Beatles News from Record Collector

Beatle News from Record Collector

I got this info off the ICE board:

In the August 2002 issue of Record Collector, under 'News For The Record', the following appears:


"A huge digital overhaul of the Beatles' back catalogue is reported in the offing, with a new VHS and DVD Video of 'Let It Be', an as-natured-intended version of 'Get Back' - before it became 'Let It Be' - and fresh Surround Sound editions of other Beatles classics...

"...EMI is preparing Surround Sound editions of most of the Fab Four's back catalogue, although details about future releases on CD or DVD Audio haven't been finalised. This should commence in 2003, with deluxe versions of 'Please Please Me' and 'With The Beatles' possibilities for a 30th anniversary reissue..."

 

Oh no! Say it isn't so! No SACD! Nooooo

 

THIS COULD SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A quick listen to the remixes on the Anthology video reveals that they sound pretty darned good.

"Rain", "Paperback Writer" - balanced, logical, high fidelity, non-generational loss--in other words beautiful.

 

Yeah!! Those bastards at EMI couldn't give you poor Beatle freaks stereo versions of their first albums now they will give you
SSSSUUUUUURRRRROOOOUUUUNNNNNNDDDDD sound.Those fools crack me up,your gonna get 5 channels of No-Noise.
Beatle fans stock up on boxes of tissues I predict there is going to be considerable wailing ,crying and handwringing on this board sometime next year.

 

Oh, Nooooo, not surround
(Sorry for the use of your avatar, Grant)

 

Did you expect anything else? I'm still waiting for legit STEREO CDs of the first four!!!!

 

Ditto! Oh Yea!, The Original Mixes of Rubber Soul & Help!

 

Do you think they're trying to "out-do" the folks at Abkco? Heaven knows they wouldn't want to "copy" the Rolling Stones (not that I'm sure their releases are going to be a success but it, at least, sounds as though they might).
Kind of coincidental that this comes out just as the Stones releases are around the corner.

 

I fear you could be right about that

 

Re: Beatle News from Record Collector

I wonder what the "deluxe" versions will contain? Are we finally going to get STEREO CD's of these albums?

 

Ah yes, but it will be No-Noised echo

 

Oh, I don't think they are out of the question. They *did* use the original stereo mixes for the Red CD and "1", after all (for the AHDN and BFS tracks, that is).

I'm taking all of this with a grain of salt. CDs are two-channel. Do you *really* think they would limit themselves to a format which:

1) can only be heard to its full potential in players that most people don't have
2) for all intents and purposes can only be played at ONE player in people's houses (and some people don't even have one of them)

I'm also reminded of a note by Apple around the time of Yellow Submarine that said the remixes were a tie-in to the film, and that remixes wouldn't be done in the future.

 

Isn't that a sign of the apocalypse?








God help us... of course I will settle for Steve

 

I would be thrilled to get the Beatles discs on DVD-A. They would include Hi-Rez stereo tracks I'm sure. It is a great format sound wise, just as good as SACD,in my opinion,and I do own both.

 

I'm a little skeptical about this. As much as I (and everyone else) want to see the Beatles catalog remastered, the thought of some hokey surround mix scares the hell out of me. I have several of the DVD-A titles such as Night At the Opera and overall think the quality can be very good. However, this is such an important part of musical history and given EMI/Abbey Road's track record for remastering the Beatles thus far, I question whether the end product will do the Beatles justice.

I would rather see EMI take a similar approach as to what Abkco seems to be doing with the Stones in getting the best source material and reissuing the Stereo/Mono recordings in as high a fidelity way as possible. Too many of the surround effects on these classic albums is neat in the short term but doesn't do justice to the music overall and is often a cheap thrill.

Let's wait and see and hope that someone with some sanity steps in to do this right...

 

Well the picture was there yesterday,darn.

 

I am wondering if I should pick up the current Beatles CD's. History shows that I will be searching for them shortly after the bands catalogue is "re-mastered".

Can we not just have the songs, without the gimmicks? Why does everyone insist on using equipment and extra channels just because they're there ?

 

I think I'm gonna be sick.....

 

Hello KLM.

It's not a matter of insanity, but of maximizing profits and making the most of a valuable resource as every corporation should do.

Providing a definitive remastering of the Beatles albums would give a sign to the market that once you get that you don't need anything else.

Would I do that being in their shoes? No way!

What they are doing is predictable and makes sense.

I hate it of course.

Beatles' good vinyl will keep increasing its already-bloated value. Piracy from them will increase too. Perhaps a pirate CD issue with good sound will be common in the future, at tape-tree prices (i.e. free).

Maybe that will force Apple's hand.

 

For what little its worth, here's my thoughts on this:

1 - This is not an EMI and/or Apple press release so its a rumor. Only the Let It Be project has been mentioned by Paul in a couple interviews.

2 - The Anthology is supposedly been re-mixed for 5.1 DVD video. But still no official release date or press release.

3 - The comment 30th Anniversary is obviously wrong, so I suspect that the comment "CD or DVD-Audio" is wrong too. Probably should read SACD or DVD-Audio. Why bother with multichannel mixes if they're considering CD?

4 - So far, they've been using 24 bit pcm for new projects (Yellow Sub, "1"). So I bet if they've actually been doing re-mixes for Anthology and Let It Be DVD-Videos then they're in 24 bit as well. If the rest of the songs been re-mixed too (not a long stretch of the imagination) then those as well are in 24 bit pcm. Then that means if SACD is ever used, then they'll be pcm -> dsd conversions. So, whether they're SACD or DVD-Audio, they'd probably sound about the same.

5 - So that means SACD or DVD-Audio woould primarily be a marketing decision. If hybrid SACD, then they can replace the existing CD catalog. If DVD-Audio, its an additional product to either the existing or brand new CDs. Which option would make more sense to them?

Too many if's, too many questions.

If this does become true, be prepared for a huge marketing blitz and extreme hype that will make us all sick!