4,0 de 5 estrellas
4 Stars for the Remix and Sessions Discs, 5 Stars for Mono and 7", 2 stars for Quality Control
Revisado en los Estados Unidos 🇺🇸 el 29 de octubre de 2022
This is principally a review of the vinyl version of the Super Deluxe edition. I also picked up the 2-CD abbreviation and, as discussed more thoroughly below, find the vinyl to be the better option.
THE REMIX
Based on about 8 complete playings as well as additional listens to selected songs (including some side-by-side comparison with the LP of the ’09 stereo remaster), I give the remix 4 stars. Indeed, as a serious plus, almost all the songs sound generally fuller, richer, and fresher—with more definition and detail shining through (especially on the vocals, Ringo's drums, the Indian and brass instruments, acoustic guitars, and George’s 12-string passages on “Here, There, and Everywhere” and "And Your Bird Can Sing") combined with new breathing room amongst the instruments. Giles has done a fine job of improving the balance of the stereo mix and separating sounds that originally had been cloistered together, which wipes a thick layer of dust off counter-rhythms, -melodies, and -harmonies that have been there the whole time but, until now, have been harder to decipher. For example, consider the interplay of the cowbell and tambourine on "Taxman”—which, also, along with “And Your Bird Can Sing” and “Dr. Robert,” packs a new punch.
On "Tomorrow Never Knows," I like Giles’ separation of Ringo's drum pattern so that the snare is on one side and the rack tom on the other. Also, the tape loops sweep around and around the stereo spectrum like a Mobius strip. At first, I didn't like that decision. Because he used the mono mix as his reference (in which the loops fade in/out a lot more quickly compared to the original stereo mix), it felt a little too much like the cheap, headache-inducing early stereo sweeping that had been done on Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" and all over Hendrix's "Electric Ladyland." But then, when I realized upon a subsequent listen that Giles had timed the sweeps to convey a sense of ongoing circularity, and that he also had adjusted the volume on the tape loops to dynamically match the rest of the mix (which is apparent on the vinyl but less so on the over-compressed CD), it all clicked!
On the other hand, the remix does have some notable limitations. Across the album, the tambourine can be abrasively loud at times, and the vocals are pushed too high on a few songs (e.g., "She Said She Said," where, at high volume, they verge on clipping). Meanwhile, the piano tinkering that concludes "Tomorrow Never Knows" and Ringo's tom fill toward the end of "Got to Get You Into My Life" are underwhelmingly quiet—and the characteristic bass amp rumble at the beginning of "Taxman" is almost non-existent. I am disappointed that Giles faded the end of “Love You To” a la the original stereo mix and not the mono mix, which lasted an additional 8-ish seconds. (To be fair, though, the extended fade-out is extended even further on Take 7, which is included on the "Sessions" set.) Further, the stereo configuration on "She Said She Said" is odd—with John’s rhythm guitar and George’s treble-y lead (that mimics the vocal melody) on the same side while George’s rhythmic plucking of the middle strings on his guitar during the verses is placed on its own channel with the vocals and drums. This makes for an unevenness that, while still better spread compared to the original, nonetheless does not demonstrate the enhanced balance shared by the other 13 songs. (I speculate that perhaps this could have been a limitation of the AI technology that was employed to tease out the individual parts. Might the frequencies of John’s and George’s guitars have been too similar to adequately separate them?)
MONO and 7”
I compared the new mono LP side-by-side with my 60s U.K. pressing. The new copy delivers more in the way of both warmth and punch that either was absent from the original or has become washed out from a half-century of use (I imagine a little of both). My only complaint is that my copy arrived with a bit of snap/crackle/pop due to poor manufacturing (more below). Also, there is a smidgen of distortion when the disc is played at high volume. On the other hand, given that it is unlikely I'll ever play it that loud on an average day, all in all, I'd give it 5 stars.
I can say the same for the mono mixes on the "Paperback Writer"/"Rain" 45. Upon reflection, I've concluded that it was a good idea to keep those songs on a standalone 7" (versus sneak them onto one of the LPs in the set) given that, from the beginning, it was always conceptualized and disseminated as its own entity, though it was recorded in the midst of the "Revolver" sessions. I also like that the new stereo mixes of both sides of the ’66 single are presented together on one side, with the original mono mixes of both songs together on the other side (versus dedicate each side to both mixes of the same song or to making two 7"s, which would have been overkill).
