Two clips here:
http://www.prnewswire.com/broadcast/24409/consumer.shtml

you know i got LOVE twice for xmas (lack of communication appearently) and i have to admit, its not bad. there are times where you cant tell that theres anything different about the songs. then others are completely rethought songs and they work so well. i particularly enjoyed Because played backwards at the beginning of Something. that was cool

Quoted from somedude210

you know i got LOVE twice for xmas (lack of communication appearently) and i have to admit, its not bad. there are times where you cant tell that theres anything different about the songs. then others are completely rethought songs and they work so well. i particularly enjoyed Because played backwards at the beginning of Something. that was cool

It grows with the time ...
... by the way, were you refering to Gnik Nus(Sun King backwards)?  

Don't you think though that even on the "untouched" songs the production gives them a whole new life? For the first time I could pick out the guitars clearly on Walrus. It all sounds very fresh and immediate.

I think (and hope) we'll see more projects by the Martins similar to this one in the future. Brian Wilson already said he'd love to see them do something with the Beach Boys catalogue.

Quoted from Kevin

Don't you think though that even on the "untouched" songs the production gives them a whole new life? For the first time I could pick out the guitars clearly on Walrus. It all sounds very fresh and immediate.

Makes you hope for what the remasters could sound like.

(I'm not reviewing all songs here.)

I just listened to LOVE yesterday twice - on headphones and speakers.  You certainly pick up more on the ambient and extraneous content on the headphones.  I was struck at the sonic clarity of "Come Together."  It's not one of my favs, but I really enjoyed this version.  Ringo is an excellent drummer with his inventive backup on this.

I was somewhat bored with the intro until it got to the plaintive violin chords of Eleanor Rigby.  With "I am the Walrus," I was totally hooked.  I feel like George Martin really liked Lennon's work.  Is it my perception that I seem to hear a preponderance of John in the project?

I was also very impressed by the final "hmmm" at the end of "Help" as vocalized together by John and Paul.  Was George in on this, too, for a tri-harmony?  Hard to believe they did this on a few (or one) takes.

Glass Onion - what is this song all about anyway?  I love it though.  Seems like a throwaway of John's, just some filler for the White
Album.  It clocks at 2:13.  I think more could have been done with it.

Gnik Nus:  I wasn't too impressed but it was an interesting idea by the Martins.  At first listen, I really thought it was John singing in Dutch or something.  I read the liner notes afterward and realized it was Sun King played backwards because George liked the melody and surmised that John would have enthusiastically approved.

I thought it was interesting to hear the excerpt of the passing ambulance alarm from Revolution 9 at the end of the Julia segment.

Octopus's Garden sounded melancholy in this version.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is simply a great George Harrison tune.  Can it really be called a Beatles song considering that John and Paul weren't receptive to it at the time?  (However, John does play both organ and acoustic guitar on it - but where's Paul?)  For that matter, I think we'd have to say that "Yesterday" wasn't a Beatles tune either.  I'd hate to continue on with this logic.  Best to leave it at that.

A Day in the Life:  I'm glad it was included in its entirety and with the fabled "sugar plum fairie" verse clearly audible - and the short count as well.  I have always considered "A Day in the Life" to be a masterpiece of sheer musical perfection.

I'm not so sure about the closeout with the Sgt Pepper reprise but I guess it made sense considering the performance is concluding at that point.

"All you need is Love" was appropriately placed as the final song because the Performance is itself labeled "Love."  The snippets of Beatles dialogue with John saying "Good Night" had a frenetic quality to them.  It's sort of like an amped-up Beatles concluding a show.  All that energy - whew - it would have taken them a while (in those days) to unwind and cool down.

I think a better critique could be made upon seeing the Cirque Du Soleil performance and in hearing how the songs jive with that.  I expect they'll eventually release a DVD of it.

One question:  Is there any kind of narrative thread throughout these songs?  I don't see it.  Is it one of these endless "interpretation/IMO" type of games?  I would think a chronological order would make the most narrative sense but it appears to be non-existent.  What were George and Giles thinking - just a focus on the soundscaping of it all?

Also:  I'd love to see what John, Paul, George (and yes, Ringo, too) would have done with this commission were they able, living, present and agreeable to it.  Sure, the Martins are wonderful craftsman and exceedingly knowledgable in their chosen profession, but I think the actual Beatles would have done far better and would have also produced some exquisite surprises, riddles and perhaps, new material as well.

So that's my initial impression so far.  Fans of all levels can enjoy it.  There are some medley aspects to it in which some songs necessarily receive short shrift - but that's the nature of the project - it can't be helped.  I think that apart from the Cirque Du Soleil performance itself, we'll probably just pick out what we really like and play it whenever the mood dictates.   But as an overall album, I don't know.  It's not even a concept album, IMO.  Unless someone here can argue otherwise, it seems to me to be a motley collection of their work.

Enjoy - Love.  That's all you need!

Quoted from Loco Mo

Glass Onion - what is this song all about anyway?  I love it though.  Seems like a throwaway of John's, just some filler for the White
Album.  It clocks at 2:13.  I think more could have been done with it.

It's one of John's little teasers. A mixed up load of nothing. It doesn't mean anything, but people have still spent the best part of 40 years trying to analyze it!

Quoted from Loco Mo

[...]Octopus's Garden sounded melancholy in this version.

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is simply a great George Harrison tune.  Can it really be called a Beatles song considering that John and Paul weren't receptive to it at the time?  (However, John does play both organ and acoustic guitar on it - but where's Paul?)  For that matter, I think we'd have to say that "Yesterday" wasn't a Beatles tune either.  I'd hate to continue on with this logic.  Best to leave it at that.
[...]

