I have had it up to here waiting for the Beatles catalogue to be remastered

but yeah you're right it takes the fckng p-ss doesn't it?

latest word is that magical mystery tour is coming out on dvd with all sorts of extra stuff. as if the actual movie isn't like 1 big 'extra' already.

What isn't, really?

OK, why is it Paul's fault?

maybe it's a question of who's up to the job, george martin sure as heck isn't. god don't let them get ELO=guy in again.

meanwhile, this ere beatles 10-dvd anthology unofficial bootleg edition can be yours for $150 :

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Original-BEATLES-Anthology-Directors-Cut-Real-10-DVDs_W0QQitemZ6430061859QQcategoryZ617QQssPageNameZWD2VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

must say i'm tempted

That said, Macca, Ono, the Harrison family, and Da Ringosta can take their time settling this. I plan to finally digitize and sell off the CDs while I can get 'em for at least $4+ each back.

http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,70658-0.html?tw=rss.index

But it's not wrong to continue to sell them on cd?

Agree re Past Masters/Anthology but they're such cash cows that they're not going to do it.

Ah yes, the Beatles. I say buy the albums.

It would be nice if they released the red and blue anthologies so that they were in modern slimline 2CD cases rather than the FUCKING MASSIVE and HORRIBLE ones that they are in now.

Are the people not interested in paying for pricey new editions of things really the target market for remastered versions of CDs that are available in droves in used CD stores the world over?

Seriously, I don't see what's so much better (and less cash-cow-ish) about retaining Past Masters and Anthology. OK, so it's kind of cool to have all the singles in one place, but it also robs them of context AND presents a somewhat confusing picture for buyers, who can't figure out which album it is that has "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on it. The PM sets are also really oddly-balanced, anyway - not quite a greatest hits, not quite an odds-and-sods. The Anthologies are just plain obnoxious, especially the first one with all the talky-talky bits.

I guess I'm just coming from a perspective where, if they just remaster the CDs I'll take a pass because I have the LPs already. But if they sweeten the deal I just might think it over, at least for a couple, assuming they went ahead and added more outtake/live stuff. Granted, they would still be kind of weirdly-sequenced albums with one or two singles at the front followed by a bunch of obscurities.... okay, maybe keep Past Masters after all. But I REALLY think it makes more sense to get the unreleased and live material wedded on to the appropriate albums - if nothing else, it means getting MORE of it, right?

What is an example where he has ever done this?

Secondly, Paul has little need to turn himself up anyway. He took a lot of care, recording his bass lines on a single track and spent ages getting the sound right. Why not? It's his friggin songs for fuxake!

anthology 2 is the best, what with the stoned cracking-up version of and your bird can sing and the gorgeous demos of strawberry fields. 3 is good for the white album stuff, and 1 is probably the only time any americans (me included) will ever hear any morecambe and wise.

Well, they are getting slightly more plentiful. In fact, I got most of my collection used. But, then again, I've been lucky. The worst thing about used Beatle cds is that stores priced higher than average (i.e. in the US 10-12 dollars vs. 7-9). Shopping around helps, and the prices have leveled off (and no doubt will continue)

I will concur regarding the Anthologies and the BBC, but--to cite my earlier post--alot of the people who bought them probably realized that they didn't listen to them as much as the regular LPs.

Neil Aspinall is probably the one to blame.

Anyway, seems like some good news is finally coming up.

While I agree that they need remastering, I don't neccessarily agree with your version of what they sounded like. The first four, sure, but the rest, particularly from "Sgt. Pepper" onwards, used state of the art remastering technology at the time, and sounded really impressive back then.

Only this is 20 years ago and a lot has happened since then.

I think the Anthologies are a pretty good distillation of the best stuff that makes up the two major bootleg series (ultra rare trax and, uh, whatever the other one is called; they have most of the same stuff on them). I could do w/out the talking on the first cd.

xpost

i mean it does take the piss doesn't it?

lo-lo-lo-looooots of piss, sir! :(

I bought Help for £1 in a charity shop the other week. It was cheap because the cover was ripped (and taped up again) and the vinyl's a bit crackly, but it's not scratched at all. Even with the crackles it sounds great - a lot better than the CD versions, The Night Before especially gaining an awful lot of character and energy. I too am amazed there's no proper CD remaster, I guess because people are still buying the current shonky versions.

This footage
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=compleat+beatles
of 'The Compleat Beatles' (snappy 1984 cheaply-made proto-ANTHOLOGY movie, shot on film and narrated by Malcolm Mcdowell) is
making me anticipate this happening all the more.

