"The Beatles in Stereo" comes years after it should have, but better late
than never. (Apple Corps Ltd.)
When the announcement was made in April that the Beatles were finally releasing remastered CDs, one could hear a collective sigh of relief around the world, even though it was something that should have been done long before.
And even though the spin was put out that the long wait was actually a good thing because it enabled the Beatles to make use of the latest technological advances, one has to wonder what the hell took so long?
Be it money, indecision on whether to remix or not remix or the very unlikely idea that if it wasn't that broke it shouldn't be fixed, thank God the decision was finally made.
And the new remastered CDs sound great. The new "Lady Madonna" rocks like you've never heard it before with a punchier bottom beat. The remastered "Day Tripper" hits you in the face with the guitar intro. The strums in "Michelle" sound sparkling. The harmonies on "If I Fell" sound so real they tear your heart out. The whole "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album has a new vibrancy.
And that "Abbey Road" drum solo? It's nothing short of mouth dropping. No kidding.
Don't misunderstand. The amount of difference between old and new varies with the song. But what the Abbey Road engineers have done is lift a cloud that's been over the Beatles music since the release of the original CDs in 1987. The music is cleaner, clearer and has more sonic impact than ever before. There are enough wonderful differences that these CDs are an upgrade that anyone who loves the Beatles music will want to make.
And that doesn't even take into account the upgraded artwork and booklets with recording details and rare pictures.
An added attraction is the mini-docs available separately on each CD or collected together on DVD in "The Beatles in Stereo" box set. These each have rare footage and unheard studio chatter. We figured these would be a throwaway after seeing the Anthology, but they're short and sweet and fun to watch, and amount to a nice bonus.
A word about the mono CDs: These were issued in a limited edition box set only made in Japan. For anyone who remembers the original mono LPs, it's great to have these mixes back in circulation. But the Beatles and EMI made a huge mistake in limiting them to the box set, especially in the case of "The Beatles" White Album and Sgt. Pepper where the mono mixes had some significant differences to the stereo versions. It would be nice to get at least some and maybe all of these in more open circulation outside of a limited edition set. And given the incredible response that the mono set received, maybe that will happen eventually. In the meantime, at least EMI is in the process of getting more of them into the hands of the fans by making more of them.
But the music, unadulaterated as it is without remixes or bonus tracks, is what's important. Should the CDs have been remixed? The answer is these remasters set the record straight and get the Beatles into the modern CD era, as long overdue as it is.
Our guess, though, is that these won't be the final word on the Beatles' music. We predict there will likely be more CDs in the future -- and maybe then will fans get the remixes they'd hoped for.
In the meantime, the remasters get the Beatles back to where they should belong -- sounding the best they can.
Comments
After bemoaning the fact that there would be no remixes I have to say after listening to these for the weekend, I am very very happy with the quality. The only album that disappoints me is the bad stereo mix of Rubber Soul with the vocals shoved over to the right channel. The albums all sound fantastic though, the harsh sounds of the last cds replaced with such a smooth, silky very natural sound. Macca's basslines in particular are stunning. Some of my faves have been the stereo versions of Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale. The acoustic guitars in No Reply and I Don't Want to Spoil the Party particularly sparkle. The best for me though has to be the immediacy of a lot of the vocals now. It sounds like John and Paul are sitting across the room from you singing, truly stunning. I haven't received my Mono box yet, so I can't comment on that, but the stereo versions are so so good.
This stuff is just a fad.
Rick: Right. Hear today, hear tomorrow, the next day ...
Steve, two points: First, instead of the production team taking four years and giving us what is getting almost universal raves, would you rather have had them do a rush job and give us something akin to the first four '87 CDs, which were rushed out by EMi with virtually no work done on them and no input from George Martin? I'm glad Allan Rouse and his team took the time and finally gave us a proper digital representation of the Rolls-Royce of pop music catalogs. Second, perhaps you saw a comment here from what I assume was a younger fan who asked why would anyone want to hear these songs in mono. Obviously, those of who remember buying Beatles LPs in mono appreciate the difference but the several generations of younger Beatlefans don't, aside from a few hardcore young audiophiles. Releasing the individual albums separately in both mono and stereo makes no sense from a marketing standpoint. it would be too confusing for the casual consumer to walk into Best Buy and see mono and stereo
(cont'd) "Sgt. Pepper"s. It would have been nice if they had done stereo and mono on the same disc, a la the Capitol boxes, but that option was apparently vetoes early in the process.
Al: First question, no, I wouldn't have wanted a rush job. And I don't think I was implying that. My point was it's too bad there wasn't some kind of more definite signal before that this was being considered. There's been a lot of moaning and groaning about this. As for the second question about the mono and stereo, I agree the mono needs to be separate. I understand why they did what they did. My point again is that the mono discs, especially the White Album and Pepper deserve a wider distribution. There are ways to do that -- make the covers completely different. Make sure consumers see on the package that the discs are mono. Heck, call them the Mono Collection. But I think you can sell the mono discs next to the stereos without confusion if the monos are packaged right.
