![]() For being "inside" an album, this is fantastic stuff. At last, we hear the genius as it unfolds. It's terrific to listen to the Beatles as they listen to the playback of "Penny Lane," adding overdubs and claps, and chatting about what else could be done. The simple answer to the looming question is: Yes, there is a large audible difference between the original and new stereo mixes that makes any of these new Anniversary Editions well worth the money.Īnthology 1≣, released in 1995≩6, included some of the extra material included here, but much of it appeared in the form of new "composite mixes" that, as stated in the liner note for "A Day in the Life" on Anthology 2, were "Assembled expressly for the Anthology." In the Anniversary Edition, the extra takes are thankfully presented whole, unmixed with other takes. There are also smaller tweaks worth noting, such as a faster, higher-pitched version of "She's Leaving Home" that matches what was present on the original mono mix. And the sound of the voices is expansive, ringing with fresh energy. McCartney's bass has never sounded better. Paul McCartney was recently quoted in Mojo as agreeing that the sound of the new stereo mix is much more "3D mono." Taken from the four-track session masters, the new mix is easily differentiated from the original stereo mix by a louder, more present and full-blooded overall sound in which Ringo's drums are centered in the mix. Pepper's, though guided entirely by the mono mix that all of the Beatles worked on with producer George Martin, is a very obvious improvement over the original stereo mix. Given the success of the waves of remastered reissues of heritage rockonce a fresh angle on how record labels can once again exploit their rich catalogsremixing rather than remastering may now be a trend that is only just getting started. These remixes are very different indeed and may represent a new frontier in reissues. The remastering mission was just to smarten it up a bit. But no one had the guts or the permission to tamper too much with the success of a record like Sgt. Remasterings of so-called heritage rock, never released at bargain prices, have sound that is inevitably described as being a bit brighter and slightly more three-dimensional than the originals. The remastering phenomenon, which crested in 2009 with the much-praised remastering of the Beatles' entire catalog, has grown predictable. Pepper's is an embryonic example of an album whose songs do seem deliberately sequenced to tell a story.Īs for these much-ballyhooed Anniversary Editions, it's important to keep in mind that this is a remix, not a remastering. Although Ringo Starr has said that everyone called it a "concept album" only because it had the same song at the beginning and at the end, Sgt. Along with a certain background tension that can be felt in lines like "Getting better all time the time / It can't get no worse," the group's penchant for experimentalism ran wild, creating in its wake an eternally fresh-sounding masterpiece of poppy, psychedelic art-rock music that owed much to the English dance-hall and vaudeville traditions. ![]() Released in 1967, the band's eighth album and the first produced by the group after their retirement from live performances, unleashed the band's creative impulses because it's assumed, somewhere, subconsciously at least, the band knew they would never have to play any of it live. And despite troubled and troubling lyrics in spots, perhaps the most magical Beatles record of all will always be Sgt. In describing the Beatles' music, magic is never too hyperbolic a word. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Anniversary Edition is a welcome and wonderful conglomeration of music and information, old and new, about this landmark recording. While the three double-CD volumes of Anthology contained some of this materialand bootlegs had the restthe release of Sgt. Given the value of the band's recorded legacy, it was only a matter of time before even Macca, who over the years has made cryptic and patently false statements about scraping the bottom of the barrel, would get behind new stereo mixes and the long-awaited official release of alternates and outtakes. ADD? TT: 3:23:11 (CDs only)Įven VIP visitors to Abbey Road studios are allowed to only peer down a dimly lit hallway to the vault where the Beatles tapes, arguably the UK's most valuable crown jewels, are meticulously stored. Miles Showell, Sean Magee, mastering Matthew Cocker, transfer eng. Jonathan Clyde, Guy Hayden, project prods. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Anniversary Edition
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