Thank you. I’m thinking the whole album is a relatively happy movie with some melancholy moments, hints of cynicism, then Can You Take Me Back leads us to a cataclysmic event that ends the movie...Good Night plays over the credits while the audience is still in shock.
Does anyone agree that on original pressings of the U.S. release, the second disc had more "punch" texturally? I don't mean that the songs were louder, but more presence on the lows and highs.
While I'd never replace Rev 9, I do have an issue or two with some of Giles' decisions. Celebrating the fact that it was left off the album...??? I'm not even sure what that means. It's not a celebration one way or the other...it was simply a song being worked on for possible inclusion on the album and deserved to be a part of the 50th anniversary "documentation". I agree on including the acoustic version of WMGGW as well as the alleged Harrison electric guitar version which exists out there. somewhere. I'm not sure any of the period singles belong, though.
...which raises another "must-inclusion". It's a no-brainer that the super deluxe version will come with some sort of book...I think it'd be one hec of an idea for the front cover to be of the original considered cover art.
And I know I sound like a broken record on this but I hope they include the one hour reel that I believe Paul took home with him at the end of recording, had studio chatter and song snippets they used for some of the transitional bits
I LIKE: I Will Julia Wild Honey Pie Long Long Long Birthday Yer Blues I SKIP: Mother Nature's Son Good Night
i like side one, one of the best sides of music they ever made, the rest is a curates egg and to be frank a bit of a mess.... imho
Side 1 is very good but once again I like to take the album as a whole and that includes Revolution 9
me too, i have no problem with Rev 9's inclusion, however to me its like they spent all their time sorting out side one and just threw the other tracks in the air and joined them together where they fell. The album could have been vastly improved with re-sequencing and a few tweaks, like a tad more production on some tracks and keeping the link to Rev 9 from Rev 1 which makes rev 9 make more sense, have the full version and maybe dump long long long. Like Let it Be its an album that could be much improved with just a little more thought/work. Basically it needs a touch of the Abbey Road slickness ( which side one has ) imho and less of the appearance of a bunch of solo tracks joined together.
Inevitably, no matter how powerful and ground-breaking an album seemed at the time of release, after a while it gets taken for granted. But I've always considered this to be as influential as anything they ever did, on a number of levels. Firstly, it brought humour back into rock and roll after several years of earnest navel-gazing, with tracks like Back in the USSR and Happiness is a Warm Gun... It also inspired a generation of acoustic guitarists with all those finger-picking tracks... It also brought in the age of piano-based singer-songwriters like Elton John, Billy Joel, Carole King (as a performer) etc, with tracks like Martha My Dear, Honey Pie and even Long Long Long (very Carole King/Tapestry on the middle 8), and Hey Jude of course. And maybe Helter Skelter was the first heavy metal song in mainstream rock. Maybe Ob La Di was the first time many people heard ska? And it did reflect the chaos of the times, the assassinations, the anti-Vietnam protests, the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia, ultimately descending into the unspeakable madness of the Manson murders. My favourite track? Bizarrely, it's probably Cry Baby Cry - it was the first one I heard, played on the BBC by Kenny Everett about a week before the album came out. The chord changes, the drum patterns, the pushes and pulls of the dynamics versus the simplicity of the lyrics were just astonishing to me. It still works every time.
The album starts with the best one-two punch of any Beatles album: Back in the USSR and Dear Prudence. After that it goes downhill. For the record Back in the USSR is one of my top ten Beatles songs. I particularly like the live version Paul performed in Moscow in '03.
Hopefully will see White 50 box this year? Just wanted to share: BEATLES 2018 50TH ANNIVERSARY WHITE ALBUM CALENDAR [3351] - $9.50 : Beatles Gifts, The Fest for Beatles Fans
The brilliant songs While My Guitar Gently Weeps Back in the USSR Dear Prudence Blackbird Revolution 1 The very good songs Helter Skelter Julia I'm So Tired I Will Sexy Sadie Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da Happiness is a Warm Gun Mother Nature's Son The good songs Savoy Truffle Birthday Glass Onion Cry Baby Cry Honey Pie Long, Long, Long Martha My Dear Don't Pass Me By The okay songs The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill Why Don't We Do It in the Road? Piggies Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey Rocky Raccoon Good Night Yer Blues The bad songs Revolution 9 Wild Honey Pie
Fantastic album. Rev 9 is a simply astonishing work of art. It's actually genius. One of the most important tracks they ever did. On a par with Tomorrow Never Knows. Not excited about a remix as I didn't like what Giles did with Pepper.
The only track I actively dislike on this entire smorgasbord of an album is The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill. Bit of a dirge.
Would agree with Dear Prudence and While My Guitar both being the best songs on the album. Also quite enjoy I Will, Honey Pie, Revolution 1, Blackbird, and Back in the U.S.S.R. Overall I think it’s a good album, though could be trimmed down a little bit (well, not enough to make it short enough for a single album). I think the bulk of the good material is found on Side 1, with side 2 also being good, then the overall quality starts to drop on Disc 2. Just my opinion though.