The Beatles (White Album) [3CD]

My history with the White Album, like my history with The Beatles, goes back to the beginning. A naive 13 year old from a small town in Kansas walks into a Tempo (a discount department store of the era and area), and sees a large cart full of white LPs. They hadn't even been shelved yet. It certainly piqued my interest, because at first glance it was totally blank. However, careful inspection revealed a grey number in the lower righthand corner and even closer inspection revealed an embossed THE BEATLES very close to the number. Man, was I excited. Ever since hearing "I Want To Hold Your Hand on the radio in January of '64, I was lover of all things Beatle. However, my love far exceeded my buying power, so I had just 6 45s (EVERYONE had a copy of "Hey Jude/Revolution" right?) and four LPs. But, there was no way I was leaving that store without that LP. I could see (and feel) it was a double, and it was just so cool-looking (even though it was...just...white. We were poor, and I honestly don't know how I convinced my mother, who was normally pragmatic to a fault, to fork over 10 plus dollars on a Beatle LP. A miracle. She wouldn't let me open it up on the way home, and that was the longest 7 miles...I thought we'd never get home. But it did, and I tore into the house and ran down the stairs into the basement, where my portable stereo was patiently waiting. I finally tore into the shrinkwrap, and was rewarded with a (weird) poster and four portraits, one of each Beatle, looking about as different from those four identically dressed moptops from just 4 years prior as was humanly possible. The music followed suit, surprising as much as their appearance. I could tell it was good, but it was different. Gone were the harmonies, for the most part. Gone was the simple melodiousness (seemingly, on first listen). Gone was the bright, chiming guitars. Then I finally got to Side 4 and Revolution 9. It was sooooooo weird. I'd played the whole thing, start to finish, 94 minutes without a break on a chance to really think. After it was over, I felt like I changed somehow. A part of me knew that I'd never hear the old Beatles again. It was that different. And I mourned that. But another part of me was challenged and inspired by the new music I heard. it was different, very different, but it was good. Even Revolution 9 was stimulating.Well, enough reminiscing. If you're reading this, chances are you have a similar story. The White Album was a game changer. Not because it was so great, but because it was so DIFFERENT, so unexpected, at least for me. I didn't own Sgt. Pepper (yet), so the last LP I'd heard was Revolver (U.S. version), which was different enough, but nothing like this. Hey Jude and particularly Revolution had signaled a change on the horizon, but this was huge. The size, scope and fundamental change from "pop" to "rock" seemed to rest with this monumental work. To me, still a stranger to Cream, Jimi Hendricks, and even the Stones, it was a huge change.Over the years, general appreciation for it has grown while my own appreciation for it has faded. For me, time rendered it overlong, not uniformly strong all the way through, having a "lo-fi" production, and indicative of a group splintering, not coming together.Has all that changed with this release? Well, not entirely. But the stereo remix, 5.1 mix, demos and outtakes were too tempting to pass up, even with the ridiculous price tag (Jimi Hendricks Electric Ladyland box is a $46, and has a beautiful book, 3 CDs and a Bluray. So you tell me that $90 MORE than that isn't price gouging. Just go ahead. As far as the contents, there is not much to complain about. One can pick nits about little mistakes, like making John's French gobblededook between "I'm So Tired" and "Blackbird" nearly inaudible. But that would paint the wrong overall picture. I certainly had to work with my EQ, because the stereo remix sounded muddy when I first put it on. But with some judicious EQ, namely some reduction of the low end and increase of the high end, the results were fairly amazing. Things that were buried, particularly background vocals, literally came alive. It's still not Abbey Road, or even Sgt. Pepper, when it comes to fidelity, but it's a damn-side better than it has ever been, and by a long shot. The same careful EQ on the 5.1 mix yields even more amazing results. It is absolutely astonishing. Giles Martin keeps the spriit and basic sound of the original White Album, yet really improves definition and clarity. I don't think that was an easy assignment, and I give him kudos for it.So, if you wanna dance to the music, you got to pay to the piper, in this case Universal Music, by far, IMO, the greediest bastards out there (at least in the music business). No way to own this right now but to pay $138 for it. Oh, you can get the download for less than half the price, but you'd be missing the essence....holding it as well as playing it (not to mention the 5.1). So, go on, make Universal Music's shareholders even wealthier...whether you can afford it or not.I did.gordonp@thecentergb.org

