Here is Fremer's take on only the Abbey Road title from the new Box Set:
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-roadblock
http://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-roadblock
Beatles Reissues on VINYL Finally
Here is Fremer's take on only the Abbey Road title from the new Box Set: http://www.analogplanet.com/content/abbey-roadblock |
I find myself agreeing very strongly with Mr. Fremer. I think this box set for the price is well worthwhile, especially for those of us that bought the USA versions on day of release and have nothing else. I do like the 1979 Blue Box set and we also played the (Sweden) red vinyl monos and all have something to contribute. Like Mike says, depends on what you expect and what tonal balance your system is. I ordered my box set from Walmart before they raised the price. Shipping only $1.97 and the complete set for $280.76. For that I'll gladly keep mine and maybe search for original Parlophone at hundreds of dollars each when (and if) the economy improves. |
Well, I played the new Abbey Road last night; not good. Actually I had ordered both a complete Box Set(which I have not opened yet) and a single copy of Abbey Road. It sounds terrible! It is closed-in, distant, and almost distorted; maybe my copy is just a really bad pressing??? Not sure. I am going to call AS today and discuss returning the Box Set and may send the open copy of AR back so that they can take a listen and make their own judgement. The artwork on Abbey Road is also very disappointing; not high quality at all. The colors on the cover seem washed-out and the paper material just seems cheap, like re-cycled cardboard... Mr. Fremer gave the new Abbey Road a '10' for Music (I agree) and an "8" for Sound...NO WAY. I like and respect Mikey, have spoken to him many times at the various shows, but he has missed this one big time. A "5" on Sound is much closer to the Truth. I don't get caught-up in the vinyl vs digital debates or the 192/24 vs 96/24 vs 44/24 vs 44/16 and so on...Yes, overall I think on average vinyl typically trumps digital (but not always; there are many variables and most go back to how well was the original recording was done and handled); I just want the version that sounds the Best or Great! This new Beatles Box set is pretty much a failure; it's really disappointing that we cannot get the record companies to present an outstanding quality, hi-resolution, and top quality Box set of the absolute greatest music group of ALL TIME. Shame on EMI and all parties that were involved in the release. |
I stopped by my local record shop yesterday to pick up one or two of these reissues. To my disappointment the guy there told me they did not have any copies of Abbey Road because all of the ones they received were defective. Apparently they all had extremely obvious surface noise and poor overall sound quality. Reading reviews from customers on Amazon confirms that several of these were pressed very poorly. The White Album is the other one that gets mentioned as having lots of surface noise. I was really excited about these albums being reissued and almost bit on the presell of them, but decided to wait to hear the reports on their sound before committing. It looks like I made the right choice. I'll probably buy one or two of the individual releases when they are on sale but no box set for me. Too bad. |
Got Magical Mystery tour because my 1978 Netherlands blue box set didn't have it. Upon first listen the sound is quite good and detailed, the opening horns, drums and bass are all solid and confirm how heavy the Beatles were. The artwork and graphics are all great and well done. I'm satisified with the MMTour at least. |