Must be time for a Rubber Soul SDE leak about now...

[Lord Reith]

I think Stowe well and truly stole its thunder.

[General Pepper]

I think Stowe well and truly stole its thunder.

Only in our circles. The R&B target market, casual listeners, aren't aware, and more than that, would find it almost unlistenable.

Anyone in our circles who would buy R&B again will anyway. It'll make no difference.


GP

[Lord Reith]

I think Stowe well and truly stole its thunder.

Only in our circles. The R&B target market, casual listeners, aren't aware, and more than that, would find it almost unlistenable.

Anyone in our circles who would buy R&B again will anyway. It'll make no difference.


GP

Oh yes that's what I meant. Among all the people who were agonizing over N&T and R&B, Stowe completely stole the spotlight. We were expecting those two and instead got something completely different and far more exciting.

[Rorsontherun]

Hi! Just joining in! is there any chance of this getting released in 2023, given the information about the Red and Blue imminent releases? I would love to listen to that remix! I loved the Revolver remix! I think it was beautifully done, obviously it has it flaws (for example I didn't like She said she said in its entirety, but overall, I enjoyed the remix).

[Lord Reith]

Hi! Just joining in! is there any chance of this getting released in 2023, given the information about the Red and Blue imminent releases? I would love to listen to that remix! I loved the Revolver remix! I think it was beautifully done, obviously it has it flaws (for example I didn't like She said she said in its entirety, but overall, I enjoyed the remix).

Apparently according to the best insider, RS is not this year or even next year.

But there's always Fabracadabra...

[skynet]

Hi! Just joining in! is there any chance of this getting released in 2023, given the information about the Red and Blue imminent releases? I would love to listen to that remix! I loved the Revolver remix! I think it was beautifully done, obviously it has it flaws (for example I didn't like She said she said in its entirety, but overall, I enjoyed the remix).

Apparently according to the best insider, RS is not this year or even next year.

But there's always Fabracadabra...

For the sake of discussion:

I am wondering why exist that kind of a "trend" from Apple Stakeholders to "dimmish" Beatles recordings pre 66? i mean we know that Rubber Soul is a Classic Defining Masterpiece from the Beatles that certainly deserves to be recognized, more than it has already, even more so given the rush in which was constructed by The Beatles originally in the middle of touring, yes i know there is not much left (besides a few surprises that we do not know about) on the vaults regarding RS sessions and most of its outtakes has been officially published already, I would expect that instead of having the approach of getting Red and Blue as SDE, to be Rubber Soul, maybe there is not enough material as i repeat but an SDE is well deserved for this album, and to me is an insult that is even being considered to be paired with Help! as album, not that Help is a lesser work but in itself deserves its own SDE, so why make an SDE of a compilation albums? it beats me, even if the very same Beatles approved those compilations originally, those are for me at least, lesser records than Rubber Soul.

I kind of understand the rationally behind pairing them with "Now and Then" as relaunch, and even that for me, is a nonsense, why not then better relaunch Anthology revamped, as SDE?

anyway, whatever i say or anyone can say here is not going to change the fact that there will be no Rubber Soul SDE, and for an album that not only i cherish so much but i think lots of people in the entire world, is frustrating to put it bluntly

[Lord Reith]

For the sake of discussion:

I am wondering why exist that kind of a "trend" from Apple Stakeholders to "dimmish" Beatles recordings pre 66?

I don't know if it's a reality or we are just imagining it. I mean, they DID issue a second BBC set exactly ten years ago but it became clear with time that there were only two reasons for this: (1) Kevin Howlett already had a new book coming out and (2) they needed to get the BBC stuff out before it fell into public domain on January 1st 2014. But the performance of the set sales wise was pretty dismal by previous Beatle standards, and the remastered first set fared far worse even than that. So maybe they got cold feet after that. A kneejerk reaction would not be untypical, an assumption that the public were not interested in early Beatles anymore. The passage of an additional decade in which the world has moved on would only reinforce this belief.

So the cynical part of me is thinking that this Red/Blue release is a lazy way of sweeping up the best of the pre-66 Beatles material, particularly since it includes a goodly amount of Rubber Soul which is the only pre-66 album you could call "arty" in the sense that it has more sophisticated lyrics and arrangements. I do honestly feel as though Apple might think that, say, a Please Please Me re-release whether in one or three disc form simply would not sell in 2023. And maybe the Red/Blue set is - appropriately given the colours - a "litmus test" to guage public interest for the two different eras (Smith vs Emerick). And once out they will allow Apple to put the early albums on the back burner indefinitely, because the best known songs will all be out in remixed form.

While I can appreciate the argument that they might be releasing these to try and snag a new generation of listeners, I can't really get behind this idea. I mean, why now? And weren't Pepper and the subsequent remixes exactly that - an attempt to bring in new listeners and revive the flame of the faithfull? How are these Red/Blue sets any different, especially when the blue one will duplicate a lot of material? Isn't this just saying "Hey, we've given you remixed albums for the last six years, but now we're giving you another two, one of which is full of songs most people don't know anymore. But this is totally different." It isn't!

So I'm feeling now that it is both a litmus test and a way of getting the best early stuff out so that they can concentrate on other releases. It sounds in the interviews like Giles is burned out after years and years of Beatles. Remember, by his own admission he does not listen to The Beatles at home. This is just work to him and a way of carrying on his father's legacy. I feel like he may be less interested in the early stuff and want to take a long break from The Beatles, during which time we might get things like Let It Be and 4K versions of the movies. Stuff of lesser interest to us but proven sellers that will shift lots of units.

And that's my sermon for today...

[bobzilla]

It sounds in the interviews like Giles is burned out after years and years of Beatles. Remember, by his own admission he does not listen to The Beatles at home. This is just work to him and a way of carrying on his father's legacy.

I don't know how other Beatle fans feel, but I honestly couldn't care less who was in the remastering seat. If Giles is burnt out, let someone else do it. In fact, let a Beatle fanatic do it, we'd probably get better SDEs.