3-disc cd. the basement tracks are cool

I've had this set before the release date so I've enjoyed it a bit before writing this review.If you're reading this you already know the original album's songs, so I won't waste anyone's time describing the music on the original album. I will say that the new remix of the album is an improvement. While staying close to the original album's emotional feel, the new remix has cleaned up the sound and in doing so subtle sounds have been brought to the surface that were buried in the older mix.The "Esher Demos" is the Beatles unplugged. You hear the band working as a band--the acrimony that would later split the band apart is absent. These (a few tracks showed up on volume three of the "Anthology" series) are beautiful, relaxed versions of the album's songs in good/excellent sound--clean and open sounding--especially for tracks recorded fairly casually at Harrison's home. You'll hear various combinations of Beatles on these tracks--not all four band members are heard on every track. Even at this stage these demos are fairly close to the finished versions of these songs.The discs of outtakes (with snippets of chatter) reveal the band working well together--and again without the problems that would surface a year or so later. When it came to recording these songs the band came together to produce outtakes in various stages that are interesting to hear. These particular tracks are instructive, giving an idea how many of these songs came to fruition--besides being fun to listen to. Listen to the takes of "Helter Skelter", or "Revolution", or "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", or take 5 of "Yer Blues", or the unnumbered rehearsal of "Let It Be"--all are good examples of the goodies included on these outtake discs. The instrumental backing tracks help fill in the picture of the album coming together but are not as strong as the vocal outtakes. But overall, you can hear why all these particular tracks were chosen--for the most part they point toward the finished versions we all know. The Blu-Ray has great sound and adds even more value to this box set.The packaging is quite nice. The 12 1/2" X 10 1/4" X 1" thick 164 page hardcover book has a glossy white cover with "The Beatles" embossed close to the bottom of the cover. And true to the original album there's a number printed on the cover--mine is 0038324--a nice touch. The book comes in a clear plastic slipcase with subtle see-through photos of the four Beatles on the front, and a list of tracks on the back of the slipcase. There's two CDs on the inside front cover and on the facing page is the Blu-Ray disc. The other discs are in the back of the book. Each disc comes in a plain white cardboard jacket with a list of songs on the back cover. Each disc slips into it's own pocket which holds them securely.There's a forward by McCartney, and an introduction by Giles Martin. A long essay by Kevin Howlett ("The Way to White") which lays the groundwork for this album. The essay by John Harris ("Can You Take Me Back, Where I Came From?") puts this music in context of the era. Andrew Wilson's essay ("White On White") goes into detail about the making of the artwork which is quite interesting. And the final essay by Howlett ("It's Here!") is about "The most important musical event of the year occurs today.", which is a good summation of 1968 and this album. Plus there's a piece by Howlett on the group photo session ("The Mad Day Out") which gives more detail about this period. All the essays about the album are worth reading and help put this album in perspective. The track-by-track text (by Howlett) is very informative with a fairly long essay on each song including valuable recording information. There's also a section of lyrics reproduced from original copies.There's many color and b&w photos throughout the book, printed in crisp quality. There's a repro of a prototype cover, corrections to a printed lyric sheet, the making of the photo collage which is on the large size (folded) poster, which has lyrics on the reverse side. Plus there's four color photo portraits (8" X 11") that were included in the original LP. All in all the artwork on this 50th Anniversary of "The White Album" (or originally called simply "The Beatles") is in keeping with the original album's look and feel.If this album is important to you, you probably need this multi-disc version--there's a lot of worthwhile tracks on the outtake discs. But some people will be satisfied with the 3 CD version with cleaner sound and those "Esher Demos". But for those who really like this album, this is a great look past the original album. And in a year of Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jeff Beck, the Grateful Dead, Hendrix, and other bands all releasing albums, "The White Album" stands out as a refreshing change of pace from all that heaviness..