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315 of 324 found the following review helpful:
Beatles' extravaganza is a magical mystery tour... Nov 21, 2006
By jazzmusikeditor
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
99 of 113 found the following review helpful:
A musical landslide of Beatleology. Nov 26, 2006
By Y. Dharnidharka
"D"
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
www.uncut.co.uk
213 of 251 found the following review helpful:
 A GREAT RELEASE to that will please all generations of BEATLES FANS! Nov 21, 2006
By Paulo Leite
In the Music Industry, few releases generate the controversy among fans as the release of a new Beatles album. There are those who welcome it and those who, for some justifiable reason, reject it. This is my take: The Beatles have an extensive catalogue of great songs (perhaps the greatest catalogue in Music History...) anyway, we all know that half of them are dead and we will never hear a new recording from them ever again. They are gone. Deffinately gone.
And yet, we fans never get tired of them. We always listem to their songs as if they were here. For us, they are not a band with half their members dead. They are very real and living. And deep inside I believe we never really think we'll never hear from them again.
LOVE is an album where several of the Fab Four's greatest songs were remixed, remade and adapted for a great show put on stage by Le Cirque du Soleil. Wisely, this soundtrack was made by George Martin himself... with Paul, George, Ringo and Yoko's blessing. I am sure that, like in everything regarding The Beatles' releases, all the people involved with this are hard working and serious people commited to give us nothing but the best treatment of the greatest material ever composed in pop music.
So, for me, this is a great thing and we'll never have anything better than this. People (like myself) may prefer the original songs... it's ok. But we must also understand that this new album is not meant to replace the older, original recordings. They are a just the soundtrack for a stage show... made by the best people we could think of... and made with the blessing of those could bless it. I was lucky evough to get a copy of this today... and after listening to it back to back... I was very very pleased to hear the great work they made.
All the songs sound beautiful with lots of new insights and several propositions that must work very well on the stage. This album gives a new view at these classic songs. For example... joining ELEANOR RIGBY (my favorite Beatles song) with a transitional use of JULIA is a very interesting proposition that the Beatles never thought of doing, obviously. Or the putting together of BLACKBIRD and YESTERDAY is another example of the experimentations made here.
The treatment of WHILE MY GUITAR GENTLY WEEPS is, I am sure, the thing that would end up happening with the song if the Beatles (in the end) did not go for the well know "heavier" approach we listen to on The White Album... and I'm glad George Martin did it here... because, since the Anthology, I'm sure we all thought of that.
This album is the closest thing we'll ever get to a new Beatles album... and it will certainly bring new fans into our club. I am very happy with it... and I am thankful that more than 35 years after these recordings were all made, people are still fiding in them new sources of inspiration. This album should NOT be mistaken for those hundreds of lousy cover/homage albums made by third rate people (The Beatles Salsa... or the Beatles go Reagge... etc)... or those bootleg albums whose sound quality leaves a lot to be desired.
Like the great Anthology series, the Capitol box sets, the "one" album, and the "Naked" album, Love is an obvious labour of passion, care, taste and love. It is a great celebration of the music we all love... from four musicians who are eternal.
177 of 217 found the following review helpful:
 Yawn Nov 23, 2006
By K. Breeden
It's a big yawner. Anybody with a reasonably respectable Beatles MP3 collection and a $40 computer program (Goldwave) could have created this album. There is frankly nothing new or imaginative. Not only that, the remixes detract from the originals. This music would likely work well in the context of the show, but fails to stand on its own as an album. All the hype is nothing more than yet another McCartney/Ono Christmas money grab.
23 of 25 found the following review helpful:
Best Stereo Soundscapes Ever Created Nov 23, 2006
By B. Gourley
My first two listens where of he 5.1 mix and the sound was great. The vocals are emphasized in this mix but at times I thought the instrumentation was too buried. Maybe it is the fault of my set-up. I then put on the phones and listened to the stereo mix. These are the best stereo soundscape I have ever heard and I've been listening to recordings before stereo was released. The stereo sound is so clean, well balanced with each sound being distinct and perfectly placed. Start with I am the Walrus to see what I mean.
I classify the songs on this album into three categories: Bascially intact (usually only minor changes to entrances and exits), Slightly re-invented, or Re-invented. Here's the breakdown by song:
Basically intact
Eleanor Rigby
I Am the Walrus (best stereo remix ever)
Something
Help!
Yesterday
Come Together
Revolution
A Day in the Life
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (least effective stereo remix)
All You Need is Love
Slightly re-invented
Get Back
I Want to Hold Your Hand (shortened, background screams)
Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
Hey Jude (vocals and base freed up in the shortened ending course, beautiful base line)
Re-invented
Glass Onion
Drive My Car (great driving beat and blending with What You're Doing and The Word)
Sun King (Knik Nus) (suprisingly effective)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (most experimental, one song where the 5.1 mix is better)
Strawberry Fields Forever
Within You and Without You (most effectve combination)
Octopus's Garden (real fun and entertaining)
Lady Madonna (a better version than the original)
Here Come's the Sun (not better than the original but a masterpiece on its own)
Back in the USSR (different vocals, more casual fun)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (undescribably beautiful, another masterpiece reinvention)
Lastly, many of the transitions are remarkably, inventive and some will blow your mind. Starting with Because to Get Back will lift you out of your seat. Glass Onion to Eleanor Rigby, Something/Inner Light to Being for the Benefit Mr. Kite, Within You and Without You to Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (the most subtle and best), Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds to Octobus's Garden, Lady Madonna to Here Comes the Sun, Revolution to Back to the USSR (so smooth and flawless), Hey Jude to Sgt. Pepper's Club Band.
George is 80 years old and not likely going to have time to do much more re-invention (and he is probably the only that should be allowed) but let's hope they immediately put him on cleaning up the sound and creating the stereo soundscapes on the rest of the catalog.
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