[Vision2020] Happy News: Beatles Entire Studio Catalog Newly Remastered On CD A Worthy Effort

Tue Oct 6 16:57:28 PDT 2009

Thanks, Ted! I just got the Beatles first album, Please Please Me,  
which was remastered and on sale. This is the best production of that  
album that I've ever heard, by a wide margin.

The album is notable since it was thrown together in a matter of days  
after the single became a hit, so there are a fair number of covers,  
like Twist and Shout. The best early Beatle album, IMO, is With the  
Beatles.

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 6, 2009, at 2:09 PM, Ted Moffett <starbliss at gmail.com> wrote:

> You are correct.  I do not waste time with gaming... And if I want  
> to make music, I'll play a real instrument.  I'd rather listen to  
> music as an end in itself, with full attention on nothing but the  
> music.  Video games are partly responsible for marginalizing the  
> value of listening to music as an end in itself in our culture,  
> given they dominate the youth market, that once was far more focused  
> on listening to music as a consuming and compelling experience,  
> without gaming or video added; and said youth market was greatly  
> responsible for financing the music recording industry, which has  
> been decimated in recent decades, as disposable youth dollars have  
> shifted away from recorded music to video games.
>
> Ted Moffett
>
> On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 6:18 AM, Dan Carscallen <areaman at moscow.com>  
> wrote:
> I look forward to hearing Ted expound the virtues of the new Beatles  
> Rock Band, but somehow don’t see him jamming away on an Xbox . . .
>
>
>
> DC
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020- 
> bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Ted Moffett
> Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 9:33 PM
> To: Moscow Vision 2020
> Subject: [Vision2020] Happy News: Beatles Entire Studio Catalog  
> NewlyRemastered On CD A Worthy Effort
>
>
>
> I have listened carefully to a number of these new remasterings of  
> the Beatles' albums, and find the new versions on CD worthy for the  
> improved sound quality; and in making this evaluation, I should add  
> that I found the sound quality of the first 1987 CD releases of the  
> Beatles' albums disappointing.  Forget about lower resolution  
> formats... MP3 is the work of the dark side... If only the entire  
> Bealtes' catalog would be released on SACD.
>
>
>
> I could expound at length, but I'll let Stereophile's Robart Baird  
> save me the effort (my impression of the musical experience of  
> listening to these new remasters was very similar to Baird's  
> commentary, before I read his comments).  I agree with Baird that  
> the high quality vinyl versions of some of the Beatles' albums are  
> still compelling, though I think some of these new remasterings on  
> CD approach the musicality of the best vinyl versions.   "Sgt.  
> Peppers" on the Parlophone UK vinyl pressing is amazing, clearly  
> better than the first 1987 CD release; the new CD remastering of  
> this album is clearly superior to the earlier CD version, enough to  
> compare it to the Parlophone UK vinyl:
>
>
>
> http://blog.stereophile.com/musicroom/robertbaird/the_new_beatles/#
>
> Using my Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD player—which by the way is  
> a great machine that I have always adored—at the exact same volume,  
> the first thing you notice when you A-B new against old is that soni 
> cally the new transfers make the originals sound flat and one–dimens 
> ional. There is a newfound fullness, multi-dimensionality and also a 
>  sense of space that the originals lack. On first listen, this new s 
> onic heft can easily be mistaken for loudness, for compression, but  
> it’s really just a wider dynamic range and the presence of more musi 
> c that you’re hearing. In the stereo CD of Rubber Soul, I A–B’d  
> “Drive My Car” repeatedly against the 1987 originals and the  
> audible differences for me came down to several things: increased se 
> paration and clarity between instruments, a more expressive, luxuria 
> nt emotional tenor, and an exquisite and exacting sense of bringing  
> out and enhancing details like the roundness of the bass line or the 
>  edge on the vocals, which were always there but which are now so mu 
> ch more alive and present in the mix.
>
> After listening for the past few days, several sonic constants have  
> appeared. The contributions of Paul and Ringo, alone and as a rhythm  
> section are now more prominent. Paul’s bass is now something you can 
>  regularly hear and be impressed by. Ringo’s tambourine on “Got  
> To Get You Into My Life” (from Revolver) now sounds like a glorious  
> idea come to fruition. Another “Gee, I never heard that before,”  
> moment comes from the layering, particularly of the vocals, which is 
>  now so much more defined. On “Doctor Robert,” again from  
> Revolver (a lesser tune that I, of course, have a cheesy affinity fo 
> r), the harmonies have a new energy.
>
> Energy, in fact, may be the word that best describes the positive  
> sonic alterations inherent in the new remasters. What you really  
> hear is an audible new jolt of energy. Words like cogency, potency  
> and sparkle also apply. This music, on the medium of CD, is suddenly  
> more alive than ever before. Best of all the CD format’s worst quali 
> ty, that cold digital brightness that’s made so many CD transfers da 
> mned near unlistenable, has actually been used, very judiciously, to 
>  great effect. I would venture to say that the Abbey Road team has f 
> inally harnessed this demon and made it serve rather than harm the m 
> usic making.
>
> On Lennon’s “Rain” (from Past Masters) one of the band’s most  
> elaborate sonic creations, one that used a series of overdubs at dif 
> ferent tape speeds to achieve an odd tonal effect and near the song’ 
> s end, backward vocals, the new remaster when compared to the origin 
> al CD transfer, focuses and revitalizes the panache of this underrat 
> ed curiosity. The guitars have more bite, Ringo’s snare pops with ne 
> w vigor and the background vocals are separated more than ever before.
>
> Finally, after listening to the The Beatles (aka The White Album),  
> which despite much love for Abbey Road has always been my favorite  
> Beatles album, the proof as they say, is in the air. The sound is  
> appreciatively better, richer, more intense. The overdubs on this  
> record have always sounded clumsy to me but on the new remaster,  
> that problem has been minimized. A–B’ing “While My Guitar  
> Gently Weeps,” is yet another example of how clarity has been streng 
> thened while the music that was always there, the Harrison/McCartney 
>  harmonies float above the mix with a new urgency and Clapton’s guit 
> ar has a thrilling new sting. Anyone who cannot hear he differences  
> here needs to upgrade their gear or perhaps retune their ears. It’s  
> easy to fall back upon metaphors when describing the exciting new so 
> und that rises from these remasters but I’ll use only one. In listen 
> ing to these new reissues, it makes me think that the music was like 
>  a half-opened flower that has now been brought into full and beauti 
> ful bloom.
>
> ------------------------------------------
>
> Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
>
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