The Beatles - The Beatles Stereo Box Set
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Free Music Notes for The Beatles Stereo Box Set
Free Music Review: A Set that Shows Why They Deserve All the Accolades
Hit: 5 Stars
I was extremely fortunate to be able to get in on the Gold Box deal a few months ago for this set. This is, hands down, my greatest (and even with the deal, most expensive) music purchase ever.
Before I purchased this set, I would say I enjoyed the Beatles, but I never considered myself a superfan. That has changed. I now know why this band is considered by so many to be the greatest of all time. I have spent pretty much the last three months listening to the Beatles' music day and night, and, I have to tell you, it is astonishing what they accomplished in the span of about seven years.
The Beatles invented or co-invented so many genres of rock music that are popular today or enjoyed popularity previously: Heavy Metal (Helter Skelter, the single version of Revolution No. 1), Progressive Rock/Concept Albums (Sgt. Pepper), Psychedelic Rock (multiple tracks from the Revolver era on), heck, one could even argue they helped to pioneer rap and the sampling craze (Revolution No. 9). They mastered instruments years before other bands even knew what they were, such as the Moog (featured on multiple tracks on Abbey Road), distortion bass (Mean Mr. Mustard), the sitar (multiple tracks). I think they even invented a new sound with the "distortion brass" featured on Good Morning from Sgt. Pepper.
The arrangements on the Beatles' songs are nothing short of astonishing. They are so complex, and yet so brilliant. Every time you listen to a song, you hear something new, because there's just so much to take in.
The CDs sound absolutely astonishing. Yes, the stereo separation is a little "hard" in the early albums, but they still sound fantastic. Abbey Road, which was originally recorded in stereo, sounds absolutely stellar.
Every album the Beatles put out, with the possible exception of Yellow Submarine, is a masterpiece. Whether it's the boy band pop of their early days or the more revolutionary music of their later years, you are pretty much listening to the best music of each genre. My favorite among the favorites is Abbey Road. What an astonishing album this was, and it let the Beatles exit out on top. Every song on this album (or in the case of the medley, song part) is incredible, even the SEVERELY underrated Maxwell's Silver Hammer (if you don't like it, listen to it again). Revolver is another album full of masterpieces, highlighted by John's fantastic And Your Bird Can Sing, Paul's Eleanor Rigby, and George's Taxman (Ringo would have to wait until Abbey Road to write his masterpiece, the fantastic Octopus's Garden). Sgt. Pepper and The White Album are also terrific.
The Beatles do have a couple of duds in the catalog (Wild Honey Pie comes to mind), but there are so many incredible songs you won't even care. (ABBA has the distinction of being the only band I can think of that never released a bad song. But, of course, their output wasn't as massive as the Beatles' either.)
So, if you're on the fence about getting this set, trust me, DO IT. You will not be sorry. If you can't afford the whole set, try to pick up the four albums I mentioned above (especially Abbey Road) to start yourself on the path to Beatlemania.
Free Music Review: A Couple of Tiny Complaints but Otherwise a Great Improvement
Hit: 5 Stars
It only took 22 years but the powers that be finally re-mastered the Beatles collection. To paraphrase from the back cover of their first American Capital release: "Only a hermit could be unaware of the re-mastered Beatles CD collection, and he'd have to be beyond range of television, newspapers, radio, CD's, and rioting fans!"
I took my time and listened to each disc carefully. I'm not an extreme audiophile with thousands of dollars invested in stereo equipment, but I do have a very good system, one that can reproduce sound as accurately and probably better than is heard in most homes. I also have a mixer which makes A-B-ing that much easier.
First of all, there is no comparison to the original 1987 releases FOR THE MOST PART. I must admit, "Can't Buy Me Love" sounds beefed up i.e. the sound quality of the newly re-mastered version is not that far off from the '87 version, only the newly re-mastered version sounds louder. In fact, Ringo's cymbals are mixed much lower, nearly drowned out, in the new re-mastered version of "Can't Buy Me Love." This is the only song that I have noticed this. Then there is the awful cut-harmonica version of "I Should Have Known Better" - why, when the original 'Hard Day's Night' release had the song with no drop in the instrument, did they put this version on the CD? The '87 version had the correct one - why was this version used? Thank God I still have my '87 original as well as my high quality bootleg copy.
I also, by the way, A-B'd my Capital box sets of the early recordings and, I must say, to these ears the Capital releases are definitely on par with these newly re-mastered versions, which tells me that whoever re-mastered the Capital releases in the earlier part of this decade knew their stuff. Needless to say, I will not get rid of my Capital versions.
