Beatles Remasters Officially Coming 09-09-09

[shaun3000]

Originally Posted by grip

Remastering Detail

From the article:

Finally, as is common with today's music, overall limiting - to increase the volume level of the CD - has been used, but on the stereo versions only. However, it was unanimously agreed that because of the importance of The Beatles' music, limiting would be used moderately, so as to retain the original dynamics of the recordings.

WHY???

[cungar]

Originally Posted by fuzzbox

while all of this sounds great, am I the only one slightly disturbed to see all of this information about remastering the albums and NOT seeing the words "George Martin" anywhere on the pages???

-jason

He officially announced that LOVE would be his last work as a producer. He's retired.

[CRM114]

Originally Posted by cungar

He officially announced that LOVE would be his last work as a producer. He's retired.

This should have been done properly a long time ago.

[SkullOrchard]

I'm in for both sets.

[macnorton]

Originally Posted by grip

Remastering Detail





"guess I'll have to buy the White Album again"

I like what I just read there. And even if George Martin isn't involved, I have full faith in the guys at Abbey Road.

[Tyler_Durden]

Originally Posted by shaun3000

WHY???

Yeah, really! They're not preserving the dynamics if they're applying any limiting. One more reason to buy the mono versions.

Maybe this calls for a petition?

[Decker]

Originally Posted by Tyler_Durden

Yeah, really! They're not preserving the dynamics if they're applying any limiting. One more reason to buy the mono versions.

I think I'd prefer "moderate" sound limiting over missing out on the stereo effects that were so important to the recordings in the psychedelic phase.

[SpiderM]

Makes me glad I put off buying Beatles for all these years. My excuse was I didn't know what to buy first.

[Rypro 525]

Looks like i'll buy the Mono box set, and add Abby Road and Let it Be in Stereo since the stereo mixes are being sold seperatly

[Tyler_Durden]

From the article:

As an added bonus, the mono "Help!" and "Rubber Soul" discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD.

Does this mean that the Help! and Rubber Soul stereo releases (not the aforementioned bonus discs included with the mono discs) will still not contain the original stereo mixes? I'm starting to think so, because why else would they be packaged together with the mono versions?

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by Tyler_Durden

From the article:
Does this mean that the Help! and Rubber Soul stereo releases (not the aforementioned bonus discs included with the mono discs) will still not contain the original stereo mixes? I'm starting to think so, because why else would they be packaged together with the mono versions?

I suppose it's possible that what they're calling the "stereo albums" have modern mixes, and these contain the original mixes.

BTW, I really wish they would have just made a DVD or two with the documentary footage instead of the Quicktime files on the CDs.

[wahlers]

If you buy the stereo box set the press release is saying that it will contain a DVD with all the featurettes on it.

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by wahlers

If you buy the stereo box set the press release is saying that it will contain a DVD with all the featurettes on it.

Thanks, I just skimmed over it instead of reading it through.

[Nick Danger]

Originally Posted by shaun3000

From the article:WHY???

Different remasters of Something by the Beatles. It makes me wonder where they're going with the 2009 stereo mix.

I might still be willing to buy the mono mixes.

[panchor]

Originally Posted by Nick Danger

[img]

Different remasters of Something by the Beatles. It makes me wonder where they're going with the 2009 stereo mix.

I might still be willing to buy the mono mixes.

From what I read in the article, the mono mixes are also being remastered. Does that mean that there could be clipping in the mono CDs?

[Ringmaster]

Are there any clipping issues in the "Love" compilation? I heard nothing but good things about it.

Plus, I'm not to worried about these remasters because it is produced by the same guys who did "#1's" and "Let It Be..Naked" which sound amazing to me.

[Nick Danger]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009...tered-reissued

The Beatles' back catalogue set for remastered re-release

All 12 Beatles studio albums will be reissued on CD on 9 September to coincide with their first video game

* Sean Michaels
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 April 2009 10.14 BST

The Beatles at Abbey Road studios in 1967

The Beatles remastered ... the Fab Four's entire run will receive a digital makeover. Photograph: David Magnus/Rex Features

The Beatles, Apple Corps and EMI Music have finally, at long last, agreed to rake in several million pounds. After more than two decades of waiting, all of the band's original studio albums are to be re-released in digitally remastered stereo versions.

From Please Please Me to Abbey Road, the Fab Four's entire run will be reissued on CD on 9 September, the same day that the mop-tops' first video game, The Beatles: Rock Band, will be released.