The "drum solo" on The End has never and will never be "jaw doping", go listing to Buddy Rich.
Thank you, Steve. I have been waiting for your review on the new Remastered CDs. I agree with you about the Mono CDs. Maybe one day.
I got the Stereo Box Set as I am so looking forward to those first 4 CDs in stereo. I expect I'll be in Beatle heaven in just a few days....
I don't need a super complex crazy drum solo to drop my jaw. Ringo does it fine. Just like I don't need to hear a million note axe shredding solo by Stevie Ray Vaughn or Steve Vai. George's simple melodic beauty of a solo in Something will win for me any day of the week. Artistry has nothing to do with complexity.
There has been a documentary on youtube for days now.
I think to re-master was the best choice. To Re-Mix would have been tampering with the historical significance of the recordings. The mid 80's cd's released on PARLOPHONE were the worst. I still can't listen to the first 2 albums. The DR. EBBETTS releases were far more superior. I will compare the new re-masters with my Dr Ebbetts collection. Capitols remasters were a step in the right direction, but those remasters were of the American remixes, and not the true PARLOPHONE releases. Still, they sounded far superior than those wretched PARLOPHONE 80's releases. Trust me, APPLE will not only remix down the line ( Beatle recordings at Abbey Road, Apple, Olympic, & Trident Studio now reside in the digital domain ), but they will remix in 5.1 or 7.1 or whatever the then current audio landscape will be. The goose is still laying golden eggs,er, or should I say, golden Apples...
Steve, when you comment on the sound of individual songs (such as Day Tripper), which versions are you talking about, stereo or mono? The Washington Post makes a direct comparison so people will know what each should be or sound like. One person makes the case for mono and another makes the case for stereo. And regarding the video game, this may be a dumg question, but can one buy it and just watch it without actually playing...and if so, which one the Xbox Wii or what?
"The "drum solo" on The End has never and will never be "jaw doping", go listing to Buddy Rich." - Mike
There will always be a comment that doesn't add anything to a forum, and in many ways, is designed just to irritate people who would otherwise be having a great time. Thanks, Mike.
If Buddy Rich had played drums on Abbey Road he would have ruined the album. Jazz drummers who hate "beatles music" don't belong.
Well, from the Mono Box Set...the first 4 albums don't sound very different from the 1987 EMI Mono releases...a bit disappointing.
First, the remasters were due to come out,
and second, its only natural that the remixes will come out later.
I listened to the sampler discs over the weekend, and my first impression was that they were very clean...
MonoMan says:
Well, from the Mono Box Set...the first 4 albums don't sound very different from the 1987 EMI Mono releases...a bit disappointing.
Hmmm.. there have been some saying for weeks that this is a scam to have people buy the same music that they already own again.
Your comments prove them right.
Madelyn Writer says:
"The "drum solo" on The End has never and will never be "jaw doping", go listing to Buddy Rich." - Mike
I am waiting for the $250 MONO boxed Buddy Rich Set and the $190 Stereo Buddy Rich Box Sets to come out to make my final determination.
Buddy Rich needs $440 more than The Beatles. LOL
To be clear...my comments were only on the first 4 albums in Mono. On those...I heard no real difference. In contrast, Pepper and the White Album are great in Mono...although most folks already have them on disc from various bootlegs. Revolver had some nice texture to it...but only if you are listening to it in a silent room with headphones. No way you's hear the added breaths in front of Taxman in a car doing 55 down the freeway. Overall I am still underwhelmed by the Mono set. Let's hope the Sterreo set is better...
RIck G. says "this stuff is just a fad."
Hmmm...if you define "fad" as something that lasts, oh, 45 years or more. I guess you're right.
Matt Talvi: Rick is one of the biggest fans I know. He was spoofin' ya.
BEST BUY IN OKC NW 63, HAD NO BOX SETS AT 6PM AND COULDN'T TELL ME IF THEY HAD ANY AT STORE OPENING. NO OTHER BB IN CITY HAD ANY. LOCAL FYE STORE SAID THEY GOT ONE SET OF THE 5 PRE=ORDERED. NEITHER HAD ANY IDEA IF/WHEN THEY WOULD GET MORE. ONE EMPLOYEE SAID EMI DIDN'T PRODUCE ENOUGH, MENTIONED THE 10k NUMBER. CALLED WALMART-ZERO AND NO IDEA. BARNES & NOBLE GOT 3..... WTS IS GOING ON APPLE/EMI?????????
I prefer the remixes, just comparing songs from Yellow Submarine 1999 to the remasters. I also have a feeling that the albums were remixed, and will someday be released once the current hype dies down. Then, when they are released, the purists will not get bent out of shape because they have what they want.
Who cares about Buddy Rich he was a Jazz Drummer And Ringo a Rock Drummer The drum solo on the end Is Jaw Doping I mean Droping. As far as I'm concerned Buddy Rich Couldn't be a pimple on Ringos ass MIke!!!!
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