The Beatles - on CD

Personally, I find all the Beatles CDs terrible in terms of SQ. The only exceptions so far being the Anthology series; I've not heard 'Love'.
Along with many CDs of this time (mid 80's to mid 90's) transfer and remasters were generally poor.
In this case though, luckily the music's OK.

Nymph
I agree with you that "Love" shows what can be achieved with the original Beatles masters. The whole Beatles cataloge was transferred on to CD under the supervision of George Martin in the late 80s. It is crying out to be remastered using the latest techniques. If not, I can see the day when they become truly marginalised.

The Stones, for example, have re-invented their back catalogue very well, making their classic albums available to a new generation of fans.

All the Beatles' CDs, plus the Past Masters vols 1 & 2 (collecting the non album singles and b-sides etc), were put out in 1987-88. Not great sound. The only other remasters which were done were:

The Beatles (remastered 30th anniversary edition 1998)
Yellow Submarine songtrack (1999)
One (2000)
Let It Be...Naked (2003)
The Capitol Albums vols 1 & 2 (2004-5)
Love (2006)

So quite a lot of the B's back catalogue has been remastered in some form or other; though in a very haphazard way for short-term gain, a highly unsatisfactory situation. Don't forget the mid-1990s Anthology series too, better sound on a lot of (mostly demo and early take) material.

My suspicion is that EMI have been waiting for a long time for a new format to replace CD, at which point they would once again 'use' the Beatles to launch it. This is obviously not going to happen in the wacky world of downloads, so they should cut their losses, get off their corporate arses, pull the finger out, etc etc.

Thanks for these replies guys, although the beatles are a bit before my time and I consider myself wishing to discover more on what exactly they did in the 60's, I must confess a past ownership to a collection of Beatles LP's that sold in the late 70's as a box collection promoted though, 'Readers Digest' would you beleive!
(Go on and have a good laugh if you like : )
I remember the cardboard box was made to look like a wooden grate and contained six (i think, may have been eight) LP's with their greatest work from 1963 - 1970. It wasn't particularly well packaged... However, this vinyl was struck on the Parlophone label and played exceedingly well on my LP12... well, until I sold up my Vinyl and sondeck in 1992. I certainly remember how good Norwegian Wood, Michelle and Girl performed back then and this 'Rubber Soul' CD does nothing to convey anything like the same kind of emotion...
Perhaps this is the moral of the story, The Beatles are so iconic of the sixties they should have sacred reference and be played only on a well engineered turntable?

Kind Regards ~
nymph

quote:

Personally, I find all the Beatles CDs terrible in terms of SQ. The only exceptions so far being the Anthology series; I've not heard 'Love'.

I can only agree, some of the stuff on the Antology series sounds really excelent!

quote:

It is crying out to be remastered using the latest techniques.

Hope that doesn't mean the over compression/limiting all to popular in todays "mastering"...

The best ones I've heard is the Mobile Fidelity vinyl of the 1980's.

quote:

My suspicion is that EMI have been waiting for a long time for a new format to replace CD, at which point they would once again 'use' the Beatles to launch it.

Ah, SACD/DVD Audio

JohanR

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Kelly:
The Stones, for example, have re-invented their back catalogue very well, making their classic albums available to a new generation of fans.

Apart from the first two albums of course, which aren't available at all in the UK in their original forms!

Phil

True enough Philip. At least they put out Aftermath in both UK and US forms.

Abbey Road is by far the best sounding Beatles CD. All the others are pants. Its a good job that the music stands up to scrutiny isn't it

Jonathan

Get ready lads the Beatles remasters are due out later this year or early next. There has been articles in some of the US papers re this, this year. Apple have aslo confirmed that the discs are about finished.

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
ewemon, Do you know if they are going to be on vinyl and cd ?
Munch

Can't say yeah or nay on that but I would imagine that they will try and make the most cash possible so they may do. The Apple boss has also been quoted as saying that the catalogue is going to be made available for download from iPod.

Michael Fremer says the the Beatles - The Capitol Albums Volume 1 is worthy of a 10 for both music (of course) and sound.

quote:

but I would imagine that they will try and make the most cash possible so they may do.

Cynic. They wouldn't would they?

Howard

quote:

Originally posted by BigH47:

quote:

but I would imagine that they will try and make the most cash possible so they may do.

Cynic. They wouldn't would they?

Howard

If we owned the archive, we wouldn't maximise our earning potential would we? Yeah right.

If they do as good a job with Revolver, Rubber Soul, etc. as they did with Love, who cares?

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Shayman:
Abbey Road is by far the best sounding Beatles CD. All the others are pants. Its a good job that the music stands up to scrutiny isn't it

Jonathan

Yes, rupert bear mentioned past digital remastering in a "haphazard way" so perhaps 'Abbey Road' was just lucky to have turned out to good effect... a fluke?
'Abbey Road' (Digitally Remastered in 1987) is presently being offered in Tesco's at eight quid, I well recommend it but steer clear of the 'Rubbish Soul' that you may find next to it on the same selve

Regards ~
nymph

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
I know its not on cd but.
A new DVD of Help is out on October 29th 2007
Looks good.
www.thebeatles.com
Munch

Release Let It Be on DVD already!!!

Having listen to the superb re-master of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn repeatedly and really enjoying the few Beatles re-masters like Let It Be Naked, Yellow Submarine and 1 and the sheer sound quality of Love - I'm convinced that some spectacular Beatles re-masters could be put together - I just wish somebody would do it. There has to be a massive demand - they are most collected group in the history of music collecting.

Releasing Help on DVD is a good start - I hope they have done all they can to get the best out of it. (Thanks munch for the heads-up).

ATB Rotf

I thought the remastered Albums would be out last year but they released Love instead.

