (numebred but not so limited; still not cheap) with the proper mono version was released in a box containing, also, miniature replicas of various sleeves used around the world for the album and for various singles/EP.
Indeed a true gem.
Yes that issue was only in Japan in 2008. The UK deluxe edition didn’t include the mono and came out in 2002 I believe.
The Japanese released the complete UK mono mix twice on CD, once as part of the expensive box set and once as a standalone CD with bonus tracks. The same mastering was used each time, by Jon Astley from Shel Talmy’s original mono tapes.
There was also a third CD release mirroring the 1960s Japanese album (with the cover design of a girl ) which had the same edited setlist as the America release, but with an altered running order.
The forthcoming new release is the first time the complete mono mix of My Generation has ever been available on CD outside of Japan. That’s a big deal.
The question is how will it be mastered? A clone of the Japanese discs or something new? Surprisingly there seems to be virtually no information or discussion about that aspect anywhere.
James Pigg, woah there fella, my apologies – was writing from what i remembered of it. apologies for “remembering incorrectly”.
as you say, though, five quid makes this an instant purchase.
Actually you are wrong. A lot of Who fans were very unhappy with the two disc (so-called) deluxe edition of My Generation.
It bascially provided a modern stereo remix of the orginal album which gave the music quite a different dynamic to the original mono release. A fake stereo effect was also added to a some of the guitar and vocal parts, as well a number of the vocal and guitar overdubs – which existed on the original mono release – being removed.
The version of the Kids Are Alright on the deluxe version is also a different vocal take to that found on the original album.
So bascially for a fiver this reissue is a no-brainer if you wish to hear My Generation on CD as it originally appeared on LP in 1965 – as a mono mix and with no missing overdubs.
for a fiver this can sit on the shelf. i am pretty sure the 2 CD deluxe / legacy edition features the mono mix, it will be interesting to see how it compares to that.