Beatles Red & Blue Compilation refresh

I am now onto my second play of the red set and think most of the remixes are very good. I feel that it is the quality of the mastering that is disappointing most people, hence the fatigue complaints. Shame, this will put many people off enjoying what is a decent effort imo.

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Yes, itā€™s an astonishing achievement. From a rock n roll covers band to ground breaking artists in less than a decade. Beggars belief in someways. At least once a year I spend a day or two playing the studio albums in order and their creative growth and ambition never ceases to amaze.

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And George Harrison was 27 when The Beatles split. 27!

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Iā€™m really starting to appreciate them more now.
Canā€™t wait to listen to the first studio albums

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Iā€™m listening to the Red Album LPs at the moment.

I canā€™t agree with any sense of disappointment at the mastering, and the music is utterly brilliant - which I knew in advance, of course, but it is astonishing to hear one masterpiece after another as the records play.

I think that this group are going to be big!

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I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Red Album.

Now, if those Big River people could ensure that the Blue one turns up tomorrowā€¦

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Quite literally the most progressive band ever, imo.

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Iā€™m pleased to say that the Blue 3LP set was dropped off about 20 minutes ago, so Iā€™m listening to it now.

What a fantastic job Apple Corps have done with the old tapes. The sound is as good as you will hear anywhere, and quite astonishing for recordings made over 50 years ago. Giles Martin really has done his father proud!

I donā€™t have many better LPs than these, either in terms of music or of recording.

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Interesting. I wonder if the vinyl is a better mastering than the digital bearing in mind the comments above

Not sure, Norman Maslov has commented on his recent Youtube video that he has heard both the vinyl and CD variants - heā€™s bought the vinyl and thinks it sounds better. He goes into great depth discussing the remixes on his vid.

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My Melco arrived back today after several weeks absence (thanks Brexit!) having the 3TB disc, which was 97% full, replaced with 5TB, which is 59% full. Headroom for a while!
To celebrate I bought the 96/24 download of the Red album and I am now part way through the first listen. Iā€™m loving it. I completely disagree with the comments about ā€˜milking itā€™. Iā€™m prepared to be milked all day long for this kind of entertainmentā€¦ā€¦

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A quick glance around here and elsewhere suggests that pressing plants actually arenā€™t producing ā€œbetter records than ever beforeā€. The exact opposite if anything. The exceptions get well publicised but they are largely exceptions.

The suspicion younger people will be buying this appears misplaced also. YouGov reports that the largest group of buyers are, as if we couldnā€™t guess, middle aged men. They are, you may also possibly guess this, re buying things they already own. Given the data available to record companies nowadays any noise being made about introducing new generations to classic music can be squarely dismissed as absolute nonsense. They know exactly who will buy what. You are the audience and you are being resold stuff you largely know already. Itā€™s the definition of what others have called a ā€œmoney grabā€.

I loved the original red and blue albums and own original pristine copies on vinyl inherited from my long deceased uncle. I have zero interest in format wars but my chosen format nowadays is streaming, local or otherwise. The Beatles in Mono on CD was as close to the originals as I have ever heard. It captured the sound of the original 45rpm singles on a way which brought a tear to my eye. None of the Martin jobs come anywhere near. Nevertheless I look forward to each if only to hear the differences. Iā€™ve yet to hear ā€œbetterā€ in any of them though.

The first shock here was the track listing. The originals were definitive. As near a perfect track listing as you could have. Iā€™ve no idea why anyone would mess with that but they have and itā€™s weaker for it. Had I chose to own these they would be amongst several things I own where I would programme the listening to reflect the original order. I strongly recommend lifting the needle periodically and playing these in the order of the originals. It makes quite a difference.

Then thereā€™s the sound quality. I spent some considerable time comparing these to the original vinyl and Mono on CD. Usually one finds one prefers this version or that overall. Largely, with some honourable exceptions, I find myself over time returning to the originals. Interestingly here it was not possible to come to such an easy conclusion. There were some versions which made an immediately positive impression in terms of clarity but which lost impact. Yes I could hear the guitar much better. Yes it sounded like an actual guitar. In one onsyshcd I could name the guitar and the strings. Is that what I listen to music for though?

