Beatles Remasters 09/09/09

So the remasters are here. Everyone should get them of course, there is no doubt that this is the most important singular collection of just one band's music ever to be released. It is, as intended, the original mixes as close to the original master tapes as we can probably get at this stage in history, past or present.

Yet, I can't shake what an incredible opportunity wasted this is. The stereo mixes are – let's be blunt here – awful. The extreme left/right mix was not something that the Beatles or their contemporary listeners preferred. It was a novelty at best. Vocals in one channel, instruments in the other? Yeah.
So why now, with the chance of re-releasing new cleaned up masters to a new audience (and to some of us OCD completists) did they not also take the opportunity to do a proper REMIX as well? We have got tiny morsels of the greatness awaiting to be unlocked: LOVE and the 1999 remix of Yellow Submarine (albeit the mastering and excessive noise removal on that leave some to be desired). And Let It Be …Naked of course, but to be honest apart from a few tracks, overall I preferred the original.
Listening and A/B comparing (yes, like the nerd I am) the 09/09/09 box set releases to my carefully collected compilation of 1987 releases and assorted others, I am disappointed to say:

There just isn't that much of a difference.

Sure, people with freakishly good range of hearing, stereo systems that exceed the price of their cars and quite possible a drop of that sweet sweet delusion dubbed "audiophilia" will disagree, but if you already own the lot there is not much point, save for a few exceptions: Revolver, White Album and Abbey Road. Oh, and the stereo mix of Magical Mystery Tour is vastly improved (yet still firmly in juvenile stereoland) to the horrid faked stereo mix available to most.
This might sound like an odd post in between snob and nerd, but still. If you want to be a completist like me, yet not a total wanker (I'm skirting that in this context already I am sure), here are my recommendations for which albums to get in Mono, Stereo or both:

Please please me - MONO
With the Beatles - MONO
A Hard Day's Night - MONO
Beatles For Sale - MONO
Help! - Both
Rubber Soul - Both
Revolver - Both
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Both, prefer Mono
Magical Mystery Tour - Both, real stereo vastly improvement over fake stereo
The Beatles - Both. All tracks (Except For 'Revolution 9') have mono versions that are sometimes vastly different from the stereo versions
Yellow Submarine - STEREO, prefer 1999 mix
Abbey Road - STEREO
Let It Be - STEREO
Past Masters - If you want to be anal, get both. Otherwise Past Masters I: Mono, Past Masters II: Stereo
Love - Shows you what is actually possible to do when remixing the source.

So in essence you'd be safe acquiring the mono box set and getting the 1999 Yellow Submarine release and the 2009 Abbey Road and Let It Be stereo releases sold separately.
Peace, love, music,
Erik

Addendum:
So what about the Beatles? Which mixes do/did they prefer?

WNEW's interview with John Lennon in September of 1974

Dennis Elsas: You know, many of these things have been remixed with stereo...
John: Oh, it was awful.
Dennis Elsas: Yeah, I think the original monaural recordings are...
John: I didn't realize it happened. When they put out that package last year...
Dennis Elsas: The blue and red...
John: The two albums. I just thought...I presumed that they would just copy `em from the masters and put `em out. And I didn't even listen to it until after it was out and I took it back and I played it and it was embarrassing, you know. I mean some of the tracks survived, but it was really embarrassing. Some fool had tried to make it stereo and it didn't work.
Dennis Elsas: People should stay with the mono and not be so...
John: Cause there's a difference between stereo and mono, obviously. If you mix something in mono, then you shouldn't try and fake it. You lose the guts of it, you know. A lot of them lost their...The fast version of "Revolution" was destroyed, you know. I mean, it was a heavy record and then they made it into a piece of ice cream.