Magical Mystery Tour 2012 Blu-ray by Norman Varney

In early April of 1967, while visiting Jane Asher in Denver, Colorado (Jane was doing Shakespeare with the Bristol Old Vic company, and April 5th was her 21st birthday), Paul McCartney came up with the concept of filming what was originally to be a theatrical film, but finished as an hour long Beatles television special. He jotted down his ideas on his return flight home on April 11 and presented them to the rest of the band a few days later. Paul enjoyed making movies on his own and essentially, MMT was one of his films on steroids. The first MMT recording session took place April 25 with the title track.

  It is interesting to note just a few of the events going on during this period: Finishing touches to Sgt. Pepper were still being recorded up through April 21, Yellow Submarine recording sessions began May 11, the Sgt. Pepper press release party was held May 19 where McCartney met Linda Eastman, "All You Need Is Love" was performed live on the BBC for the Our World Live broadcast June 25, in late July the Beatles went to Greece looking to buy an island where they could live and record together, Ringo's son Jason was born Aug.19, the Beatles manager Brian Epstein visited the Beatles while they worked on recording "Your Mother Should Know" at Chappell Recording Studios, the last before he died on Aug. 27. The Beatles met at Paul's home Sept. 1 to discuss their future plans where it was decided to continue with the MMT project and put everything else on hold. Filming for MMT began September 12, Apple was formed Nov. 17. MMT was premiered in monochrome on BBC Television Dec. 26th, 1967.

  MMT was released on VHS in Hi-Fi Digital Stereo in 1988 (all songs supervised and re-mixed by George Martin, visual and dialog materials restored and re-mastered by Ron Furmanek), on DVD in Dolby Digital in 1997 (just a transfer of the 1988 production where the film negative was transferred to video at VTR Studios, London on 6/23/88 and the sound relayed from the original mag track and digital audio masters at Abbey Road Studios on 6/24-25/88), and now in surround sound in 2012.

Video: The company of Eque, Inc. under the supervision of Paul Ruttan Jr. (Yellow Submarine) was responsible for the picture restoration. Cleaned up are all the film dirt, damage and defects found in the original, as well as the colors enhanced from anemic to vivid. To compare what was to what is now, check out some of the extras, which do not have all the clean-up administered. That's the way the 1997 DVD looks throughout. Understand, this was not a high budget 35mm film and that it was intended for television broadcast in 1967, so the original material was never intended to be seen on the big screen in high resolution. Still, it looks good considering and the clean-up job is most appreciated.

Audio: Many people were involved in the audio reproduction of the 2012 re-release of MMT: Sound Producer was Giles Martin (Sir George's son). The soundtrack and songs were re-mixed at Abbey Road Studios by Sam Okell. Project coordinator was Allan Rouse. Assistant Engineer was Matt Mysko. Audio restoration was by Simon Gibson. The original recordings were made by Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott.

The audio sounds good with much improved dynamic range and very little "flash" given to the surround sound channels, which I'm happy about. The DTS-HD Master sounds superior to the Dolby Digital 5.1 as typical.  However, similar to the 2012 Yellow Submarine Blu-ray, though the dynamic range is actually improved by 5.6 dB over the Dolby Digital DVD, the over-all level is set more than 10 dB above reference level, so be cautious!

Bonus Features: There are eight, including Paul giving commentary of the whole film, but my two favorites are "Meet The Supporting Cast", which has many fun and interesting tid-bits, and the big surprise to me, Traffic's "Here We Go Around The Mulberry Bush". I never knew about this video or that it was made to be a part of the film. Fun to see the original Traffic line-up making a silly music video back in the psychedelic days.

There is also a 10" square deluxe box set, which includes a 60 page soft cover book, two vinyl EPs of the original UK album, and both the Blu-ray and DVD.

