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Listened to this a few times now and I think it's a good full stop to the story. All four Beatles playing, Lennon and McCartney harmonies sounding great, rhythm section solid, and some nice guitar and strings floating around it.
I love it.
They've done a decent job but I'd rather listen to their original releases.
I found it unlistenable. Gave up 1/3 of the way thru
Not for me.
It seems like yesterday I went to Abbey Road to see the exhibition they had on to mark the 20th anniversary of the recording of Love Me Do. Back then that 20 years seemed like forever, it was longer than I'd been alive. That day was in fact my 18th birthday. And now in no time we are 40 years from then and 60 from that recording. I've not really listened to them much for many years but they were a band I listened to a huge amount for a period of my life and I've ordered a copy of it. The first physical music I've bought in years and quite likely the last I'll ever buy. It feels like a nice way to end their story and for me a way to look back and say thanks for everything you brought into my life. ( I don't actually care whether it's any good or not, I may never even play it, it doesn't matter, it's just symbolic for me)
There's a little short on iPlayer about it that's well worth watching for anyone interested.
Not a patch on the new Stones single with Lady Gaga.
Dull. I've listened to it a couple of times now, and I can't remember the tune. Not a good sign.
Just had a listen and quite liked it.
They’ve done a decent job but I’d rather listen to their original releases.
I’ve got some amazing news! They’re all still available! You don’t have to listen to it, you know, but the fact that an original rough demo of a song by Lennon, that Yoko handed over to the other three members in the hope that they could do something with, and thanks to some extraordinary new technology they’ve been able to isolate Lennon’s vocals so clearly that his vocals can finally be released as a finished song is a truly remarkable achievement.
The Beatles were, predominantly a studio band, along with George Martin, they were heavily involved with any new technology they could get their hands on, and Sgt Pepper is arguably one of the first progressive albums. What Giles Martin, Peter Jackson and the remaining members of the band have managed to do is really just a progression from the 1960’s.
I’ve listened to it several times through high quality IEM’s, and it’s a great track, not their best, but better than many.
It’s worth pointing out that the AI technology used for isolating individual instruments is being used on more Beatles albums, for playback in Dolby Atmos. The ‘Blue Album’ collection is being re-released as a remastered version in a week’s time, with the ‘Red Album’ to follow.
Every radio station banging on about it for days now. They are tiresome. It's a good use of tec to separate Lennon's voice from the original tape, and a nice way for The Beatles to sign off, posthumously and otherwise. To be honest they were always a bit 🙄 for me, mainly because I had younger sisters who were daft about them.
Is it bland and overrated like the rest of their stuff?
Just listened to it, I like it. I think it'll be a grower. Strangely I'm struggling to hear Paul in the mix, can obviously hear John's lead vocals, George's slide guitar and Ringo's distinctive thudding drums. The title is the cleverest bit IMO.
I think people who say the Beatles are overrated will still probably know a dozen of their songs. The only other band I think have as many distinctive songs is Abba. Maybe not a good comparison 😄
I think people who say the Beatles are overrated will still probably know a dozen of their songs
You’d be wrong.
If you want a comparison then it Oasis.
Listened to this a few times now and I think it’s a good full stop to the story.
You mean better than the last one ... and the next one?
but the fact that an original rough demo of a song by Lennon, that Yoko handed over to the other three members in the hope that they could do something with, and thanks to some extraordinary new technology they’ve been able to isolate Lennon’s vocals so clearly that his vocals can finally be released as a finished song is a truly remarkable achievement.
Is it really though? I think it's just a good story aimed at making money from nostalgic old people.
And, yes I do like the Beatles. I remember as a teenager making mix tapes from all my parents original LPs - including a virtually untouched Sgt Peppers with intact cutouts in the sleeve.
Like Drac never understood what the fuss was about....
Lovely song, and the strings and guitar solo are as full of loss and longing as the song requires.
But I struggle with the vocal, it does sound recovered, a bit weak, and artificial. Not a great tribute to the man really. I suppose the alternatives were either bin the song, or not use his voice… both worse options.
Is it bland and overrated like the rest of their stuff?
History has already proved you wrong.
Is it bland and overrated like the rest of their stuff?
Bit harsh innit? I'm no fan, I defo find it bland but it's art and that's subjective so for others their music is powerful.
Heard it on the radio and thought this is crap. Didn't know who it was til the presenter said after it had played. I'm no Beatles fan admittedly. Cleverly done I guess but very dull.
This isn’t one of the fantastic songs, more like a forgotten B side.
That's a good way to articulate it for me.
