This is a great LP. It's like the group is exploring new grounds for song making and elaboration. Many artists did at this time, but not with the same preserverance or confidence. What they do here is totally their own, and as it seems without any regard to commercial success. But it was a big seller and a proof honesty can be popular too...or maybe that only was possible back then. I've had this UK mono for a while and it sounds so good I always thought it was a separate mix, the same as US. But lately I've learned it is a fold down from the stereo tapes (please check Prof. Stoned's comments below)and the US mono have a few noticable differences not appearing on this one. If I should be lucky enough to find the real thing I will post that immediately. First UK with structured label as shown here, fully laminated cover and picture/lyric inner. (DÖÖW*)
Howdy!-Love your blog. I am a big fan of mono versus stereo mixes for a long time. I will add comments as I work my way through. This Doors LP is a fold-down done very expertly by Bruce Botnick except for the two single sides: "Strange Days" and "Love Me Two Times" which are dedicated mono mixes. This was a common practice for the time. Do the single's and fold-down the rest. Most fold-downs were bad but if the engineer is good they tweak it with balance adjustment and EQ as Botnick did with this one.
SvaraRaderaTHANKS MICHAEL! THIS WAS NEW FACTS TO ME. NOT VERY UPDATED WITH THE US MIXES, MORE INTO UK. TWEAKED ONES WITH GOOD RESULT WAS USED BY ENGLISH PRODUCERS TOO I.E. MOST ONES ON DERAM 69/70. I WOULD STILL CALL THEM "SEPARATE MIXES" IN OPPSITION TO PLAIN FOLD DOWNS. LOOKING FORWARD TO HEAR MORE FROM YOU...
RaderaI beg to differ. This UK mono is a folddown of the UK stereo. However, the US mono is true mono, minus 1 or at most 3 tracks.
SvaraRaderahttp://tinyurl.com/6w8xsl7
No way this UK mono is a plain reduction. Maybe some of the tracks but not all of them. Please give me exemples!
SvaraRaderaPlease go to the link I posted and click on info. Then see if you can hear the differences that I described about the stereo vs. mono.
SvaraRaderaI'VE CHECKED IT OUT AND SEEMS YOU'RE AT LEAST PARTLY RIGHT. IMPOSSBLE TO HEAR THE SUBTLE DIFFS SINCE I TAKE YOU'RE GETTING YOURS FROM US ORIGINAL ISSUES AND I HAVE A TWEAKED UK WITH BIGGER BASE. I CAN SAY THOUGH THAT VOCAL ECHO TR.1 IS VERY STRONG AND CONSISTANT ON THIS TOO AND NEVER ABSENT, BUT ON END TR.6 I CAN POSSIBLY HEAR A VERY FAINT REVERB. WICH UK MONO PRESS DO YOU HAVE - THIS WAS PRESSED FIRST WITH BLACK DOORS LOGO, BUT ALSO LATER WITH RELIEF LOGO. MINE IS A1/B1 MATRIX. AND DONT SAY IT IS TO BE AVOIDED - STILL SOUNDS GREAT, BETTER THAN ANY STEREO I'VE HEARD.
SvaraRaderaFirst of all, please... stop SHOUTING at me.
SvaraRaderaThe debate whether the UK mono sounds any good is not something I want to get into. You're enjoying it? Great! Not my intention to take that enjoyment away. I'm only into finding factual differences between mono and stereo mixes, differences that simply cannot be caused by further tweaking.
Your blog is great in that it collects lots of mono records together and shares some of info about them. But your giving me the impression that you are offended by my posts because they differ from your own views, is that right? For the record, I'm not here to downplay you're work. In fact, I wouldn't have posted anything here, if I didn't hold this subject so dear to my heart.
Hey mate I'm not shouting. Not a computor guy so in fact I never connected using caps with shouting before I joined Hoffmans site and got complaints for it. I'm a kind and rather gentle guy in real life, not screaming at anything. And I'm incredibly thankful for Your comments and truly sorry if that don't show. I want to learn as much as possible on this subject and You seem to be the one to turn to. Seriously I do not care the least if a certain issue have a real mono mix or not, as long as I know for sure what it is. Please also remember I'm not English at all, but Swedish. I do well with school-english and use on-line dictionarys a lot, but I will never master the finer shades of the language.
SvaraRaderaNo offence I hope, I just want to share and learn as much as I can.
Kindly/Erik
Erik, sorry to have misinterpreted you, the CAPS lock off makes your posts a lot more friendly natured instantly.
SvaraRaderaI've been a mono freak for many years and am always interested to find true mono mixes that I've not yet heard. Your blog provides some interesting insights for me. Reading your posts, I agree with the majority of your findings. Many later 60's UK mono stuff is often simply a folddown of the stereo, especially when it concerns a US record that didn't appear in mono over there.
Anyway, you did the right thing by joining SH.tv, it holds a wealth of information on this subject not found elsewhere.
Cheers,
Menno
Glad we're on the same page again. Thought about doing this blogg for years, but am very shy to computors and "new" technology - for instance I never had a cell phone. I agree what You said earlier that enjoyment and separate feelings shouldn't be mixed with facts and I will try to keep it apart, but still sometimes a fake mono, if big, warm and well balanced gives me much more pleasure than any stereo effects.
RaderaVisiting Your page I can't find information on the "Waiting for the Sun" mono, maybe it's there somewhere and I'm just too clumpsy to find it. As You can see on my post on the UK version I'm unclear on "Unknown Soldier" and the gunshots. Got anything there?
It's funny you mention this, as I'm trying to establish this with a friend. The 45 mix of Soldier appears to be true mono with -as you said- a gunshot rather than a hit on the drums. The outro of Wintertime love on the US mono is a few seconds longer than on the stereo. But having said that, I couldn't hear any other differences, and the US mono sounds very lo-fi, nothing to excited about. Have not heard the UK. Will report back when I know more.
SvaraRaderaUK is far from lo-fi, very clear with a rather prominent base and perfect balance. One of those where I can sit on the sofa, close my eyes and enjoy from beginning till end. There are more to be said about this, but let's move this discussion to where it belongs. Looking forward to see Your first comment there.
SvaraRaderaBTW have You seen I've started to re-wright all presentations without caps all around. It's a hell of a work, but it may look better in the end.
im new to this and would like to know if this is available.i love the doors and my wife and i had the first two LPs on mono but they got lost in storage,i still have a Doors first Lp but its pretty trashed.any help would be appreciated
SvaraRaderaNo this blog is not for buying, just reading and looking. I hardly ever sell records, trade in r/l sometimes but that's it. Sorry.
RaderaKindly/Erik
I just listened to this mono version and I found the sound extremely nice and well balanced. I compared it with a stereo us version. I am very surprised it is fold down considering how good it sounds. Anyway thanks for the blog.
SvaraRaderaThanks for checking in Anne. Couldn't agree more. It must have been made from an almost perfect compatible. As you can tell from the previous comments I first got aware of the fold when posting it here. However all that may be it's still a top album and the UK mono sounds awesome so I'm happy with it either way.
RaderaIt's mostly better but when comparing Love Me Two Times, the mono version and the stereo version from the 2007, the stereo version sounds way better. However, previous stereo versions sound like shit against the mono.
SvaraRaderaI did not know that before. Thanks for telling :)
Radera