Their Satanic Majesties Request Mono Edition (Mecca LX 5465)
Sing This All Together, Citadel, In Another Land, 2000 Man, Sing This All Together (See What Happens), She’s A Rainbow, The Lantern, Gomper, 2000 Light Years From Home, On With the Show. Bonus tracks: Child Of The Moon (b-side to ‘Jumping Jack Flash’, but in fact a left-over from the Satanic sessions, original mono mix), We Love You (original mono mix, John & Paul: b-vocal), Dandelion (b-side to ‘We Love You’, original 7″ mix), The Lantern (alternate rough mono mix, recorded off monitor), In Another Land (alternate rough mono mix, recorded off monitor), She’s A Rainbow (alternate mono rough mix, recorded off monitor), untitled (rehearsal for unfinished song), 2000 Light Years From Home (rough mix (no overdubs) of the backing track), 2000 Man (rehearsal for the song’s refrain, no vocals yet), Gold Painted Nails (rehearsal for an unreleased, unfinished song, again no vocals)
Their Satanic Majesties Requestis a said to be the worst album they released in the sixties, if not their entire career. Its passing resemblance to The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper in style is more due to our culture’s jealous guarding of The Beatles more than any substantive arguments. Both have a song featuring a sitar and the Stones have a song about a show, but Sgt. Pepper is a further refinement of their pop sensibilities whereas the Stones’ album is pure experimentation and exploration. It would be more accurate to claim Their Satanic Majesties Request is closer to Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn.
The mono mix is almost unheard of outside of England and is quiet hard to find. This transfer was first released in 2003 on Their Satanic Majesties Request (Mono Edition)(Decca TXL-103), in editions wiht the bonus tracks and without the bonus tracks. This release on Mecca is a straight copy of the edition with the bonus tracks. The transfer is made from what must be a virgin copy of the vinyl since it is almost perfect. The actual mixes of the songs are identical between stereo and mono since the Stones folded the stereo into two channels. The effect brings forward the rhythm section. In “2000 Man” the crunchy guitar solo is more apparent. In “Sing This All Together (See What Happened)” the horns sound more integrated and dissonant.
The mono mix of “Child Of The Moon” is the first bonus track. This was recorded during these sessions, but would be released several months later as the B-side to “Jumping Jack Flash.” “We Love You” and the catchy “Dandelion” was also a single released about this time. This is followed by three monitor mixes: “In Another Land,” “She’s a Rainbow,” “2000 Light Years From Home,” and “The Lantern.” The final four tracks are rehearsals including two unreleased songs and rough mixes for two of the songs from the album. This is packaged in the same digipack cardboard sleeve used for the German releases from several years ago. This is a good opportunity to give an under-appreciated Stones album a re-evaluation.
