The Beatles Remixed

THE BEATLES
Love
Capitol, 2006


Yep, you guessed it- another teacher writes a review of an album made by some old fogies; in this case, two of them are even dead!

I have to say that I didn’t want to write a review but I spent days thinking of this and that, only to quickly discount what I’d spent days thinking about, and meanwhile, the clock was ticking down and the deadline coming closer and you know what I’m like about deadlines!!!

So, what to say about The Beatles? Everyone knows them, don’t they? I remember when I was about eleven and in some record store with my parents, flicking through the vinyl albums and gazing in awe at the pictures and a world I had never seen before. I found one album with no name and no title, just four dirty and unkempt men standing in front of some weird house (the “Hey Jude” album). I asked my mum why there was no name and title and she told me it was The Beatles and they were so famous that everyone knew who they were. I didn’t know them and I thought that odd.

That was years ago, a lifetime is flashing in front of my eyes and now to members of the band are dead (John Lennon and George Harrison) and yet they’re able to put out a new(ish) record. “How’s that possible?” I hear you say. Well, take one DJ who happens to be the son of George Martin, the legendary Beatles’ producer, and with your connections, get Michael Jackson who owns the songs to release them (no mean feat- ever wonder why no-one sings a Beatles’ tune on “American Idol”? - MJ usually won’t release the songs). Now, with your skills as a DJ, mix the fade-ins and fade-outs of various songs, reverse tracks, mix in different elements of other Beatles’ songs at crucial climaxes or even remove certain instruments from the track or move them into the foreground. At times incredible new music is created such as with the mostly unrecognizable “Glass Onion”, the mix of the vocals of “Within You, Without You” with the music of “Tomorrow Never Knows”, as well as “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” which mixes in elements of “Nowhere Man”, “Blue Jay Way”, “I Want You (She’s so Heavy)” and “Helter Skelter”.

This modern creationism is not the only highlight though, as the impact on the listener of various songs is subtly altered and enhanced. For instance, the relaxed beat contained in the mellow introduction to “Here Comes the Sun” tranquilly ushers you into the beachside world of the song before the familiar bombastic music takes you over and we’re back in the world that we know so well. I also found the different introduction to “Octopus’s Garden” particularly effective in that it appeared to appropriately slow the tune down thus emphasizing its nursery rhyme form.

Some of it works and some of it doesn’t. I found the jazzy intro to “Lady Madonna” weird to say the least and some of the cuts are awkward and clunky as well as repetitive (mix the end of one track with the start of another), but let’s move on to the real travesty of the CD. This is the unplugged version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. With this track you want the guitars to weep all over you- after all, that is what the song is about- but here there is a non-electric whimper taken from the demo of “Anthology” subsumed beneath George Martin’s syrupy strings of schmaltz that are the only new instruments on the CD. “While My Guitar Gently Tinkles in the Background” would be a more appropriate song title for this abomination.

This leaves only the incredible ending to mention.

It starts with studio talk (from “Anthology”) and an alternative acoustic beginning to “A Day in the Life” that subtly and intimately allows the song’s phenomenal music to sweep its caresses all over you. This is possibly my favourite track in terms of sing-along-ability (but then there’s “Hey Jude”) and- but ‘nuff said. I’m just caught up in the moment and listening to it. Woah! A segue into “Hey Jude” (that’s two of the greatest tracks mixed together) and I’m in heaven. The “na-na-na”s thankfully appear to start earlier than the original and seem to take you away with arms outstretched for a lot longer. At three minutes most of the instruments are wiped from the track for a brief shoomy moment before a funky bass undulates its way in and slowly the rhythm builds and swells, sweeping you along and tears well up in your eyes at the beauty and emotion of it all.

Where to go? We’ve hit the heights?

No.

Follow history and rekindle what went before and as “Hey Jude” fades, the bass sample that launched Primal Scream’s career and the whole history of Acid House begins. What follows may remind a lot of people of EMF or other big beat bands (we’re talking about The Beatles, right?) as the thumping drums of Sgt. Pepper” take control. End with “All You Need is Love” and the debt to the two summers of love is acknowledged.

History becomes contemporary. For a moment.

Check out:

Moby “Play”
Beck “Mellow Gold”, “Mutations” and “Midnite Vultures”
Primal Scream “Screamadelica”

for other cross-references.

-Richard Old