deep in the ocean, there lies a wave for you

which means I’m taking her advice. Let’s talk about L.O.V.E.
Oh, first of all, I was, like most people my age, a Beatles fanatic from an early age. All parents who were born too late to actually experience the ’60s focused on the Beatles instead, it seems. Anyway, there was a point when I was about 12 when I remember listening to “A Hard Day’s Night” because “it had been awhile” and I had been “focusing too much on ‘The White Album’.” When I got to college, I couldn’t really enjoy listening to the Beatles anymore. I mean, I could watch Help over and over again for the cheekiness and the quirks, but I got sick of the songs.

George Martin and son came up with the idea to remix/master classic Beatles songs for a Cirque de Soleil spectacular. Listening to it was refreshing. Let’s do this trackish-by-trackish:
1. “Because” – pretty bare. the intricate harpsichord (peut-etre?) notes that laced their way through the original are missing; John’s perfect pitch can be heard more easily.
2. “Get Back” – leads in with the first guitar note of “A Hard Day’s Night” before the steady drum of the original pounces in. Towards the end you hear the white noise of “A Day in the Life’ creep in.
3. “Glass Onion” – very muddled. I ignored most of it.
4. “Eleanor Rigby” – at this point I’m listening very closely to see if something is different, and my mind is playing tricks on me. It ends so nicely, though, with a soft “ah” and the opening notes of “Julia.”
5. “I Am the Walrus” – not noticing much.
6. “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – aw, this made me happy. There are girls screaming in the background.
7. “Drive My Car” – Jessica and I made this our answering machine message (focusing on the “beep beep”) when I was in middle school. They mix in “What You’re Doing,” which is one of my favorite old Beatles-no-substance songs, but they keep the percussion from the initial tune in. Aw, it’s so nice. Leads out with “The Word.”
8. “Gnik Nus” – “Sun King” backwards. Lame.
9. “Something” – I miss George. This song isn’t too different, but it made me want to put on the Traveling Wilburys instead. The end gets slightly dank before leading into …
10. “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” – Oooh, I hate the addition of “Helter Skelter” to the end of this song. They should have left that golden nugget out.
11. “Help!” – nothing interesting to say.
12. “Blackbird”/”Yesterday” – blah.
13. “Strawberry Fields Forever” – addition of guitar parts. More pitter-patter drums. Some “Sgt. Pepper” at the end, along with “Piggies” and some “Hello Goodbye.” While it all sounds a bit jumbled, it clears up in the end with some heavy percussion and the “hey-la hey hello-ah” and ends on a clean note.
14. “Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows” – this was a perfect pair of songs to mash together. Both have the eerie sitar punctuating them. Subtle additions of the plucky opening notes from “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” start increasing towards the end.
15. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” – OK, now I’m bored with this idea.

All in all, a good idea, very cleanly done, one thumb up. It was satisfying to listen to these tracks with a little spice added.