About this CD
- Original recordings: Abbey Road studios, London, England
- Release date: November 21, 2006
- Label: Capitol
- Catalog number: 79808
- Produced by George and Giles Martin
- Digital editing and remixing by Paul Hicks
- Engineered by Nick Wollage
- Stereo Master: Steve Rooke
- Liner notes by George and Giles Martin
- Bonus audio-only DVD in 5.1 surround sound and stereo (presented in DVD-Audio MLP, DTS, Dolby and PCM)
Pros
- The Beatles' classics, fully remastered with the very latest technology, sound as fresh as today.
- The medleys and mash-ups are sometimes revelatory.
- George and Giles Martin have used several elements of the master tapes that never made it to record, including demos.
- The accompanying audio DVD sounds incredible.
Cons
- Many of these mashups and remixes aren't that shocking, especially if you're used to digital remixing.
- A few of the musical ideas here are unworkable.
My review
With half of the Fab Four having moved on across the universe, one working with a Hudson Brother, and one tied up in court and therapy, the public now more than ever could use a re-creation of the old Beatles magic. Love, the official soundtrack/souvenir of the hit Vegas show of the same name by Cirque du Soleil, both is and isn't that recreation. And certainly not in the way the creators had in mind.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.
