Love [Best of]

 

 

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Of all the possible posthumous incarnations for the Beatles, here's one of the most unlikely - as soundtrack to a Las Vegas circus.

It isn't any old circus, admittedly, but Canada's arty, super-acrobatic Cirque du Soleil, whose current Las Vegas show, "Love", is modelled on the story of the Beatles and characters from their songs: "Eleanor Rigby", "Sergeant Pepper" et al.

More importantly, "Love-the-show" - the result of George Harrison's friendship with Cirque founder Guy Laliberte - involved producer George Martin disinterring the group's master tapes from the Abbey Road vault for he and his son Giles to remix and remodel.

The results blast "Love" audiences from a state-of-the-art surround-sound system that includes speakers in individuual seats.

And the first thing "Love-the-album" does, at least in its DVD surround-sound format, is to blow you away with sheer sonic wizardry. Set to a noisy dawn chorus, complete with fluttering wings, the three-part vocal harmonies of 'Because' arrive with the clarity of an ice blue sky. The chugging introduction to 'Get Back' hurtles out of the mix like a train. The pumping fairground organs of 'Mr Kite' reek of steam and sawdust. Hearing many of the familiar tracks is like viewing an old masterpiece after cleaning: the light is brighter, the shadows deeper. Here, the trebles tingle while the bass end booms.

Some of this is painstaking technical restoration. After the Beatles swapped touring for the studio, they and Martin became experts at squeezing a quart of sound into a pint pot, extending the limits of four- and eight-track recordings by 'bouncing down' tracks.

Today's technology has let the Martins reverse the process, giving instruments and voices more autonomy. Ever notice the pizzicato violins on the middle 8 of 'Something'? You will now.

The ambitions of "Love" go beyond renovation, however. Its 26 tracks are set in an ambient flow of sound collages distilled from hours of Beatles tapes and containing fragments and echoes of 130 songs in all. Frequently the effect is ghostly, as the stalking strings of 'Glass Onion' and a snatch of 'Nowhere Man' drift like ectoplasm down a corridor. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' - one of the few numbers from the moptop days - surfaces from a scratchy haze of screaming.

The most ambitious songs emerge most improved. There is not, after all, much to be done with the rock'n'roll retro of 'Lady Madonna', whereas 'Strawberry Fields' and 'I am the Walrus' sound more than ever like avant-garde masterpieces. Harrison's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (the slower version from Anthology 3) is given a sumptuous string setting by Sir George.

Throughout, the McCartney/Starr rhythm section has never sounded so heavy, or the group's vocal harmonies so sharp and affecting.

"Love" vindicates the Beatles' status as master musicians and conceptualists. Not only for the spirit of optimism they embodied but artistically, they remain the act to beat. On this evidence, no one else comes close.

My favourite track is 'Here Comes the Sun/The Inner Light'.

Neil Spencer

Along with the Amazonian rainforest, there can be few natural resources which have been ransacked like the Beatles back catalogue. Anthologised, lobotomised, and generally pillaged in the pursuit of commercial gain, public demand appeared to have finally exhausted itself with the middling response to 2003's unfortunately titled "Let It Be... Naked".

Until now. Prompted by a long-term friendship between George Harrison and Cirque De Soleil's founder Guy Laliberté, and given the blessing of the Axis Powers (Paul, Ringo and Yoko), Love is the latest addition to that bulging catalogue.

Essentially the soundtrack to the Cirque show launched in Las Vegas last July, "Love" is a jaw-dropping 80- minute mash-up of The Beatles' more accessible tunes, slavishly compiled by Giles Martin and overseen by father George, all delivered in sumptuous 5.1 surround sound.

Those fearing a train-wreck along the lines of Twin Freaks - The Freelance Hellraiser's remix assault on the Wings back catalogue - can rest easy.

Starting off with "Because", it segues into the drum solo from "The End", hammers into the opening riff from "Hard Day's Night" and then lurches straight into "Get Back" before you can splutter "Stars On 45".

From there it's a musical landslide of Beatleology ( "Eleanor Rigby", "A Day In The Life", "Here Comes The Sun" ), all overlaid with snippets from every nook and cranny of their back catalogue.

So we get "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing" as one continuous ebb'n'flow of mid-period drugginess, "Come Together/Dear Prudence" as an acid-fried soundscape and - best of all - the cosmic drones of "Tomorrow Never Knows" and "Within You Without You" fitted together like a glove.

Wherever a song is allowed to stand alone ("Back In The USSR", "Revolution"), it arrives with double-tracked vocals, stripped back instrumentation or - why not? - the faint tinge of sitar.

If the scale is almost beyond comprehension, "Love" also represents a sonic Da Vinci Code for Beatles trainspotters, who could spend the rest of their lives arguing over whether the snare sound is derived from "No Reply" or "Paperback Writer".

Completists will enjoy a newly unearthed demo version of "Strawberry Fields Forever", but it is the Martins' obsessive quest for innovation which deserves the garlands.

Paul Moody

Okay, so i looked at all the reviews here before I bought this cd. I'm a big beatles fan and wasnt sure about how the songs were compiled and whatnot, but the raving reviews convienced me! And I must be honest, when i first started listening I didn't like it at all! Being attatched to the original versions, this cd was a huge change. But after listening to it for a while it has grown on me and I quite like it! sooo give this cd a chance!

Hope my review helped some of you

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5.0 out of 5 stars I'm in love with this one!!!
Yeah I know the title is a little catchy...This is the first Beatles album I listened in it's entirety. And wow!!! Remixed & remastered sound. One word: magic!!!

Published 20 months ago by gaetan

4.0 out of 5 stars I didn't expect to like it, but I do.
George Martin and his son obviously enjoyed making this album. I enjoyed the melding of songs, and I enjoyed hearing different takes of Beatles tunes. Read more

Published 23 months ago by J. Baxter

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasently Surprised
I had refused to even listen to this album since it came out until I finally broke down. Now I realize just how silly that was. Read more

Published 24 months ago by D. Doyle

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow - I cannot believe the sound quality of this work!
I have never heard them sound crisper, cleaner, on CD. Amazing. I am, always have been, a Beatles fanatic. Read more

Published on Jan 16 2007 by C. A. Vermeer

1.0 out of 5 stars Why Must They Do This?
Some music just should not be messed with, and Beatles music is one of them. The only bearable parts are those songs which have very little editing or splicing(actually a fair bit... Read more

Published on Jan 3 2007 by J. Mclarty

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Beatlemania afresh!
Who could have thought that these great songs could be improved on? Yet that is what the Martins have done. Bravo! Read more

Published on Dec 4 2006 by Peter Kwok

5.0 out of 5 stars Love??? I "LOVE" IT!!
This is a totally awesome CD!

Although I'd recommend that you should listen to all the original Beatles music first, I don't think you need to be a die-hard fan. Read more

Published on Nov 22 2006 by Pine Lake

4.0 out of 5 stars BEATLES LOVE, Georgetown Ontario
Very interesting Bealtes CD. It is definitely worth listening to if you are a die-hard fan of the band. Read more

Published on Nov 21 2006 by Simon2112

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