Beatles Remastered on Sept 9,09

[PhatStax Drums]

The Christmas fan club recordings are so much fun.

Hey, I just noticed that on the stereo (I know . . . ) version of "with the beatles" (which I guess is roughly equivalent to "Meet The Beatles" in the U.S.), the cover photograph, the side-lit, grainy B&W photo of them that was also the cover of "Meet The Beatles," is erroneously credited to Robert Freeman (the credit is below the song listing, on the back cover of the CD). I wonder (not having the original British album art with back-cover song and credit listing, offhand, it's probably imaged on the web somewhere), if that is a reproduction of an error on the original album art (since Astrid took the photo, not Robert Freeman) or am I wrong on that? I thought Astrid took that picture.

Small point but kinda interesting. Sort-of. Maybe. At least to Astrid, certainly. A real drag in that case.

[claveslave]

I think you'll find that Astrid designed the haircuts, chose the skivvy/polo neck shirts and was instrumental in the lighting and then Freeman took the photo which is quite a remarkable shot.

[sedohr]

Originally Posted by claveslave

I think you'll find that Astrid designed the haircuts, chose the skivvy/polo neck shirts and was instrumental in the lighting and then Freeman took the photo which is quite a remarkable shot.

Yeah, I guess we could call her the FIFTH Beatle !!!

[claveslave]

Originally Posted by sedohr

Yeah, I guess we could call her the FIFTH Beatle !!!

There seem to have been many fifth Beatles. Great name for a cover band, "The Fifth Beatles".

[Jay Dee]

Originally Posted by claveslave

There seem to have been many fifth Beatles.

My vote is for Mal.

[claveslave]

Just getting back to the mastering again, can anyone who's heard the new mono version of "She Loves You" (well, that's all that exists) tell me if they've attended to the lousy edit in the third verse at the point where they sing "Pride can hurt you too", where the high end drops away and the plosive is clipped in a tape splice kind of way?

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by GilWave

Not as often as I watch Holy Grail or The Meaning of Life, but I have the complete series on DVD and I see The Argument Clinic from time to time. My favorite skits are the Dead Parrot Sketch and the Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook (my hovercraft is full of eels!)

"I will not buy this record, it is scratched".

[Adam Dempsey]

I've not heard the mono remasters but, for what it's worth, Abbey Road (which of course was only ever mixed stereo) has long been one of my favs – "Something" and "I Want You/She's So Heavy" I consider two of their best ever recorded performances. (The cover band I was in, just out of high school, used to play 20 min versions of the latter.. I remember the guitar amps literally bounced themselves off stage once).

Listening to the '87 CD and the remaster – level matched – the new is a great improvement with retained integrity of the album. A few ticks have been removed in "Come Together"; in "I Want You" some mains hum is nicely gone, without detriment to the song at all. A careful tidy up. Overall, EQ response is extended, not hyped. I largely put it down to being a better transfer than the first CD issue.

I understand how some expecting major changes could well be disappointed, but mastering never need be about major changes. Like writing good music (semibreves and demisemiquavers are overrated. In fact, I think there's more to be said for rests), what you leave out is just as important as anything added.

The only downside I see to this release is the retaining of "Octpus's Garden". I may not be alone in this.

[madtheory]

Originally Posted by Adam Dempsey

The only downside I see to this release is the retaining of "Octpus's Garden". I may not be alone in this.

LOL! Let's be churlish again- they should've dropped "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" also, and replaced them with "Come and Get it" and "You know my name (Look up the number)". Jeez, that George Martin had no idea what he was doing...

Abbey Road has "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", two of the best pop songs ever.

[sedohr]

Originally Posted by Adam Dempsey

"I will not buy this record, it is scratched".

No, it isn't!

[GilWave]

Originally Posted by Adam Dempsey

"I will not buy this record, it is scratched".

I will not by this *tobacconist*, it is scratched.

Take off your panties Sir William, I can not wait 'til lunch.

[johnlink]

I just received the mono box set and I notice a few oddities:

1) The packaging for Magical Mystery Tour is inside out and has no slot to store the CD.

2) The text on the spine of the Sgt. Pepper packaging is upside down (i.e., the opposite of how the text is arranged on all the other packages).

Do I have a defective copy or is that the way the packaging was designed?

John Link

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by johnlink

I just received the mono box set and I notice a few oddities:

1) The packaging for Magical Mystery Tour is inside out and has no slot to store the CD.

2) The text on the spine of the Sgt. Pepper packaging is upside down (i.e., the opposite of how the text is arranged on all the other packages).

Do I have a defective copy or is that the way the packaging was designed?

John Link

1. Mine is just like the Lp packaging (only smaller). Yours sounds defective... Where IS your CD as it arrived?
2. Mine is just like yours.

L

[johnlink]

Originally Posted by loujudson

1. Mine is just like the Lp packaging (only smaller). Yours sounds defective... Where IS your CD as it arrived?

Sandwiched between the two panels of the packaging, along with the booklet.

2. Mine is just like yours.

Strange, but if that's the way it is, ok.

Each CD is in a thin plastic sleeve but there are no paper sleeves. The picture at amazon shows paper sleeves and the editorial review at amazon says "replete with plastic anti-scratch sleeve, inner paper sleeve".
Amazon.com: The Beatles Mono Box Set: The Beatles: Music

[loujudson]

Well, I made safety copies and put the originals away. If I ever pass them on to anyone they will be brand new-looking. This morning looking at them for you was only the second time I handled them! So it is a nice document with the packaging, but for my money, nothing is like a 12" record cover package.

