The Beatles remastered albums have been with us for a few weeks now. I have listened to them a couple of times and am ready to make my decision on whether they were worth the money. It is an easy answer and one I could have given almost as soon as McCartney finished shouting "1, 2, 3, 4" on I Saw Her Standing There. The answer is they are worth every penny and more. To think I have been a fan all this time and have never truly heard their music as it was meant to be. Every nuance. Every drum beat, strum, chord, harmony and mistake. Yes, mistakes. It adds character to hear Lennon start to wander on the lyrics and then be reeled in by McCartney singing the line stronger to keep him in place. You can almost hear Lennon saying, "Oh yeah, I was thinking of the last verse." Such was the speed in which the early albums were recorded, these were seen as "close enough". Now, and indeed later with The Beatles, time is taken to listen to every note in minute detail to iron out these "mistakes". I think they have a place on the early recordings and am happy to hear them.
The biggest change with the remasters over the CD version released in 1987 is the bass. McCartney was (is) a very talented bassist and now I can hear that in all it's glory. I never realised quite how much the bass drove some songs. A song like Hello Goodbye which I thought to be an average Beatles track is now a joy with it's progressive bass rhythm. The drum beats are also crisper and clearer. Giving me a new found respect for Ringo. He really did some excellent drumming and the songs are all the better for his contribution. This can now be heard.
The harmonies and double tracking of voices is now clearer. You can still hear the voices perfect blending, but tilt your head and listen and you can pick out the individual voices. That high note is McCartney. Harrison is providing the the "Ooooooooo"s. Lennon the "Ahhhhhhh"s. On a double tracked voice you hear the two voices combining in perfection. Rather than almost hearing one voice with what could be echo, or double tracking, or ?
The timbre on the orchestral arrangements is amazing. You can almost feel the bow against the cello or violin on Yesterday and Eleanor Rigby. The brass on Penny Lane feels as if the band are in the room with you, such are the quality and depth of these new remasters.
I could go on to analyse
As a whole the entire project has been a resounding success. The music is crisper and clearer. The drums and bass are at a level where they support and drive the melody as they should. And the melody is like being in the recording studio with the band in it's quality.
So, which is my favourite album? Difficult to say. It depends what the criteria are. I would have to choose 4, each for differing reasons. I'll do them in chronological order.
1. Help!
This is the album of a pop group at the top of their game. They had conquered the world and they could do no wrong. Every song is a winner. From Help! to Yesterday. From You've Got To Hide Your Love Away to I've Just Seen A Face. There is no filler on this album (not that there is on any really). Even Act Naturally suits Ringo's voice. This is the early Beatles at their best.
2. Revolver
Everyone says that Sgt Pepper's was the album that changed the world, that it was innovative and original. Where this may be not entirely untrue, Sgt Pepper's owes it's "uniqueness" and overdubbed near perfection to a change that was conceived on Rubber Soul in part (Norwegian Wood in particular), but leapt upon with Revolver. Tracks like Taxman, Eleanor Rigby, Love You To (sitar and tabla), I'm Only Sleeping (backwards guitar) and Tomorrow Never Knows (tape loops and entire song in one chord) were the real innovative and world changing beginnings of the revolution. Sgt Pepper's was the more polished "we know what we're doing now" offering. Revolver (as the name almost indicates, but McCartney said they just thought was funny because it's what a record does) was the real change.
3. The Beatles (White Album)
After "finding themselves" in India and writing many, many songs. This album is almost a collection of solo songs. Almost but not quite. It is still The Beatles working (mostly) in harmony. Ringo walking out and McCartney drumming on Back In The USSR springs to mind. It does signal the start of The Beatles finding their own way as individual artists as they would soon become. I think this is a great thing. On no other album ever will you find so much variety and differing in styles. No song sounds like any other. This is greatly demonstrated after McCartney finishes screaming Why Don't We Do It In The Road, to then gently sing I Will. How many albums could offer the beauty of Julia, the noise of Helter Skelter, the weirdness of Revolution #9 and the poppiness of Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. I haven't even listed all the different styles there either. I would have to do a complete track listing.
4. Abbey Road
This album has some stand alone greats like Something, Oh Darling!, Come Together and Here Comes The Sun. But it is as a collection that this album delivers. The medley on the second half of the album in particular. McCartney said they were simply using bits of songs that they had in a useful way. But the whole becomes so much more than the sum of it's parts. The album, quite simply, is a swan song by a band who had learned how to get it right. It says, "This is how you do an album". It is a masterpiece and about as close to perfect as one album can ever be. Any more analysis would only diminish how much it works. The first half gets you in the mood with great tracks and the second half carries you (literally) to The End.
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