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

it is, but it also doesn't sound good at that speed. one listen was enough for me.

kinda stresses me out to hear it that fast tbh

New Paperback Writer is a proper “Holy fuck” moment. These things are always better when there’s a specific ‘problem’ to fix; the hard panning on PW had always sounded terrible on headphones.

Agreed ! It’s pretty heavy with that mix and was indeed hard to really enjoy previously (I never had the mono mix). It’s a detail but the drums rolls over the toms at one point are exquisite !

And yeah « Rain actual speed » is mind blowing. Especially the drums and bass ! You can totally imagine a 60s groovy dance club scene with that in the background

So this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBcdOFehNCg

Yup. And about « she said » I always read Paul wasn’t involved but from the backing track recording it seems he was !

Listening to the whole thing now. Really enjoying it but probably haven't listened to this album in full for a decade or two so not clear that this means anything.

Not the thread for it and I've no doubt posted it several times before on other threads but this title track cover of "Tomorrow Never Knows" released under Steve Marcus's name with Larry Coryell, Mike Nock and Bob Moses is one of the greatest things ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGT5kHpmH78

need to a/b it with the mono but i agree that it’s a little bright and the vocals are more forward in the mix than i remembered which causes elements i remember hitting harder (eg. ringo's drums on “she said”) to cloud over like a figure in mist. but when i’m not thinking about the mono mix it sounds pretty cool. i don’t think i’ve ever thought as much about the instrumentation in “for no one” as i did just now listening to the new mix

idk i was pretty excited about this because for whatever reason i really loved that sort of pointless remix of abbey road but i think i have a specific idea of revolver in my head that perhaps no reality matches

“and your bird can sing” sounds so good, that’s really what i cared about

Lots of the things I find to criticize in the new mix - (“there’s a flutter in this spot that’s obviously a demixing artifact!” “Why would they mix this dumb sound effect so high?” “This sounds hollow and artificial!”) - are in fact present or worse in the original mix. A/Bing with the OG stereo mix, I can’t hear this as anything but a radical improvement in almost every way. And the mono isn’t any better (it’s always been one of the less awesome mono mixes), so this might well become the definitive version for me.

And yeah, loving the new paperback writer mix. The repeating echoes leading into the round-robin refrain finally don’t sound like a gimmick hastily executed.

Lol at “look out, get down, yellow submarine”

The For No One remix is radical and quite brilliant. It sounded absolutely amazing on speakers earlier but it's so different that it's hard to think of it as the same track.

Actual speed Rain is incredible. I Want To Tell You sounded much better too.

I heard someone musical say that their ears tell them that the Rain just can't be that fast; that it's not in a recognisable key. It does sound totally mental but I certainly wouldn't trust my own unmusical ears after knowing the original for so long.

I just picked up a guitar and played along, (without a tuner handy) it seems to be a bit above a concert 'A', like maybe 40 cents or so, vari-speeded up a little too far then, perhaps.

Alba OTM about For No One — it’s a wild reimagining of the sound of the song and a huge improvement on the original.

NB&S - I Want To Tell You mix is incredible when laid side by side with the original. The way the guitar travels across the stereo field alone makes the whole thing more 3D — a standard trick now and so not really mind-blowing on its own or anything, but the original mix is so static and clumsy by comparison.

Rain does indeed sound a little too sped up, but it seems unlikely they’d make that mistake (but it’s not like Apple’s been perfect in this regard before). Regardless, what a goddamn performance by especially McCartney and Starr. It’s always been a killer rhythm track, but hearing the speed they played it at, whoo boy.

I was always under the impression that Paul overdubbed his bass part onto the slowed-down recording. But, as Ringo similarly felt let off the leash, it wouldn’t surprise me if Paul also rose to the occasion in terms of letting his freak flag fly (and his batshit part in the middle eight of “Taxman” suggests Paul definitely had the technical facility for fast “Rain”).

i really loved that sort of pointless remix of abbey road

yes that one ruled too, though less dramatic than this it was a huge improvement over the original stereo mix just by centring everything a little more & abbey road never had a mono mix to begin with

Listening again, there is some wonky stuff on “She Said She Said” — some weird stuff in the backing vocal track that I can’t square with the original mixes. The guitars sound less fluid and integrated, more tamed and parcelled off, and the overall effect is less emotional to me. I don’t know if I would have fallen head over heels for the song if this mix had been the first one I’d heard at 15 or whatever. But small potatoes, really, as the improvements to most of the album are anything but slight.

I know what you mean. The one new stereo mix that wasn't great was "She Said She Said" which exposed whatever flaws(?) there were in the multi-track. I forgot because I've only heard it in mono for so long. Great track, but it probably needs more work to get a stereo mix that holds together.

probably doesn't apply to the digital but erm.. interesting. He's saying the new vinyl mono beats the previous one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWqyKRZNTEI

this is the guy who broke the Mobile Fidelity digital step racket

Winners: Side Two pretty much from "And Your Bird Can Sing" on down. The "Paperback Writer" / "Rain" single is insane.