So, to summarize the earlier recordings: Definitely better (for the most part - stereo finally!) than the 1987 releases but equal to the Capital releases (also in stereo) of a few years ago.
Onto the later Beatles: There is no comparison. Simple as that. Every song that I have heard just blows me away, especially the acoustic numbers such as "Across the Universe." It sounds like John Lennon is sitting in my living room! The bottom that seemed to be missing on 'Sgt. Pepper' is now there, giving me an idea of what was heard during the original sessions. The fullness of "I'm Only Sleeping" makes it like I'm listening to the tune for the first time - it's that good.
So, in my opinion the box set is worth getting because the sound as a whole is noticeably better than the 1987 releases, as well as getting the first four albums in stereo. It deservedly receives five stars (even with "Can't Buy Me Love" and the cut harmonica on "I Should Have Known Better") because the quality of the rest are so much better.
If you only have those originals from '87, I highly recommend this collection.
(Addendum: I was corrected about the harmonica part in "I Should Have Known Better." I was informed that the 'cut harmonica' was on the stereo version only. I never knew that - I do now and I thank Smedley for the correction.)
Free Music Review: An edition to celebrate the greatest band of all time.
Hit: 5 Stars
As many of you, I am a huge Beatles fan. To me they are simply the best thing that ever happened to 20th century music. Their songs echo everywhere we go in the works of countless bands they influenced. And they are still beautiful after all these years.
So it was with a lot of anticipation that I bought this stereo set. And as I opened it, I must say I was overwhelmed with all the care, love and effort put by EMI in making this set the Beatles celebration they deserve.
ABOUT THE BOX ITSELF
The whole package comes in a beautifully crafted box with the Beatles logo. Opening it, I found the most beautiful set of CDs. Each one in a digipack reproducing the original artwork. Those digipack editions are very fragile because basically it is all paper. So I do recommend the purchase of this stereo box - so the CDs are kept safe.
The digipacks come with photos and the artwork of each disc is simply gorgeous.
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Wow... I sounds beautiful.
Not only the stereo sounds great, the whole sound looks sharper, clearer and brighter. It look like it was all recorded yesterday (ha!).
Listening to ELEANOR RIGBY, MICHELLE, YESTERDAY, FOR NO ONE, AND I LOVE HER, I FEEL FINE and CAN'T BUY ME LOVE (for example) was a wonderful experience. The recording simply comes to life with a beautiful stereo sound like nothing I ever heard. Those old editions from 1987 really sound awful when compared. For No One is a great example: the french horn part is is much more dynamic and warm.
The later recordings like ABBEY ROAD and GET BACK sound simply amazing. GET BACK (the song) is so clearer I felt I was listening to all instruments live in my room. It sounds like all instruments are really there together without the muffled sound of the old edition (funny I say "muffled" now since I was used to think those old editions were great). It is like listening to it all for the first time.
On ABBEY ROAD, for example, the great string of non stop songs in the middle of the album is so rich I had to play certain segments again (because I was amazed). POLYTHENE PAM and SHE CAME THROUGH THE BATHROOM WINDOW are amazing! - And they left me feeling that The Beatles' lesser known songs must all be rediscovered because they sound so good! George Harrison's SOMETHING almost made me cry.
Finally we have The Beatles we can blast through our speakers and completely obliterate any Justin Timberlake or Jonas Brothers our neighbors are playing. (laughs) Just put GLASS ONION, I AM THE WALRUS or CARRY THAT WEIGHT and look at the neighbors' kids' eyes as they put Kanye West's CD back in its case. (laughs)
I was afraid the stereo separation would feel plastic and artificial - I don't know why - but no, I did not have that feeling while listening to this set. It seems it was all recorded and handled with lots of care, love and cutting edge technology.
This is a great day to celebrate the biggest band ever!
And congratulations to the EMI team who made this possible and put this all together.
I'm very happy.
Free Music Review: I thought Beatles in Stereo was going to be IT. The best, Beatles holy grail but...
Hit: 5 Stars
These are my thoughts and experiences. People's thoughts are so diverse no-one can be totally right or wrong but it's fun to share experiences right?
I thought Beatles in Stereo was going to be IT. The best, Beatles holy grail, get rid of the mono recordings and be done with it - all of that.
Now I've been listening to The Beatles since the early 70's. I watched the movie "Hard Day's Night" and was mesmerised and hooked. I was about ten I guess.
