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131 of 135 found the following review helpful:
 Surround yourself with the Beatles! Nov 23, 2006
By Bob Joseph
For anyone who's a serious die-hard Beatles fan who thought they heard 'every little thing' the group ever did (the hours of 'Get Back' bootlegs, the mono 'White Album', all the 'rarities', Anthologies, and all the original LPs then CDs) will be amazed and impressed at what Sir George Martin & son did for 'Love' -- it must be heard, especially in 5.1 surround sound, to be believed. The original idea that George Harrison and Guy Laliberte (founder of Cirque du Soleil) to make a soundscape of Beatles music for a CDS show has been wonderfully realized. Songs we all heard for decades and hundreds of times over sound new again -- more so, the 'mash-up' concept literally re-invents the songs -- hearing 'Mr Kite!/She's So Heavy/Helter Skelter' yesterday for the first time was astounding -- the riff of 'Hey Bulldog' that makes a brief appearance in 'Lady Madonna', the string arrangment put to the demo of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', the newly remastered and remixed 'I am the Walrus' (finally!) -- it's a new day for Beatles fans. Some might view the Beatles' catalog as a sacred cow that should remain fixed and 'as was, as always should be' as they recorded it, and not be 'mashed-up' (all the superimposing of parts of one track onto another, time-shifting and altering the recordings to match tempos and keys). Understandable, since how indeed can really improve upon what they did way back when? But I very much enjoy 'Love' -- and appreciate that in with today's modern recording (Pro Tools was among the credits), Martin & son were able to present the timeless and beloved Beatles tracks in a new light, while making it clear how incredibly gifted the Beatles were -- you can hear all the instruments, vocals, sound effects better than ever before. While 'Love' might not be the best choice for a casual fan (one who has the red and blue best-ofs and/or '1'), it is an aural bonanza for a serious fan, in particular of the 'Revolver' era onwards with a focus on the psychelic years. To paraphrase the dearly departed George Harrison, I dig 'Love'!!
32 of 32 found the following review helpful:
FANTASTIC-DIFFERENT-IS IT REALLY A BEATLES RECORD? DAMN RIGHT IT IS! Nov 21, 2006
By Mitchell Cassman
The stereo CD contains 78 minutes of music. The DVD surround sound version on DVD disc album is slightly extended version with 81 minutes of music.
FIRST OF ALL THE SURROUND IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After being asked by the remaining Beatles, Ringo and Paul, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, to make experimental mixes from their master tapes for a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, Sir George Martin, The Beatles legendary producer, and his son Giles Martin have worked with the entire archive of Beatles recordings to create LOVE. The result is an unprecedented approach to the music. Using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, Sir George and Giles have created a unique soundscape. The release of this album, which is also featured in the Cirque du Soleil/Beatles collaborative production of the same name at The Mirage in Las Vegas.
This album puts the Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John, Paul,George and Ringo.
The music is stunning. I think the most amazing thing about it is that you can pull it apart and all the elements carry with it the essence of the entire song.
George and Giles Martin highly original work in creating the LOVE album gives us a genuinely new Beatles album. It makes us respect even more, if that were possible, the creativity and brilliance of the band behind the greatest catalogue in the history of recorded music.
The 5.1 disc is a DVD-Audio/DVD-Video hybrid. The audio is presented in high-resolution 96/24 5.1 surround on the DVD-Audio part of the disc. The DVD-Video part carries 5.1 surround in DTS and Dolby Digital as well as a PCM stereo mix. This DVD album is designed to be played on DVD video equipment but will carry no video component.
23 of 23 found the following review helpful:
Masters remixed by the masters Nov 26, 2006
By Richard G. Elen
"Sounds On"
This album is a true masterwork. Produced over many months by veteran producer George Martin and his son Giles, this album - especially in the 5.1 DVD-Audio format - reveals both the sheer quality of recording and performance of the original multitrack recordings, and the enormous possibilities of the modern digital recording studio in the hands of true masters of the craft.
Many of the original multitrack masters had a multitude of instruments crammed on to just a few tracks: disentangling them to permit the remixes present on this disc must have taken weeks on its own. Yet here you will find elements from the original songs presented more clearly than ever before, alongside elements lifted from other songs and spun in forwards, backwards and sideways. You'll hear things clearly you could never quite hear before, and some things you simply never knew existed.
Tracks from the early days feature quite traditional mixes while later, more psychedelic offerings are brim full of interesting little features that repay multiple listening, especially in surround. The audio quality is, quite simply, stunning: the DVD-Audio surround content is at 24-bit, 96kHz, which means, essentially, that you're hearing the masters as they were heard by the Martins at Abbey Road when they played them back - no other audio system can offer this. Even the CD is excellent, with none of the over-compression so prevalent on modern recordings.
There is only one new piece of recording here - a poignant new string arrangement for "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" recorded at Air - every other sound you hear is from the original mulitracks. The 26-track album is a more or less continuous segue of songs, some including transitions that contain elements from several different numbers, with a natural flow, development and conclusion.
Yes, it's the soundtrack to a show; yes, you have literally heard it all (almost) before; but in another way no, you have never heard this before - and you should take a listen. Congratulations to everyone concerned.
Be sure to buy the DVD version if you have a halfway-decent surround system (especially a DVD-Audio player, though any DVD player will play this disc in surround or stereo), though the CD sounds fine - and leave your preconceptions at the door.
