The
Beatles - Abbey Road: Super Deluxe Blu-ray/3 CD Set
(1969 Anniversary Edition with Hardcover Built-In Book/Apple
Records/Universal Music)
Sound:
Dolby Atmos/A- DTS-MA 5.1/B+ Stereo: B Extras: A- Album:
A-
By
1969, The Beatles had proven that they were not going away, would
never run out of ideas and were not to be underestimated. Save a few
goofs with political agendas, the band helped make the 1960s great,
music great and helped propel a counterculture that could eventually
end an unjust war and bring down the most powerful of corrupt
politicians. However, the songs were not political propaganda, but
palpable music that was always groundbreaking, innovative, surprising
and even stunning. Each album release was a major cultural event and
Abbey
Road
was no exception.
This
time out, the band was back in the studio recording with a new solid
state multi-channel recording system that eliminated tubes (for
better and worse) in at the time was one of the most advanced
recording systems in the world. George Martin was back as producer
and the new project was a single album that was not a concept album
or soundtrack, something they had not done in a good few years. This
would include more odd songs that caused controversy and examination,
plus several more classics, though the surprise here was some of them
would be by long-oppressed-in-the-band George Harrison. The cover
would also be groundbreaking, this time being the first not to
identify the music act on it and deliver another iconic image of the
band.
The
album tracks this time, both on the Blu-ray edition and 16Bit/44.1
kHz CD Disc One are:
Come
Together
Something
Maxwell's
Silver Hammer
Oh!
Darling
Octopus's
Garden
I
Want You (She's So Heavy)
Here
Comes The Sun
Because
You
Never Give Me Your Money
Sun
King
Mean
Mr Mustard
Polythene
Pam
She
Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Golden
Slumbers
Carry
That Weight
The
End
Her
Majesty
In
addition, we get two CDs worth of remarkable alternate takes,
outtakes and songs that did not make the album, including a hit that
went to another new band on the Apple label...
Disc:
2
1.
I Want You (She's So Heavy) (Trident Recording Session &
Reduction Mix)
2.
Goodbye (Home Demo)
3.
Something (Studio Demo)
4.
The Ballad Of John And Yoko (Take 7)
5.
Old Brown Shoe (Take 2)
6.
Oh! Darling (Take 4)
7.
Octopus's Garden (Take 9)
8.
You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36)
9.
Her Majesty (Takes 1-3)
10.
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (Takes 1-3 / Medley)
11.
Here Comes The Sun (Take 9)
12.
Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Take 12)
Disc:
3
1.
Come Together (Take 5)
2.
The End (Take 3)
3.
Come And Get It (Studio Demo)
4.
Sun King (Take 20)
5.
Mean Mr Mustard (Take 20)
6.
Polythene Pam (Take 27)
7.
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window (Take 27)
8.
Because (Take 1 - Instrumental)
9.
The Long One (Trial Edit & Mix - 30 July 1969) (Medley: You Never
Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr Mustard, Her Majesty, Polythene
Pam, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry
That Weight, The End)
10.
Something (Take 39 - Instrumental - Strings Only)
11.
Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight (Take 17 - Instrumental - Strings &
Brass Only)
The
opening album track with the second song on the flip side, was
remarkably the only U.S. single from the album and of course, it hit
#1, but again, the entire album was being played all over the place
worldwide on radio and in clubs. Harrison had arrived as McCartney
and Lennon's equal, but Starr was not doing so bad despite having one
song here (he apparently had an aversion to singing lead much at the
time, but his solo career proved he could more than hold his own) and
McCartney in particular is in rare form delivering some of his
strongest vocals in any release even to this day of his career.
Harrison's
Here
Comes The Sun
becomes interlocked with a few other songs here, as well as some of
the Lennon/McCartney compositions. As with the last few albums, the
band achieves new sonic breakthroughs and yet more new sounds with
more new musical character you have to hear to understand and in
these remarkable and even stunning new remasters, just how far they
had gone with Martin and the new equipment. Though some parts of the
recording show their age, there is more than enough here to shock
anyone that the album is as old as it is, but like the restoration of
a feature film that has not been saved or worked on in too long a
time, the new Abbey
Road
in some ways is being heard clearly for the very first time and that
includes how the band in vocals, harmonies and musicianship had even
gelled more strongly than ever before. No wonder it become one of
their biggest selling albums ever and remains a huge fan favorite.
It
is then sad that conflict with a new contract all but McCartney
wanted to sign (more on that some other time, so stop blaming Yoko!)
led to the end of the band despite plans to record more albums
together after this one. All four would continue to record great
music and have unforgettable moments, but their dissolution was
shocking and heartbreaking. Still, leave it to The Beatles to end on
as strong and great a note as possible.
The
hardcover book in a hard slidecase shell here is top of the line,
extremely high quality and the book within that runs 100 pages is
made of extremely high quality paper with excellent photo
reproductions, plus rare images of reel-to-reel audio tape boxes and
even advertising to launch the album. The excellent text is also
highly informative and shows a love of the band we can all
appreciate.