It also ceased to sound like The Beatles. Tracks lacked coherence. They sounded like someone picking them up and examining them and then putting them on display for us to do the same. Gleaming museum pieces rather than music. Other tracks, oddly, I could discern no differences at all. They sounded great and yet theyā€™d allegedly been redone. That begged the question of what exactly Iā€™d be paying for.

In the end I concluded that it was one of the most erratic inconsistent jobs Iā€™d heard. One minute mesmerisingly different (not necessarily better) and the next just the same as the originals. One minute relaxing. The next minute youā€™re on edge. In the end, for me, unlistenable.

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After reading your post I decided to do some comparison listening. I chose 3 tracks Love Me Do from Please Please Me, All My Lovinā€™ from With The Beatles and Help from the album of the same name. All were were taken from an original CD circa 1980 in faux stereo, a mono version from the early 2000s and the 2023 remix in hi res.

Love Me Do - the original was harsh and wasnā€™t a great experience, the mono version was much better. However the 2023 remix trumped them all.

All My Lovinā€™ was much better all 3 but the 2023 remix was probably the easiest to listen to.

Help again the early faux stereo was my least favourite. But as before the new 2023 remix was much deeper clearer and more enjoyable.

The one thing that was unmistakable was all versions of all songs were full of energy and highlighted for me (anyway) that they were and still are the best pop/rock band full stop.

Of course the above is only my opinion and I wouldnā€™t argue if someone heard it differently.

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Exactly why we buy different equipment. We have different ears. Equally though, given that they know exactly who theyā€™re selling to, itā€™s hard to see this as anything other than cynical exploitation.

Bear in mind my listening involved the original vinyl. These sound entirely different:

All mine was digital and through my Oppo MP2 headphones via the Naim DAC-V1. Iā€™m sure the version and what itā€™s played through has an impact.

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If the results are the current pressings of the Red and Blue 3LP compilations, then Iā€™m at the head of the queue of those waiting to be exploited.

Both albums are utterly brilliant, and I defy you to find any other band who could produce such an extraordinary achievement over 12 LP sides.

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Thatā€™s the whole point imo the music is so damn good that you have to want to destroy it to actually detract from its originality and brilliance. But hey Iā€™m a Beatle tragic. :grin:

Edit, I donā€™t see it as being exploited as no one is forcing us to buy these weā€™re doing of our own free will. And the other versions are still easily available.

Mmmmā€¦ does the YouGov research (from May 2023) really say that?

In the interests of openness, why donā€™t we provide a link for that YouGov research and people can decide for themselves?

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Thanks Kevster always good to get some balance into a discussion. :+1:

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To be clear, itā€™s nothing to do with balance or bias or a sick of ā€œopennessā€. I am currently unable to post links or images. Cā€™est La vie. Other people also took the sane hit.

To be equally clear there is a difference between what you say you like to do and what you actually do and listen to. This has been much reported on elsewhere but vinyl purchase amongst younger groups is often driven by the object not the listening experience. My son was at a party on Friday night. The host, aged 18, owns 300 albums. They donā€™t own a turntable. My son is already into double figures. Doesnā€™t have a turntable and listens only on a QB or his iPhone.

The YouGov data above is easy to misinterpret. Again I canā€™t post a link but a well know industry business recently posted their interpretation of same as

ā€œYouGov Profiles data suggests that recordsā€™ resurgence is rooted in middle-aged nostalgia. When compared to the adult population as a whole, those that have purchased a vinyl album recently are more likely to be aged between 45-54. By contrast, those in the 18-24 aged group are the least likely.ā€

They noted this was exactly the same back in 2016. Letā€™s also remember that if you take out Taylor Swift then album sales in the UK have decreased.

I should also note that my assertion about people buying what they already known was nothing to do with YouGov. Itā€™s simply self-evident from here and elsewhere. Certsinly not a criticism. Itā€™s exactly what I did when CD came along and to some extent what I did when streaming, for me, replaced CD.