On Oct 16, 1:35 pm, Allen Richardson <allenrichr... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:





On Oct 16, 12:08 am, "mdsp... at (no spam) yahoo.com" <mdsp... at (no spam) gmail.com> wrote:

I just spent a long car ride listening to the 1965 stereo mix of
Rubber Soul (from the new Mono Box set) and comparing it to the 1987
mix from the 2009 Stereo Box.  WOW!!!!!  Now I remember why I loved
that album so much back in the 60's when it came out.  And now I also
know why I lost my passion for it when it came out on CD in 1987.
That "new" 1987 mix job really ruined it for me, and I didn't really
understand why until now.  The 1965 analogue mixes were SO much
warmer, smoother sounding and better balanced.  The '87 digital
remixes were made to be bright and had more stereo separation in the
vocals and instruments ... but they were actually quite brittle and
harsh sounding.  Moreover, the balances between vocals and instruments
were often less satisfying, despite the newer technology used.
Hearing the '65 mixes freshly remastered now in 2009 is a total
revelation!  I'm in love with this album all over again!  "Drive My
Car" pulses with energy.  "The Word" is killer -- that organ solo just
grinds and growls.  "If I Needed Someone" is gorgeous, and I heard a
beautiful low humming (a voice? an instrument?) on the right channel
during the guitar solo that I never heard before.  The bass lines on
almost every song jump out as never before.  Gone is the overdone
digital reverb on the voices (e.g. "Nowhere Man" and "In My Life") and
the overly loud percussion overshadowing the guitars.  I highly
recommend replacing this album with the original 1965 mixes in every
serious Beatles' collectors set.  It should never have been tampered
with.  Thank you, EMI, for making this original mix available again!
I only wish it weren't "buried" in the Mono Box.  They should have
made it part of the Stereo Box set, and buried the '87 remixes in the
Mono Box for the collectors.

My next listening project will be a similar comparison of the 1965 and
1987 Help! mixes.  I expect to find similar results, even though Help!
was never as special to me at Rubber Soul.

Of the two (Help! and RS), I've only listened to Help! closely, with
headphones. IMO GM's '87 re-mix improves it a good bit. It's a fuller
sound. You hear things not just in the left, right, and center, but
also slightly left and right of center -- more places. A fuller, more
thought out, sound. I prefer the '87 re-mix. GM did an excellent job.

To me it's not "warmness" vs artificial brightness, but rather,
muddiness vs. clearer, fuller sound. The warmness you speak of seems
to me like muddiness.

I wish GM had tackled Revolver. John and Georges's songs are ok there,
but the mixes of Paul's songs there are terrible.

I understand your take on the "warmness" vs muddiness issue.  I think
that's just a matter of individual taste and opinion.  (To me, it's
not warm vs. muddy, but rather analog vs. digital sounding.)  I can
also appreciate how the improved stereo placement of each track's
components might be good.  I do like hearing the tracks spread out
more to reveal details that were not heard in the hard-panned original
mixes. However, the relative balance between the various instruments
and the voices is another matter.  For example, on "The Word", the
organ solo is much softer in the '87 mix, and I feel less effective
compared to the way it grinds and comes to the front on the '65 mix.
Likewise, the vocal "breathing" after the word "Girl ..." on the song
of that name became so loud on the '87 remix that it's ridiculous!
The original '65 mix of "Girl" had those same breaths, but they were
down more in the mix, and I feel made more sense.  And let's not
forget the addition of extra digital reverb on so many of the vocal
tracks in '87.  Again, maybe it's just a matter of opinion, but I feel
that extra reverb didn't make the tracks fuller, or more "thought-
out" ... just different -- and not in a good way!- Hide quoted text -