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The only thing that disappoints me is how much better Let It Be Naked sounds. I feel each album really should be mixed slightly just to help improve the sound. It's still the Beatles. I realize Let It Be Naked has alternate takes and less orchestration, etc. Those stereo mixes are terrible. But, there are certain takes that are identical like For You Blue which just sound so much better. That being said let me explain. It isn't changing the music.
Why do they sound better. Because they were mixed. Especially on the Beatles first two stereo albums. Left music and right vocals.
Let it Be is usually placed behind Sgt Pepper, Abbey Road, White Album, Revolver, and maybe one or two other Beatle albums. The fact that this album is considered no better than the Beatles' fifth best work, and yet includes classics (or at least semi-classics) such as Across the Universe, Two of Us, Let it Be, Long and Winding Road, and Get Back, says ALOT about the band. I started listening to it again for the first time in 30 years and became smitten with it again.
It sure is hard to land on this one.LET IT BE is probably the most "subjective" of all The Beatles' releases. drummer needs cymbalta - pun wasn't intended). Another completely live piece. The string are subtle and the choir gentle enough so as not to disrupt the incredibly poetic, fragile sound and emotion."I Me Mine" - I used to skip this tune when I was a teenager. He looks like a Cymbalta poster boy in every shot (ha. I think, overall, the production is good.
I can't wait to obtain LET IT BE. It's a favorite and it's also somewhat prophetic in its lyric: "the two of us have memories, longer than the road that stretches out ahead""I Dig a Pony" - A very abstract lyric but soulful singing and playing. No Specteral sounds here."Let it Be" - Always the way I'd remembered it. And then one hears the playful banter included between some tracks. Should it be judged considering the music created by other artists that time period. I will also be buying the "naked" release to hear the other "vision" of LET IT BE, that will be interesting to be sure. Every time I hear this song I think of that story. Specter isn't too heavy-handed but he's flirting with it.
I still love Lennon though."1 After 909" - Best rocker on the album. For you Beatles expert texpert readers: I had not heard this release is about 30 years so I come to LET IT BE with fresh ears possible apart from one who has never heard it at all. What we do know is that McCartney was very upset with the Spector post-production and that the work to record these tunes was not much fun. I'd never noticed the subtle swipe at the Rolling Stones until I purchased this edition."Across the Universe" - I feel the Specter production was done nicely here (hear).
The only bad thing is that this version is too short. How can it be judged for it's sloppiness if loose was the objective. The work is loose, no question. I'm saving that purchase for last, after I have the remaining remasters and the anthology release to finish my collection.Dig it.
but isn't that what they were after. I've read so much hyperbole regarding LET IT BE; however, only The Beatles themselves are worthy judges. I've never liked Lennon's off the cuff lyric on this, it always smacks of arrogance to me. Should it be judged using the incredibly high standard and pioneering work of The Beatles. NAKED and hear this unadorned."The Long and Winding Road" - A beautiful, poignant tune that has been turned into what amounts to a Disney-movie finale piece, Specter went nuts on this one and, while I can still hear the raw feeling that went into this, it does bug me a bit."Get Back" - More flat-out live rockin'. "Two of Us" - There's that fascinating story of McCartney visiting Lennon at his home in New York and the two of them talking about going down to NBC studios with their guitars during an edition of Saturday Night Live.
Listen to LET IT BE and make up your own mind, don't pay attention to reviews filled with nonsensical hyperbole. I still don't think this is a bad release, it brings back great memories (I was about 16 when this was released). On the other hand, I come to this in a way that is like a chance meeting with a high-school girl friend whom one has thought about from time-to-time over the years.For those otherwise:How does one rate The Beatles least "perfect" work. Yeah, the choir is a bit much, almost Disney-like on "The Long and Winding Road". The tune makes ME want to get back to Tucson (where I lived for 5 years recently).And Phil Spector's production isn't that bothersome to my ears. It's a Small World Afterall filled with zombies, werewolves and vampires."I've Got a Feeling" - Another rocker that sounds like a very good band playing live.
Perception is a flawed reality. Specter's production doesn't get in the way on this one either."Dig It" - Lennon sarcasm, just having some fun with a touch of arrogance all beneath a sort of maniacal circus music. As far as the sessions go, perhaps everything that needs to be said is said by looking at the pictures of Ringo Starr in the photos that are contained in the wonderful packaging for this remaster. But that isn't the version that is remembered historically - though perhaps it should have been. Definitely the sound of a very good band playing live. Now, I like it a lot, it rocks.
