Post by Uber on Nov 18, 2003 11:38:16 GMT -5
Well, with the other thread concerning The Stones vs The Beatles, I thought I'd ask if anyone here has any interest in today's release of "Let It Be...Naked". I picked up the discs at the Target right next to work this morning, and listened to it first thing. I think it sounds great. However, there is controversy over whether or not it was a good move to release these discs. What do you folks say?
Personally, I think the release somewhat taints the mystique of The Beatles. Granted, tracks such as For You Blue and I Me Mine sound better to me in their stripped-down form, but I learned to appreciate these tracks when the Anthology discs were released back in the mid 90s. The modification of a classic album is always a tricky proposition, to say the least. I would have been content to just have the original release and the Anthology tracks and enjoy it from there. Releasing another version of an album that's been out for 33 years seems like moneygrubbing to me. However, since I had a gift card, it was well worth the purchase.
Also, the "Fly on the Wall" disc which was released with this album adds very little to the value. It's mostly just ramblings and a few little tidbits of music. There is a brief flash of "All Things Must Pass" in there, but there was nearly a full studio track of that on the Anthology 3 disc. So, if you're looking at both releases side-by-side in the store, and you're going to buy one, which do you get? It's a hard call, but I think I'd buy the Naked version, just because of the much cleaner & crisper sound than the original release.
Background info about this release: After The Beatles released "The Beatles" (aka the White Album), they then embarked on a project which eventually became Let It Be. The project, then called Get Back, was to be The Beatles' return to playing live, and started with the band jamming and recording all their sessions at Twickenham Film Studios for the creation of a movie. During this project, George actually quit the band at one point, but later returned. Billy Preston also helped out with these sessions by playing organ. The project was never finished, although much of the material was used in the infamous rooftop concert, which happened after the band moved back home to their Apple studios. After the release of "Abbey Road", George Martin, George Harrison and John Lennon commissioned Phil Spector to take all the material that was recorded for the Get Back sessions and turn it into an album. Spector, famous for his "Wall of Sound", changed the tempo of some tracks, and added string accompaniment to others. In 1970, "Let It Be" was released as the result of this remastering. Paul McCartney has always thought the original release to be a bit on the shady side, so with the blessing of Harrison & Starr, he had audio engineers work to remove the instrumentation and modifications that Spector put in. The result of which is "Let It Be...Naked".
Personally, I think the release somewhat taints the mystique of The Beatles. Granted, tracks such as For You Blue and I Me Mine sound better to me in their stripped-down form, but I learned to appreciate these tracks when the Anthology discs were released back in the mid 90s. The modification of a classic album is always a tricky proposition, to say the least. I would have been content to just have the original release and the Anthology tracks and enjoy it from there. Releasing another version of an album that's been out for 33 years seems like moneygrubbing to me. However, since I had a gift card, it was well worth the purchase.
Also, the "Fly on the Wall" disc which was released with this album adds very little to the value. It's mostly just ramblings and a few little tidbits of music. There is a brief flash of "All Things Must Pass" in there, but there was nearly a full studio track of that on the Anthology 3 disc. So, if you're looking at both releases side-by-side in the store, and you're going to buy one, which do you get? It's a hard call, but I think I'd buy the Naked version, just because of the much cleaner & crisper sound than the original release.
Background info about this release: After The Beatles released "The Beatles" (aka the White Album), they then embarked on a project which eventually became Let It Be. The project, then called Get Back, was to be The Beatles' return to playing live, and started with the band jamming and recording all their sessions at Twickenham Film Studios for the creation of a movie. During this project, George actually quit the band at one point, but later returned. Billy Preston also helped out with these sessions by playing organ. The project was never finished, although much of the material was used in the infamous rooftop concert, which happened after the band moved back home to their Apple studios. After the release of "Abbey Road", George Martin, George Harrison and John Lennon commissioned Phil Spector to take all the material that was recorded for the Get Back sessions and turn it into an album. Spector, famous for his "Wall of Sound", changed the tempo of some tracks, and added string accompaniment to others. In 1970, "Let It Be" was released as the result of this remastering. Paul McCartney has always thought the original release to be a bit on the shady side, so with the blessing of Harrison & Starr, he had audio engineers work to remove the instrumentation and modifications that Spector put in. The result of which is "Let It Be...Naked".