Refrain Yourself

If you know anything about me, you know I have a profound obsession. It’s not entirely original, and in fact, it’s one I’m forced to share with an inordinate amount of the world’s population.

I absolutely love the Beatles.

Shocking, I know. But let’s be honest – it’s a sentiment felt by almost any person you’ll meet and one that is usually a bit more intense than it probably should be.
But is that a bad thing?

The Fab Four, with little to no extra effort on their part, have cemented their status as “that one band you can be way too into without becoming a complete social outcast.” Or maybe I’m just in utter denial.

Regardless, it is only a band like the Beatles that could cause such a stir 40 years after a breakup. That is some staying power if I’ve ever seen it.

Sept. 9 marked a mass exhale by the Beatles community as long-awaited mono and stereo remasters of their entire catalogue were finally released. Feeling more like it was a second birthday than a regular Wednesday, we welcomed our “Number Nine” release date with eager ears and disgusting amounts of enthusiasm.

So what’s the big deal? The Beatles catalogue was first released on CD in 1987. That means the music you’re hearing on your “Rubber Soul” album is more than 20 years old. Let’s remember that CDs were a relatively new technology back then, so the quality has to be less than perfect (and it is).

The warm sounds that used to emanate from those vinyl LPs were lost in the transition to digital, ensuring that a whole new generation of Beatles fans were being brought up on less than the best.

Let’s also not forget that the first four albums, from “Please Please Me” to “Beatles For Sale,” are being heard for the first time in stereo mixes, and the almost mythical mono mixes of albums like “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and “The Beatles” (The White Album) are finally seeing the light of day. And let me tell you, they sound fantastic.

When I first put on my headphones and took in my favorite album, “Revolver,” I was amazed at the clarity of sound and the new surprises throughout. It would be nothing spectacular for a casual listener, but for a fan hearing an album for the hundredth time, it was a brand new experience.

Early albums like “With the Beatles” resounded with crispness, while the Holy Grail – the mono mix of “Sgt. Pepper’s” – was genuinely breathtaking. I actually stopped what I was doing because I couldn’t believe I was hearing such detail in something I had heard so many times before.

The remasters have given me and Beatles fans everywhere a new set of ears, and it might sound strange, but that’s one of the best gifts I could ever hope to receive.