Is it bland and overrated like the rest of their stuff?
I don't agree with this. The variety of their output from the early 4 piece skiffle to the massively produced later stuff like Sgt Pepper can't be described as bland. That's like my sister in law once pronouncing she doesn't like French wine. Too much choice!
Yeah heard it yesterday, fan of the Beatles generally, but if a song didn't make its way onto an album, there's prob.s a reason for that*. It's OK, but nothing mind blowing - a bit like Free As A Bird, and Real Love.
* Probably in fact, Harrison calling it "****ing rubbish" at the time...hey ho.
Beatles had quite a few grey b sides day tripper - we can work it out but then other bands back then had good b sides
The Kinks Sunny Afternoon-I'm not like every body else
The Rolling Stones had a few too
But I've moved on and as much as I like most of the Beatles stuff , do I listen to any of Paul McCartney stuff from the last 45 years I will give it a miss
David Bowie up until his death was writing good stuff
tjagain
Full Member
I found it unlistenable. Gave up 1/3 of the way thru
As much as it pains me to agree with TJ, I couldn't listen to it.
The Beatles had some fantastic songs when you listen to them in the original context, I still remember hearing Hard Day's Night for the first time and being amazed by the energy. Then, much later, songs like Elenor Rigby or Day in the Life, which were amazing in completely different ways. Whether they were overrated or not is irrelevant, they really did turn out a lot of great songs. This isn't one of them.
Also, Oasis had some catchy songs but that's all they were, catchy pop songs, not groundbreaking in the way the Beatles were at their peak.
Bit harsh innit? I’m no fan, I defo find it bland but it’s art and that’s subjective so for others their music is powerful<br /><br />
It is powerful for some, yes. But for others and myself they’re massively overrated and bland. <br /><br />
Have they done some good music? Yes, they have. <br /><br /><br />
History has already proved you wrong<br /><br />
History has proven they’re still overrated.
the beatles produced some good songs and a load of tosh. this is more "maxwells silver hammer" than "a day in the life"
Unfortunately most of the beatles output has not aged well
David Bowie up until his death was writing good stuff
People talked up Blackstar a lot but how many people are still listening to it now or even 6 months after its release and his passing.
It's fine, but not worth the love , or hate. Beatles by numbers really, nobody would notice it as side 2 track 3 on an album. Should have left it on the tape and said done is done. How many other "fragments" will be found after this? Even with bands putting out previously unpublished stuff later, it's fairly obvious why it was unpublished at the time. The bane of Spotify sometimes is listening to a remastered version of an album with bonus tracks shoved in which never should have seen the light of day.
the beatles produced some good songs and a load of tosh.
Same goes for any superstar artist. Bob Dylan had a handful of great songs, quite a few good ones, and hundreds of very average ones. Bruce Springsteen too, his best songs were fantastic but he wrote dozens upon dozen that were quite forgettable. Any successful artist will be the same, we celebrate their peaks, not their troughs.
Unfortunately most of the beatles output has not aged well
Is that criticism even relevant? Name a band who're more influential, who's output over such a short time frame has remained more relevant after more than 50 years? - Here we all are discussing a single release of a band that fell apart more than 45 years ago after all. It's a fact that's there's some Beatles tracks on albums that are filler, there are few (if any) writing partnerships that come close to the output of Lennon/McCartney for their impact on pop culture.
It’s worth pointing out that the AI technology used for isolating individual instruments is being used on more Beatles albums, for playback in Dolby Atmos. The ‘Blue Album’ collection is being re-released as a remastered version in a week’s time, with the ‘Red Album’ to follow.
At the risk of being a bit @DezB it's all a bit old and flogging a dead horse. Having just heard it, it's no "Follow the Sun".
I was never a Beatles fan... never disliked them but was never over enthusiastic..... other than Sargent Peppers which I did rate... perhaps the right album for that time of my life.
This track.... just very average, a bit meh.
Instantly forgettable for me
Sounds like something Macca would churn out now if he was to make a new song. Is he down to his last £100mill and that's why this has been released?
I don't know why 6 music are banging on about it so much. Yeah, history etc, but it's not in line with what they'd normally/ever play and I could be wrong, but do you ever hear any other Beatles stuff on their playlist?
Nickc - Bob Marley? Brought a whole new genre to a worldwide audience, created some classics, highly political Slightly longer career. His music does not sound dated now
there are few (if any) writing partnerships that come close to the output of Lennon/McCartney for their impact on pop culture.