I bet EMI have already remastered everything (they are hardly going to only do the bits Martin jr wanted for Love) but are waiting for the best moment to release them. A major consideration must be the catalogue starting to go out of copyright in 2012. They will be looking for one more big pay-day before then and One and Love are useful tasters for a complete reissue. The release schedule has gone Anthology 3 (late 1996), One (late 2000), Let it be - naked (late 2003), Love (late 2006). The recalibrated crystal ball says the remastered catalogue will be released in batches starting with Please Please Me - Beatles For Sale out November 2009.

duncan

quote:

Originally posted by munch:
I think you will find they will be out before Nov 2009.
Munch

I say, Munch. Sounds like some inside info from a near neighbour? Do spill.

quote:

Originally posted by djc:

I bet EMI have already remastered everything (they are hardly going to only do the bits Martin jr wanted for Love) but are waiting for the best moment to release them.

Hi Duncan,

Regardless of whether or when EMI will release Beatles remasters, mastering (or remastering) is the last stage in the process ... everything you hear on LOVE has been totally remixed (and then some!). In other words, EMI would not have provided any remastered tracks before the Martins worked their magic. Only after an entire album has been mixed (or remixed) is it mastered.

Most remastered albums are not remixed; typically, the original final mix is remastered to improve sound. Besides the obvious exception of LOVE, another example is the remixed (and thus also remastered) version of Yellow Submarine from a few years ago. Let It Be (Naked) is another similar exception.

All best,
Fred

I think the reason the latter Beatles records sound better on CD is that they were mastered on bright, cold, transistor gear, which naturally favors the more paint by numbers sound of the later records. To bad, younger listeners hear the early records and are disappointed. None of the fun and excitement is to be found on those CD issues, you need to find the original Lps for that. Worth the effort, In my humble.


Charlie

Chaps (or Dudes, if I'm addressing Yanks):

The U.K. Help! and Rubber Soul CD's are remixes, done by George Martin in '87 on '87 equipment; hence the perceived brightness. A much better option for (most of) those tracks is the U.S. Capitol Albums Vol. II box set; actually very close to how the (U.S.) vinyl sounded back in the day. Plus you get stereo and mono versions.

A much better Abbey Road CD is the Toshiba-EMI (Japan) one, released in '84 then taken off the market (so it's hard to find, and costly).

The Let It Be...Naked CD is an abomination: remixed blandly, and No-Noised almost to the point of suffocation. IMHO, of course.

If you want great-sounding Beatles tracks generally, make haste and get the Compact Disc EP Collection; it's all the Beatles' U.K. issued EPs on CD, in a box with replica sleeves. This collection is much better, sonically (warmer, more punch), than the CDs we've lived with since '87. Also get the CD Singles Collection box; apart from the very earliest singles (which sound better on the EP set) this one is much better-sounding than the execrable Beatles 1 CD (which was EQ'd and compressed to a fare-thee-well).

Finally: don't hold your breath about remastered Beatles CD reissues; that won't happen 'til the current catalogue sales slow considerably; which hasn't happened. The Beatles CDs are perhaps the most consistent sellers in all of popular music, earning EMI a steady, fairly predictable income stream. And, when the reissues do finally come out, hold on to the CDs you have now; who knows what sort of loud, compressed, EQ'd, No-Noised abominations the new ones will turn out to be?

Cheers,
Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by bhazen:
Chaps (or Dudes, if I'm addressing Yanks):

and nymph's

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bhazen:
A much better Abbey Road CD is the Toshiba-EMI (Japan) one, released in '84 then taken off the market (so it's hard to find, and costly). [QUOTE]

In the leading UK supermarket, Tesco we have a '87 digitally remastered version of Abbey Road that sells for 8ukp. Amazon sells it for about the same. This one is worth buying.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bhazen:
If you want great-sounding Beatles tracks generally, make haste and get the Compact Disc EP Collection; it's all the Beatles' U.K. issued EPs on CD, in a box with replica sleeves. This collection is much better, sonically (warmer, more punch), than the CDs we've lived with since '87. [QUOTE]

Is this what is called in the UK - the Anthology Series (CD), Vol 1, 2 & 3 ??
I'm very tempted to buy all three volumes but collectively they cost around 50ukp and at this moment in time I'm counting my pennies! : (

Kind Regards to you Bruce

nymph

The Anthology collection is not the Compact Disc EP Collection.

Anthology is a collection of out-takes and really for curiosity rather than absolutely essential (is any Beatles release non-essential?). I would not buy this unless you had all the Beatles regular albums.

My favourite CD re-masters are



I have vinyl copies of all the Beatles original albums, but value the above CD releases nonetheless. Let It Be - Naked, which I have on CD only, is much better than the original Let It Be vinyl, which was ruined by unnecessary strings - the Beatles were great, Phil Spector wasn't. Please make sure you get Yellow Submarine: Songtrack, picture above, and not the Yellow Submarine (Original Soundtrack) - as they are quite different.

The Capitol Albums Volumes 1 and 2 are worth checking out too - Volume 2 has a re-mastered version of Rubber Soul. These sets concentrate on the Beatles early American albums: Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, Beatles '65, The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! (Soundtrack) & (American) Rubber Soul.

Of course, we need/want a complete set of Beatles re-masters that are as good as the recent Pink Floyd re-master of Piper At The Gates of Dawn or the Gold Disc version of the Pretty Things SF Sorrow.

Good luck with your search.

Rotf

Thanks Rotf!
Although, it's my curiosity that's itching the most at present...
The songlist on Beatles 1 is okay but a bit rich for my taste, one hit after another, if you know what I mean.
May go for for YS and Naked though.

Thanks again for these recommended : )

nymph