14 of 15 found the following review helpful:
All You Need Is "Love" Dec 02, 2006
By Steven Housman
"SHARK"
The Beatles new album Love, which stems from the hit Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas extravaganza of the same name, is out of this world. If you think you've heard everything there is to hear from the Beatles, think again. This remix project, that's been subtitled a mash-up of the Fab Four's music, is just that. More than one hundred of their songs have been mashed up into twenty-six tracks clocking in at seventy-eight minutes. Originally, the idea of doing something similar to this came from George Harrison a few years before his untimely death in November 2001. In the mid-90's, he became fast friends with Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and the two of them had discussed a visual production set to the Beatles' music. Unfortunately, it wasn't until a year after Harrison's death that Laliberté put his head together with the Beatles' producer George Martin, and the ideas started to flow. The thought of this production was so exciting it actually brought Martin out of a decade-long retirement. Martin recruited his son, Giles Martin, a record producer in his own right, and together they worked diligently for over two years to create the most exciting "new" Beatles album since the entire band last laid down tracks in 1969. All in all, the 26 cuts on this collection is one trip back to the psychedelic age of the late 1960's but carries a sound that is as pristine as any new recording is for 2006. The album kicks off with an a cappella rendition of "Because" taken from the Abbey Road set. From there the journey turns into a trip that makes the Magical Mystery Tour seem dated. "Get Back" is treated to an introduction that begins with the familiar one-chord opening of "A Hard Days Night" which then is mixed seamlessly into the White Album gem "Glass Onion," all the while sampling "Hello, Goodbye" and "Strawberry Fields Forever." Speaking of Lennon's "Strawberry" masterpiece, that particular track is one of the many highlights among highlights, as the Martin's chose an alternate take that will take your breath away. The track "Yesterday" was tricky because it may be the one song that George and Giles thought might be overplayed and not welcome. What to do? What they did was an ingenious thirty-second introduction of "Blackbird" before hearing Paul's vocal on the first notes of the aforementioned landmark recording. Problem solved, beautifully. Other tracks that literally gave me goosebumps were Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which was superbly remixed with a new string arrangement by the elder Martin that adds a certain vulnerability to the classic) and "Eleanor Rigby" (which also samples Lennon's "Julia"), while "Something" transitioned into "Blue Jay Way" which melts into the next track, "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite," which blew me away. "Octopus's Garden," which sampled "Sun King" in its delivery, was sublime. Speaking of "Sun King," you may notice that track #8 is one you don't recognize by name, but you'll recognize the sound. Its title is "Gnik Nus," which is actually the anagram for "Sun King." Giles turned the cymbal backwards on "King" and in turn also reversed the vocals for a fabulous innovative reinvention of the composition. I could list all twenty-six tracks and tell you how very unique each one is, but I'm afraid I would have to write three parts of this review to fully explain the genius of this entire album. The Beatles changed the course of pop music. This album respectfully extends their legacy. And in the end, like the last song says, "All You Need Is Love."
Footnote: If you want the full experience of Love, I implore you to purchase the special edition that includes the audio DVD disc. The sound on this 5.1 DVD is so extraordinary that you'll hear these songs like you've never heard them before. The slightest instrument and vocals come alive as if they never before existed. This audio DVD gives the familiarity of these songs something that's new and vibrant.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 Wonderful 5.1 mix of Beatles classics/remixed Dec 11, 2006
By WTDK
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.-Albert Einstein"
First let's get this out of the way--"Love" is the soundtrack to a show and that's the reason it exists. The bottom line here is that the remixes even if they differ very little from the final versions will make many of these songs feel fresh again to Beatles fans that have heard them a million times. Heck it might even convince someone raised on Nirvana or listening to Cat Power to give them a try.
The 5.1 DVD/CD is the way to go. The various mixes on the 5.1 version are terrific highlight elements that were only hinted at in the CD version and even the original catalog. The best mash versions of the songs on here are truly inspired George and Giles Martin combine the rhythm track from "Tomorrow Never Knows" with George's "Within You Without You" to truly stunning effect. Occasionally some of them do sound a bit like "Stars On 45" but the bulk of them sound wonderful.
The same can be said for "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing" and even "Come Together/Dear Prudence". "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" features Harrison's acoustic demo (which appeared unadnorned on the 3rd "Anthology") with new orchestration by the Martins. "Strawberry Fields Forever" features the progression from John's demo, to the first two versions the band cut to stunning effect as well. All of these are highlights of this album. All of these certainly deserve four or five stars.
Equally as good are the new remasters of classic Beatles recordings including the first completely true (**purists note I said TRUE not the half stereo/half mono mix on "Magical Mystery Tour") stereo mix of "I Am The Walrus". While all the tracks sound stunning in either their new stereo masters/remixes or 5.1 remixs there isn't anything new here that a Beatles fan doesn't already own. It sounds a heck of a lot better than the CDs currently on the market for the band (with the exception of "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" and "1")but it's still the same classic songs. That's not a bad thing it's just that their whole catalog has been due for an upgrade for some time now.
Nevertheless Beatles fans will enjoy hearing the familiar strains of classic Beatles songs some altered a lot while others are altered a little. Like the "Songtrack" release this isn't anything new but will be enjoyed by Beatles fans but can't replace the band's classic back catalog which sorely in need of being upgraded.
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