Beatles "Past Masters Vol.2"

After all these years, I've just picked up "Past Masters Vol.2," and I was quite pleasantly surprised by the sound quality on many of the tracks here.
I particularly like "Old Brown Shoe," the bottom end and soundstage are quite good for a '69 recording.

Anyone have other thoughts about this CD?

 

Just curious, were you more used to "1" or the Blue CD? Did you have something else before?

The CD sounds very good....!

 

I wasn't impressed by "1" at all and I do not own the Blue CD, so I purchased the "Past Masters" CD for certain songs like "Rain" and some of the single alternates.

 

After the Past Masters mentioning at another thread, I pulled PM 1 & 2...It's been a while and they do sound great after all these years! Quite nice...Great song selection.

 

PM2 stands as a very good CD on its own. That's not a bad CD to keep.

If Hi-Rez discs come out for PM2, this will be something hard to beat.

 

I think the Past masters discs sound really nice. There's a funny low end bump on the red and blue discs that has always bothered me. It's always made my car systems (going three cars back) cough and fart. It's boomy down there in a strange way.

Although the Past Masters discs sound nice the EP set sounds a little better to me. They're fuller but I'd take the Past Masters over the albums.

 

Ah but the original UK (*not* US) 45 was even better.

 

Jaime, those first four are just horrendous examples of the digital format. I can't name another 4 Cee Dee's as bad and considering the Beatles are the most famous band in the history of music. It's unbelievable that the only alternative we have are pirate bootlegs on Cee Dee that blow away the original Cee Dee's. The EP Box is proof that the Beatles can sound great on Cee Dee.

 

Overall, the sound is adequate. Almost all of the tracks that are on the Red and Blue and "1" compilations sound better there. "Get Back" has no high end. "Paperback Writer" and "Lady Madonna" don't have the punch and the bass they do on the other compilations. "Ballad of John and Yoko" sounds dull. On the other hand, "The Inner Light" and Rain" sound wonderful. "Revolution" sounds grittier and therefore better than on the Blue album.

 

I remember that Steve had a number of comments about the Past Masters 1 & 2. I just did a quick search and found them:

Another Beatles Box Question

 

Re: Re: Beatles "Past Masters Vol.2"

I like both PM's a lot. You have to give credit to Apple for making these compilations so we can get all the non album tracks in one place. On the other hand I prefer many of the mono single mixes to the stereo ones. A friend made me a copy of the Beatles singles box solo I really am appreciating some of those mono mixes for the 1st time. Revolution is so much heavier in mono. I also like IWTHYH, This Boy & I'm Down in mono. Unfortunately I have a feeling once the Beatles catalog is finally reissued the mono stuff (albums & singles) will be largely ignored. I hope I'm wrong. Maybe they will do a limited mono release or something through their website one day. One can dream.

One other thing. Does anybody knows what Past Masters actually means? I always thought the name was kind of bizarre. Is it because these tunes are considered master songs that were missed from the albums, or is it because the Beatles are considered music masters of the past? Anybody have any other theories?

 

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I agree-the concept is great. When I first bought the PM I was disappointed by the sound of only 1 song: Get Back.

However the later compilations have improved the sound for the most part.

I agree that the mono mix of Revolution rules, as does I Want To Hold You Hand and Paperback Writer.

For me, the title Past Masters implies both the master recordings of the non-album songs and the mastery of the performers.

And right now I'm happily listening to the Ultra Rare Trax Vol. I bootleg.

 

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The single mix of Get Back is not great to begin with. There's a big difference when compared to the later mix on the Let It Be LP. As apparently the Past Masters are just flat transfers from the tapes some songs need more help than others.

 

Re: Re: Beatles "Past Masters Vol.2"

It sounds great on my Japanese "Hey Jude" LP.

(It's "Old Brown Shoe" we're talking about ... thread getting complex.)

 

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The UK single mono mix sounds just fine. (Not dull like the US stereo single mix.)

 

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The Past Masters' Get Back is stereo. Perhaps the same mix as the US single?

 

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Of the versions I've heard (the Canadian stereo single, the UK mono single, the PM, Blue album UK and Canadian vinyl and CD and "1") the PM version is the only one that seems to lack treble. The others sound fine in comparison.