Re: Submarines

[Jim Topp <jtopp@ophelia.ucs.indiana.edu>]

>As far as whether the remixes are better:  I don't believe so.  Unless
>you own a really hi-fi stereo system (I'm talking about the CD now,
>not the video or DVD), you can't even tell any sonic difference.  And in a
>couple of cases they're actually worse.  For instance, they screwed
>up McCartney's double-tracked vocal on the choruses of "Eleanor
>Rigby"...he now sounds as if he's singing a duet with himself, which
>was NOT the original intention.  There are some other things I shan't
>go into here, but feel free to e-mail me if you want to know more.
>But most folks don't care about picyune stuff like that, and it is a
>great collection of the movie songs.

Carolyn,

I disagree. Objectively, I think these remixes are the most obviously
sonically different from the original release that I know. I compare that
to the remixed catalogues of The Who, The Kinks, The Velvet Underground,
and The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds box set. And I'm listening to it with just
Sony Walkman headphones and the CD player of my Macintosh G3. Subjectively,
I think the songs sound much better. If they remixed all the other albums,
I'd replace my Beatles catalogue too. Yes, you can hear Paul's
double-tracked vocal on the choruses of "Eleanor Rigby," but I don't think
it is worse. It seems to be splitting hairs to say that "he now sounds as
if he's singing a duet with himself, which was NOT the original intention."
Maybe that's the price of increased clarity.

On a more conciliatory note, I agree that "Songtrack" is a silly name, and
I would like to see your other comments about the new CD.

Mark,

What can you tell us about the original version of "It's All Too Much"?

Jim