So what's the story behind these mixes? Songs like "Nowhere Man" are mixed differently where the drums aren't annoyingly panned to the left like on the stereo Rubber Soul. Why don't they do this with all the RS songs, and any others that do something like that? Another mix that was a bit different than on the album was the title track to Sgt. Pepper where the vocals weren't panned to one side, they're in the center like how a normal person would mix a song and that's been my go-to version because it's so distracting and weird that they panned it all the way to one side. I hope in 2023 we get a 60th anniversary mix or something of all the early albums that correct this stereo panning nonsense and use this songtrack as a basis.
1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack vs. their 21st century counterparts. Any Love For The 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack? *
This was the first categorical remix of any significant number of Beatle songs and to my ears, each and every one was improved from the originals. Nowhere Man is a particular standout; not only is the overall mix better centered, the gorgeous vocal harmonies sound cleaner and more textured than ever. The Sgt. Pepper songs are all improved from their original mix...wider separation and far better defined highs and lows. I like the Giles remix of the album but i was hoping more so for this kind of treatment.
And to add to DK Pete's post: These were remixed in 1999 for the 30th Anniversary re-release of Yellow Submarine . At that point, the film had been out of home video circulation since the 1980's. Apple remastered the film print and went back to the original multitrack tapes to created new 5.1 and stereo remixes of the songs. Because DAW's and software like Pro Tools were now becoming the industry standard, this was the first time the Abbey Road team could go back to the original pre-bounce tapes and create a new digital multitrack master. This not only gave more definition to the individual instruments, but more freedom in panning them (now that the drum track wasn't locked into the guitars etc.). During the promotion of the Songtrack, George Harrison stated in Record Collector magazine that he was partially supportive of the remix. The film was released in cinemas for a limited run and then released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD. These home video releases would prove to by limited themselves as they would be deleted by MGM due to rights over the music, making them quite collectable for a brief them with a LOT of DVD boots around. The remixes were a godsend to some and heresy to others (just do a search here on "Peter Cobbin" or "Paul Hicks" ). I loved them at the time and couldn't wait for more remixes of the catalogue.
Heavy noise reduction, harsh highs to cover that up, imbalanced backing and vocal tracks smothered in digital reverb, out of sync pre-bounce tracks: the 1999 Yellow Submarine remix. Apparently 20 years on a mecca at this place because some don't like they can hear the kick drums on the remixes of the past 5 years. Even though the 1999 mix has got that same bass restored (pumped up even), and is often compressed and limited noticeably more than any of the more recent remixes of the same songs.
all the remixes for the songtrack were great except hey bulldog.i didnt like the guitar solo part.the drums at the start were good though.but the guitar solo was better from the original.other than that this songtrack was awesome.
The only thing I didn't like about the Bulldog remix was fact that the bass was pushed too far in the background. The "upfront" power of the bass lines on the original mix was about the only good thing about it.
Now that is true heresy. Plus we have, in my opinion, their most enjoyable video to go along with it.
I am also grateful that this video was released! Fascinating and enjoyable! However, the remix always bugged me because on the spoken part, all the instruments are the same volume all the way through to the end. The original mix fades down the instrumental backing to give a feeling of dynamics and, most importantly, intent! When the maniacal laughter comes in, the instrumental backing comes up with it. Brilliant decision there. the remix lacks that.
I’ve always liked YSS. At the time of its release, the remixes were a tantalizing glimpse of what could be done with the whole catalog, as a nice “alternate take” on the songs we all know & love. Also, the track list including every song that showed up in the film definitely made more sense than the original YS album to me, since I haven’t listened to side 2 of YS in about 20 years.
I love the YSS mixes, except for "Eleanor Rigby" (because of the out-of-sync vocal track) and "Think for Yourself" (because the glorious fuzz bass is buried). "Only a Northern Song" is a much better listen than the original fake-stereo (or even the true mono mix that wasn't available until the 09 remasters). YSS was my introduction to the Yellow Submarine album and film. It also introduced me to "When I'm Sixty-Four and gave me the full exposure to "Baby, You're a Rich Man" (I was only familiar with whatever portions of it were in "The Beatles Anthology" doc), as well as the four YS songs. I remember loving "Hey Bulldog", and the intro to "It's All Too Much" scaring the hell out of me (good thing it wasn't the original mix, which is really in-your-face).
The YS remixes are not great, but there are a multitude of reasons the recent remixes are disliked beyond "pumped up kick drum". At least the YS remixes display some restraint and taste, however minimal.
Over time my opinion of the remixes has become less favourable. At the time of release I was impressed with the clarity and mixing choices that seemed to bring The Beatles closer. Something was always bugging me, though. I think it is to do with how clean the mixes sound and somewhere a loss of feeling, of mood. But, I am glad they did these. Anyone else got the yellow vinyl version?
As argued many times before now, it's the one evil against the other. All things which a group of people tend to dislike about the 2015-2019 Sam Okell remixes, are part of the 1999 Yellow Submarine remix. And the latter got heavy noise reduction which kills a lot to work with, which the former doesn't have.