Beatles Remastered CD's

I believe I have my childhood friend, Rob Bentley, to thank for nudging me into Beatle discovery back in the day. Rob was a GREAT friend, and very good at hunting out new bands. The Beatles were an easy discovery, obviously, but still, props must be paid. Rob and I listened to a lot of Beatles back in the day. We even took cassettes of the "Red" and "Blue" albums with us on our two-month rail trip from London to Hong Kong. The lads from Liverpool were our constant companions on trains across two continents, and for a couple of 13 year-olds, they provided comfort, inspiration, and lots and lots of fun. Plenty of discussion, too. How many "is this song better than that" debates did we have?

I mention this because I've recently had cause to revisit those heady days. See, they've issued these "Beatles Remastered" cd's this month. Release date 9/9/09 in honor of the cult favorite Beatles tune "Revolution 9". OK, decent marketing campaign (Beatles Rock Band video game in simultaneous release). And I am a longtime Beatles fan. Longtime Stones fan, too. Longtime Zep, Who, Kinks, Floyd, etc. fan. I dig English rock, ok? And, full disclosure, since, oh, about 1988, I've identified myself as "Stones" in that eternal Beatles/Stones debate. Love the Rolling Stones. Also dig, to a much less, but still significant extent, Bob Dylan. Dylan, the wordsmith. The Stones, faithful and innovative carriers of ROCK's essential sonic vehicle (leaning primarily on Chuck Berry-derived rhythm guitar). And The Beatles, defiant of any appropriate description. Pop? Pshaw! The Beatles are their own category, man. They were soundsmiths of particular genius (and magnificent timing). And, I must now admit to myself and everyone else, that I've spent the past two decades ignoring and denying their "awesomeness".

Not without at least some reason, actually. The only previously released CD's of the Beatles original albums were released in 1987. About the time of the birth of CD. And it's widely acknowledged that those CD's sucked badly in terms of sonic quality.

1987. It's now 2009. And those '87 issues have remained the only available options for Beatles CD until........now. Now........we have: Beatles Remastered. Which, at first blush doesn't necessarily inspire much confidence. I mean, how many "remasters" or "reissues" of music product have our jaded eyes seen over the years? How often has a "remaster" amounted to a mere "re-package"? How often have we paid good money and been disappointed by subpar product? Heaven knows. But......I have good news.

This time.......THIS TIME!................This time!.............This time, things are, well, just put away the cynicism. Stow the anger, park the frustration. Santa Claus is here. New Beatles CD's have been rendered and THEY EFF-ING ROCK.

I have purchased the Rubber Soul, Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, and Abbey Road remastered cd's. I purchased each for less than 13 American dollars. This is A MAJOR BARGAIN. Don't let anyone tell you there is anything wrong with these. This is not a cynical money-grab reissue. These are like little squares (and circles) of gold. GOLD. The ingenious sound engineer guys have gone back to the original tapes and......re-derived. I mean fully re-derived. Totally. They have done good. They have created little silver circles, which somewhat resemble the older, larger black circles, and which capture the incredible vocal harmonies the Beatles were so good at. I think I can confidently say these new cd's SHOWCASE the incredible vocal harmonies. Showcase. The Harmonies. Totally, Showcased. Have I implored you to buy these CD's? We're talking sonic gold, here, ok? The guitars are crisp AND creamy. The voices and instrumentation are all distinct AND harmonious. THESE ARE GENIUS REMASTERS. I've sat through the Stones remasters (and many, many others) that were paltry, ineffectual, etc. Not so, here. These are WONDERFUL. Look, I don't work for Apple Records, or Yoko Ono, or Cynthia Harrison, or Paul. I'd work for Ringo if I could, I admit. But I'm biased only by my love for sonic genius. And as such, I implore you to buy these things! NOW.

Rubber Soul: "Norweigan Wood": I never even really liked this song that much. But it sounds SO GOOD on this new CD. George's sitar, John's lead vocal, and Paul's harmony are like something that, yes, I've heard before, but not like this. It's incredible. I mean, really. I'm not using that word lightly. "Nowhere Man" - I always liked this song. It's better now. It RULES. The harmonies are just sublime. "The Word", "I'm Looking Through You" - Perfect folk Pop. Perfect. Get this album now.

Revolver: GET THIS ALBUM NOW. All the critics have been calling this the Beatles' best for years. It's even more evident now why they've been saying that. "I'm Only Sleeping", "And Your Bird Can Sing", "She Said, She Said" are all Rock's royal foundations. All Lennon tracks. All, mind-bending. And his best is "Tomorrow Never Knows" which might be the best Beatles song ever, as it so wonderfully and accurately tries to recreate an acid trip. Plus, George contributes mighty experimentation, which in conjunction with John's wild stuff only highlight Paul's melodic gems. "Cry For No One", a slow, soulful McCartney ballad has obviously been dutifully swallowed, digested, dissected and ultimately emulated by the likes of the Floyd, Rush, Petty, et. al. Seriously.

Magical Mystery Tour: I haven't even mentioned how amazing these remasters SOUND. I'm not even sure I can convey it via the written word. But, "I Am The Walrus", 'nuff said. Although I could mention "Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "All You Need Is Love". I'm somewhere in nirvana right now. I'm not sure where, exactly. Don't care.

Abbey Road: As a companion to "Exile on Main Street", the best album ever. "Abbey" the sonic Da Vinci to "Exile"'s Picasso. It sounds ssssssssssoooooooooooooooooo ggooooooooooooooooooooooooooodd. Go purchase this album right now. "Come Together" alone is worth the price. Not to mention "Here Comes the Sun". Or the entire second side suite. This is sonic orgasm on record, er....tape.....I mean, CD. Whatever. I just came. It's that good.

These remasters definitely demand a re-evaluation of Ringo's drumming (It's good!). And they clearly demonstrate that McCartney was an ace bassist. Just, ace.

The Beatles rule. I will be buying ALL of the remasters eventually. The only real question is how I spool out the delay on the purchases to maximize my enjoyment. This is ear candy of the absolute highest order. Treat yourself or forever lament your failure to do so.