The Beatles: LOVE
A Religious Experience!
Review by Skip Stone
Buy Audio DVD at Amazon.com
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Are YOU ready for this psychedelic experience? Have you rolled up & smoked that fatty with the best weed you can find? Are you coming on to those shrooms? Have you begun to PEAK on that blotter yet? If so then it’s time to merge with LOVE! Hell, you don’t even NEED drugs to get off on this fantastic compilation of psychedelisonic renderings from the greatest Rock ‘n Roll band our planet has ever produced.
It’s hard to describe the overall effect this recording has upon listeners who’ve heard almost every Beatles’ song, over the past four decades, dozens if not hundreds of times. To hear such familiar songs, carefully remixed with love, filled with renewed energy, is a profound revelation, a true religious experience! Acid flashbacks included!
You can thank the Beatles’ original producer, George Martin, and his son Giles for this absolutely amazing work. Imagine being George Martin, with your hands on every original Beatles’ track, and a commission to remix it any which way you like. A Beatles’ fan’s wet dream come true.
Ah, but things have changed in the studio since the daze of the early Beatles. Enter Giles Martin, another genius into the mix. With the latest technology, unlimited tracks, digital processing and a huge budget, both Martins were able to elevate the Beatles’ music to something unprecedented, a magnificent achievement!
I don’t know why, but throughout my first experience of this recording, tears were just pouring out of my eyes. No, it wasn’t the smoke, although that may have indirectly contributed to it. I was totally in AWE of this creation. It works on so many levels, I’m still trying to sort out what features affected me so strongly.
First off, I was totally floored by the quality of the recording. I have never heard the Beatles so clearly. Obviously, returning to the original tracks (as opposed to premixed masters) and adding digital processing allowed a major breakthrough in quality. This is why you should hear this on the best equipment you can find. You will be blown away.
Next, the remix of tracks is far beyond what you’d expect from other remixes since it’s all original Beatles music. So nothing seems out of place. In fact, many of the new track mixes sound like something the Beatles would’ve done themselves, given the time and technology. Only a hard-line Beatles purist would find anything to complain about here.
Some of the tunes have had tracks removed, like the opening song, ‘Because’, which is now done a capella, to beautiful effect. Others have tracks from different Beatles songs overlaid, providing a nice psychedelic effect to some of the more straight cuts.
A number of tunes were merged into medleys, and a few were completely combined into mind-bending counterpoints. Still other tunes seem virtually unchanged, but somehow enhanced by the digital processing and track selection/emphasis.
The only new recording was strings for ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, turning the Harrison’s hard rocking, angst into a much more gentle, sweet yet sad song.
The selection of tracks alone would’ve made this a hit Beatles compilation, but there’s an obvious preference for psychedelic recordings with the likes of ‘I am the Walrus’, ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’, ‘Within Without You’, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ all vying for psychedelic supremacy. A stoned tripper’s delight!
Of course all this music does not stand alone! This compilation was conceived for the new Las Vegas revue, The Beatles: LOVE, a $100 million production which has garnered rave reviews and is THE HOT ticket in Vegas.
Clearly, a LOT of love went into this production. Apple Corps, along with Cirque Du Soleil, produced the stage show. Paul, Ringo, Yoko & Olivia reviewed the project’s progress and offered advice and support to both the music and the stage show. No doubt they will all profit handsomely from LOVE.
Listening to the music only increases the desire to see the show, which appears in images in the CD book. Clearly they have emphasized the psychedelic nature of the Beatles music and lives. If you can see the show before ever hearing the CD, do it! It will be even more mind-blowing.
For all those old-timers like me, who miss the days when we breathlessly anticipated the latest release from our favorite group, once again we can hold our breath as we pop onto our turntable… er, I mean, into our CD or DVD deck, the Beatles’ latest hit recording!
Before you pop this CD or DVD into your deck for the first time, you should make sure it’s in the absolute best system you can find. If nothing suitable is around, then use your best pair of headphones. Ideally you’ll have the audio DVD with 5.1 surround sound or a system that can simulate 5.1 for the CD version. Next, you should crank your system UP!
This is possibly the ultimate stoner, tripper CD. If you’ve managed to stay off drugs since the Beatles’ break-up, it may be time to GET BACK to where you ONCE BELONGED! For those who are still straight, to enjoy this CD, All You Need is Love!
The Beatles: LOVE is the PERFECT gift! You'll want to order a bunch of copies for Christmas. Don't be surprised if YOU get more than one under your tree!
