The Beatles (White Album) 50th Anniversary Release

[Dr Winston O Boogie]

Stunning sound quality, I am lost for words.

[Bigman80]

Never arrived. Gutted.

[Bigman80]

Just got this email update.

FFS: I preorder in October, from the Beatles store, and get it 5-7 days after the release date and everyone else who bought from Amazon.co.uk?!

F@ck that. I'm going to give them a bucket load tomorrow.

[Pete The Cat]

Having grown up with the view that a producer is an extra band member I'm not sure what to make about remix exercises like this, Let It Be...Naked, or elsewhere with people like Steven Wilson remixing Yes, Jethro Tull etc. It seems there's a premise that we don't mind non-contemporary individuals changing albums (I know The White Album 2018 releases have extra tracks, I'm referring to the core album).

Where do we draw the line, or don't we ? Would we appreciate it with Mark Ronson's name on it ? Or is it just down to whether it's done sympathetically ?

Obviously if it brings folks pleasure that's what matters. I guess I'm just unsure about these things myself, since I tend to think that an album is of its time and any perceived imperfections in an original version are a valid part of it, so remixes somehow seem unauthentic

Pete

[Edward]

Does anyone know how this release was mastered? If anything like the Sergeants Peppers 50th anniversary than I'm sure it will be remarkable.

I see that HDtracks has it at 24/96 but at a steep £32.75.

Oh! Just looked and see Tidal has it online - MQA 24/96.

Gonna have a listen tomorrow.

[montesquieu]

Does anyone know how this release was mastered? If anything like the Sergeants Peppers 50th anniversary than I'm sure it will be remarkable.

I see that HDtracks has it at 24/96 but at a steep £32.75.

Oh! Just looked and see Tidal has it online - MQA 24/96.

Gonna have a listen tomorrow.

I've just bought the vinyl - one record. £35 - seems fair enought.

I dug out my original that I bought when I was 15, it actually sounds ok, a bit noisy but given what it was played on in my school days I'm pretty lucky. The spine is completely gone but the poster is still there ... pictures were lost long ago. Played sides 1 and 2 tonight. As with the remaster of Sgt Pepper I'm most struck with the quality of McCartney's bass. Also the fact that Lennon hadn't quite turned into the utter wally he was to become not long after. (You can see signs though).

[Dr Winston O Boogie]

Lennon a wally?

[Edward]

I've just bought the vinyl - one record. £35 - seems fair enought.

I dug out my original that I bought when I was 15, it actually sounds ok, a bit noisy but given what it was played on in my school days I'm pretty lucky. The spine is completely gone but the poster is still there ... pictures were lost long ago. Played sides 1 and 2 tonight. As with the remaster of Sgt Pepper I'm most struck with the quality of McCartney's bass. Also the fact that Lennon hadn't quite turned into the utter wally he was to become not long after. (You can see signs though).

Listening to and comparing the HDtracks and Tidal version. Not much difference. Tidal MQA version most likely derived from the 24/96 digital release anyway.

But this 50th anniversary release is great. Feels very fresh and alive. Bags of texture and detail. Giles Martin et al basically did the same as they did for the Sargent Pepper album. Remaster from the original 4 and 8 track sources and mix down using George Martin's original mixing notes. Yet to get to the Esher demos and various jam sessions.

[Stratmangler]

Having grown up with the view that a producer is an extra band member I'm not sure what to make about remix exercises like this, Let It Be...Naked, or elsewhere with people like Steven Wilson remixing Yes, Jethro Tull etc. It seems there's a premise that we don't mind non-contemporary individuals changing albums (I know The White Album 2018 releases have extra tracks, I'm referring to the core album).

Where do we draw the line, or don't we ? Would we appreciate it with Mark Ronson's name on it ? Or is it just down to whether it's done sympathetically ?

Obviously if it brings folks pleasure that's what matters. I guess I'm just unsure about these things myself, since I tend to think that an album is of its time and any perceived imperfections in an original version are a valid part of it, so remixes somehow seem unauthentic

Pete

The short reply is give it a listen - if you like it fine, if you don't like it fine (just don't go on about it ad infinitum).

The long reply is that first time round Let It Be was in the can, and nobody involved with it wanted to touch it with a ten foot pole, so acrimonious was the fallout between band members during the recording sessions.
The project was eventually handed over to Phil Spector to mix. Spector added arrangements for orchestras and choirs that were never part of the original project, and the result of his efforts was released a month after The Beatles had officially split up.
It was an album that was not what was originally intended, which had some great songs on it that needed to see the light of day.
Paul McCartney was not too keen with the result (as he'd kicked the project off in the first place, and had specific ideas his song contributions), and the rest of The Beatles weren't interested at all, and happy to be out of what was a pretty toxic situation.

Let It Be ...Naked - McCartney has this nagging thing about Let It Be not being released as it was originally intended to be, and he's carried this for decades.
The remaining former Beatles have made up and they're all on friendly terms. So he tells them about about his wish to have the album remixed without all the embellishments of the 1970 release, and they give him their consent to go with it.
He handed the project to a couple of the EMI house engineers with a few notes on how the project should be handled, and left them to it.

Both albums are great!
George Martin was producer and was present at the recording sessions.
Neither album had the original producer present for final mixdown.

Take each one on its own merits.

The Steven Wilson remixing thing is a bit of a mixed bag.
His work with King Crimson material is superb.
The Yes remixed material is excellent too.
With Jethro Tull his remix of Aqualung is nothing short of astonishing. Heavy Horses didn't have a lot wrong with it to start with, so might have been better being left alone.

[Edward]

Had a listen to some of the Esher tracks.

Very nice. Lots of play between the players. Bit live a live recording.

Worth a listen.

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