Very anglo centric viewpoint. Fela Kuti and Tony Allen? Created a whole new genre that was an inspiration for such folk as Talking Heads and revolutionised music across Africa. Very political as well.
Its all opinion at the end of the day
The Beatles were overrated! 😂. Sure they were. They were only together for 7 years and defined an entire genre of music and shaped a generation. There music has aged pretty well for stuff that's 60 odd years old and is pop music.
It brought me to tears and I like it, maybe it'll be a grower for others.
What you 'young uns' who think the Beatles are overrated don't understand is: that in the 1960's they were completely and utterly groundbreaking. The music beforehand was often dull and predictable (apart from Elvis). This group came out of the blue and changed everything. Their lyrics, their attitudes, their playing, their vocals, all unbelievably different from anything before. It was a 'wham bam thank you mam' into a different genre of music.
So many musicians are here today because of the Beatles.
"Thou shalt not put musicians and recording artists on ridiculous pedestals no matter how great they are or were.
The Beatles: Were just a band."
A song can be both good and not to your personal taste.
Very anglo centric viewpoint.
You could make a very convincing argument that pop-culture's roots is anglo-centric*, despite recent phenomena like K-pop, Manga, Bollywood etc etc. I think now, when we can hear anything from anywhere it's broadly no longer true that it's so dominantly influential though
*as in English-speaking
I think some people just don't do popular. Even going out their way to be different but ultimately end up just in another tribe, like goths or emos.
nickc - afrobeat? hugely influential. Reggae?
Oh I do popular. gor a sneaky love of disco and love a bit of soul
A song can be both good and not to your personal taste.
Precisely. The Beatles may not be everyone's cup of tea, but they were hugely innovative and influential.
What you ‘young uns’ who think the Beatles are overrated don’t understand is: that in the 1960’s they were completely and utterly groundbreaking. The music beforehand was often dull and predictable (apart from Elvis).
There may actually have been some other pre-Beatles artists who weren't dull and predictable. I agree that the Beatles were groundbreaking, but there were other groundbreaking artists in the 50s and 60s too.
afrobeat? hugely influential. Reggae?
Oh I don't disagree at all, massively influential; But largely on musicians who then co-opted those sounds into music for the masses of western audiences, who then exported it back around the world. Look at Graceland; for how many was that their first taste of South African influenced sounds? It still took Paul Simon to bring it to a wider audience.
As an individual in the 60's-70's you had to go out of your way to get to hear music from countries other than the UK and USA regardless of how influential it was in it's home state, I mean; even countries as influential as France had to make rules about how many songs in English* radio stations were allowed to play in a row
* and that meant mostly UK and American bands
. I agree that the Beatles were groundbreaking, but there were other groundbreaking artists in the 50s and 60s too.
Very much this. The Beatles had good PR though.
Bob Marley? Brought a whole new genre to a worldwide audience, created some classics, highly political Slightly longer career. His music does not sound dated now
It's all a bit samey though in my opinion.
Very political as well
In what way, shape, or form is this an argument to the quality of music?
As someone pointed out above, the band were together for 7 years and the scope of output and boundaries pushed is quite remarkable.
I like the Beatles but the new release is pants. Bland, sentimental, emotionless. Not sure why they did it. I still buy a fair bit of music, I’ll give this a miss.
It brought me to tears and I like it, maybe it’ll be a grower for others.
What you ‘young uns’ who think the Beatles are overrated don’t understand is: that in the 1960’s they were completely and utterly groundbreaking. The music beforehand was often dull and predictable (apart from Elvis). This group came out of the blue and changed everything. Their lyrics, their attitudes, their playing, their vocals, all unbelievably different from anything before. It was a ‘wham bam thank you mam’ into a different genre of music.
Completely and utterly ground breaking and out of the blue? Not really.
Like many other uk 60s musicians they were influenced by and derivative of earlier mainly american musicians. Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Isley Brothers, early Motown artists like Barrett Strong, The Miracles, The Marvelettes. And the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly and probably more.
Elvis similarly was influenced by earlier black american artists.
'Influenced by' and 'sounding the same as' are quite different concepts. Obviously they had influences but unlike many other contempoary bands it was what they did with those influences that mattered - and that includes the PR.
Like many other uk 60s musicians they were influenced by and derivative of earlier mainly american musicians.
But only one band managed to take those early influences and create Tomorrow Never Knows, I Am The Walrus and A Day In The Life.
It's not a competition, and it's certainly subjective, but to an awful lot of people the Beatles are the greatest.
Like many other uk 60s musicians they were influenced by and derivative of earlier mainly american musicians
That's true of the Stones, but I fail to see how the same could be said of the Beatles. One of the interesting things about Sergeant Pepper was its revival of music hall.
