Album Reviews
The Beatles: Love
Remixes have been around for a while in popular music, but in early 2002, the idea really seemed to catch on. The idea was to take two different songs, do some homework on them and then create a new hit song, or alternatively, to take an old hit and add a new tune to it. (This was done illegally in most cases, without the permission of the creator of the original song.) In 2004, when mash-ups were ascendant, Brian Burton, a.k.a. Danger Mouse, famously mashed the music from the Beatles’ acclaimed ‘White Album’ with the vocal tracks of rapper Jay-Z’s ‘Black Album’. Without their consent, Danger Mouse broke the Beatles’ music down to its molecular level and completely remixed it and made an all together new hit in the rap and rock music world.
The Beatles, one of the greatest rock bands in music history, released their own re-worked album by George Martin’s (legendary Beatles producer) son Giles Martin, mainly due to Sir Paul McCartney’s insistence. ‘Love’, clocking in at one-hour-and-twenty-odd-minutes, has been quite well produced. Digitally reworked with 5.1 Surround Sound, the quality of sound on the album is quite superb, unlike their first CD released in 1988, when digital music was in its first stages and wasn’t quite the industry standard that it is today. This is their first “new” album released after almost 40 years. The two surviving Beatles, as well as the Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, have endorsed the project, though many of the “older” fans (mainly those who have grown up listening to the Beatles) have not been able to digest the rehashing of the the Beatles’ original hits.
Moving on to the songs, besides enhancements to the quality of sound and some new string arrangements, Giles hasn’t added anything new to the songs aside from minor effects and crossovers from other Beatles hits. The music still sounds very much like the music that came from the lads of Liverpool. Overlaying “Mr. Kite”’s closing bars with the churning coda of “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” sharply highlights the closeness between the swirling, cut-up calliope of the former and McCartney’s remarkable shivering bass-line on the latter. The drums from “Tomorrow Never Knows” are matched to “Within You Without You” — suddenly, ‘Sgt. Pepper’’s most ethereal moment sounds claustrophobic, repressive and quite horrible to say the least. The desperation in Lennon’s voice when he sings “HELP!” is quite unbearable and feels more like him screeching then anything else in the beginning but then turns melodious after the first part. “Get Back” kicks off with the instantly recognisable first chord of “Hard Day’s Night” and a drum break from “The End” before launching into a straightforward take on one of the most familiar songs of The Beatles. Surprisingly enough, “I am the Walrus” has been untouched, so has “Hey Jude”. One of the better mash-ups is the new string arrangement done on the eternal Beatles hit “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” — much better than the original.
The complete Beatles catalogue has not been reworked as yet and I can’t wait until it is. Though if you really are a true Beatles fan and want to hear their hits, remastered with much better sound quality do go and pick up a copy.
A really good article about one of the greatest rock bands the world has ever witnessed.I really had a lot of doubts whether to buy the album or not but the article has been well constructed and after reading it I decided to buy it. The sound quality is really greate and i should say that the album is a real great success.
yes, i agree. although i read a different article, i did buy the cd. now reading this…it is exactly my interpretation of the cd. the sound quality is great, especially on the dvd. i am now a beatles fan, although i never really listened to the beatles until now. but this cd is great. the only change i would consider is that on the dvd, they should have pictures, like a slide show, because its really plain.