September 9, 2009 is The Big Day for Beatles fans around the world, as that is when the new 2009 remasters are officially available for sale. Rudy’s Corner was fortunate enough to listen to some pre-release CDs over the past few days, and compared some of the tracks to the original 1987 releases. Remasters can go one of two ways: better sonics, or worse. What’s the verdict? Given the cross-sampling of tracks I’ve heard so far, I think that most Beatles fans should be pleased.
Remastering usually means that an engineer works with the record company to find the best available master tape, then faithfully transfer that to digital. In the past decade or more, though, remastering has been abused: dynamics have been flattened, noise has been digitally eliminated, and other liberties have been taken that pretty much mutate the sound into something new that isn’t faithful to the original. Which is why, in many cases, listeners prefer earlier CD reissues, even if they aren’t ideal.
Fortunately with the Beatles 2009 remasters, very little processing has been done. Reportedly, only about 30 seconds of “No Noise” was used throughout the entire set. To a few avid listeners, dynamics seem a little bit flatter than the original CDs as well, although there is no evidence of “brick wall” compression that is so prevalent today in modern CD releases.
But those small reservations aside, the new CDs do sound quite good and, in my opinion, they’re the definitive digital versions of these albums. Sure, some bootleg CDs, and the vinyl versions, may have an edge, but as far as legitimate releases go, I’m pleased with adding these 2009 remasters to my library.
I won’t dissect each individual album or song here, but will just post a few impressions. Overall, the improvements apply across the board. There are more in-depth reviews posted ad nauseum over the internet, which shouldn’t be too hard to dig up.
When I first started listening to Beatles albums in the early 80s, I gravitated toward the earlier albums. In fact, I had a Canadian LP of their earliest tracks, in mono, that came out before the U.S. album The Early Beatles was released by Capitol. When the ’87 CDs came out, I was thrilled, but only to a point: the CDs were not only in mono, I found that they were fatiguing to listen to. Harsh, cold, “solid state,” typical “early digital” era in my opinion. Playing these new remasters, I find I don’t grit my teeth when “Please Please Me” starts playing. The sound is still bright, but it is much more natural and easy on the ears.
And the early songs are in stereo now as well. I know some prefer mono, but there is a separate mono box set to appease the hardcore contingent. The mono remastering is just as good, incidentally: care was taken for all versions of these albums.
Beatles For Sale is not my favorite album (I prefer the Lennon/McCartney originals, not the covers on this album), but the first three tracks are fantastic, now in stereo. Sure, the stereo is really spread around (like many other albums back in that era), but I’m hearing things a lot better now. John Lennon’s voice is very “up front” on “No Reply”, as are the guitars.
For my two favorite Beatles albums Rubber Soul and Revolver, they just have a more relaxed, musical feeling to them. With that glaring harshness gone, the music seems to flow a lot better. I still get a chuckle at the beginning of “Taxman”, but that’s only the beginning: the sound is so clean, it’s still amazing to me. The vocals have more of a natural sound to them (best heard on the tracks that are less “busy”), and even Paul McCartney’s bass has a nice solidity to it.
Past Masters is also back in all its glory, with all the same tracks. Even back when this compilation was released, I always felt it was a great idea: the two CDs wrap up all the single and EP tracks in one place. Sure, they could have been placed as bonus tracks on the album CDs, but Past Masters has always played back like a hits compilation all on its own. I can’t get over how clean “I Feel Fine” sounds now! The lone mono tracks are “Love Me Do” and “She Loves You”…and even they sound better now.
One bonus on the mono set: the original 1965 stereo mixes of Rubber Soul and Revolver are bonus tracks on their respective mono discs. In 1987, these two albums were remixed for CD release, so it’s nice to have both versions available.
At left, we have our Beatles Store linked, where you can order the remasters. (Yes, this is a shameless plug!) However, at the time of this writing, both the stereo and mono box sets are sold out. If you sign up for the e-mail reminder, Amazon will send a message to you when they receive verification on how many additional sets they will have available. The stereo discs will be around for many years, but I would advise jumping on the mono box, as it is a limited edition and, reportedly, getting a second production run since the demand was so overwhelming.
Finally…is this Beatlemania all over again? I remember when the ’87 CDs came out–there was quite a stir back then as well! I preordered the first four and picked them up on release day from a favorite music store of mine…I had never seen so many stacks of preorders behind their counter than I did that day! I know many of us older fans will pick these up, but I’m hoping that with these new releases and all the press they are receiving, that we get a new generation out there listening to Beatles. It’s certainly better than the garbage that’s playing on Top 40 radio these days…although I’m sure our parents would have thought otherwise!