Reissue Review

I admit it: Even I was skeptical. I’ve been listening to my Beatles CDs for about 20 years now. The White Album was the first CD I ever purchased in a collection that now numbers well over 500. I’ve listened to those Beatles’ albums so many times that I felt like I knew every nook and cranny of the music. And I just listened to it all again when I did my Beatles countdown last year.

So while I was excited about news that the catalog was being remastered and knew full well that, as a fanatic, I’d shell out whatever dough was necessary for the new discs, I couldn’t imagine anything being any better than what I’d already heard.

Well, I lucked into an advance copy of the spruced-up Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a few days before its official release, and, about a minute or so into the title track, I was already hooked. The crunching rhythm was both beefier and crisper, Ringo’s snare drums snapped with a force that I never recalled, and the harmonies in the refrain were so clear that I could distinguish each individual voice.

I’ve never been an audiophile of any kind, but I can tell you that it felt like I was hearing these 42-year-old songs for the first time. There were little nuances that I’d never heard before, like the spacey reverb on Paul’s vocal in “Fixing A Hole,” adding to the loneliness of the lyrics. Some higher notes snuck through on the piano chords at the start of “A Day In The Life,” brightening the hues of an already Technicolor affair. All over the place you can hear John Lennon’s snarky asides in the background, helping to deflate some of the loftier proceedings and bringing the ghosts back to life.

But more than anything, this new recording embellishes what was already there, from Paul McCartney’s ridiculously gorgeous melodies, to Ringo Starr’s nonplussed timekeeping, to George Harrison’s landmark melding of East and West on “Within You, Without You,” to John Lennon’s chill-inducing vocal on “A Day In The Life,” to the underrated brilliance of producer George Martin, who somehow melded all of the boys’ fever-dream production ideas into a seamless whole. It’s all there again, only it’s easier to access now.

Don’t be scared that the new CDs will fall victim to the recent tendency for the medium to be loud and indistinguishable. Great care was obviously taken to retain the textures and intricacies of the original recordings even while adding a welcome dose of sonic heft.

I can’t speak for the rest of the recordings yet, but one listen to Sgt. Pepper’s quickly became two listens, and if it’s any indication of what to expect from the rest of the remasters, we, as Beatles fans, are in for a real treat. The packaging and extras should be a lot of fun, but we all know that the music is the reason we’re coughing up the dough all over again, and I’m here to say it’s worth every penny.

I suppose there exists the possibility that this perceived improvement is psychosomatic, that these discs just give me, and all other fans, an excuse to listen to this impeccable music again and again. I don’t think that’s the case, but, even if it is, I can live with it. The Beatles’ music is one of the greatest bearers of joy that this world has ever known. However we receive that joy is fine by me.

Comments (2)