OK, here's another Beatle CD question. Are the mixes of Help and Rubber Soul on the Red Album CD the original stereo mixes or the cd issue mixes? Thanks, and sorry if this has been covered before. - Gabe
It appears that they are the CD mixes. Michelle on the Red Cd has the exact delayed fade out that is on the Rubber Soul CD (I prefer the fade out on the original stereo LP of Rubber Soul). I believe the booklet or back inlay card may list the dates of the masterings. Don't have the CD in front of me so I have to rely on my faulty memory here. Rubber Soul and Help were mastered in May 1987. Luke or Sckott or others might have more insight on this. Brian
Yep. They are, last I chequed. I get too busy listening to bootlegs, I have to think reeeal hard. I'll check again, but I'm sincerely positive they are.
As are (oddly enough) the versions on "1," which really makes me doubt their claim to have been newly remastered. -D
Well, it depends on how you define "remastered". They were certainly "tweaked" - the overall EQ is very different in places. Probably taken from the same digital transfers, though. Also, Can't Buy Me Love is wide stereo, not narrowed down as it is on the Red CD.
The 1962-1966 CD release also trims the "James Bondish" orchestral prelude to Help! that was on at least some of the 1962-1966 LPs, IIRC. Regards,
If I'm not mistaken, the Bond-style "Help!" intro appeared only on the US version of the original Red vinyl. Always wondered what was behind the variations between the US and UK editions of those compilations.
The "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" songs on the "Red" album are the same 1987 digital remixes George Martin did for the CD issue of those albums, but, with the addition of some digital noise reduction and some EQ tweaking. The original 1965 stereo mixes are not avalible on legit CD. All the Red & Blue album songs are evidently the same initial digital transfers done in 1987, excepting the stereo "All My Loving" and the clean-intro "A Day in the Life". Most, if not all, of the songs were treated with digital noise reduction to some degree. At the time they came out on CD it was stated policy that all "new" Beatles issues will be treated with noise reduction. Also, the songs on the recent "Beatles 1" collection are also evidently the initial 1987 digital transfers, but, with noticeably more digital noise reduction, notice the increased syllabance on the vocals and percussion, the stifled echo. The high-end details and ambiance were completely sucked out of those recordings. Lance Hall
You're right - the James Bond Theme appeared on the US version of the original 1962-1966 vinyl LP. The US vinyl version also featured more "rechannelled" stereo tracks than the UK version. The UK versions were definitely superior! The sound of the red and blue CD's was a big improvement over those 1987/88 releases, even with the noise reduction that was applied.
\ What causes the main problem with "1"? Is it mostly NR that sucks the sound out or are there other bad thingies applied?
Well, for some songs, yeah. She Loves You obviously was, although that also was released on the EP box. And we got some more stereo tracks. But I'd say in many cases the original CDs are preferable. No NR is good NR...
Not quite. Several of the REd/Blue album songs use the versions that were used for the EP/Singles collections (for example, the MMT stuff on Blue is from the later remastering, and SLY on the Red is the EP version). -D
Obviously they used the US masters to compile the US red album, and the UK masters to compile the UK red album. That "James Bond" music also appeared on the US Capitol "Help" album, which contained only the Beatle songs that appreared in the movie along with parts of the film score. The James Bond snippet was a bit of incidental music from the film Help. I guess they used the US Help lp master when compiling the Red album.
Maybe I'm alone here, but I do like the sound of the Red Album on CD. Yes, it's no-noised but I think that soundwise, it kicks butt on the regular CD issues. Timewise, however, this is a complete and total rip off. They could have fit both the Red and Blue albums on one two-cd set(with one song removed from the Blue album-"Octopus' Garden" IMO-for time constraints. I know the Beatles wanted everything on CD as it was on vinyl, but this is one disc that one cannot justify buying new. Of course, if one sees it used for 12 bucks-as I did-all bets are off!
To some music listeners the "Red and Blue" cd's is all they need in their collection of the Beatles. That's probably why the "Red & Blue" cd's were released.