By Scott Westerman – Curator, Keener13.com
As many Keener fans know, 09/09/09 was the date when two big Beatle events took place. The Beatle iteration of the incredibly popular Rock Band video game was released. And the entire Parlophone Beatle catalog was re-released in digitally remastered form.
Those of us who saw the Beatles Love show in Vegas, and bought the associated CD, marveled at the magic that Fab Four producer George Martin, and son Giles Martin, worked. We’ve worked their re-mix of “Get Back” into the rotation.
The same attention to detail has been given to the Beatle catalog we all bought as 45s, LPs and CDs over the years.
The question many have been asking this week is, “Is it worth the money?” With the Beatle re-master box priced north of $200 bucks, is the quality really THAT much better to justify shelling out the bucks again?
It all depends on your ears. For some, your current Beatle CD collection will suffice. It sounds great and brings back all those memories just as vividly as it did when you listened on your HiFi. But for others, the additional nuances of each track will jump out to your trained ears. Paul’s bass lines are that much more precise, reminding us again that he’s an outstanding musician. The harmonies behind John’s lead are so crisp that if you put headphones on, you may feel like you’re in Abbey Road Studios back in the 60s when all this was happening for he first time.
We at Keener13.com got our hands on this stuff a tad before the rest of the world, courtesy of our radio friends. When I took a listen, I immediately wrote the kids telling them to throw in together to get Dad the Beatle Box for Christmas.
Keener’s “Beatle DJ”, Scott Regen writes, “The Beatles were the Monets, Renoirs and Van Goghs of their moment in time – and as it turned out, for all time. They however painted with music. I don’t believe in accidents. I think their historical contributions to all of our lives could be condensed into two fundamentals: The music itself, how it made us feel and think about life and so called others, and living, and sharing, and what it meant to live, why we live and all this expressed beyond words. The second fundamental: The Beatles helped bring Eastern spiritual thought to the Western world.”
If sales statistics mean anything, the Beatles are again one of the top selling rock acts. The box sets are flying off the shelves and a whole new generation of baby boomers are discovering the Rock Band game, Beatle style. If you’re a Beatle freak, you’ve probably already taken delivery of your digitally re-mastered collection. If not, find someone who has one and listen for yourself.
