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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2014 - 9:14 AM
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By: |
jackfu
(Member)
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CS, thanks for the update! I noticed many of the reviews on Amazon are critical about how the sound is not what listeners got with the original Capitol releases with their compression, fake stereo, reverb, etc. For some it’s obviously a contentious issue. I guess with any song, film score, etc., the first version you hear is the “right” one, especially if you were very young when you first heard it. Definitely true in my case. I assume this is the case with some of the reviewers.
I was eight when The Beatles hit in the USA and bought all of their Capitol releases. In my early teens when I learned of the superiority of the UK releases, I felt betrayed by and furious at Capitol, so I’m a little reluctant to fork over $170 for this set; guess I still carry a grudge.
On the other hand, the idea of having “The Beatles’ Story” and the soundtracks of “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” with those awesome instrumentals (I think I was the only one of any of my friends who liked those) certainly is enticing. I’d love to hear from folks on this forum who have the new box set. Anyone?
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2014 - 11:27 AM
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By: |
Dana Wilcox
(Member)
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CS, thanks for the update! I noticed many of the reviews on Amazon are critical about how the sound is not what listeners got with the original Capitol releases with their compression, fake stereo, reverb, etc. For some it’s obviously a contentious issue. I guess with any song, film score, etc., the first version you hear is the “right” one, especially if you were very young when you first heard it. Definitely true in my case. I assume this is the case with some of the reviewers.
I was eight when The Beatles hit in the USA and bought all of their Capitol releases. In my early teens when I learned of the superiority of the UK releases, I felt betrayed by and furious at Capitol, so I’m a little reluctant to fork over $170 for this set; guess I still carry a grudge.
On the other hand, the idea of having “The Beatles’ Story” and the soundtracks of “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Help!” with those awesome instrumentals (I think I was the only one of any of my friends who liked those) certainly is enticing. I’d love to hear from folks on this forum who have the new box set. Anyone?
I have the new Beatles American releases set and have no problem with the sound quality of any I've listened to so far. (IMO, no matter what was released, some anal consumer/reviewer would have found fault with it!) "The Beatles' Story" (unavailable separately) and the UA version of the HARD DAY'S NIGHT soundtrack were the items that finally persuaded me to take the plunge, and somewhat to my surprise, "buyer's remorse" has not set in, as it so often does after an expensive purchase. As a die-hard Beatles fan, there was just simply no way I wasn't buying this set, despite the fact that I sunk more than $200 into the British remasters. I grew up on the albums as they were released in the USA, listening to the more-reverby mixes and track lists as we got them, and as much as I love the clean sound on the British albums, they frankly sound a little sterile in comparison to the American albums. They may not be for everyone, maybe a sort of "you had to be there" experience, but I'm thrilled to have them.
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2014 - 11:46 AM
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By: |
jackfu
(Member)
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Thanks, Dana! You helped clear that up for me. I gather that from most of the criticisms I read, it was basically the UK sound of which you spoke; i.e., the songs were in the Capitol LP release sequential order but were the UK sound whereas they desired the Capitol sound. I hadn’t thought of your perspective; that is, being a sterile sound.
Like you I was a devoted Beatles fan, having collected all their LPs, bubblegum cards, wigs, bobbleheads, even the “Flip Your Wig” board game, all of which somehow vanished during the course of a couple of moves when in my teens. Thanks again for your input!
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2014 - 1:55 PM
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By: |
El Goodo
(Member)
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I am fairly unknowledgeable about the specifics of The Beatles releases.
Were the US versions different mixes than the UK versions?
Sometimes, but the real difference is one Dave Dexter at Capitol Records added extra compression, cavernous echo, different EQ, etc. to the Beatles' masters. That and the American LPs only had 11 songs to the UK's 14, so they'd take things off, resequence them, add the singles, etc., then create new albums from all the leftovers. A lot of American fans have emotional attachments to these albums they grew up listening to, despite their dubious nature. A good argument can be made, however, for the US Rubber Soul being a better album than the UK one. But that's another story.
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Same here - will pass on the box set and get "A Hard Day's Night" instead.
The Beatles on Capitol and me - a love story: when Vol. 1 with the first four albums was released it had copy protection - it took me hours and hours to figure out how to rip it to my hard drive. Vol. 2 was no better - I got the version with the foldies instead of the true mono mixes - and when I contacted EMI about the problem they refused to replace the disks - saying that they were unaware of any problem with the disks. I thought all this would be over with the new set - finally having all in one place. Yet, another disappointment. I'll "waste" my money on the stereo remasters I do not yet own. As a casual listener I have enough with four copies of each song - no way I'm spending money for the fifth time if it isn't the "real" deal...
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I am not sure if people think the Capitol disks sound better - just different (worse, in fact  ). It just makes no sense to issue the whole thing over again just for different track order and artwork. People are expecting the "real deal"...
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Posted: |
Jan 27, 2014 - 5:25 PM
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By: |
Octoberman
(Member)
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I also grew up with the American versions, and yet I have no problem with this new box set and Capitol/Apple cleaning up the audio on these releases to make them actually sound listenable. Those early U.S. Capitol albums, I'm sorry to say, sounded like crap. (Like they were recorded underwater.) All that murky echo and "duophonic" tinkering left much to be desired. Once I learned about the difference between the two countries' pressings of the albums on vinyl, I quickly sought out the British versions, and was a much happier Beatle listener for it, and also had a much better understanding of how the Beatles' songwriting and recording techniques, etc. really evolved...
You mean that they sound like crap to you. 
But to many ears, including mine, the US versions were perfectly listenable and enjoyable. They sounded no better or worse than any other pop albums from that era. And in the mid-1960's, the concept of a Beatles audiophile was almost unheard of.
EDITED TO ADD: But to address the first part of your post; Apple's mandate should not have been merely to make the US albums "listenable" by using the remastered UK tracks. Those same tracks were already in the 2009 boxes. Their mandate SHOULD have been to take the US tapes and make them listenable and not just repackage the 2009's in an unethical effort to get us to buy what we've already bought. Why they did this, I don't think anyone can truly say with authority. I think as the months go on more facts will be found out. Apologists can justify any way they want, but it's still a form of fraud.
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Posted: |
Jan 28, 2014 - 6:50 AM
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By: |
jackfu
(Member)
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Sometimes, but the real difference is one Dave Dexter at Capitol Records added extra compression, cavernous echo, different EQ, etc. to the Beatles' masters. That and the American LPs only had 11 songs to the UK's 14, so they'd take things off, resequence them, add the singles, etc., then create new albums from all the leftovers. A lot of American fans have emotional attachments to these albums they grew up listening to, despite their dubious nature. A good argument can be made, however, for the US Rubber Soul being a better album than the UK one. But that's another story.
Thanks, I think you put that very well! Do I recall correctly that The Beatles themselves, particularly John, disliked the way Capitol released their LP’s? I seem to recall that he felt that Capitol’s shuffling of the play order and number of tracks per LP often caused one author or another to get shorted on the total number of their compositions on an LP (especially as their writing became more independent and divergent). I haven’t listened to the Capitol and UK versions side by side in a long time, so I don’t have a frame of reference as to which I prefer sonically. I would tend to go with the recordings as the band preferred them, both from the play order and the sound reproduction.
I know I said this before but I think a key element in this is how you listened to The Beatles music when you first discovered them. If, like me you started with the Capitol releases as a child, you likely listened to them, memorized them, etc., in that sequential order for several years and that can be hard to get past. Even now when I listen to the UK versions, somewhere in the deep recesses my brain still wants to anticipate the Capitol sequential order, even though I’ve trained myself to listen to the UK versions. Am I alone in this?
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