Remaster, Rock Star, Remaster....

I’m with Allan Kozinn of the New York Times… the bottom line is that The Beatles should be concentrating on the release of their primary product – that is of course the music catalogue, not some daft Rock Star type game. Then closely followed by the Let It Be’s and Shea Stadiums they are still sitting on for whatever reason. It is actually incredible that there is basically no digitally remastered material available from the world’s premier group; is it not? I don’t care too much for the itunes or mp3 formats. What I want is full on, red blooded CD’s. The Beatles used to lead the world in innovation in many ways. Even the Anthology broke new ground…indeed up until then there was nothing like it from just about any other group. In other words, they continued the good work they’d always done. Ground breaking work on the video end of things whilst on the audio end they made the impossible happen with Free As a Bird and Real Love. As a fan I was proud to know that the boys weren’t just any band who wanted to cash in on their past achievements. They took the hard road, carved a new route, raised the bar and set a new standard for the world simply to gawp at. As it stands, twelve years later, it seems that they have hit some kind of impasse. I don’t get it. Just what might be the problem? In a general sense no one could blame them for not getting into bed with the digital download world at the beginning. It could have been a flash in the pan Beatamax (!) moment, so fair enough. However it has to be said that even the most cautious amongst us have to say that this format is here to stay and in fact IS where we are now. I feel that it is embarrassing for them at this stage. This band should still be leading the pack, breaking new ground and turning it to their advantage. It is not as though they have to create new material to convert. They have a complete catalogue ready to go, so again - what’s the problem? It’s obvious that there is a rights argument and financial reasona behind it all, it is the only argument that makes sense.

Also, whilst we’re on this digital thing, I read somewhere that the remixed catalogue will still retain the original mixes. In other words, those same unbelievably BAD stereo images which are murder to listen to on headphones. In fact, I gave up listening to the boys on headphones until the good folks at Purple Chick came up with their brilliant packages because it was such uncomfortable listening experience. Before that, I had to go to the extraordinary lengths of employing a mixing desk with a PAN control so I could route stuff through it to bring the bass more to centre. It was a terrible decision to release the CD’s with those appalling stereo mixes in 1987! If the idea was somehow to preserve the original work then all of the discs should have been in mono with the exception of the albums that were originally put out in stereo. There is just no value in putting out those stereo mixes again. They were a compromise when they were made in the Sixties, a travesty in the Eighties and by now it is plain stupid to put them out in that condition. The Beatles have an opportunity to put out pristine versions of the best work ever put to tape in a way that just blows the opposition away all over again to genuinely improve and polish this incredible work. As it stands, albeit through speculation, it seems that once again, an opportunity may be lost. When this catalogue goes out again under the “remastered” banner, it might just be the most important thing that has happened to the CD since it’s birth and given that they are in a position to do so, wouldn’t it be great if boys once again pushed the envelope just that little bit further?

PS

Best of luck with the VOTE America!