Here Come The Beatles on Vinyl - 2012 Lp reissues!

The Beatles remastered on vinyl in 2012 was bound to be contentious, with the internet being a fountain of misinformation, hidden agendas, negativity and whatever. Already on the Hoffman misinformation board the bi-polarites and manic-obsessives are all over them, and spouting waveforms ad nauseum.

EMI were never going to win here. Had they done pure analog transfers from the original analog tapes, Huff-types were going to shoot them down immediately as not sounding like the first press originals - which would be impossible, as that was then and now is now - the analog chain itself has improved, and in truth mastering for vinyl today can be vastly superior to what it was back in the day. Just ask Music Matters, or visit Bernie Grundman. So EMI did them from hi-res digital files (except Revolver and Rubber Soul which are from 16 bit files) and have very carefully and thoroughly labelled the individual titles to make the sources ultra-clear. They are digital copies of the tapes, cut specially for vinyl at Abbey Road.

I picked up a copy of Sgt. Peppers last week, it was pressed at Rainbo, the notorious Rainbo, and I have to say it is not a bad pressing. Reasonably flat, not terribly well centered, quite quiet and clean. Overall, Rainbo have upped their usual low standards this time, probably understanding that to blow it on this job would be pretty damaging reputationally. The cover is pretty good, thick and solid, but nothing approaching a true UK original or early pressing. For what I paid (about $16 Canadian, those Hoffman morons who buy in Toronto at Sunrise have no clue that they pay more WITH their 10% discount card than anyone else charges!) I have no complaints about the pressing or cover.

But I have both a red wax Japanese mono and a 70's vintage Japanese stereo pressing here, and while I am far from obsessed about what a true, first issue, first stampers UK pressing sounds like - I am just into good analog sound here - I do have very good sounding comparators. And of course, I have both the mono and stereo 2009 CD remasters, which I like overall.

So let's get straight to the point. This Sgt. Peppers sounds NOTHING like my 70's Japanese pressing. Not anywhere near. It sounds nowhere near the MOFI vinyl pressing that I had for many years. It sounds nothing like the original domestic pressing I had in the early 70's. On the one hand - it has astonishing clarity, detail, and prodigious bass. On the other, it has virtually no analog qualities at all. It sounds fairly loud, the vocals are quite upfront and in my opinion sound un-natural in their forwardness, all in all, it sounds like a very good digital transfer taken DOWN to the vinyl medium - they tried to give the closest representation possible of the digital files and succeeded very well - and in doing so, lost all the magic of the music. It sounds very clean, very clear, very precise, very polished. None of it sounds real, none of it sounds natural, none of it sounds right.

Take a pass. This new box set is for completists and those foolish enough to lay out over $300 for clean pressings and a very nice but wholly redundant hardback book who don't know analog or don't care.

UPDATE:

I have the Magical Mystery Tour and White Album now. Neither are as good as the remastered Sgt. Peppers. The bass is muddying up the White Album, and although there is amazing detail (just listen to the crunch on the guitars of Happiness Is A Warm Gun), it still is missing the 'wholeness' and 'continuity' of sonics that true analog has. Magical Mystery Tour seems to me to be another case of too much detail, clarity, and clinical sound that has much to admire but less to love over the longer term.

Look, the bottom line on these is - they are superb transfers from the digital files, which obviously are now considered in the Beatles camp to be the masters going forward. They are a very good modern sound. For many, they may be very valid and I can understand why many listeners will love them. They are not the sound I remember, and not a transport back to the 60's. Get an early pressing for that, it isn't too hard. If you want these, take them for what they are. I recommend waiting for the mono set to acquire the early albums, and starting here with Sgt. Peppers as it seems to be the best one.