When I first heard the new offering from The Beatles (that I originally reported here), I was mildly disappointed. I’m not sure what it was I expected – I guess I thought that producer George Martin would somehow magically layer different tracks of Beatles instrumentals and create entirely new songs. Who wouldn’t be excited for new Beatles songs? So at first, when I tuned in to the album Love, I initially just took these to be remixed and re-edited versions of the same old songs.
Same old songs? Hah! These are Beatles songs so there isn’t much way to improve them – but what George Martin has done is completely revisit, revamp, and reproduce them, pulling in elements from other songs in order to retool the original, giving each one a new punchy kick. Some alterations are more drastic than others, and upon repeated listening, some have totally knocked me out.
While you wouldn’t immediately think that Octopus’ Garden being sang over the backing orchestration of Good Night with the sea captain’s rants from Yellow Submarine sped up to ridiculous speeds would be anything to get excited about, you would be incorrect. This is one of my favorite tracks. Somehow Martin has slowed down the tempo of the Octopus chorus (without affecting the voice) to match that of Good Night. Somehow it creates an effect that sends a chill down my spine. I like the original versions of both songs, but neither has ever given me the pricklies!
Anyway, there are many more moments like this on the album, which I am listening to as I write this. It’s worth getting. It’s worth playing repeatedly. Now I want to see the Cirque du Soleil that this was created for. And I want to see it now.
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