Beatles Re-Masters Set for 09/09/09 Release

[stopbush]

Beatles Fans Await Re-Releases

By ALLAN KOZINN
Published: April 7, 2009 NYT

Finally. After watching the Beatles’ company, Apple Corps, devote the last few years to developing a site-specific show in Las Vegas, a video game and a line of pricey memorabilia, Beatles fans are finally getting something they’ve been demanding for at least the last decade: sonically upgraded reissues of the group’s original British albums, in stereo and mono. Apple Corps and EMI announced on Tuesday that the much-postponed remasters would be released on individual stereo CDs and in two boxed sets — one stereo, the other mono — on Sept. 9, the same day the Beatles edition of Rock Band, the music video game, is scheduled for release.

"Rubber Soul" is one of the 12 albums the Beatles released in Britain that will be included in the new series, along with "Magical Mystery Tour" and the “Past Masters” set.


Downloadable versions of this music, however, remain in limbo. In December Paul McCartney said that they were being held up because of a dispute between Apple Corps and EMI. More recently, Dhani Harrison, George Harrison’s son, suggested that Apple Corps was dissatisfied with the price Apple, the computer company, was charging for iTunes downloads, and hinted that the Beatles might sell digital downloads through a system of their own. That could be resolved by September as well.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/arts/music/08beat.html?_r=1&ref=arts

[FudaFuda]

1. I hope the stereo remasters of the first few albums are done well.

Ever listen to the stereo versions of the first few Beatles albums on headphones? Impossible. All the music comes out of one side, and all the vocals from the other side. They didn't really do a proper stereo mix until Sgt Pepper's and even that was a throw-together job. The White Album is, AFAIK, the first album that got careful treatment for the stereo mix.

I'm looking forward to this, but if they blow it with a bunch of overprocessing, at least I've still got my Purple Chick Deluxe sets.

[Fumesucker]

4. With the proper digital processing it wouldn't be all that hard to simulate real stereo..

Which is what the remasters are probably going to do anyway, since the original tracks were probably mono in the first place.

[Captain Hilts]

8. That's 'Hi Fi' to you, pal! nt

[FudaFuda]

11. Everything before "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" was on 2 track

they got access to Abbey Road's 4 track Telefunkens starting in late 1963

Didn't record on 8 track until Sgt Pepper's (actually, they used a pair of 4 track recorders)

[jmowreader]

14. How would that be eight track and not six?

Using two four-tracks you wind up with three tracks for music, one for time code on each machine. If you want two tape decks to run in sync, it's the only way.

[FudaFuda]

24. Ask George Martin. lol. I just read stuff. nt

[Fumesucker]

16. Yeah, but that was four mono tracks..

None of that stuff was recorded in what I consider "real" stereo, with two microphones on each sound source.

The stereo effect was strictly manufactured in the studio by panning and so forth.

[MilesColtrane]

29. I don't like it when they remix classics into fake stereo.

Sure, clean up the tapes, remove the mastering compression that was needed to get them onto vinyl, but don't mess with them beyond that.

The music is what it is.

Art isn't created in a vacuum. It's integrally wedded to the time it was made and the technologies that were used by it's creators.

Making pseudo-stereo out of mono masters is the equivalent of colorizing black and white movies.

[Cant trust em]

5. They're terrible

The capitol reissues they did a few years ago are really echoy.

[Captain Hilts]

18. I found "I Feel Fine" unlistenable on them. nt

[Cant trust em]

35. You might have something to say in this lounge thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8673922#8673994

[Captain Hilts]

7. Very true. They were meant for mono.

Check out "I Feel Fine" without the vocals on youtube. VERY interesting.

[Cant trust em]

12. Almost anything with two guitars, drum, bass & vocals is better on mono

Accept no substitutes.

[Occam Bandage]

9. They're gorgeous. Listen to Love, the Cirque du Soleil soundtrack.

It's all remastered (using the process they're using here), and it's all absolutely perfect. Better than almost anything released now.

[regnaD kciN]

36. That's not quite the case...

The first two albums were intended for mono -- the stereo release was an afterthought, and consisted of voices on the right and instruments on the left.

When the 1987 releases were being planned, George Martin insisted that the first two CDs be released in mono. Unfortunately, since EMI was putting the discs out four at at time, they decided to go a step further and issue all four in mono. This is a shame, because A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale have proper stereo mixes (no ping-pong separation like the first two) and, in fact, Beatles For Sale sounds much better in stereo. (You can verify that on the Purple Chick series if you want.)

However, after a good stereo mix on Help!, Martin reverted to ping-pong mixing on Rubber Soul. Why? Well, apparently, a lot of people were buying the stereo LPs but playing them in mono, and having a centered vocal track means that it would be 3 dB (i.e. noticeably) louder than the instrumental tracks when played in mono. So, why didn't he just reason that, if you were stupid enough to buy a stereo LP to play on a mono system, you deserved what you got? Good question. Unfortunately, while the stereo mix of Rubber Soul is a mess, it does have a lot more impact than the mono mix, which seems to me strangely over-mellow and weak. When the CDs were issued, Martin got permission to do a remix on this album (and on Help!, too, which really didn't need it). However, the result was not all that spectacular -- without enough distinct tracks to spread out the performers in space, Martin was forced to resort to blurring the ping-pong nature of the tracks with digital reverb. Note that Martin's 1987 mix will be used on the "stereo" CDs, while his original stereo mixes will be available as "bonus tracks" on the mono box.