All the fiddly little cover reproducitons are fine but kind of a waste. I need magnifying lenses to read them. Frankly I would have been just as happy with digital version - it is all about the music to me... and the quality of the mastering!

I made good quality (well, you know...) MP3 discs so I can have all the Beatles on random play in the car... and 16 bit WAVs in the computer.

[johnlink]

Originally Posted by loujudson

Well, I made safety copies and put the originals away.

I plan to do the same.

If I ever pass them on to anyone they will be brand new-looking. This morning looking at them for you was only the second time I handled them! So it is a nice document with the packaging, but for my money, nothing is like a 12" record cover package.

No kidding! You still have yours, don't you? I have mine (American LPs, not British).

I was surprised at how small the box set was, probably because I expected to occupy as much space as a dozen or so LPs.

All the fiddly little cover reproducitons are fine but kind of a waste. I need magnifying lenses to read them.

I wonder whether anyone is selling any special Beatles magnifying glasses.

Frankly I would have been just as happy with digital version - it is all about the music to me... and the quality of the mastering!

Yup!

I told my seller about the defects and he refunded my money and said to keep the box set!

John Link

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by johnlink

I told my seller about the defects and he refunded my money and said to keep the box set!

John Link

Now hey you cannot beat that! Happened to my wife with a book once, but this is a good deal. Copy them and sell them as a collector's item with the defect! '-)

L

[johnlink]

Before I ordered I wondered why the price was so low ($120). Perhaps it is because the merchandise is counterfeit. I found a lot of discussion about counterfeits at Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set COUNTERFIETS I've read that the counterfeits often will skip on most players. I'm curious to learn how mine play.

John Link

[doorknocker]

Originally Posted by johnlink

The picture at amazon shows paper sleeves and the editorial review at amazon says "replete with plastic anti-scratch sleeve, inner paper sleeve".
Amazon.com: The Beatles Mono Box Set: The Beatles: Music

That's the way that I receieved my Mono set from amazon.com.

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by johnlink

Before I ordered I wondered why the price was so low ($120). Perhaps it is because the merchandise is counterfeit. I found a lot of discussion about counterfeits at Amazon.com: Customer Discussions: Beatles Remastered Mono Box Set COUNTERFIETS I've read that the counterfeits often will skip on most players. I'm curious to learn how mine play.

John Link

Hmmm. Does your Magical Mystery Tour have the whole booklet inside? If not it might be a fake! Curiois. I got mine by pre-order - ordered it last June, got it September 12th.

L

[johnlink]

Originally Posted by loujudson

Hmmm. Does your Magical Mystery Tour have the whole booklet inside? If not it might be a fake! Curiois. I got mine by pre-order - ordered it last June, got it September 12th.

L

The booklet is assembled correctly but the miniature LP is inside out, without slots for either the CD or the booklet.

John Link

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by johnlink

The booklet is assembled correctly but the miniature LP is inside out, without slots for either the CD or the booklet.

John Link

Might just be an error or who knows But my bookelt is nicely bound inside the folded jacket.

L

[Adam Dempsey]

Originally Posted by loujudson

Copy them and sell them as a collector's item with the defect! '-)

I've a copy of the '2001' soundtrack CD but the audio is actually 'The Wizard of Oz'. An error from the Swindon plant (one cat. number apart). Takers?

[johnlink]

I just discovered that there is some very strange (i.e., non-Beatley) audio following the final chord of A Day In The Life. Check out the attached mp3 file.

John Link

[loujudson]

Originally Posted by johnlink

I just discovered that there is some very strange (i.e., non-Beatley) audio following the final chord of A Day In The Life. Check out the attached mp3 file.

John Link

HAH! Welcome, you are now an initated Beatle listener. That sound was in the leadout groove of the English version only. I first heard it on KMPX the day Sgt. Pepper was released - I have a tape of Tom Donohue laughing over it and asking engineer Dusty Street to play it again.

It will play for as long as you want on the Lp - it is the leadout groove!

I was so happy they saw fit to include it on the remaster. I consider true deep-in-the-blood beatles people are the ones who knew about this since 1967... all the rest of you are newcomers and pretenders! ;-)

Lou Judson, old time oldtimer.

[johnlink]

Originally Posted by loujudson

That sound was in the leadout groove of the English version only.

I guess I'll have to revise my definition of "Beatley"!

[MarsBot]

Originally Posted by johnlink

I just discovered that there is some very strange (i.e., non-Beatley) audio following the final chord of A Day In The Life. Check out the attached mp3 file.

John Link

The Beatles were thinking creatively on so many levels. I actually would say this is one of the most "Beatley" things they ever did. One of their main focuses was to do stuff nobody else would ever attempt or consider but make it work.

If you want to hear a little more of this kind of whackiness then listen closely to "You Know My Name," "Hey Bulldog," and "Only a Northern Song." And how about the end of "Walrus" where they're scanning radio channels live and recording them onto the master as they are mixing. They actually did lots of very weird audio mind games like this. We have much better tools for this kind of thing now, but the adventurous spirit isn't there in the chart-topping performers anymore.

[johnlink]

I bought a legit copy of the 2009 Beatles mono masters and have played them many times, loving them more and more. Those youngsters were true geniuses!

I'm so grateful that the mastering wasn't done according to today's common practice of flattening the dynamics.

John Link

[CatInTheFurnace]

I cant count the number of times I've passed out with the record playing (yes that's right, on a record player) only to wake up 4 hours later with "never could see any other way" playing over and over. I suppose the modern equivilent is waking up to a DVD menu screen playing 15 seconds over and over.... I prefer the beatles way :-)