I'm very please with my purchase and I would buy it again and again if something happened to my copy. Only The Beatles themselves have a worthy opinion (and their individual opinions are also a flawed reality) as to where it stands in their legacy.
Removing Spector's special effects really opens up the true LIB. All the vocals have never sounded better. There is a little hiss I pick up on the remastered LIB, compared to Naked, which is absolutely clean, with great separation between instruments. The vocals shine on Naked, they really do, trust me. I just picked up the latest remastered LIB cd and I dont think it is near as good as LIB Naked. A great trade off. The only thing I miss is the guitar solo on the song Let It Be, and the better drum rythm on the last verse. I much prefer it.
Great mixing job on Naked. It is really that clean, and punchy. Naked is cleaner sounding, drums and bass come through better and with solid punch. They really come through crisp and clear. Plus, his effects actually date the recording, where with Naked, it sounds like it was recorded yesterday. It was truly a revelation to hear Naked again. Okay on remastered LIB.Plus you get a better song order on Naked and you lose two lousy songs to make room for Dont Let Me Down. Get Naked, you won't regret it.
An easy-going optimistic number that definitely too is among the best on the album. How could it be that Lennon's "Don't Let Me Down" was not chosen for the album. Or what about "One After 909" - an old song from the early Beatles days. Actually, my only major complaint is that one of the strongest tracks from those sessions was not even included on the album. For me, there are at least three good reasons for this should have been done.
Actually I feel, considering that the album was already more or less a mixed bag, that the single "Ballad of John and Yoko" and perhaps even the B-side "Old Brown Shoe" should have been included. Various circumstances meant that the album was partially shelved, and only finalized after "Abbey Road", now with Phil Spector as the man to do this. "Two of Us" is a true Lennon-McCartney collaboration. I'm not crazy about the song, but I clearly prefer Spector's version. Spector deserves great praise for his work with this number, which here is presented infinitely stronger than the original version with off-key female voices on the chorus. Harrison's "I Me Mine" was actually the very last song the group worked with - a relatively short number that Spector got clipped together so playing time reached two and a half minutes.
The story that "Let if Be" from 1970 was the last album the Beatles released, but in fact primarily recorded before "Abbey Road" from 1969, is well known to connoisseurs of the group. During this proces, he did quite a lot of overdubbing.Spector has subsequently been criticized by many for having over-produced the album, and some believe that some numbers, more or less have been ruined in this proces. The problem with the album is that there are too many numbers that would normally have ended out as outtakes; possibly as b-sides. "Across the Universe", which actually comes from a charity album from 1968, is one of the highlights of the album. 3: The most important reason of course is that song is among the very best from these sessions. 1: The number clearly comes from these sessions - see the Apple rooftop concert. The album has subsequently gone down in history as the group's least interesting, a fact which at first may seem surprising ; after all it does contain three number one single hits ( "Get Back", "Let it Be" and "The Long and Winding Road"). 2: The album's playing time is quite short, so even for this reason alone, it would have been a good idea to include it.
Specter went through countless hours of recordings to create want would the album "Let it Be". However, there are also absolutely great songs. An excellent number. Unfortunately I feel that McCartney's vocals at times sound sound rather strained, giving the song a somewhat uneven appearance. Generally several of the tracks are not of the well-known high standards of the Beatles.
Even very fine keyboard playing by Billy Preston can not change that the number is basically not very interesting. Really nice guitar riff, a nice tune - particularly exciting to hear McCartney and Lennon each their melody towards the end. The idea behind thge "Let It Be" project was to create a sort of documentary on how the group worked in the studio. "I've Got a Feeling" is also a good number. "Let if Be" is simply McCartney at his best - another classic. McCartney has expressed dissatisfaction with the Spector's treatment of "The Long and Winding Road". The closing song "Get Back" had already been released long before, and it is of course another highlight of the record - again, a damn shame that its -b-side "Don't Let Me Down" was not chosen, as well. "Maggie Mae" and "Dig a Pony" are probably primarily included to give an impression of moods during these sessions - but the tracks more or less come out as unnecessary filler.
Personally, I disagree with those views. I must say that I think Spector was right in his assessment of the number; it is a "Disney-number" - with or without strings. Harrison's "For You Blue" is very sweet but does sound like a serious bid for an album track. "Dig a Pony" - has fine features, but I've always felt that that guitar theme was something heavy rump. This was one of the reasons that the CD "Let It Be Naked" was released in 2003. With these three additions, the album might have approached 5 stars - as it is now, it can barely achieve four stars.
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