It will happen before or since, but apparently at still takes time.

I expected they'd at least do "Sgt. Pepper" in June this year to coincide with its 40th anniversary, but they did't.

But at least, with the current trend for remasters, the ultimate edition will be better. I hope they will do like The Bee Gees and Monkees remasters, and put out 2CDs with the stereo version + bonus tracks in stereo on one and the mono version + bonus tracks in mono on the other one.

honestly, I have a soft spot for FAAB and RL, but do we need a remaster of a box set of out takes and demoes? feels so unnecessary, like disinterring and painting a decades-old corpse, to use a grim metaphor

Announcement in two hours' time, hopefully with full tracklist

Leak on Hoffman forums says:

13 previously-unreleased recordings. Versions of Tell Me Why, If I Fell, Matchbox, Every Little Thing, I Need You, I've Just Seen A Face, In My Life, Nowhere Man, Baby You're A Rich Man, All You Need Is Love, The Fool On The Hill, I Am The Walrus, Hey Bulldog.

And the TV series, back on Disney+, will have new episode of 1995/6 footage of the Threetles.

ANTHOLOGY 4

LP1 – Side 1

1: I Saw Her Standing There (Take 2)

2: Money (That’s What I Want) (RM7 undubbed)

3: This Boy (Takes 12 and 13)

4: Tell Me Why (Takes 4 and 5)

5: If I Fell (Take 11) 6: Matchbox (Take 1) 7: Every Little Thing (Takes 6 and 7) 8: I Need You (Take 1)

LP1 – Side 2

1: I’ve Just Seen A Face (Take 3)

2: In My Life (Take 1)

3: Nowhere Man (First version – Take 2) 4: Got To Get You Into My Life (Second version – unnumbered mix) 5: Love You To (Take 7) 6: Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 26) 7: She’s Leaving Home (Take 1 – instrumental)

LP2 – Side 3

1: Baby, You’re A Rich Man (Takes 11 and 12)

2: All You Need Is Love (Rehearsal for BBC broadcast)

3: The Fool On The Hill (Take 5 – Instrumental)

4: I Am The Walrus (Take 19 – strings, brass, clarinet overdub)

LP2 – Side 4

1: Hey Bulldog (Take 4 – instrumental)

2: Good Night (Take 10 with a guitar part from Take 5)

3: While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Third Version – Take 27)

4: (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care (Studio jam) 5: Helter Skelter (Second version – Take 17) 6: I Will (Take 29) 7: Can You Take Me Back? (Take 1) 8: Julia (Two rehearsals)

LP3 – Side 5

1: Get Back (Take 8)

2: Octopus’s Garden (Rehearsal)

3: Don’t Let Me Down (First rooftop performance) 4: You Never Give Me Your Money (Take 36) 5: Here Comes The Sun (Take 9) 6: Something (Take 39 – instrumental – strings only)

LP3 – Side 6

1: Free As A Bird (2025 mix)

2: Real Love (2025 mix)

3: Now And Then

The other 17 outtakes coming from already-released Super Deluxe editions.

So did they AI-Demix the vocals on Free as a Bird?

I am a longstanding, pretty hardcore Beatles nerd, but I look at that tracklist and there is nothing I’m excited to hear.

Yeah, I'm more into the extra TV episode

yeah this is a disappointment, bizarre not to include that king of birds song and Revolution tk 20. Oh well, I have lots of bootlegs

I love the Beatles but not enough to have collected all of the original anthologies or to get into the deluxe versions of their albums. Is there overlap in that content? Are the new anthologies going to have anything from the deluxe album sets?

The Shea footage looks bloody amazing. I wonder if we'll get that in full, any time soonish.

Are the new anthologies going to have anything from the deluxe album sets?

Yes, there was already quite a bit of overlap and the new Anthology disc(s) add more.

yeah a bunch of the stuff on this new disc was already on the SDEs; and some of it hasn't been on anything. Annoying, because I would probably buy this if it were a standalone but apparently this is coming out in a box set with 1-3 only. I imagine this will sell but I think it would sell better if it was all unreleased stuff.

Will we ever reach a point where won't be more Beatles deluxe editions or remastered ones?

The Shea footage looks bloody amazing. I wonder if we'll get that in full, any time soonish.

The original (but Jackson-fied) Let It Be is on Disney+

Not long after Anth3 came out, I found "Anthology+"

https://www.discogs.com/release/2348927-The-Beatles-Anthology-Plus

Maybe this...?

