The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 Has Been Recalled!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:29 am

A friend of mine who owns a CD/DVD shop tells me that Capitol has recalled the latest box set. Apparently there was a major mistake made on at least one of the discs (Rubber Soul?). Instead of putting the true mono mix on one of the discs, they accidentally put a mono version of the true stereo mix. If you are a collector, you might want to buy it now. I think I'll wait and get the correct mixes later. My friend sold the first two he received and is ordering a few more for collectors.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:02 am

Actually Randy it's on both BEATLES VI and Rubber Soul. Seems that Capitol sent the pressing plant the "stereo to mono" mixdowns of these two titles instead of the original 1965 mono mixes. The stereo versions of these are the originals, but the mono versions are not.
I just picked up on mine today, and I'm undecided whether to keep it sealed or open it. The guy that sold me mine was ordered to send his copies back until replacement ones could be sent. But, I've also read on various Beatles website links that Capitol will inform the customers purchasing these about how to obtain the corrected copies for the faulty ones.

webhead · Post by **webhead** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 11:35 am

Kinda like my copy of AHDN which plays the Alan Parson's Project

wayang · Post by **wayang** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 4:41 pm

Pardon me, but this seems kinda dumbass...what's more important, the music or the 'format' it got 'remembered' in?

Oh well...just ain't got that 'collector' gene, I guess...

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 6:50 pm

It appears that the compilation will be released on time. Those purchasing the set with the error will have a note explaining how to exchange their set. If they wish.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 3:19 am

I originally bought the version of "Rubber Soul" that had the false start on "I'm Looking Through You." Didn't know it was false for years until I heard someone else's copy.

apollo11 · Post by **apollo11** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 11:04 am

I grew up listening to the false start opening on I'm Looking Through You. Even after all the years since the CD's have been released, I still feel the false start is the normal start, and the non false start sounds incomplete.

simer4001 · Post by **simer4001** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 5:09 pm

I'm with you Andrew. I always felt the false start was the charm of the song.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:32 pm

I'm with you Dane.... this seems like its all just repackaging, and from the sounds of it, not a very good job at that!

geschwader · Post by **geschwader** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:27 am

For me, the reason for owning this (and the Vol. 1) set is that EMI has still not released any of the first four albums in stereo. So unless you are set up to do serious vinyl transfers from mint LPs, or buy bootleg CDs, most of the Beatles early work is still available only as mono CDs — even though all the LPs were originally issued in stereo and mono. And many of the original stereo mixes were pretty good.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 3:40 am

David: I agree completely. It really bothered me when the early Beatles CD's were issued in mono only. And I don't think they did such a great job of digitally remastering any of those CD's. In my opinion, the 'White Album' is the worst of the bunch, and I think the Beatles deserve better. I'm looking forward to having all of these tracks in stereo.

geschwader · Post by **geschwader** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:19 am

Yes, it's incredible that perhaps the finest catalog in rock music has never been totally remastered and released to take advantage of todays much-improved digital capabilities. And since Capital had nothing to do with much of anything after Magical Mystery Tour (including the White Album), there are no plans in the future for the Apple releases to be remastered and rereleased.

If you don't think it makes a difference, listen to George Martin's remastering on the Yellow Submarine Songbook, as well as the 5.1 remixes that were done for Anthology. Even the early stuff that was redone in Anthology sounds so much better!

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 6:44 am

David: If and when someone remasters the Beatles catalog, it is bound to create more controversy. Every time someone goes back to original tapes, changes happen. Although I'm not a record producer or a recording engineer, I can easily spot differences in many of the CD's that I buy. I would attribute this to my familiarity with the original records. For instance, the 'White Album' was the second record I ever bought ('Magical Mystery Tour' was the first and 'Sgt Pepper' was the third). I played it to death as a teenager, and I think I know every nuance in each track. The CD version has slightly different fades, a bunch of bad edits, and a few drop-outs. I can't list where all of them occur, but it bothers me every time I play it. To me it's disconcerting to not hear exactly what I expect, and to be surprised by the unexpected. You could say I'm not a big fan of surprise parties either...

geschwader · Post by **geschwader** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 7:33 am

The ideal scenario would have had George Martin oversee the task as he would be less prone to alter the artistic intent of the tracks. That's why the handful of remixes done so far have been handled fairly well. Unfortunately, that window of opportunity gets smaller with each passing year. It's more an issue of the quality of the remastering and AD conversion. That's why they don't sound as warm and fresh as they could by today's standards.

I'm sure it all comes down to a marketing decision. Since these aren't "new releases" there's no business rationale for EMI to spend the money to undertake the project as long as the old CDs keep selling — which they do. Fortunately, Capital can justify the expense since they are putting out recordings which have not been available before on CD.

byu · Post by **byu** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 4:14 pm

George Martin suffers from hearing loss and would probably not trust his ears to remastering. In My Life was his swan song.

It would certainly be nice if they would remaster the entire catalog in a high resolution format such as SACD or DVD Audio. To be fair though, when the catalog was released for the first time on CD they were well reviewed by the audio press of the time for their fidelity.

In the case of the afore mentioned Yellow Submarine Songtrack, Martin had nothing to do with the sound of that CD. It was completely remixed and to the detriment of some of the songs, I think. While there is some more clarity there, Paul's bass gets mixed lower on Hey Bulldog and It's All Too Much is more in your face and less trippy. These are not the original Martin mixes.

I would prefer to hear new remasters from the original mix down tapes rather than have someone remix from scratch.

I am, however, enjoying the Capitol re-releases.
Cheers,
Bill