Just got an email from Amazon that my super deluxe box set will arrive tomorrow. I am so happy, now I can rest easy. Besides the 27 min Helter Skelter I wanted on the box set, I was hoping that “Brian Epstein Blues would be included. When is the thread for Abbey Road 50th Anniversary going up?
You might be able to tell from my avatar where my bias lies. However, I think that Lennon and McCartney are equally great on the White Album in a way they hadn't really been since Rubber Soul. That is one of the many reasons why it is my favorite Beatles album.
Listening to that one for the first time while reading your post. So loose and freewheeling, yet still magical. Man, I love this box so much already and it feels so fitting getting this now as it is exactly 30 years since I got the lp for xmas from my parents. Remember wondering back then if there was anything more from the sessions of value. The 13 year old me woulda cried with pleasure upon getting this. I'm not quite there (yet) but still. Total love! Best regards, HTRL
Exactly, the only other album in my opinion where they were that equal was Revolver. They both have their strengths and weaknesses but you can plainly hear that they're still trying to impress each other and generally still having a laugh (as we Brits say) in the studio. Witness how much fun they're having in the White Album jamming sessions, and a handful of months afterwards for the 'Get Back' project they're playing much more sloppily, walking out on sessions and there's an overriding sense of tediousness in the air. None of that cohesive sense of 'fun' that you get when listening to the Sgt Pepper/White Album outtakes. Thankfully they recovered somewhat with Abbey Road, but it was the chemistry between the band members that gave The Beatles that magic that barely any other group has quite been able to reach.
Why is this Esher version of "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" from the new box edited? That's a bummer! I was expecting the "oh hits!"
Here's what I've decided I learned from reading everything I could find regarding this release. Far from the conventional wisdom that The White album was time of inner strife between the individuals, it was really like everything they'd done before, only different. Which is like everything they'd done before. Never repeat yourself. Not a conscious, discussed decision, but an organic, intrinsic, classically Beatle thing to do. Done with the all of the meticulous crafting, massive overdubbing, bounces & every other complexity, time to just play together as a band, work out the kinks, experiment & refine til WE like it. I've always loved the unique Sound of the WA. Nothing is "crowded" except #9 & that's not really a song but still fits perfectly & is essential. Leading up the WA was full of new experiences. The universal praise for Pepper, death of Brian, sabbatical in India. If nothing else John, Paul, George & Ringo were sponges of their experiences. To me, the WA is a direct viaduct to each of their mindsets at the time. There are certain bands where everything comes together in terms of talent, timing, cohesiveness & then maybe popularity. The thing that strikes me about The Beatles is how remarkably well their recordings hold up. No other British group or U.S. group during that period have recordings that still sound as good & real and all that that entails as The Beatles. The 50th WA is going to be epic.
As a very non-newbie, from my listening so far the remix is far better than the Pepper remix, beyond a couple of mixing snafus like the guitar screw up being left in at the end of Savoy Truffle and the missing handclap in Ob-La-Di and some weird choices like the distorted echo on the bass drum at the start of Helter Skelter, the "inside-out" phasey strings on Glass Onion and the terrible ADT attempt on Wild Honey Pie. Beyond that it's a pretty awesome alternate mix to have. The sessions discs are wonderful (despite the fact that the 3 CDs would easily fit on 2 CDs, especially considering there was no issue filling the Esher disc almost to the brim) and the Esher demos finally sound as they should, but I do wish the circulating take of Sour Milk Sea was on there instead of the take we got. So as with Pepper, it's not perfect (what is?) but it's certainly one of the best Super Deluxe sets I've seen released in recent times. Are you talking about the 5.1 mix? Because the stereo version is just the 1968 stereo mix.
I combined both channels to mono on the 2018 remix and the original and played them both at the same time, both panned far left and far right, and while I didn't notice anything new content-wise, they would not stay perfectly in synch with each other and I had to keep readjusting. I'm not sure what this means, but it's interesting nonetheless. SOMETHING is different.
I'd been holding off on the vinyl but one look at these pictures and I crumpled like a leaf. Ordered.
Goddamn if "You're So Square (Baby I Don't Care)" isn't the most brilliant thing I've heard in a while. So that's what those early Hamburg pilled-up gigs were like? If only there was a complete version...
For whatever it's worth I'm playing the 5.1 for the first time and I'm having a ball. Are the mixes as "out there" as Love? Nearly. Is the mix giving more Beatles per speaker then the Pepper 5.1? Absolutely! I'm really happy with this one. It was well worth the wait. Some things will sound the same, some unheard before and some will have disappeared. That's alright. I love the Mono, the Stereo and now the 5.1. This one will get spun plenty for years to come. P.S. - The Watusi, . . . The Twist . . . .Eldorado. Take this brother, may it serve you well...
Came home to my deluxe set having arrived from good old Bullmoose. The thing is hefty, at least 3 or 4 pounds. I got #0003550. Can’t wait to crack into this.
Member crossroads69 posted this list on September 27th 50th Anniversary all things Beatles White Album
I’m listening to the 24-bit 44.1K 2009 FLAC remaster of the WA tonight getting ready for tomorrow’s release. I’m hoping to walk into my local Walmart to pick up the 3CD release tomorrow morning. If Walmart doesn’t have it, I’m planning on driving 50 minutes (one way) to Target or Best Buy to pick it up. Can anyone who has the 2018 remix confirm that the mic adjusting sounds at 0:27 and 2:10 of Dear Prudence have been removed? I remember first hearing the White Album in the early 80s as a not-yet teenager and the apparent sound of John adjusting his vocal mic on that track has annoyed me ever since.
So tell me, in your opinion from what you hear, if the 5.1 was mixed down to stereo would the net result sound like a whole other mix? I ask because I'm fond of playing around with 5.1 mixes to stereo. Sometimes it's like an entirely new mix, sometimes not. Most of the time there is an extra sense of air folding these down.
I think your results will vary from track to track. Pure fun or jumbled mess. Try it. I'm sure some of it will sound interesting.