After that, Revolver used the stereo stage differently on every track. Some had the vocals centered, some had the lead vocal to one side and the backing vocals to the other, some had one vocalist double-tracked at the extreme left and right of the soundstage, and some reserved the center position to a key solo instrument instead of a human voice.

So, really, the first two albums are the only ones that should really only be heard in mono. The stereo is better, IMHO on A Hard Day's Night through Help!, Rubber Soul is problematic in both formats, and Revolver is fine in stereo. Sgt. Pepper is one album that is probably worth hearing in both formats -- the stereo mix is fine, but the mono version has some key differences, and everyone from John Lennon to engineer Geoff Emmerick has said that Pepper is best heard in mono. I can't say anything about the White Album, as I've never heard the mono version. (The final two albums were only mixed in stereo, although some EMI subsidiaries put out mono versions simply by folding down the stereo tracks.)

In any event, I suspect the new remasters will be vastly better than the 1987 releases; but, if not, diehard fans will always have Dr. Ebbetts and the Purple Chicks, won't they?

[Captain Hilts]

40. Thanks for the summary. "I'll Follow the Sun" is terrific in real 'hi fi'. nt

[Soylent Brice]

2. wooooo hooooo!

thanks for the update!!!!!!

[Junkdrawer]

3. Number 9...Number 9...Number 9...Number 9...Number 9...

:evilgrin:

[zeemike]

13. Damn you beat me to it. n/t

[Poiuyt]

33. Turn me on, dead man

[regnaD kciN]

38. Yep, these will be released on a numerologically-significant date...

...probably to please Yoko.

But I suspect postal delays will result from the heavy ordering, meaning that many won't receive their copies until one after 9/09(/09)...

It has been pointed out that this "significant" date means the release will be on a Wednesday, unlike the usual convention of releasing on Tuesday (in the U.S.) or Friday (in the U.K.). On another site, someone wondered if any record stores would stay open Tuesday night, so they could start selling the albums at midnight -- someone else replied that wouldn't happen, but that the record stores would open early that day, and start selling them on Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins.

;-)

[DS1]

6. And look what happens when you turn that upside down...

[regnaD kciN]

37. You mean, you get "60-60-60?"

;-)

[walldude]

10. The remastered stuff from the Vegas "Love" show

is simply awesome, I hope the whole catalog sounds that good...

[KatyaR]

15. I think their early stuff sounds best in mono, but that's just me.

I think most 60s music sounds best in mono; maybe it's just because that's how I grew up listening to it.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Played LOUD. All sounds from all speakers. None of that 'hi fi' stuff. nt

[KatyaR]

21. Yep! So you can really hear those guitar strings TWANG!

Damn, that's just the best . . . .

[salguine]

17. Frankly I'm still pretty satisfied with my original vinyl...

[Dr Fate]

28. Me too. Although I would like a CD copy of the mono White Album...

...I can't see finding $400 bucks for the LP anytime soon...

[Sebastian Doyle]

20. Isn't this like the 4th remaster in the last 12 years?

not even counting what they did to the vinyl before the CD's came out.

[bbernardini]

22. Actually, no.

This is the first time most (if not all) of them have been remastered since they were first released on CD.

[Sebastian Doyle]

23. I was thinking of that overpriced collection of the butchered "US versions" a couple years ago

Didn't buy them. Didn't see the point of it. Bought all the 87 CD's though. If these are really any better, I'll probably buy them. The "Let It Be Naked" thing was a bit of a letdown though. It may have not been overproduced as the original Spector release was, but it was hardly the unadulterated original album it was marketed as either.

And they remastered "Yellow Submarine" a second time for no apparent reason, throwing in random tracks to fill it out, rather than the George Martin orchestral stuff that made up half the original sound track.

But this will be the first re-tooling of the entire collection in 22 years, I guess. Damn,it doesn't seem possible that it's been that long that the CD's came out :crazy:

[Captain Hilts]

25. I like the US albums. They include hits. So, why no 'Hey Jude' album any more? nt

[Sebastian Doyle]

26. If you buy all the albums in their original UK versions, and the 2 "Past Masters" disks

That's everything that The Beatles ever officially released. (at least until they opened the vaults in the 1990s)

Most of the tracks from the "Hey Jude" compilation would be on the second Past Masters disc (if not all of them... I haven't seen that particular piece of vinyl in years, but just going from memory of the Beatles later non-album singles, I think they're all there)

[Captain Hilts]

30. Yeah, but I like to listen to the albums as they were. I want to hear "I Feel Fine" on Beatles for

Sale, not a greatest hits disk.

[Dr Fate]

27. I'm fine with the records. I've never heard a "remastered" CD better than any record.

Just my opinion.

[regnaD kciN]

39. Ring my friend I said you'd call Dr. Ebbetts...

:evilgrin:

[Captain Hilts]

31. Does this mean the single-tracked UK-style vocal for "And I Love Her" will be back? nt

[H2O Man]

32. Good.

Best music ever.

[Romulox]

34. They need to reissue the vinyl! nt

[Deja Q]

41. Didn't they try for 06/06/06 but one of them threw a tantrum over legal issues?