I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

Yeah the whole thing is on Spotify !

First listen thoughts:

Outside the tracks already premiered, the most revelations come towards the end.

Long Long Long was always going to be radical and though you can't really argue with giving it more typical levels it's one that I'll always notice most and think "well this isn't the original album)

Cry Baby Cry has another one where the crisp bouncy bassline stands out

Wtf @ this George Martin chat at the start of Revolution No 9? Was that even there at all before? Elsewhere there's a low-frequency John incantation around Yoko's 'you become naked' bit that I'm into.

Goodnight sounds absolutely GORGEOUS.

I'm only at Rocky Racoon but so far I think that these are really marginal gains.

Same here. So far I don't hear much difference and don't really see the point of this remix (especially compared to the Pepper one).
Looking forward to the studio alt takes though !

stereo separation in "wild honey pie" feels different and trippier but maybe i'm misremembering the old mix

i don't like these new one at all
sound overhyped and modern barfff

Wtf @ this George Martin chat at the start of Revolution No 9? Was that even there at all before?

It was, though it was barely audible on the original mix.

As with Pepper, this new stereo mix sounds much more like the original mono mix. I like it.

Ah really ? I guess that’s the idea/point then.
But except for a few moments it doesn’t add much to the versions I knew (« wild honey pie » does sound different though).

After listening to the whole thing, The gem in this is the « good night » take with guitar/vocal harmonies imo

"Wtf @ this George Martin chat at the start of Revolution No 9? Was that even there at all before? "

yes

"bitch"

I like this remix on the whole. Though it does come across as the Paul McCartney Bass Extravaganza Mix.

and yes, this isn't meant to be some radical remix of the album. all the instruments have a little more definition, are spaced a bit differently, background vocals a bit more prominent. I can't say it's "better" than the original but I like it fine, just like I like the Sgt Pepper mix.

also, if this part of the legendary 'long' version of helter skelter I see why no one was too keen on releasing the entire thing because it's not very exciting.

Very curious about "Revolution #9" remix. Maybe Giles will booost up his dad and Alistair Taylor talking about wine so much, it'll sound more like an intro than the Can You Take Me Back snippet.

― pplains, Monday, October 22, 2018 8:53 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I haven't heard anything yet, but don't tell me that this is the one I was OTM about.

"sexy sadie" doesn't sound radically different but it does sound kind of amazing in this remix

kind of three dimensional in the way different vocal harmonies and instruments jump out depending on where you're at in the verse

me and my monkey too. which is one of my favorite songs on the album.

I’m a bit disappointed that « happiness » doesn’t sound very different. This was one of the songs I thought could have been « remixed » well.

Dang, "Sexy Sadie" is a good song. Pretty mix and not really a bass extravaganza.

The songs with more instrumentation beyond guitar/bass/drums sound the most pronounced and improved here: Glass Onion, Martha My Dear, Piggies(!), Mother Nature's Son, Sexy Sadie

"Piggies" almost Pepper-level psychedelic in its newly polished state. Enjoying this album remix a lot. "Prudence" glorious as well.

Even with the added clarity of the new mixes the record still sounds less bright and well engineered then either pepper before it or abbey rd after it. The mushy mid heavy sound seems hard coded. Specifically the bass parts, though more audible, still seem low fi. Not that you would necessarily want or expect sparkle on such a bad vibes record.

This is a stunning remaster. My favorite Beatles album. They nailed it.

And I hear a lot of new stuff, in every song. It's incredible. They did a great job with the Esher demos, too - a perfect compromise between the beautiful lo-fi messiness of the bootlegs and the sterilized selections on the Anthology. So glad they're widely available now.

Highlight for me on first full go through we the rockers like Birthday, Yer Blues and Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except for Me and My Monkey, the bell in which is absolutely great.

Ah here the Dear Prudence Esher Demo is a bit fucking amazing

kind of three dimensional in the way different vocal harmonies and instruments jump out depending on where you're at in the verse

― princess of hell (BradNelson), Friday, November 9, 2018 4:17 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I had the same exact thought with this song

Digging into the final discs now. Some really great stuff here. You can her McC fucking about with weird vocalizations in take 1 of Hey Jude which feels very inspired by Lennon's vocalizations on take 18 of Revolution 1 (which are of course influenced by Yoko). I can also see why the rest of the Beatles were driven crazy by Paul's millions of takes of Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da. Take 3 is great!

Ok « Revolution 1 » does sound gloriously rich and warm in the remix. Love it !

JFC the studio jam of Los Paranoias is seriously batshit. No idea why they edited this down so severely for the Anthology disc.

« Not guilty » take... 102 ?!!
What happened there ??

I take back what I said. Some of these remixes are fucking awful: Dear Prudence, Yer Blues, Happiness, I'm So Tired, Julia. Of course all of Paul's songs sound better. Genuine revelations are remixes of Sexy Sadie, Piggies, Martha My Dear, Don't Pass Me By, Revolution 1. Will echo what was said upthread that the bass and drums and vocals are too loud. I mean Dear Prudence is just a joke. Mumbling at the end of I'm So Tired is quieter. Revolution 9 I have to admit they got right for the most part. but w/e, this is a cool option to have.

Revolution 9 I have to admit they got right for the most part.

yeah, my thoughts exactly. all of the songs that suffer the most are John's. doubt that Yoko was involved beyond giving the obligatory go-head or whatever.

I will say I initially hated the Revolution 9 remix, but that was thru headphones - it sounds fine on speakers. Not better, but fine. I also listened to Sexy Sadie on headphones and had that 3D experience.

I like the mixes of Dear Prudence, Yer Blues, Happiness, etc. As I said before, they sound like stereo mixes based on the mono mix, not some other creation like the previous stereo mixes. It's apples and oranges - the stereo mixes everyone knows are good and highlight different things in the music; the new ones hew closer to the mono mixes the Beatles and Giles' dad worked on first. I like both, but since I love the mono mix I'll probably end up turning to this stereo mix when I'm in the mood just like I have with last year's Sgt. Pepper.

whoa, has this Cry Baby Cry by way of Led Zeppelin I ever been bootlegged before?

The « let it be » rehearsal is also pretty cool. It sounds like a soul track.

It works for the most part and it makes me like some songs better but this might just be one of the most overvalued albums of all time. This has ar most five or six absolute gems, five or six decent album tracks and rather a lot of nursery rhymes, nonsense verse and self-mythologizing bullshit.

Yeah I agree with G. Martin on that one : it would have made a terrific simple album... but Macca is also right : whatever the imperfections, it’s the Beatles’ White album !

if there was a great single album in there we'd know what it was by now

It’s not that there aren’t some great Paul and George songs on there, but if you just listen to the John songs it’s pretty spectacular.

"Sour Milk Sea" is a really disgusting title for a song

very George

Yeah it’s mostly about John. Actually I would be fine with almost only John’s songs in the Beatles’ catalogue in general...

I made a spotify playlist of the white album with only John’s songs a while ago and it’s cool !

I had to remove « Bungalow Bill » though...

Ok « Revolution 1 » does sound gloriously rich and warm in the remix. Love it !

― AlXTC from Paris, Saturday, November 10, 2018 12:13 AM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this one really hit me while i was listening walking home last night. always thought the album version of this song sounded thin but here it super doesn’t!!!

if we’re gonna get into another argument about whether the white album is actually good 🙄

The entire charm of the white album for me is accepting its status as a build-your-own-Beatles kit that forces you to edit the album. Every ILX white album thread typically leads to debates over which tracks are the most useless. I'm sure these debates will go on for another 50 years.

I hope so.