I'm huge on remixes, I have an aversion to the distortion I can hear on 1960s (esp. heavily bounced) mixes. So I enjoy YSS. On the downside is the reverb. It's not exactly rich, warm, and analog. It sounds a bit short and digital. Still, all things considered, I'll take anything on it over the original, especially Nowhere Man, Hey Bulldog, and Baby You're A Rich Man.
Today's assignment for me is to listen again. Interesting that you pointed out Nowhere Man, Hey Bulldog, and Baby You're A Rich Man.
Agree 100%. I like the mixes that Peter Cobbin did on the YSS much more than Giles' Pepper 50. Wish he did the rest of the album tracks.
Listened to YSS last night after not hearing it for years and some equipment upgrades. I don't have that much problem with the mixes so much as I do with the mastering. It needs a serious remastering without noise reduction (the tapes weren't that noisy to begin with) and played back on vintage equipment. Sounds too damn sterile to these ears. FWIW, I still like the original stereo mix of Hey Bulldog better.
well side 2 isn't the beatles and side 1 starts with the song yellow submarine which is the only song by the beatles I truly detest. Hey Bulldog however is brilliant but I have that on a comp somewhere
Well...if you want the four songs that are only available on either incarnation, the "Songtrack" might be the way to go. It contains the fifteen songs featured in the movie, remixed, and without the George Martin orchestration.
nothing against Giles. his unique history and relationship to the Beatles music makes him an ideal Executive Producer for their projects. The role of remixer or mastering engineer, which he is certainly competent to attempt, should be in more experienced hands. Certainly the remastering teams from the 2009 reissues should be the key brain trust. Also Ken Scott, Geoff Emerick, Alan Parsons should be consulted. Sounds like too many cooks but the role of the engineers is critical to this work.
You say this as if the "backlash" and "outrage" is a real thing that exists in the outside world beyond the confines of the Steve Hoffman Forums.
I saw the 1999 re-release of Yellow Submarine in a NYC movie theater, where it ran for just a single day, shortly before the DVD and CD came out. The movie was in 5.1 Surround. The audience let out an audible gasp at the opening harmonies of "Nowhere Man." It sounded incredible. People actually applauded after many of the songs. I love both the Songtrack and Pepper 50. No complaints (other than the odd choice to use worn out vinyl as the source for the mono promo mix of "Penny Lane" on Pepper 50 when a very clean stereo mix circulates among collectors).
They could have easily added "A Day In The Life" (also in the film) and the Martin score, all of which would have fit on a single CD, with around ten minutes to spare. Tack on Across The Universe, Lady Madonna, and The Inner Light. Bam! Sold.
That 'stereo mix' is not the promo mix though, is it? (It's just the regular stereo mix with the promo ending tacked onto the end).
I read that too. Since they used arguably the three best tracks from Side 1 of Pepper, if they would have added THE best track from Side 2, it would have hurt Pepper's future sales, to an extent.
I do, too. Yes, the original Bulldog mix has all the elements panned too widely, but that's part of its '60s charm for me. But mainly, it's the bass - centering it somehow blunts the impact of those amazing glissandos during the "You can talk to me" part. In the original mix they jump out of the (right?) speaker. On the remix they just kind of lay there, like 'no big deal'.