According to a statement, engineers at EMI's Abbey Road studios spent four years on the remasters, "utilising state-of-the-art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment [and] carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings". The recordings were last overhauled in 1987.

In addition to the Beatles' 12 "canonical" albums, this flurry of releases includes a remastered version of Magical Mystery Tour, and the Past Masters I and II compilations issued in a single set. This is also the first time that the Beatles' first four albums will be released in stereo on CD.

"You really can tell the difference," said Beatles expert Kevin Howlett, who wrote the new liner notes. "It's an extraordinary thing to sit there and hear LPs that you know so well and hear little nuances that you hadn't noticed before."

The albums will be available individually or as a box set. For traditionalists, a box set of mono recordings will also be available – with each disc styled as a vinyl LP.

Each of the reissued albums will include the original UK album art, original and new liner notes, and a booklet of photos that are, at least until every household in Britain buys the new discs, "rare". A short documentary will also be squeezed on to every CD, telling the story of each album's genesis.

Never ones to overlook an opportunity, EMI have also compiled the mini-documentaries on to a single DVD.

Although the Beatles' re-remasters have been rumoured for years, most Fab Four fanatics expected them to be part of the Beatles' entry into online music sales. The Beatles are one of the last major groups to have spurned iTunes Music Store, and their music cannot be legally purchased in MP3 or any other downloadable form.

Negotiations between the Beatles, their labels, publishers and online distributors appear to have stalled, and these new reissues, among the year's most important releases, will not be available for purchase in downloadable form.

On the bright side, Howlett remarked, "they sound louder than previous CD reissues." Well worth the wait.

Hoo-fucking-ray for louder CDs!

[shaun3000]

I don't understand the point of it all. Isn't that what volume knobs are for??

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by shaun3000

I don't understand the point of it all. Isn't that what volume knobs are for??

The idea is that the tracks will be "competing" with other music, like discs on a changer (or tracks on an MP3 player these days), and they will stand out if they're louder. People often make the assumption that louder is better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

Also, compressing the dynamics could make them perceived to be better on portable devices with earbuds, especially in public environments with background noise. It's catering to the lowest common denominator, basically.

[Imprint]

It's the full-frame DVD of the audio world.

[cungar]

Originally Posted by shaun3000

I don't understand the point of it all. Isn't that what volume knobs are for??

That's why these go up to 11.

[Oliver Clothesoff]

The Capitol Box Sets sound marvelous and they were remastered in the exact same way. People getting up in arms about this before they hear the discs are worrying over nothing.

[Drexl]

Originally Posted by Oliver Clothesoff

The Capitol Box Sets sound marvelous and they were remastered in the exact same way. People getting up in arms about this before they hear the discs are worrying over nothing.

Yes, we need to wait and see. CDs in the 80s were much lower in average volume compared to later discs. Around the early to mid 90s, they were louder, but better than the 80s masters IMHO. It's the end of the 90s to now that things went to hell. (This is all generally speaking, from what I've heard.) If these remasters are along the lines of the mid 90s discs ("1993" in Nick Danger's pic), they should be fine.

[JeffTheAlpaca]

CDs in the 80s were much lower in average volume compared to later discs

I noticed that too when I listen to CDs made in the 80's.


does anyone have the artwork for the box sets?

I hope this is not naive but I hope the stereo box sets costs $79 or less since they are older CDs and that would be a fair price especially in this economy.


$149 or something like that would be ridiculous

[JoeR63]

Originally Posted by JeffTheAlpaca

I noticed that too when I listen to CDs made in the 80's.


does anyone have the artwork for the box sets?

I hope this is not naive but I hope the stereo box sets costs $79 or less since they are older CDs and that would be a fair price especially in this economy.


$149 or something like that would be ridiculous

I think you better be prepared for ridiculous. It will depend on how deeply (and how soon) the sets are discounted. I believe I saw someone post an MSRP for the stereo box over at Steve Hoffman of $299.99 but who knows how official that is. Amazon has the individual releases up for preorder. Most of the single albums are $13.99 and I think they had the "White Album" for $20.99. You would be hard pressed to see $79 for the set. Older CDs or not, there will be huge demand for these CDs and sets and they know it. At $79 (for a box of 16 CDs and a DVD,) that would be in the ballpark of under $5 an album. I don't see anything near that at initial release. Maybe a few years down the road if the market is oversaturated with product (or there's a misprice.) I think we would be lucky to see $149. Just my two cents!