I agree with you about Octopus's Garden ... and about While My Guitar Gently Weeps (my favourite) I thought it was Paul who played the organ in the acoustic version they made before they recorded the rock one ... and about Yesterday, well, we've said a lot about that song ... one of the most interesting topics could be this:
http://dmbeatles.com/forums/b-fifths/m-1140552856/s-all/

I'm not sure whether 'Because' was the right introduction song.

Great post, Loco Mo. I got the Love album and really liked it. Yes, some of the arrangements were weird, but it also made them fun. Since the Martins worked very closely with the Cirque Du Soleil people, I think your speculation is a good one that this CD would make better sense in the context of the show. After all, Love was developed as a soundtrack.

For me, the fun of love is that, as Kevin says, "It all sounds very fresh and immediate." Wow, so clear! And I really like some of the alternate picks of the well-known songs. I tend to put it on when I'm in the mood for Beatles, but not of a specific period. It covers all of them, so it's nice to just have playing.

Quoted from Loco Mo

I feel like George Martin really liked Lennon's work.  Is it my perception that I seem to hear a preponderance of John in the project?

There's no question George Martin is an ardent fan of John Lennon's. One of the most moving parts of the Anthology project was when Sir George brought up an early take of John's "A Day in the Life" and, listening and commenting on the unique quality of John's voice, gets a tear in his eye. Sad and lovely.

Quoted from Loco Mo

While My Guitar Gently Weeps is simply a great George Harrison tune.  Can it really be called a Beatles song considering that John and Paul weren't receptive to it at the time?

I would consider this a Beatles tune, as much as any of them were in the White Album period and beyond. I don't think John and Paul were terribly receptive to George's tunes at any point. When you hear them all spin off in their different directions after the split, I can see why. Doubtless, all of them must have felt a little cramped in their style. They had their own interests, but they needed their songs to also have a "Beatly" quality. It must have been tough.

However, George does say that Paul was a help after they'd done 10 of his songs and was finally ready to tackle someone else's (I'm paraphrasing the quote). George credits Paul with coming up with that fantastic keyboard intro to WMGGW, and George had it reproduced exactly on his Japan tour because he liked it so well. It's a pity the split got so acrimonious, because much as these fellows wanted to pursue their own work, there's something helpful in having an informed critic at your elbow to steer you in a fruitful direction. Only another Beatle could countermand a Beatle; that's why I think all their solo careers were a little uneven. The talent and genius was still there, but IMHO it could have benefitted from a little brotherly criticism.

I found while my guitar to be my favorite from the album! George Martin adding in the orchestra (i can't spell), was brilliant! I loved the way it worked so well with the song!

Quoted from BlueMeanie

If they ever intended on releasing any more Anthology style CD's, they'd have done it by now. I don't think there's much more they can do without repeating themselves.
As for Carnival Of Light, I'm sure I remember reading that it was slated for the Anthology series, but was unanimously vetoed! The only other thing of interest I can think of is the fabled 27 minute 'Yer Blues'. I've yet to read about or meet anybody who's actually heard this!

I'd like to see a good live compilation. There must be an awful lot that they can do with the tapes now, that they couldn't do years ago. And a complete Rooftop concert.

Neil Aspinal publicly stated earlier this year that the remasters were done. It's just a question of when to release them. They'll let Love on it's own for a few months, so my prediction is for around April for the first 2 or 3 cd's. Culminating at Xmas with the Let It Be DVD. You know how Apple likes an anniversary: 20 years since the cd's were first issued.

You're right of course, there are probably not too many previously unreleased #1 top of the chart Beatle songs left in the cans...

But you know, I would still love to hear a lot of the old stuff remastered. For example, all those early Beatles tunes where the harmonies are front and center in the same "space" ... maybe because the track was mono to begin with, or maybe because that's how things were thought to be "proper" in those days. I would do almost anything to hear a remastered version where the three voices are spread out more across the sound stage ... imagine hearing all three voices completely distinctly in "That Boy", or the middle eight of "I'll Get You", or any one of a million other ones.

And from a non-vocal point of view, I'd love to hear some of the instruments spread out a bit more. Though I haven't done a comparison, the guitars in "Revolution" on the "Love" album seem more distinct and clear than I have ever heard them before ... my guess (maybe I'm way wrong, but ...) is that they split up the two guitar tracks and panned John far left and George far right. I think it would be really cool if they would do that with, for example, John and George's guitar in "Till There Was You", or "And Your Bird Can Sing", among many others ...

We might be out of luck with some of this though ... it seems that George Martin and G. Emerick had to "bounce" tracks down a lot because of the limitations of 2 and 4 track recording in the early- to mid-sixties. As I understand it, this would mean that some tracks are not able to be separated ... they've been permanently joined together to make room for other tracks.

Still ... this JPGR fool would pay some money for whatever they would sell me, that's for sure!

JPGR forever!

Quoted from alexis

[...]

JPGR forever!

Great pic, raxo!

You know, your pic reminds me of one of the things that amazes me so much about them ... how driven they were to get to, and stay, at the top.

I mean, we KNOW that being posed here, prodded there, dressed up in ridiculous costumes, ENDLESSLY, had to have gotten extremely OLD, like almost instantly. But they all instinctively knew that in order to get to the "toppermost of the poppermost" there were certain things that had to be done, and they were going to do them to the best of their ability ... like pose for silly pics like these with smiles on that seem to suggest there is NOTHING else they'd rather be doing.

A LOT of inner strength in these four young men ...