                                                                                
Cat: Apple Films 5099940490595
Format: 1.33:1, 1080i/60, DTS-HD Master 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo
Re-mixed by: Sam Okell at Abbey Road Studios

Sound Quality: 3 of 5  Not the best fidelity dialog recordings originally, but music quality is very good
Content: 4 of 5  Classic rock
Extras: 3 of 5  Fun and interesting

RAM 2012 Archive Collection - Could be better

Originally released in 1971, Paul McCartney's "RAM" is one of my favorite albums. I love the loose, bluesy, 50s' rock & roll feel of it, the melodies and harmonies, and all the radical changes McCartney puts in his music that seem to work out as if mother nature were in charge. Another non-band effort, RAM is credited only to Paul and Linda, who went to New York in the fall of 1970 to record some written songs with the idea of forming a band. They auditioned many drummers, selected Denny Seiwell, and added some session players Hugh McCracken, Dave Spinozza, strings, horns, etc. Recorded (at least mostly) at Columbia Studios, New York, there are no less than six sound engineers credited on the album, including the famous Phil Ramone (Phil and I were on a panel together several years ago). The album was mixed by Erik Wangberg.

The 2012 re-issue is about 7 dB louder than the 1993 Japanese EMI/Odeon Cat: TOCP-3125 (The Paul McCartney Collection series). The dynamic range found in "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" was 25.8 dB on the 1993 cd, and only 18.4 dB on the 2012. This is a 7.4 dB loss. In addition, the sound is different. When playing back the two discs at the same loudness level (see graphs below), the 2012 (Paul McCartney Archive Collection series) is edgy and fatiguing at the top end and has less body in many of the voices. Note the vocal and acoustic guitar in "3 Legs", the vibraphone in "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey", the cowbell in "Too Many People". In addition, the 2012 release sounds a little flatter in the depth of the sound stage, not quite the delineation in the layering of the recordings. The 1993 "Digitally Remastered" cd sounds more like what I imagine the master tape would sound like, smoother and more present. And even though it sounds easier on the ears, the rock and roll grit and gut cuts through more. I thought that I had read somewhere at the time that Geoff Emerick did the remastering for this collection, but I have not been able to verify this anywhere, and non of my "Paul McCartney Collection" cds credit anyone for remastering.

The 2012 re-inssue is available in 12, count 'em, twelve versions, including 180 gram vinyl LP in stereo and the mono mix (different mix). All of these (when ordered online at paulmccartney.com) come with two digital only bonus tracks:

1. "Eat at Home" / "Smile Away (Live in Groningen, 1972)" – 8:24
2. "Uncle Albert Jam" – 2:17

All versions (except the "standard" single cd version) come with a disc that includes eight bonus tracks (33:06 minutes). This bonus material adds three more sound engineers, including Geoff Emerick to the mix. "Another Day", Oh, Woman, Oh Why" and "Little Woman Love" have been previously issued, but five tracks have not: "A Love For You", Hey Diddle", Great Cock and Seagull Race", "Rode All Night", and "Sunshine Sometime". These five tracks are not "must have" recordings in my opinion. I would have really enjoyed some alternate takes of the original material instead!

The version I have reviewed here is the 2 CD Digipak. I don't like the way you have to handle the cds to get them in and out. It's hard to avoid pulling them out by placing your thumb on one side and your index finger on the "read" side of the disc. I also feel like I'm going to scratch the discs as I remove and return them to their cardboard sleeves. The Digipak also includes song lyrics and a booklet that contains thirteen new photographs taken by Linda McCartney, many of which were taken during the recording sessions.

 

Cat: Hear Music B007L96VCY
Format: Stereo CD
Re-mastereded by: Guy Massey, Steve Rooke and Simon Gibson at Abbey Road

Sound Quality: 3 of 5  Should be better
Content: 4 of 5  Classic rock
Extras: 2 of 5  Was hoping for more