"SESSIONS" DISCS
For an overview of the “Sessions” collection, the selections include remixes of 4 alternate takes previously released on “Anthology 2” (Take 1 of “Tomorrow Never Knows” with some extra vocal at the end, Take 5 of “Got to Get You Into My Life” with additional chat at the beginning, Take 2 of “And Your Bird Can Sing,” and Take 11 of “Taxman”) as well as 2 rare mixes (alternate mixes of “Tomorrow Never Knows” from the first U.K. mono pressing of “Revolver” and of “I’m Only Sleeping” from the U.S. mono “Yesterday and Today”); basic tracks of “Rain,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” and “Yellow Submarine” prior to tape speed manipulation at the overdub stage; and basic tracks of “Dr. Robert” (with an additional verse as well as rhythm guitar passages that were edited out of the final mix), “Get You into My Life” (featuring both trumpets/saxes and the later-repurposed “Paperback Writer” guitar riff—more below), “Rain,” and “For No One.” Some material has been around on bootlegs for quite a while: John’s demo of “She Said She Said” and the basic tracks of “Paperback Writer” and “Here, There, and Everywhere.” From there, to my knowledge, the remaining tracks are previously unreleased: 2 demos of “Yellow Submarine," 2 alternate takes of “And Your Bird Can Sing" (including one sans giggles), an early run through “I Want to Tell You,” a guided tour through the development of “Love You To” (first take featuring acoustic guitar and low harmony as guide vocal, sitar/tabla rehearsal take with George's high harmony vocal, and final track with extended ending and an odd harmony vocal by Paul that borders on Spinal Tap singing "Heartbreak Hotel" at Elvis' grave), “I’m Only Sleeping” (John: “Mal, can you get this boy a plectrum, please?”), and “She Said She Said” (basic track rehearsal).
While there are a few exceptions (e.g., "Tomorrow Never Knows," “I'm Only Sleeping,” “And Your Bird Can Sing”), for the most part, the Sessions discs focus less on the overall evolution of the songs and more on the evolution of the final versions of the songs. At this price, the set could have showcased the development of more songs from demo through rehearsals and early takes of the basic track to overdubs and mixing/editing. To be fair, there is some studio banter following a breakdown of “I’m Only Sleeping” as well as brief discussions regarding the title of “I Want to Tell You” and the arrangements of “For No One” and “Get You Into My Life.” But to get more of a bird's-eye view of the formation of the songs in the studio, I wish they had included a third disc of more chatter and rehearsing and false starts/breakdowns/alternate takes beyond remixes/remasters of the takes already available for many years. I'm also not thrilled about the inclusion of composite tracks a la the Anthology—for example, they stuck some chatter from Take 2 of "She Said She Said" on the front of Take 15, and they did something similar with "I Want to Tell You." At this price, why not include both takes? Why not also include George teaching “Taxman” to the group, the early acoustic rendering of "Here, There, and Everywhere," and any of the early takes of "Good Day Sunshine" (all of which are briefly described in the book)?
On the other hand, these caveats aside, the Sessions selections do stand well on their own as a double-LP that I will be inclined to pull out and listen to again a few more times in the future.
I'm glad they included the original RM11 version of "Tomorrow Never Knows," which, closer to the original stereo mix, features longer fades on the tape loops and better accentuates the piano at the end. Also, the "unnumbered mix" of "Get You Into My Life" greatly demonstrates the Beatles' creative process--showcasing a moment-in-time that both echoes where they had been and anticipates where they would go from that point in their evolution. The vocal harmonies are reminiscent of those on "Girl" (picking up where one of the last "Rubber Soul" sessions had left off), the main guitar riff (replaced by trumpets/saxes on the final recording) was repurposed on "Paperback Writer" (which they recorded a few days later), and the choppy, chimey rhythm guitar part was revisited on "Getting Better" 11 months later.
The demos of “Yellow Submarine” also are a highlight. John’s initial run (the melancholic “no one cared” version) anticipates the raw authenticity and intimacy of “Julia” and “Plastic Ono Band.” Meantime, the Donovan-esque run through the song as we know it (with John singing lead and Paul joining in on the choruses) foretells the spirit of “All Together Now” and, also, portrays the dynamic between the composers that recently has been depicted in “Get Back.”
It also was a nice touch to hear George Martin’s diplomatic interactions with Paul and the string quartet as they sorted out the arrangement of “Eleanor Rigby.” It would have been neat to hear Martin admonishing the musicians to sit closer to the mics as they attempted to distance themselves (as described in Geoff Emerick’s account of the session in “Here, There, and Everywhere”).
THE BOOK
Several of the photos (especially those by Robert Freeman) have been around for many years, but there are quite a few new ones here, as well. Like many of the photos in the "Abbey Road" set, they don't always show the Beatles at their most photogenic—which is probably why they haven't been seen until now. However, it shows that a reasonable degree of thought was put into developing that component of this set.
I also enjoyed Klaus Voorman's graphic novel recounting the development of the cover. John's arrogance on the phone to request a drawing, sarcastically scolding George to not break the EMI canteen's crockery as he cleared the table for Klaus to present a draft, and an early iteration of the college featuring photos of Paul on the toilet in Hamburg and Brian Epstein wearing a chamberpot during a celebration dinner circa '63 all sound true to form.
