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Beatles Remasters coming! 09/09/09


Aggie87

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One album not mentioned because it's not really a Beatles album (although some of the songs were written before the breakup) but if it might be considered their greatest (IMHO) if it were was George Harrison's All Things Must Pass. I hadn't listened to it in many a year and, in fact, couldn't find a copy, so I went out and bought it this weekend. I originally had the original version (both LP and Cd) and the one I purchased was the remastered version, which sounds great, and has some additional tracks (although I don't think they really add to the album). All Things Must Pass is just as good as I remembered it, with the songs especially vibrant. There's just not one bad song on this album. One of my favorites then and still one of them.

To my ears the remaster of All Things Must Pass doesn't sound good. Compared to my original Japanese CD issue it sounds as if noise reduction was applied. I sold it.

Believe it or not, but there's a very fine needle drop that can be found on certain sites that's better than any CD version of ATMP.

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Listened to Abbey Road this afternoon, and it is a great remastering job on this one, music is much more alive then on the old cd. Allen calls the feel to this album as "soft focus," and I can hear his point. Maxwell's Silver Hammerand Octopus's Garden are not heavyweights by any measure, plus the lyrics to She Came In Through The Bathroom Window sound lame to me -- Oh look out / She came in through the bathroom window, / Protected by a silver spoon / But now she sucks her thumb and wonders / By the banks of her own lagoon? Given all that, it's still a great record. Ringo's playing really adds a lot of oomph! to the songs; Harrison's two songs are great, the best guitar playing on any Beatle album, and side two is a wonder. Good way to bow out.

Edited by Matthew
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Listened to Abbey Road this afternoon, and it is a great remastering job on this one, music is much more alive then on the old cd. Allen calls the feel to this album as "soft focus," and I can hear his point. Maxwell's Silver Hammerand Octopus's Garden are not heavyweights by any measure, plus the lyrics to She Came In Through The Bathroom Window sound lame to me -- Oh look out / She came in through the bathroom window, / Protected by a silver spoon / But now she sucks her thumb and wonders / By the banks of her own lagoon? Given all that, it's still a great record. Ringo's playing really adds a lot of oomph! to the songs; Harrison's two songs are great, the best guitar playing on any Beatle album, and side two is a wonder. Good way to bow out.

An astonishing way to bow out, really. :tup

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Up until tonight, I was seriously considering adding the Beatles stereo box to the mono box I got last week. However, after listening to both the mono and the stereo versions of Help which I assume is the same mix you get in the box, what's the point? The mono mix is so sonically superior, there's really no reason to pay $200 or more for versions of tunes you'll probably never listen to. I'm just going to grab the single CD's of Abbey Road, Let It Be and Yellow Submarine and be done with it. I almost feel like I'm missing something when it comes to the stereo option, but I can't figure out what it is.

Up over and out.

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Yeah...simple fact: The original stereo mixes were NOT VERY GOOD. The mono mixes beat them every time.

You want to hear the Beatles mixed PROPERLY into stereo, get the "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" album, "Let It Be...Naked" and "LOVE." I was listening to the "Songtrack" last night and it is AMAZING. Great stereo mixes. Every one of them a major improvement over the original stereo.

Once again, I understand why people want to hear the original stereo mixes for "historical" purposes. I get it. But the fact remains: They were hamfisted. They didn't take stereo seriously and it shows. "Revolver" is better in mono. "Rubber Soul" is better in mono. The first four or five albums were DEFINITELY better in mono. "Pepper" rocks the house in mono.

Doesn't have to be that way, though. The three relatively recent remixes show that the Beatles CAN be mixed into stereo and sound fantastic. So what the HELL are George and Giles Martin waiting for? Just DO it, already!

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Up until tonight, I was seriously considering adding the Beatles stereo box to the mono box I got last week. However, after listening to both the mono and the stereo versions of Help which I assume is the same mix you get in the box, what's the point? The mono mix is so sonically superior, there's really no reason to pay $200 or more for versions of tunes you'll probably never listen to. I'm just going to grab the single CD's of Abbey Road, Let It Be and Yellow Submarine and be done with it. I almost feel like I'm missing something when it comes to the stereo option, but I can't figure out what it is.

Up over and out.

Just to clarify: The stereo versions of "Help" and "Rubber Soul" you have on the mono box are NOT the same versions that are on the stereo box. The stereo box (and the individual stereo releases) use the remixes George Martin prepared in 1987 for the CD releases. From what I've heard, it is better than the original stereo (which you have). They put the original stereo mixes on the mono box for the sake of completeness and to satisfy the fans who need to have all of the ORIGINALS.

God forbid that time should pass and actually IMPROVE something...

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Well, I'm one of the ones still waiting for the Mono box set to arrive so I can't speak directly to a comparison but I have read in several places that the stereo version of the White Album trumps the Mono. Obviously its a matter of personal taste...and along those lines I've heard that some aspects of Sgt. Peppers are better in mono but the stereo has advantages in other areas. So, in addition to Abbey Road and Let it Be, those fully satisfied with the Mono box set might just want to give stereo versions of the White Album and Sgt. Peppers a listen (if you have a friend who owns either). They might make for good additional supplements.

I didn't buy the stereo box set (as I didn't want to waste coin on acquiring the first few albums in stereo) but of the 7 individual stereo albums I've picked up, the White Album sounds the most impressive to me.

<<EDIT>>:

I just found a link to a review that nicely compares the mono and box sets side by side. This was published just before the release and while there may be a lot of these kinds of reviews, I think this one is particularly well written and to the point. But you have to scroll down a bit (about 1/3 to 1/2 of the page, as its in blog review format with newer reviews posted near the top).

http://www.tonepublications.com/music/ (Aug. 27, 2009)

Edited by Norm
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It's interesting that in Hoffmanville (to give that board it's due, they know the Beatles inside out), there's this asumption that the Beatle catalog not only was remastered, but remixes were done also, and will be released at a future date. Humm, not sure I'm too excited about that possibility.

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Up until tonight, I was seriously considering adding the Beatles stereo box to the mono box I got last week. However, after listening to both the mono and the stereo versions of Help which I assume is the same mix you get in the box, what's the point? The mono mix is so sonically superior, there's really no reason to pay $200 or more for versions of tunes you'll probably never listen to. I'm just going to grab the single CD's of Abbey Road, Let It Be and Yellow Submarine and be done with it. I almost feel like I'm missing something when it comes to the stereo option, but I can't figure out what it is.

Up over and out.

Dave - since you have the mono box, you don't need the stereo Yellow Submarine cd. You have all of the Beatles tracks from the original YS release already, on the mono box. They are either on their original releases or on the Mono Masters set.

The only remaining music you would lack from the original YS is the George Martin orchestral music. If you want that, then get the stereo YS set.

I agree with Alexander that the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack (not to be confused with Yellow Submarine) is great.

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just wondering (since I can't stand going over there) - do the Hoffman robots like the current boxes and stereo re-issues?

By-and-large the reaction has been positive, though there are of course people of the contary opinion. Still, the discussion have been very good there on the Beatles; it's where I go for Beatles information.

Edited by Matthew
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