UNIVERSAL STRATEGIC Abbey Road Music (50th Anniversary)

Nice!

"The Beatles recording journey had gone through many twists and turns, learning curves and thrilling rides. Here we were--still wondering at the magic of it all." Paul McCartney. This is another worthwhile anniversary release of a classic Beatles album. The packaging is similar to the "Sgt. Pepper's" and the "White Album" anniversary releases. The thick, glossy slipcase (with complete track list on the back cover) holds an equally thick hardcover book. The front and back inside covers each hold two discs, which are inside glossy cardboard jackets with a track list on the back covers. The book (with sewn in binding) has a Forward by Paul McCartney, an Introduction by Giles Martin, plus chapters by Beatles historian Ken Howlett--"The Route To Abbey Road", "Track By Track", "The Cover", and "The Arrival Of Abbey Road". David Hepworth has a chapter titled "And In The End". The track by track text (which includes info on the "Sessions" tracks) is usually two pages for each song and is both interesting and informative. Also included are many rare photos from the sessions (including Linda McCartney's photographs), plus repros of handwritten lyrics, recording data sheets, and tape boxes--everything adding to the feel of that time period. The presentation is up to high standards for such an important album as this. The music. Besides the 2019 mix of the original album, the session tracks too have good sound. If you're familiar with the last reissue of this album, the sound isn't to far from that version to my ears--everything seems to be in the right place in the mix. The 23 outtakes sound every bit as good as the album. The Blue-Ray disc is well worth having--the quality--in Dolby Atmos 5.1 master audio and High Resolution Stereo Mix--is a good addition to this set. Disc 1 is the original album which is familiar to most all of us so no real comment is needed. Discs 2 and 3 have the outtakes, and this is where the fun begins. The tracks are in chronological order which is a good thing--no guessing about the recording sequence. There's some studio chat from the group and they sound like they're having a good time in the studio--joking around a bit. Several of the outtakes are close to the finished songs in feel as we know them. But there's also some goodies that make these sessions worth hearing. A few things I like: Included are takes of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)", "Something" (with a different feel from the tune we know), "Old Brown Shoe", "Here Comes The Sun" (also with a different feel from the album track), "Come Together", "Sun King", plus a demo of "Come And Get It" (made famous by that great band Badfinger), and three instrumental tracks--which give insight into how the music came together. Also give a listen to "The Long One" which includes eight shorter songs heard on the album, which gives some perspective on the finished album. But there's other good things included and everyone will have their own favorites--to each his own. I have to say for me that this album has always been near the top of Beatles albums. It's the one I find myself reaching for unless I need a dose of early Beatles. The outtakes plus a really nice book with informative essays and rare photos makes this another good addition alongside the previous anniversary sets--even at ninety bucks or so--which seems a bit high. But when you slip the book out of its slipcase and see the quality, and when you hear the all the music, the price tag slips back into your head. This is a worthwhile purchase for "Abbey Road" and/ or Beatles fans in general. And for "Abbey Road" fans, check out Bruce Spizer's latest book about "Abbey Road". It's similar to his other books on the "Sgt. Pepper's" and the "White Album" releases.

I Beatles sono sempre i Beatles. Stupenda questa versione DeLuxe. L'audio si sente davvero bene e si riescono ad apprezzare tutte le sfumature delle voci e degli strumenti. Da fan dei Beatles da sempre, non posso che consigliare l'acquisto. Ho tutta la loro collezione, distribuita tra vinili e cd. Sono stati dei grandissimi insieme e Paul McCartney ha continuato a stupirmi sempre, anche nelle svariate collaborazioni con altri artisti, come ad esempio quella con Michael Jackson in Say Say Say.

"Abbey Road" es rock sinfónico, progresivo, pop, rock duro, música en el más amplio sentido. Los 4 tocaron juntos: muchas tomas de "Come together", "Something" (la mejor canción del disco, y según Frank Sinatra la mejor canción de amor de la historia. En ese momento, George Harrison era... ¡¡¡el mejor compositor de los Beatles!!!), "Maxwell Silver Hammer". En el LP original impresionaba la suite de la cara 2 que empezaba con "Because" y acababa con "The End" (¿sabían los Beatles que era su última canción?). Primera vez que había un solo de batería en un disco de los Fab Four, y primera vez que había un duelo de 3 guitarristas. Billy Preston toca en "Something", "I want you (She's so heavy)" (otra de las joyas del disco marca John Lennon). Todo es legendario en este disco como en todos los discos de los Beatles: portada en una calle de Londres donde estaban los estudios de EMI en Abbey Road, St. John Wood, cerca de la casa de Paul (lider de la banda en esa época con un John ausente, entregado a sus causas pacifistas y a una relación absorbente con Yoko Ono); el bajo de Paul prodigioso en "Come together"; las voces de Paul desgarradoras en "Oh Darling!" o "You never give your money"; la batería alucinante de Ringo en esa obra maestra de John, "Come together"; los arreglos orquestales de George Martin; la belleza única de la primavera en "Here comes the sun" (la otra gema de George, compuesta en el jardín de Eric Clapton); "Für Elise" de Beethoven tocada al revés convertida en la celestial "Because" de John con las mejores armonías vocales de toda la carrera del grupo. Es imposible decir todo lo que este disco sugiere: es paz, alegría, belleza, plenitud, ensoñación. Los Beatles jamás serán igualados. Ahora este disco en su 50 aniversario es Nº 1 en el Reino Unido, 50 años después. Solo ellos pueden conseguirlo.

I’m happy with this press is all I can say.

The 50th anniversary edition of the Beatles final & in my opinion finest album. The extra songs on the SuperDeluxe editions are just a wonderful insight into the Beatles music making process. Wish they also offered those extra recordings at a lower price without fancy packaging for Beatles fans who aren't super rich. The packaging of the BluRay/CD SuperDeluxe edition is fantastic & absolutely worth it for wealthy collectors, but there are lots of other fans who aren't wealthy & would love to have these additional recordings in a physical format (LP, CD, BluRay, etc) so as to listen to them whenever they want to even decades later (I still listen to stuff purchased decades ago), it would have been nice to see such editions available at a more affordable rate with basic packaging. The remainder of this review pertains to the 50th anniversary edition of the Beatles Abbey Road in LP format (Vinyl) . I find the sound of this edition a bit too extra 'refined/polished' compared to the various previous editions I've owned over the decades. But it gives us a new way to appreciate this fantastic final album of arguably the worlds best band, you notice new details in songs that weren't noticeable before. The Vinyl version I have can be on the quieter side if your turntable isn't well calibrated as I noticed it's volume is very sensitive to how the turntables tonearm & catrige is calibrated. It's the only Vinyl I've owned that seems to be so sensitive.... get that balance right with your turntable & the sound from this LP is fantastic get that balance (tonearm calibration) wrong with your turntable & the sound output is much lower.