Yellow Submarine Blu-ray 2012 Reissue

The Beatles, having just completed their monumental recording of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in early April and started recording for the "Magical Mystery Tour" film project in late April of 1967, signed contracts in early May for the making of a full-length animated film based around their 1966 song "Yellow Submarine". They were to provide at least three new songs and allow use of others previously released for the soundtrack. The Yellow Submarine film was theatrically released by United Artists (in mono) in UK theaters premiering on 7/17/68 (the following day they worked on recording "Cry Baby Cry" and "Helter Skelter") and in the US on 11/13/68. The album of the same name however, wasn't released until UK 1/17/69 and US 1/13/69. There were two reasons for the delay. One was that the band felt the November 1968 release of "The Beatles" should take precedence, the other was that George Martin wanted to re-record his orchestral score for side two of the LP, which he did in two three hour sessions on Oct. 22 and 23. The first "new" song for the film was "Only A Northern Song", which was originally George Harrison's first offering for the Sgt. Pepper album, and began life in the studio on 2/13/67. This track was mixed mono for the film, mock stereo for LP, and never mixed stereo or 5.1 until 1999. The second contribution was Lennon/McCartney's "Baby You're A Rich Man", the first song recorded especially for the film. It was recorded and mixed mono on 5/11/67 in less than six hours. Though it was used in the film, it was released as the B-side of "All You Need Is Love" on 7/7/67, just prior to the film's release. It too was mono on film, and mock stereo until 1999 (except for The Beatles Box, Parlophone 1971). The next evening brought McCartney's "All Together Now". It also was recorded and mixed mono in less than six hours. May 25 began another Harrison number, "It's All Too Much". Finally,  Lennon's "Hey Bulldog", making it four new songs, was recorded. The song's lyrics were completed, music composed, recorded and mixed in a single ten hour session on 2/11/68.  According to engineer Geoff Emerick, everyone was especially pleased with that tune. They were filmed recording it, but the footage was actually used to promote "Lady Madonna". The happy mood seen on that footage might be because they knew it was their last recording session before leaving for their long holiday in India. The "Hey Bulldog" animated film segment was only seen theatrically in Europe and not available in the US until the 1999 DVD. 

Video tape and LaserDisc was released for home use in 1987 by MGM/UA in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio and simulated stereo. After a couple of years, it went out of print.

Then, after cleaning the original film negative and rejuvenating the color in 1999, MGM/Apple released the widescreen DVD, 5.1 Dolby Digital, restoring the "Hey Bulldog" sequence and adding several special features.This version also went out of print.

Finally, we have the the 2012 Apple Blu-ray and DVD released in June, after the May theatrical release. Compared to the MGM 1999 DVD, the Apple 2012 reissue is a welcomed improvement. Both the audio and video are better.

Video: This is the major improvement of this new release. The film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Because of the delicacy of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was employed in the digital clean-up, it was all done by hand, frame by frame, over a four month period. I can't imagine the man hours involved, but the results are spectacular, clean and vivid! Though the 1999 DVD  release says "widescreen" and the new blu-ray says 1.66:1, there is more picture information visible on the blu-ray. I have not yet verified their true aspect ratios. 

Audio: I am happy to say that the same 1999 5.1 remix by Pete Cobbin is incorporated here. He did an exceptional job! Messing with the Beatle's soundtracks is a delicate task, especially when "enhancing". Keep in mind that these new mixes originated from 4 track analog tapes, often having several separately recorded instruments overlaid on the same track and running though boards all intended for mono. The sound here is as if the master tape is being played back.  These recordings were made by Norman Smith and Geoff Emerick back in 1965-68, yet they sound better than most recordings made today. Listen for example to the vocals and the strings in "Eleanor Rigby" or the clarinets and tubular bells in "When I'm Sixty Four".  The surround enhancement is done very tastefully, especially during the songs. The songs don't sound pulled apart as some engineers would do. I especially like the surround effects done for "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". Throughout the well known songs you hear more distinction between instruments and harmonies.

For the first time, we have it in DTS at home. The theatrical re-release of the film in 1999 included a new 5.1 remix in the DTS audio format, however, the subsequent 1999 DVD was released only in 5.1  Dolby Digital. We now have it in DTS-HD Master Audio (English only), which sounds better than in Dolby Digital.

There are however, two audio caveats. The first being that the output level is about 11.5 dB too loud (see graphs below). Though the dynamic range is actually improved by 2.0 dB over the Dolby Digital DVD, the over-all level is set way above reference level, so be cautious. Note that in the dynamic range graphs below, the new Blu-ray disc was played back 10 dB below the old DVD in order to nearly match output levels. The dynamic range graphs shown plotted the entire 90 minute movie every 0.5 seconds.