The essays emphasize the band’s lifestyle during the “Revolver” period. Lennon and McCartney made a conscious decision to make an altogether-different album as well as to put on the brakes prior to embarking on the project; this enhanced their creative process—and, all the same, it enabled George to present 3 songs on a single LP. The essays also summarize Maureen Cleave’s portrayals of the group’s individual personalities in her series of articles on "How a Beatle Lives." Further, they reveal some new details: tracing the path from a broken sitar string during the "Norwegian Wood" session in '65 to George meeting Ravi Shankar, as well as clarifying who spoke the count-off before "Taxman" and the extent to which Paul was and was not present at the "She Said She Said" session.
As a supplement to the book included with this set, I recommend also reading Geoff Emerick's "Here, There, and Everywhere"--which shines light on relevant detail about the sessions that is omitted from or, at best, only alluded to in the Deluxe set essays. These include Emerick's first-hand accounts of the steps leading up to his employing a Leslie speaker on John's vocal on "Tomorrow Never Knows"; of his close-micing techniques on Ringo's drums, the bass on "Paperback Writer," and the strings on "Eleanor Rigby"; of conversations between the Beatles in the studio about John's Jesus comment; and of their last-minute realization that they needed to record "She Said She Said" as a 14th track. Emerick further underscores the time they took to develop several songs compared to previous years.
Importantly, Emerick's book also calls into question the validity of some details in the Deluxe set book—especially those pertaining to "Yellow Submarine." For example, according to the Deluxe set book, to arrive at an underwater sound on one of John's vocal overdubs, a small mic had been wrapped in a plastic sandwich bag and then placed in a quart milk bottle filled with water. In contrast, per Emerick, while the small mic and the milk bottle parts are accurate, instead of a sandwich bag (which is unlikely to have been in popular use as early as '66), it was a condom supplied by Mal Evans (a story I find more convincing). Notably, Emerick also goes on to recount how they nearly missed getting busted by a studio administrator who walked in on that part of the session and the implication that violation of studio protocol could have had for Emerick—and, with that, for the subsequent months of the Beatles career! More importantly, whereas the Deluxe set book says "they were able to sing around" the submerged mic, per Emerick, it was a failed experiment that was quickly abandoned. Further, the Deluxe set book conveys a sense of mystery as to whether the brass band was recorded live or culled from a recording, whereas more extensive research by the authors would have shown that the answer has been around for over a decade. In his book, Emerick explained that, as with "Mr. Kite" a few months later, he had been instructed by George Martin to cut up and then reassemble a recording of a Sousa march in lieu of needing to hire an actual band or apply for copyright clearance—neither of which, with a deadline hanging over their heads and exhaustion setting in, would have been feasible that late in the game. Meantime, the Deluxe set book altogether leaves out the story of why, during the last verse, the call-and-response between Ringo and John is missing the first line ("As we live...").
CD vs. VINYL: THE GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY
Despite the generally-strong content of this set, here's the rub. The quality of the vinyl on my copy ranges from, at best, D+/C- to B+. The 45 has severe-enough warping that the tone arm surfs (thankfully, not enough to affect play), and “Sessions 2" requires a 15-oz. weight to lay flat enough to be playable. Another two discs (remix and “Sessions 1") have too-small spindle holes (which, thankfully, have loosened--but still remain too tight), and two (remix and mono) are pressed slightly off-center. Also, every disc arrived covered in paper flakes which, even after a good cleaning, still caused snap/crackle/pop right out of the box. Further, the shrinkwrap permanently buckled the front and back panels of the slipcase, which renders it difficult to take the individual LPs in and out. I find it disappointing that I paid $40 per disc for this poor workmanship; on the other hand, I am disinclined to send it back because, according to other reviews, they're all like this—and, thus, there's the risk that a new copy actually could be worse.
However, having compared the over-compressed CD (which is too bright and offers too little bottom end) side-by-side with the vinyl edition, I can definitely say that, looking past the quality control issues, the latter still sounds SO MUCH better.
CONCLUSION
Given the quality control issues (fair-at-best vinyl pressing, sometimes-poorly-researched book essay)
in conjunction with the inclusion of an abundance of previously-released material as well as composite tracks on the “Sessions” discs at the expense of more raw material, I'm not sure this set is worth almost $200. On the other hand, given the sound quality of the vinyl release, I'd still recommend it over the CD format. And, given the generally-strong remix and the new material presented on the “Sessions” set, as well as some new photos and factoids in the book, there are plenty more good reasons to purchase than to pass on this set or forego it in favor of the 2-CD abbreviation.
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