The original (but Jackson-fied) Let It Be is on Disney+

Where can I download Revolution take 20 in flac format? It's on youtube but I'd prefer a rip from a bootleg CD.

I think there was one called From Kinfauns to Chaos which had the whole thing from Yoko’s tape

Yes! Found it, many thanks.

Full Shea footage is here btw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzF1hTWpUWE

Thanks! A+

Still haven’t gotten around to watching the upscaled Let it Be

AI slop is so weird.

Why did PJ decide to make their teeth the color of Joel Olsteen's veneers instead of the beige stones on the muddy banks of the Mersey.

Anthology 4 will now be available as a stand alone release, I'm guessing pre-orders for a massively expensive box set, over 3/4 of which was already available, were not what they hoped.

"You all will be surprised how Byrds-like Nowhere Man sounds on Anthology 4." says a poster on the Steve Hoffman forum. Never been a track I cared for much but this sounds appealing (especially as the more Byrds-ish And Your Bird Can Sing was a highlight of Anthology 2, even without the giggling).

Oh, I'd missed that the new outtakes of Helter Skelter and While My Guitar Gently Weeps are out on streaming.

https://digital.abcaudio.com/news/george-harrison-tries-do-smokey-while-my-guitar-gently-weeps

Oh, wait - these were already on the White Album box set - ignore post above.

Here's a review of all the actually new stuff from someone's who's heard it.

Despite my reservations about the original releases, I have none about the artwork and design which I thought were A+. It's understandable that they'd want to minimize the plastic and that the box set has to accommodate a new fourth disc (which content-wise is disappointing in itself) but it still feels like they watered down the original layout too much. The giant collage should be the focal point, not pushed back in favor of a decent but comparatively generic stock photo.

(I should say group photo, not stock photo, stock is probably not an accurate descriptor.)

Anthology 4 leaked, it's pretty underwhelming as expected though a few of these studio run throughs are cool. Remix of Real Love is better than the complaints online led me to believe. But in general there is not really anything big to get excited about this time.

Yeah I heard it a week or so but nothing remarkable enough to revive this thread for. The All You Need Is Love rehearsal is nice to have. The Real Love vocal is very different. Maybe I'll get used to it.

Should also say I like the take of Matchbox, where the riff is more prominent.

What’s everyone’s favourite post-Anthology newly-released archive track? So from the Pepper/Revolver/White/Abbey/etc boxes, or from the Naked/Remixed/BBC stuff?

Cheating, but its the acoustic White Album demos, which I'd had as bootlegs for years but can now stream in high-fidelity to my heart's content.

Was "Rain (Take 5, Actual Speed)" from the 2022 really 'actual speed'?

....from the 2022 Revolver re-mix - that was the most astonishing, I think.

I really like the Non-brass version of Got To Get You Into My Life

Gotta be the bluesy 12-minute version of Helter Skelter. Apparently they also recorded a 27-minute version which hasn't been officially released, and AFAIK hasn't leaked on bootlegs either.

I'm also partial to the 12-minute Helter Skelter

yeah esher demos for me. I also really like that run through of the medley that's on the Abby Road deluxe ('the long one').

From all accounts, the 27 min "Helter Skelter" is pretty much like the 12 min version, but longer

yeah that 27 minute version was legendary based on Lewisohn's book but after hearing the 12 minute version I'm not sure I need it to be more than double the length. I was hoping it was 27 minutes of hellacious rocking like the finished version but apparently it's not.

I will say my favorite of all post-Anthology things is Revolution Tk. 20 which they insanely didn't put on Anthology 4 or the White Album box, but whatever, it's out there and it's amazing. Would have been good to have a remix of it that lowered that annoying beep though.

Was "Rain (Take 5, Actual Speed)" from the 2022 really 'actual speed'?

There’s probably a 536-page Hoffman thread about it…

Honestly, for one of the most extensively documented bands out there, Apple’s slapdash approach to the reissues/bonus tracks etc is kind of appalling.

If you listen to the two Contentious Credits episodes of the Something About the Beatles podcasts, the two guests they have there really have it in for Kevin Howlett, who writes the track notes on recent Apple reissues.

Most of their recording and musical evidence they present goes over my head but they sound pretty convincing (even if they don't always agree). I think one of them has a sideswipe at the idea Rain is "actual speed" at one point.

The more know-it-all one, Marcus Phelan, does a pretty good "how to" Dear Prudence video, even if the way in appears in the corner like a little Austin Powers goblin is quite lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi5TfMj6uBY