Losers: John's songs on Side One. "She Said" just didn't sizzle like the original. And while I do appreciate these new remix/remasters, where Giles has even improved on his dad in some cases, that goddammed yawn on "I'm Only Sleeping" is a perfect example of him going a bit too far. When "Yellow Submarine" started, I immediately knew, "They're going to boost those 'radio' vocals to nearly Ringo's, aren't they?"

For some reason I thought the original rain track would have been slower instead of faster

Didn't Black Flag used to practice the opposite way, ten minute versions of "Padded Cell"?

yep

As surprising as it seems, there’s a melancholic side to « Yellow Submarine » !

xps yeah the mono “She Said” sounds like being insanely high, sometimes it’s my favourite Beatles of all.

sorry i didn’t dig through the bonuses on the previous reissues too thoroughly… but is this the most revealing and interesting set of outtakes since the anthology sets

As surprising as it seems, there’s a melancholic side to « Yellow Submarine » !

And yet, John never moaned about it being cheerfulled up, like “Help” was..

Wow, that instrumental cut of "I Want to Tell You" rocks.

sorry i didn’t dig through the bonuses on the previous reissues too thoroughly… but is this the most revealing and interesting set of outtakes since the anthology sets

oh you have to listen to the abby road and white album bonuses, there is amazing stuff in there.

I need to go back to my mp3s of the Purple Chick version of Revolver and see what other session stuff is out there for this album. I feel like I've never heard this stuff; but I'm pretty sure there are other session outtakes that did leak in the past.

I have that Purple Chick version, and it looks like the stereo bonus tracks are all from Anthology

there is a deluxe, and it has a ton of for no one and here there and everywhere takes, but I can't recall how different or revelatory any of them are (likely not, which is usually the case with these things).

ah OK I did not know that! I just have the full-disc mono & stereo versions

That remix of She Said She Said is so utterly hideous what a disgrace

I can't believe Giles has managed an even worse mix than Long, Long, Long. Why did he do it like it was Good Day Sunshine.

The new stereo mix is more vivid than the ‘66 stereo, but much less agitated and immediate than the original mono mix. On a few tracks — especially “For No One” — it sounds like the mix was done on headphones, with the vocals WAY out front. And while I know Ringo played on “For No One,” you’d never know it from the new mix.

What’s great about the mono mix is that it’s claustrophobic and scrunched-up. This album isn’t supposed to be expansive and airy: it’s all speed, all weed, instruments forcing their way into the picture and suddenly ducking out, and it’s supposed to rush by at a frantic pace. The new stereo mix slows things down; yes, we notice a few more details, and appreciate a few arranging and playing choices that we didn’t hear before, but it impedes the journey. If any of that makes any sense.

otmfm

Yeah the vocals on the new Eleanor Rigby sound bloody terrible; far too isolated from the rest of the mix; like they recorded him down a well.

I don’t hear much mention of the fact that the mix was done using “de-mixed” stems, i.e. “AI” algorithms applied to the existing mixes to recreate what the isolated bass, drums etc must have sounded like, then mixed into a new stereo spread. It’s impressive and convincing, but maybe that’s why it sounds a little emptier to some?

xxxx - post

Yeah - that was what I was inarticulately trying to say as well up thread. The new stereo mix slows things down and detracts from the overall feel of the album.

I do wonder if some of the odd choices regarding Paul's vocals are because Giles Martin has to work by committee. I did see in an interview that Paul gets a say (so does Ringo, but I'm not sure he took an active interest) and had some suggestions.

Overall, it's a curate's egg of a mix. George comes out of it particularly well with all 3 of his songs sounding great. Paul's songs have great instrumentation but the vocal is sometimes odd or disconnected, and John's IOS and SSSS are interesting but ultimately unsatisfactory.

I think the fact that the most significant outtakes — non-giggly-stoners “And Your Bird Can Sing,” electric “Got To Get You Into My Life” — are largely mixed to mimic the original mono mixes speaks volumes.

I don’t know if you can compare this new mix to the mono mix. It’s meant to update the stereo mix, after all, and I think as such it does its job with the one notable exception.

The mono mix is a different beast altogether, and I like it that way.

New Taxman is fantastic. The rest still sounds uncanny valley to me.

Would love to hear a de-mixed Pet Sounds, every mix of that has sounded mushy to me.

mushiness on pet sounds seems like part of the point; i don't know how I'd feel about the tracks being sharper.

That backing track of "She Said She Said" kinda sounds like a precursor to Beefheart's Magic Band doing "Kandy Korn", with those interlaced guitars and Ringo's weird-ass drum fills

On a few tracks — especially “For No One” — it sounds like the mix was done on headphones, with the vocals WAY out front

Wouldn’t be surprised, I read Giles saying somewhere that one of his specific goals with the mix was to create something that caters to modern youth habits of mainly listening to stuff on headphones