The Beatles 1962-1966/1967-1970
Verdict: Bring her back into your life
When they were first released 50 years ago, The Beatles’ Red and Blue albums became the ultimate greatest hits compilations.
The two double LPs span the high points of the Beatlemania era (the Red Album from 1962 to 1966) and the magical twists and turns of the late 1960s (Blue, which took the story to the band’s demise in 1970 ).
The band showed little interest in them at the time, with John, Paul, George and Ringo all pursuing solo careers and squabbling over their business affairs, but Red and Blue remains the perfect introduction to the songs that changed pop. Noel Gallagher says they proclaimed his lifelong love for the Fab Four.
With the “final” Beatles song “Now And Then”, which gave the group their first no. 1 single since “The Ballad Of John And Yoko” in 1969, the two retrospectives now receive the deluxe reissue Treatment with 21 newly added tracks is a fresh coat of production paint, using the same unmixing technology that the new single’s decades -renovated old demo.
However, this re-release comes at an odd time. For the past six years, archivists have painstakingly gone through the Beatles’ catalog and compiled extensive editions of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (2017), The White Album (2018), Abbey Road (2019), Let It Be (2021) and Revolver (2022).
Over the past six years, archivists have painstakingly gone through the Beatles’ (pictured) catalog and compiled extensive editions of various albums.
The newly remastered albums used by filmmaker Peter Jackson for the 2021 documentary “Get Back.”
The Beatles’ Red Album was, along with the Blue Album, one of their definitive greatest hits compilations
The obvious next step would have been to move on to 1965’s Rubber Soul. One suspects they went this route because Now And Then can now be added to Blue (to make it even more enticing).
But of these new packages, Red is the most compelling, offering a satisfyingly choppy rush through early singles, from Love Me Do to Eleanor Rigby to Yellow Submarine.
The downside of Blue is that many of the new mixes were from previous reissues.
The original Red album contained only compositions by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, an omission that has now been rectified with the addition of two George Harrison tracks in “Taxman” and the sultry, Byrds-esque “If I Needed Nobody.” However, it is the new versions of the early singles that catch the eye.
Using technology used by filmmaker Peter Jackson for the 2021 Get Back documentary, producer Giles Martin (son of Beatles producer George) “isolated” individual instruments from old tapes and remixed them, staying true to the existing arrangements, but has the impression of an underline. young rock band playing live in the studio.
The results are impressive. McCartney’s bass and Lennon’s harmonica are livelier on “Love Me Do,” and Ringo Starr’s drums on “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “A Hard Day’s Night” have new life.
The string quartet sounds richer on Yesterday. If you can bear to tinker a little with precious memories, there is much to admire.
The updated Blue Album, which opens with “Strawberry Fields Forever,” recounts the years in which the Beatles, according to McCartney, “forged new paths without a map.”
Despite new mixes from Revolution and three songs from the 1967 Magical Mystery Tour EP, this version lacks the same “wow” factor as Red, although the thoughtful, emotional “Now And Then” doesn’t seem out of place.
If the latter tops the singles charts today, it will give pop’s biggest saga the happy ending it deserves.
Chris Stapleton: Higher
Ruling: Versatile regional courts
Chris Stapleton, America’s favorite mainstream country singer-songwriter star, has worked with Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.
He sang with Pink on this year’s album “Trustfall” and played a version of “Easy On Me” with Adele. She describes his voice as “like caramel”.
Despite this – and the fact that tickets for next year’s UK arena tour sold out quickly – the Kentucky musician has yet to make a major breakthrough in the charts here.
His fifth album, Higher , will certainly help his cause: It challenges conventional Nashville wisdom by giving the bearded 45-year-old a chance to delve into soft rock, smooth R&B and acoustic Americana.
Led by A Star Is Born co-producer Dave Cobb and Stapleton’s wife, musician Morgane, Higher draws on the country’s storytelling traditions.
Chris Stapleton (pictured) has worked with Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake
There are whiskey-soaked, guitar-driven heartland rockers who tour and leave broken hearts, including his own, in their wake. According to the song of the same name, South Dakota is a place where “trouble is not hard to find”.
He can also make tenders. “The Day I Die” and “Weight of Your World” move you to tears, and in the pub ballad “It Takes A Woman” Stapleton embraces his inner soul, the man.
He ventures that it takes a woman to “make him feel like a man”. His live performance should have them dancing and crying in the aisles.
Baiana: Baiana
Verdict: local jazz gem
Of From samba to carefree bossa nova, Liverpool group Baiana put their own spin on Brazilian styles on their self-titled debut.
Produced by Latin percussionist Snowboy, the record is based on singer Laura Doyle’s experiences in Rio, where she learned Portuguese and immersed herself in the local Carioca culture.
The grooves are relaxed and sunny, adorned with strings on the easy-listening “You Brought Me You,” brass on “Bossa Nova Dream,” and rhythmic vibraphone on “The Birds And The Bees.” Doyle is reminiscent of the torch singers of the swing era with a loving, sincere way.
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Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