So the first LP I managed to save for was Hard Day's Night. The stereo release and it sounded so good. The next was Sgt Peppers. First class, blow your mind Sgt Peppers in mono.
I didn't buy many more after that, just listened to other peoples.
Then the CD's started dribbling out. But Hard Day's Night was only released in Mono here - Yuk I thought to myself. Hard Day's Night sounds wonderful in Stereo, why go mono? So I didn't buy it. I did however buy Sgt Peppers - it was released in Stereo.
Stereo is better right?
Thinking back, I listened to Stereo Peppers just a handful of times on CD.
It just never had the same impact on my subliminal self that I had enjoyed as a youngster. I just presumed I had grown up and my taste had changed.
Now, all these years later, after purchasing the Stereo and Mono set, and after reading some of the excellent reviews on this site I've realised the obvious. Peppers sounded better from my LP for the simple fact that it was mono.
Peppers was destroyed by the stereo re-mix (at least as far as I'm concerned it was). The left/right sounded so thin and weak and the impact was gone. Left/right wasn't as bad as Revolver, Rubber Sole etc but most of the time; the Stereo album had lost something.
Now Sgt Peppers has the same impact from my budget but reasonable (NAD CD, Pioneer A400 amp, Paradigm loud speakers, naim speaker cables) system, as I remember it sounding decades ago. I'm serious - the mono does sound that good.
So I find I'm getting the most enjoyment from the Mono mixes for the most part.
Abbey Road has always been stereo (have to say the new release is magic - never noticed Paul's chuckle in Maxwell's Silver Hammer before), Hard day's night stereo (just sounds right and after reading the reviews I now know why - early multi-track), and the bulk of the others beautiful Mono (never thought I'd call Mono a format of beauty).
Speaking of Hard Day's Night has anyone noticed the mono recording differs from the stereo recording? Listen to "I Should Have Known Better" and pay attention to the harmonica riff at the opening of the song. It breaks toward the end of the riff on the stereo mix but not the mono.
It's always made me wonder what other differences there are between Beatles mono and stereo recordings.
Anyway - what ever folk own with the new releases we now have choice so I hope you can enjoy the new remasters as much as I am. Loads of fun.
Cheers.
Free Music Review: The Beatles Remastered-Simply,no,majestically a masterpiece body of work!
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been listening to the Beatles since I was old enough to know what music was. My older sister was, and is, a huge Beatles fan and bought every album and single that was released here in the U.S.. I can remember as a small child, my sister and I getting ready for school listening to the Beatles blasting on our RCA TV console record player. The stereo my mother had won on the TV game show Let's Make A Deal. The school day mornings were ours, our parents were off at work already, so we were free to escape into the world the Beatles had created. Later on when my sister had her own record player, don't tell her, when she was away I would sneak into her room and listen on headphones to her prized collection. I became very intimate with all of the songs the fab four shared with me. Their music so inspired me that I became a singer, songwriter, producer etc.. Thank God for the Beatles' music. Cut to 1987 when with great anticipation the Beatles finally released their music on CD after many years of legal wrangling. As has been stated before, they didn't live up to the sonics I had remembered. Gone were the clicks and pops, but so was the magic and excitement I so cherished. They sounded very flat, mushy and overly compressed. It was still the same songs but as heard through a filter. Now in this glorious age of technology and even more compressed volume wars of the digital era, they have been finally res erected. Everyone, including me, who cared about the great legacy that is the Beatles were skeptical. Would the powers that be try and please the masses that are used to overly hyped, compressed, CDs and MP3s? Or would they treat them as the musical historical documents that they are? Well worry no more! The rematsered Beatles albums are a revelation!
I can honestly say I am very impressed. To my ears, these sound much better than I have ever heard these songs. As I have read from others, I have heard things in these recordings that I have never heard before after intently listening to these songs ever since their original release. The clarity is startling in it's honesty. Most musicians would be horrified to hear their vocals and playing with such a microscope after being used to having things so meshed together by the past mediums' masters. These aren't your ordinary musicians as the world knows. It is jarring at first to hear these recordings that we have loved for so long. They sound like the same songs but so clear that they sound different. The first thing you notice is that you can now hear the bass and drums with much more clarity and authority. Next I noticed the vocals of such amazing resolution that you can really hear their spit and snarl. I can go on, but you are wasting time reading my ramblings. Go out and get your favorite album and have a listen. Or just find some money and buy all of them, if you are a Beatles fan you will be glad you did. Simply,no,majestically a masterpiece body of work.