Sir George Martin's son, Giles, was given the original Beatles master tapes to take apart and reassemble however he pleased, but the end result seems calculated to annoy absolutely everyone: any teenage Beatles fan who grew up on the 'net has already heard much more inventive "mash-ups" (that is, pieces of different songs laid over each other) than these, and older Beatles fans who don't know Pro Tools from propane are likely to be offended at the very idea of tinkering with the classics.
Remixes that reveal something about the nature of the band and its songwriting would have solved both problems, but those are rare on Love; the more-cowbell monster created on "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing" is a thrilling study of mid-period Beatles groove, but for every track like that there's one like "Gnik Nus," which is just "Sun King" backward, a mere medley like "Being for the the Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You (She's So Heavy)/Helter Skelter," or a slightly re-processed "Eleanor Rigby" that adds a layer of creepiness but doesn't shed any new light on the original.
And some of the ideas are simply bad and/or lazy. Just because the intro to "Good Night" fits over "Octopus's Garden" doesn't mean it works there, and the mash-up of "Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" only proves what we already know, which is that both are drones in the key of C.
And yet Love, almost despite itself, remains a fascinating work that any Beatles fan should own. Part of this has to do with the bedrock integrity of the songs themselves -- forty years on, these landmarks not only still sound fresh, they still sound musically subversive. But the most compelling reason to pick this one up, even if you haven't seen the stage show, is the sound: the remastering makes the songs leap forth with even more clarity than they did on Beatles 1, which is an achivement in itself, and the "special edition" audio-only DVD marks the first time anything in the Fabs' repertoire has been remixed in Dolby 5.1. Whether you call it a gimmick or a breath of fresh air, most of Love only goes to prove something else we all already knew: that the entire Beatles back catalog needs to be completely remastered using the latest technology. And right this very minute.
Oh man! I just got the new Beatles cd and my heart is fluttering with joy. The songs sound so perfect and put together well. I can just close my eyes and it feels like I'm right there in the studio with them.
I ran right to my computer after getting it and put it right on my iPod so I can take it with me and let all my friends listen to it.
I'd recommend anyone that loves the Beatles to buy this cd and add it to their collection, I swear it will blow all your other Beatles albums out of the water.
Oh yeah! I was so excited that I almost forgot, Merry Christmas to all of you Moggers!