Funny how some people click on a thread about the Beatles just to let everyone know they don't like the Beatles 😂
And you could make a compelling case that the 1960s actually started on the evening of Feb. 9, 1964. That’s when the Beatles made their historic U.S. television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show, drawing the largest viewing audience in the history of the medium at the time (73 million people—nearly half the nation—tuned in to the telecast)
Not bad for such an overrated band. But obviously these would have all been hysterical young girls screaming at their cute new idols, wouldn't they? They weren't interested in music...
Feb. 10, 1964, the day after the Beatles’ historic U.S. television debut, consequently dawned as a new era for Gretsch. Guitar orders skyrocketed. Over the ensuing weeks and months, countless youths from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Ore., started forming bands, and all those budding guitarists wanted the same kind of guitars the Beatles played.......The effect on Gretsch was truly phenomenal. Even without a formal partnership with the Beatles, the company experienced an exponential growth in sales with the surging British Invasion that actually necessitated major logistical changes at Gretsch headquarters in New York. With guitar orders snowballing at such a phenomenal rate in 1964, the entire Gretsch drums department was moved to another facility several blocks from the Brooklyn factory, and Gretsch wholesale efforts were either halted or transferred to Chicago. As noted in 50 Years of Gretsch Electrics, at the suddenly overwhelmed Brooklyn factory, “all of this was to allow the whole of the seventh floor to be turned over to guitar making.”.
Most groundbreaking bands aren’t popular. They tend to be the weird, mad outliers. Somebody takes what they do and makes it fit to a tune that most find pleasant to the ears. I’m looking at you Frank Zappa, Cpt Beefheart etc.
But only one band managed to take those early influences and create... ...I Am The Walrus
Thank christ for that.
Don't get me wrong they did make some really good tracks but for every killer there was easily a dozen filler tracks.
As for what there was before I suppose if you only listen to pop music or whatever the radio plays then yeah, I suppose. But if you want to talk about influence then how about Dick Dale and Greek guitar. All the blues that was influencing whatever came after the Beatles (Led Zepplin etc.). Jean Jacques-Perrey on electronic music.
It's easy to take one in isolation and pretend the others don't exist but they did and were, for the most part, all contemporary.
Have to wonder how old some of you are though, my mum was 12 when they broke up!
"As for what there was before I suppose if you only listen to pop music or whatever the radio plays then yeah, I suppose."
Hmmm best take off my Big Bill Broonzy CD and go listen to some Mariah Carey
I think we can all agree they had some shockers and that not everything they wrote was completely original but I honestly can't think of a band that in a brief 8 year period 50 years ago wrote the cannon of work they did, that still gets played every single day in probably every single country in the world.
Is it just me that sees the title & hears “Now then, now then” in a Jimmy Saville voice!
Funny how some people click on a thread about the Beatles just to let everyone know they don’t like the Beatles
It didn’t make sense to mention it on the Gazza thread.
Gazza
All Things Must Pass/Twist & Shout (ACL's hurt)
That’s true of the Stones, but I fail to see how the same could be said of the Beatles
Hugely influenced by American artists:
https://www.beatlesstory.com/blog/2022/10/19/bhm-2022-the-beatles-and-black-music/
Which as this piece notes, goes full circle with many US artists subsequently covering Lennon and McCartney compositions
Just off to KFC with my fishing rod.
Hugely influenced by American artists:
Sure, but you said derivative.
Sure, but you said derivative
Not sure what your point is by highlighting this but I said both:
influenced by and derivative of
It didn’t make sense to mention it on the Gazza thread
Fair enough. It's been about 20 years since he played so you're not going to get the same footfall on a thread about him.
Not sure what your point is by highlighting this but I said both:
And you were half right.
A great example of why Jeff Lynne should not be trusted.
I think we can all agree they had some shockers and that not everything they wrote was completely original but I honestly can’t think of a band that in a brief 8 year period 50 years ago wrote the cannon of work they did, that still gets played every single day in probably every single country in the world.
That could apply to a few bands though. Creedence did similar in a much shorter timescale and their music crops up everywhere still. I’d argue that it’s aged better than the Beatles too. All subjective though at the end of the day.
Thats nonsense and you know it. Go out into any street in any country in the world and ask the first passer by over 18 to name a Beatles song - then do the same for Creedence Clearwater Revival. I bet most could name several by the Beatles and that outside the US almost none would even guess who sang Fortunate Son.
This is not about whos the better musician but about influence and legacy.