Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Beatles Abbey Road 2012 remaster

I want to start of by explaining something before I begin this review.The vinyl LP dominated the market from the early 1950's til it's demise in 1990.NOW the format has made a gigantic comeback,this is partially due to the abysmal sound of the I-Pod ,and plummeting sales of the Compact disc,but mostly from kids discovering their parents old record collection and realizing the reality that it not only offers more bonuses like large posters you couldn't possibly fit in a CD jewel case,but lyric sheets and larger photos,BUT also produces better sound,a debate that's turned into an online war on the Internet.

What this means is most of the LP pressing plants of the past are long gone,and this includes the techs that  worked them who knew when to change the ''mother'' plate,as this does wear out after several pressings,plus you had to spot check that spindle holes were center or just knew how to process records.Today it's become a new science with greenhorns new to the trade
My copy of Abbey Road back cover
My copy of the album
 that have to be re trained,what does this mean?,poor quality control,several defective albums,and being 120 or 180 gram vinyl does not compensate for this.

NOW the review.

I've owned over 12 copies of this album from Japanese import to the half speed master by Mobile Fidelity released in 1980,plus the 2006 re release from Capital that is the top seller of all the LP's out there.

Most of the 2012 Beatle albums have had several quality control problems ranging from skips,drop outs and surface noise in some tracks,why is this?,because as I said an entire new generation of record manufacturers are just learning the trade at your expense,and why I would NOT buy the boxset.

Abbey Road is pressed on 180 gram vinyl,my copy of the album is pictured,this was the groups most cohesive recording as a group and would be their last,side 2 is pure magic the songs are played with no pause. Here comes the sun is the albums highlight,John protested many of Georges songs appearing on Beatle albums yet allowed his aberration of a mistress ruin Let It Be and tracks on the White Album with her mindless babbling.Wrtten in Eric Clapton's garden,HCTS is an absolute masterpiece.I always loved the swamp background sound they used in the opening of Sun King complete with chirping cricket,this was paying homage to Buddy Holley and the Crickets where John Lennon copped The Beatles name.

Abbey Road is my altime favorite album,but NOT the 2012 remaster,folks,save your money,the 2006 release taken from the 1987 remastering sounds much better,trust me

1 comment:

  1. I’ve just bought the 2012 Abbey Road (why, why didn’t I googled it before?). To my ears, it sounds great, but being a seasoned vinyl user back in the 70s and 80s, the pressing looks really weird to me. Spaces between the tracks on side A are barely noticeable. Even comparing it to my 2012 copies of Rubber Soul and Revolver, it doesn’t look the same. Despite of this, the three records sound great and I haven’t got any issues.

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