There is the orchestral climax about 23 minutes into the movie. I thought it would be interesting to capture the peak of the crescendo, do a spectrum analysis of it and compare the two versions (see graph below). I captured 94 frequencies from 50 Hz. through 11.2 kHz.  Both discs were played at the calibrated reference level (-20dBFS input = 75 dB SPL/C Slow output at listening position). Note that the Blu-ray disc plays about 11.5 dB louder than the DVD at this output. Both the dynamic range chart above and the spectrum chart below confirm this. In the spectrum analysis, the sum of all frequencies peaked at 96 dBC for the DVD, with an average frequency output of 70.0 dBC, while the Blu-ray peaked at 106 dBC and averaged at 81.6 dBC.

The second caveat is the omission of the music-only option, which allowed you to listen to the film's score only (no dialog or sound effects) on the 1999 DVD. I found it interesting, but I suppose most didn't.

Bonus features: Both the Yellow Submarine DVD and Blu-ray include a short making-of documentary titled Mod Odyssey" (TRT: 7:30), the film's original theatrical trailer, audio commentary by producer John Coates and art director Heinz Edelmann, several brief interview clips with others involved with the film, storyboard sequences, 29 original pencil drawings and 30 behind-the-scenes photos. Both Digipaks include reproductions of 4 animation film cells, 10 collectible stickers, and a 16-page booklet (same text as 1999 insert) with a new essay by Yellow Submarine aficionado John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios). Note that there is no new A/V material over the 1999 DVD.

Cat: Apple 5099962146098
Format: video 1080p, audio 5.1 DTS-HD MA, PCM stereo, mono
Remixed by: Pete Cobbin
Mastered by: Mike Minkler, Ted Hall & Pete Cobbin at Abby Road Studios
Sound Quality: 3.5 of 5  Nothing better
Content: 4 of 5  Nothing is real.
Extras: 2 of 5  Nothing new

Reissue of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" 40th Anniversary Special Edition

For the 40th anniversary, Jethro Tull's "Aqualung" gets a face lift. The cover artwork looks like it has been sitting on a shelf undisturbed for forty years with aged discoloring, but the sound is new. Previous CD releases of this classic have suffered sonically being thin and edgy, much tape hiss, an incomplete track, added reverberation, etc. Most of what is heard here is from 16 track analog tapes circa 1970, which were transferred to 96k/24 bit at Abbey Road by Kris Burton, then remixed by Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree fame) via Logic Audio 9.1.4. Steven did a great job! The new mixes really don't sound new, just revived. By using emulators of original period equipment, reducing tape hiss and paying close attention to the original mix, many, many veils have been removed. The sound is much fuller, present and personal. For example, the drums have more "whack". In general, everything has more body and better dynamics. In spite of these improvements, you'd be hard-pressed to notice many changes in individual instrument levels, effects or pans from the original '71 vinyl release. Great work for a great work!

Note the 62.4dBC dynamic range of the new mix of the title track, an improvement of 2.9dB. On average the song is louder (82.5dB vs, 79.6dB), yet still offers more range. The song's quietest passage is 30.2dB, while it's loudest is 92.6dB, versus the 1984 version of 32.2dB and 91.7dB respectively (see chart below plotting SPL every 1/10th of a second).

Included in the 40th anniversary edition is a 32 page booklet with many color photos of the band, etc., and interviews with Ian Anderson and Steven Wilson.

The second CD contains fourteen 1970 and 1971 recordings made just before and after Aqualung. Five of these tracks have not previously been released, and another three of them have been remastered. This double cd* is a steal for the $17.95 retail price!

*There is also a deluxe 40th Anniversary Collector's Edition, which includes; a 12'x12' 48 page booklet, a 180 gram vinyl pressing, the two cds, a DVD and a Blu-ray. The DVD and Blu-ray have the two cds plus a few extra tracks in 96/24 LPCM stereo, plus a 5.1 remix by Steven Wilson, and the original Quad mix, both in DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Digital..

Cat: Chrysalis 5099908799920
Format: 2 channel, 16/44.1k
Remixed by: Steve Wilson
Mastered by: Peter Mew at Abby Road
Sound Quality: 3 of 5  This blows all the other CD  versions away!
Content: 4 of 5  Classic rock album.
Extras: 4 of 5  An informative booklet and 14 extra tracks, all worthwhile.