epilogue wrote:tragabigzanda wrote:I’ve not heard any of the recent remixes. What’s the general critical consensus? I could see Let It Be and Sgt Pep maybe improving but otherwise I can’t imagine Revolver is somehow going to sound any better
So far all I've heard are critics raving about it. The new AI technique they used to isolate and re-mix all the individual parts is mind-blowing (at least to me). The thing has so much space and depth to it.
My
hot take is that it's complete nonsense designed to sell as many units as possible.
The AI technology used on "Revolver" is being marketed as unique and ground-breaking but there are better programs that have been used with a lot more skill by other studios/engineers. Nobody is smart enough to figure out that the source for this info is the same company selling you a box set that costs 3X more than other box sets with more content, and that they have ties to the "inventor" of said technology. And the person doing the remixes is the son of the Beatles original producer but has little experience doing work that is worthy of such hype. He has made bad mistakes in the mixes and replicated mistakes in the old mixes that should have been fixed. When brought to task for it, he pleads ignorance to the Beatles music and insults critics. Defenders say that it's a good thing because he approaches the music with "fresh ears". There is much laughing and eye-rolling going on behind the scenes between industry professionals. But it sells units and impresses the general public. Dumb comments about how "Peter Jackson and Abbey Road should work on such and such" are commonplace now, as if they are the end-all.
The "Revolver" remixes themselves are terrible. You can hear anomalies that are the result of primitive extraction work, mixed improperly as to make them more obvious. The guitar solo in "Taxman" (which has been extracted with the tambourine) sounds like a chewed-up cassette tape. And there was also nothing wrong with the original multi-tracks that would have prevented them from being remixed tastefully and effectively without the extraction crap. Compare any of the remixes that have been coming out to the ones on the old "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" release, which was done correctly.
And the mastering has been bassy and trebly and loud. Their response to complaints has been that they are designed for a younger generation who listens with iPods. Woah, hold me back. Sounds like a sonic thrill.
I also thought that most of the outtakes were boring.
When it comes to the Beatles, deceptive hype always works, and Apple knows this well. So they take full advantage despite their lack of skill in the audio and compiling department.