So
how does the album now sound in the new remastering by Giles Martin
and Sam Okell?
Abbey
Road
has always been a sonic favorite of all serious audiophiles and music
fans, from the 1969 release to Mobile Fidelity vinyl to recent CD
masters and is as desired in this respect as The Who's original
Tommy,
the 1967 Casino
Royale
soundtrack, early albums by Yes, early albums by Pink Floyd, many
jazz classics of the time and of course, other Beatles albums. Even
fabs of the last remaster who loved it so much will find the new
stereo version on the CD and in 96kHz/24Bits on the CD just fine.
They sound really good, consistent with the way the songs always
sounded and are as clear and clean as ever without losing their
character. Some fans might prefer any of the earlier versions, but
they did not ruin them or fiddle with them in a detrimental way here.
Too bad some of the other stereo versions were not included in 96/24
as well like some recent versions of classic Yes albums on audio-only
Blu-ray.
So
that brings us to the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on
the Blu-ray that mirror the excellent work on the similar, recent box
sets with Blu-rays of Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
and The
White Album
(both reviewed elsewhere on this site) remaining some of the best
such single-album box sets ever released. Though I can hear a few
sonic limit giveaways at times, the power, dynamic range and clarity
of this mix was shocking, more so than even the outstanding DTS-MA
5.1 mixes on those other sets.
When
I say it is not like having ever heard the songs before, I mean it,
but it is even more so here where really, really hear the amazing
musicianship, engineering, mixing, producing and singing. When
McCartney sings the title to Golden
Slumbers,
it is so strong you would never guess he laid that track down a
half-century ago, but it is the same vocal I have heard thousands of
times and is jaw dropping because he never gets enough credit for
being a great singer because he does everything so excellently with
such smooth finesse, its second nature to him and he is in more than
full control of all of his talents. That is the vocal demo moment of
so many on this set and any serious home theater audiophile system
owner will understand why when they hear it. You will have a new
respect for the album hearing it this way.
But
then, as this is Abbey
Road,
they are not finished yet. On another Beatles first and first for a
major studio album that I am aware of (save some
classical/instrumental work we've covered recently), though a few
concert Blu-rays (recent releases on Blu-ray from Kraftwerk and Roger
Waters) have had 12-track soundmixes, this is the first time a major
album has been given the same treatment. Though not part of the
previous Beatles Blu-ray box sets noted, we have 96/24 Dolby Atmos
11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 for older systems) lossless sound and it could
have merely been a further expansion without much effort or
imagination, but you also have to be careful not to take liberties
that are gimmicky and phony. Since this is The Beatles, we should
know better and know we will get the best and again, we do.
In
the best example of a panorama of their classic music since the 5.1
mix on The
Beatles Love
CD/DVD set (including the now pretty defunct, high definition sound
DVD-Audio layer (in the MLP format (Meridian Lossless Packing PCM
that is the forerunner of the Dolby lossless used here) many machines
can still play, the music of Abbey
Road
fills the air as an unheard of experience that even goes further than
the already-stunning DTS 5.1 here by using the tracks to allow the
listener to hear even more vocals and instruments than the 5.1 is
capable of. Mixed with a highly advanced understanding of this
album, music and sound in general, it like hearing the master tape in
a private visit to the recording studio (Abbey Road, perhaps?)
demonstrating how incredible this recording actually is technically
and further musically in ways even diehard fans will be shocked by.
Using
the tracks better than most feature films have since such sound was
introduced (including competing, comparable and compatible Auro, IMAX
and DTS: X), it is now one of the most truly mesmerizing,
unforgettable and music experiences you can have in the home or from
a home theater anywhere! As intimate as any outtake or alternate
take, it is wall to wall genius at work, that after over half a
century after their split, the band is still
breaking new ground and is still ahead of all comers, old, new and to
be. To say everyone was working at the top of their talents here is
an understatement.
You
could call the Atmos version cinematic, but I would say it offers a
new musicality we have not heard from any other music act, despite
the fact that so many current acts could have access to this format
or one of the others to show off their studio recordings. They have
not yet. The amazing work here is approved by the remaining band
members and their heirs, all making the right call.
And
let's face it, few music acts then or now could deliver such a richly
musical album as Abbey
Road.
As with all their albums, The Beatles did and it takes this new,
recent technology to show al the more why this album is a classic and
how an album like this becomes a classic. There are several
excellent options (including vinyl) of the album being released to
celebrate the half-century mark for this gem, but the Atmos on the
Blu-ray is the way to go and anyone serious about The Beatles and
serious about music should hear this version ASAP.
Easily
one of the most important music releases or rereleases of the year
(with sales and recharting to match), Abbey
Road
continues its critical and commercial stretch of massive success and
for yet another few years to decades, remains and will remain way
ahead of its time. 'The end' was never so good!
-
Nicholas Sheffo
