Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘The Beatles’

The Beatles created 12 official studio LPs from 1963 to 1970 and just about all of them were absolutely brilliant which makes picking just 3 of their albums as the top three is hard.

12 albums? You’ve probably heard that they had 13 albums. That 13th “album” is Magical Mystery Tour which was originally released in 1967 just as an EP in the UK. An “album” version of it was cobbled together in America by adding some earlier released singles to the record.

Beatles purists don’t consider it one of their official LPs, although it has been added to the UK discography since the 1970s.

#1 The White Album

This double album includes many of The Beatles greatest moments. It also includes some of the songs that a lot of people think of as their worst. But I actually think those weird songs (such as “Wild Honey Pie” and of course “Revolution #9″) add to the magic of the album. This was an “anything goes” album and it’s all the better for it.

#2 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

A lot of people claim that this legendary album is overrated and I can understand that opinion from the point of view that The Beatles other albums sometimes get overlooked in comparison. Some less informed Beatles fans seem to think that Sgt. Pepper was The Beatles first foray into “art music” but clearly Revolver beat it to the punch. But, I still think Sgt. Pepper is a great album that works as the band’s most “cohesive statement” and I think while it may be underrated by those who are slightly ignorant of The Beatles whole career, I think it’s actually now underrated by the “hipsters.”

#3 Revolver

1966’s Revolver is probably The Beatles most consistently great album. Every song is worthy of high praise from the beautiful “Eleanor Rigby” to the rock classic “Taxman”

On 9/9/9 remastered versions of The Beatles 13 official studio albums will finally be released after over 20 years of waiting. The CD versions from 1987 are considered to an example of very poor mastering which is why Beatles fans have been wanting to hear these classic albums remastered for so long.

The excitement of 9/9/9 isn’t just because of the remastered stereo CDs, but also because of the mono versions of The Beatles albums being released on CD for the first time ever. This is the first time that the original mono mixes of The Beatles albums (up through 1968 which is when they stopped doing mono mixes) are going to be available on CD.

So why should we care about such an outdated way of listening to music here in the 21st century? Mono was being phased out in the 1960s, why should we listen to mono mixes today? Sure a lot of people think that stereo is all you need because it’s the standard these days, but for those curious about the original intention of The Beatles and their production team the mono mixes are of great interest.

The mono mixes are what the band (along with George Martin & Geoff Emerick) were primarily focused on. The stereo mixes were done as an after thought with little (if any) input from the band, while the mono mixes were slaved over until they were just perfect. And because of this effort put into the mono mixes, many feel that the original mono mix of Sgt. Pepper is the “true” mix of this legendary LP.

But that’s not all of the Beatles madness on 9/9/9 there’s also the new Beatles Rock Band game which looks to be absolutely incredible from the previews. It basically allows you to play through The Beatles career from the days of “Beatlemania” through the psychedelic era all the way through the end. The Beatles Rock Band instruments even look like the real Beatles instruments (check out Paul’s bass guitar!) And now for the first time with the Beatles Rock Band game, you can sing harmonies.

In The 1960s Mono Mixes Were The Standard

It was not until the time of Let It Be & Abbey Road that the stereo mixes became The Beatles only. Up until that point, they were more focused on the mono mixes as they were the standard way people listened to music then.

The Original Beatles Albums

You can make a strong case that these Beatles original mono mix CDs are The Beatles albums in their true form. These are the mixes that most people heard back in the 1960s. These are the mixes that made them the biggest band of all time. Hearing these albums in their original stereo mixes, even if they are poor mixes, is interesting to real Beatles fans.

The Mono CD Box Set Includes

• The Band’s first 10 studio albums in mono.
• The original stereo mixes of Rubber Soul & Help!
• The Mono Masters collection of the mono mixes of the band’s non album songs.

Where’s Abbey Road, Let It Be, & Yellow Submarine?

These final three LPs were actually never mixed in mono because by 1969 stereo was the standard and mono mixes had been completely phased out.

Why Are Stereo Mixes For Two Albums Included?

The two albums included in stereo (Help! & Rubber Soul) were recorded in 1965. At this time mixing in stereo was still a very new thing and these albums were mixed in what would now be considerd a very strange way. Because of that when the bands albums were first released on CD in the ’80s they didn’t use the 1960s stereo mixes and created new stereo mixes instead. That means the original stereo mixes for these two legendary albums have never been included on CD until this box set.

The White Album In Mono In The US For The First Time

One really cool thing about this box set is that it will actually be the first time that The White Album has ever been released in mono in the United States in any format.

The Beatles Remastered Mono & Stereo Box Sets

There are two box sets being released on September 9th. A mono box set & a stereo box set. Both are essential for real Beatles fanatics.

The Beatles amazing 1966 album Revolver is considered by many music critics to not only be The Beatles greatest album ever but to also be the best rock album of all time by any band or artist. For some music fans that may be surprising as Beatles albums such as 1967’s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and 1969’s Abbey Road have sold more copies and are more well known among the general public.

Revolver represented another huge step forward for The Beatles artistically in a series of such huge steps. The Beatles went from the more straight forward pop of 1964 to the eclectic psychedelic rock of Revolver just two years later. 1965’s Rubber Soul was the stepping stone between the two.

So why is it that this album is considered to be so excellent? The answer is actually very simple: The songs. It doesn’t have the cohesiveness of Abbey Road’s second side or the “concept” of Sgt. Pepper but what it does have is a collection of absolutely stunningly great songs in an amazing array of different styles.

From the balladry of “Here, There, & Everywhere” to the acid rock of “She Said She Said” to the Indian sounds of “Love You To” to the childlike “Yellow Submarine” to the sublime “Eleanor Rigby” to the otherwordly “Tomorrow Never Knows” the album never stops surprising the listener with amazing songs. This amazing collection of tunes are not just great, they are extraordinary. These songs have inspired countless musicians and songwriters in the 40+ years since Revolver was first released.

I’ve read that every one of these songs created it’s own “sub genre” of popular music and while I do think that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration it is probably quite close to the truth.

With most less imaginative albums you can just listen to a song or two and know just what the whole thing sounds like. With this album every song is it’s own revelation. That’s partially because they had three extraordinary songwriters each contributing songs with their own unique styles (Lennon, McCartney, & Harrison) but that’s also because each of these great songwriters was not just content to just make the same style song over and over again. Each of them were adventerous and creative in their own way and when you combine the boundless creativity of three amazing songwriters you get something truly special like Revolver.