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Remastered.
The word strikes fear into the hearts of music purists everywhere. For in a simple turn of phrase, it connotes that their beloved bands lived in caves, primitive by today’s sleek technological advancements. It connotes that the band’s output was simply not up to par with today’s standards, that somehow the sounds they created and the stories they told were inferior, simply because recording technology wasn’t as sophisticated as today’s hyper-slick studios. It implies that the band, in 2009, needs something to help improve what they created, because the state it’s in is not good enough.
Remastered.
It’s okay if you bristle at the sound of it, most do.
The practice of remastering classic albums always makes fans worry. There is the overwhelming tendency for engineers to go a tad too compression happy and erase the vibrancy of the original recording. It can lead to a poor product, go against the band’s studio intentions, and cause an awful fan backlash. So naturally when EMI announced a complete remastering of The Beatles’ discography, even I (Who generally favors remasters) bristled.
Yet after a few run-throughs I can say, bristle free, these are incredble.
Rather than do a run down of each album, this review show how the remastering team of Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell, Paul Hicks and Sean Magee attempted to grant the iPod generation the ability to hear what the Fab Four heard as they arranged these songs. While toeing careful lines, this mastering team made choices based on what would afford the tracks the most clarity, instead of brick walling the sound into a compressed mess and killing the song’s natural dynamics.
Simply put, the tracks are not just louder. The Beatles’ material has finally been granted a depth it never quite achieved in mono or in their 1987 CD presses.
Instead of the shrill grating gang vocals, fans young and old are treated to full-bodied harmonies on the pre-Revolver material, and crisp cymbal work that never truly stood out before. For the first time since we saw them on the Ed Sullivain show, The Beatles sound like they have a robust energy to them. It’s a treat to hear John Lennon’s scratchy vocals on “Twist & Shout” feel wild and unhinged, Paul McCartney’s desperate singing inundated with sharp strings on “Eleanor Rigby,” or George Harrison’s melancholy surf-guitar on “Nowhere Man.”
The remastering never attempts to make the instruments feel contemporary, and that’s its major strength. Instead Harrison and Lennon’s guitars still feel as twangy as they would have in 1964. Elsewhere, McCartney’s bass bumps along with spunk, while Ringo Starr’s drumming (While pedestrian) feels deep and brisk. Yet through careful restoration, all of it comes across with a softer touch and warmer resonance than their previous CD counterparts.
However, the real treat in listening to these remasters is in the small details one’s ears now pick up on. The propulsive drive of “Back In The U.S.S.R.” isn’t just in the searing lead work anymore, but the fluttering piano and driving bass that feel more in grained in the mix. McCartney’s acoustic guitar on “Blackbird” sparkles with new shine, while the eclectic strings and samples on “A Day In The Life” no longer feel like an avant-garde experiment, but a breathtaking experience.
Suddenly, you’re falling in love with The Beatles all over again.
These remasters really did a great job in allowing listeners to experience the low end of the tracks without disrupting the musical tension. Suddenly, Starr’s drums on “Something” feel weighty, McCartney’s bass work nimbly creeps through, and the syrupy strings add a dreamy quality to Harrison’s wistful croon. “In My Life” revels in delicately plucked guitar as Lennon’s nostalgic voice is backed with soaring harmonies that feel just as passionate as they did on your parents’ records.
Yet what separates these remasters from the sea of botched ones, is their humility.
These songs weren’t improved, for the master tapes and mixes all existed to the public in some form or another. Rather, these remasters were done to grant an experience, an experience The Beatles wanted us to have from the start. While die-hards will avoid them and stick to their scratched vinyl’s, The Beatles Stereo Box Set offers a clarity and sense of space that only the men making it could have heard, something that technology wouldn’t let them give to us. To grant this to fans is not only gracious, but should rewrite the book on what it means to remaster something (And the intentions behind such projects).
Maybe in the future, we’ll be saying, “Hey, this got remastered just like The Beatles stuff.”
Suddenly, we’re not bristling anymore.
Spin These First: Please Please Me, The Beatles (The White Album), Abbey Road
Sounds Like: 4 guys from Liverpool.
First digitally colored Teddy
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I just got the idea to color some old Teddy cartoon using Photoshop and this
is the results. I like it
2 hours ago
5 comments:
Can I thank you for an informative analysis? Well I will: Thank you.
I was certainly curious as to how The Beatles remasters would fair in the world of digital recording and, as you put is, "brick walling the sound into a compressed mess and killing the song’s natural dynamics."
I am excited to pick these up, myself.
I think with the remastering and the release of The Beatles Rock Band they're going to rake in a another generation of Beatles listeners.
I bought The Beatles Rock Band and it's ridiculously amazing I must say.
I realize that the times we live in are just too damned weird to focus any degree of attention on a rock 'n' roll band that released its final recording forty-years-ago last month - two of whose members are gone from our midst. Think about it. In 1969, at the height of all that was going on then, any columnist who would have devoted a entire page to the greatness of the Paul Whiteman Orchestra would have been laughed out of the business. But this isn't just any band we're talking about here. With the exception of the President's address to a joint session of Congress last night, I didn't spend much time yesterday focusing on affairs of state. September 9, 2009 belonged to the Beatles.
Yesterday marked the long-awaited release of a box set containing all fourteen albums recorded by the Fab Four between the years 1962 and 1970. What makes this package different from what has previously been available is the fact that the engineers at EMI (the studio in London where they did most of their work) have digitally remastered the recordings from the original multi-track tapes. It was like listening to them for the first time all over again. The Beatles have never sounded better - I didn't even think that was possible!
Let me attempt the impossible and sum up the Beatles' message in one sentence: We are the makers of our own dreams. That works for me.
Dream. Dream away.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
@Chris: Thank you for your kind words. I'm no sound engineer, but I like to think I can convey what's important about music from a lay-persons perspective to other lay-people. And trust me, when you're listening to "Tomorrow Never Knows," the dreamy soundscapes will make you forget that these are "remastered."
@Heather: You're absolutely right. Suddenly, Beatles chic is going to come back in a big way. I have mixed feelings about The Beatles Rockband, mostly because I had a roommate in college that all he ever did was play Rockband. For those that like it though, I'm told it's well worth the cost. However, I'd prefer it if people discovered the band through old 7-inchs or CDs rather than XBOX.
@Tom: I think the Beatles boiled it down in one word. Love. They even suggested that it was, perhaps, all we needed. Maybe instead of dropping bombs on countries, we could drops $200 box sets. Sound savvy?
Yeah I totally agree about finding out by listening to CDs and vinyl, but realistically that just isn't the way the youth is these days, including people my age. I own a turntable and buy vinyl records regularly and prefer them over CDs any day. Unfortunately the majority of people couldn't care less, and most likely download all their stuff illegally. At least they are enlightening people with real music instead of the crap you hear on the radio, whether it be through Xbox or not.
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