This review of the Blue Album will be a little different from the last one, because most of its songs haven’t been newly remixed, unlike the Red Album. So I’ll focus less on the remixes and more on the song selections. However, when there’s something about a mix I want to point out, I’ll do so.
Of the two albums, this one is the more popular since most fans prefer their later music. It’s a solid collection of hits and favorite album cuts, made even better by the added tracks. There are still a few problems, though….
(As before, an asterisk will indicate a new song to the collection; a + will indicate a song remixed with MAL for this album.)
Strawberry Fields Forever: 2015 remix; no complaints.
Penny Lane: 2017 remix; no complaints.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: 2017 remix. Maybe a little bass-heavy.
With A Little Help From My Friends: 2017 remix; no complaints.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds: 2017 remix; definitely bass-heavy. But listenable.
*Within You Without You: 2017 remix; no complaints. Given that George got short shrift on the original Blue Album, I’m glad they included this one. But I would have included Getting Better or When I’m Sixty-Four if I were going for popularity and quality. (I would have included The Inner Light for an additional George track in that case.)
A Day In The Life: 2017 remix. This is not good. The original mix had the voices and instruments drifting from left to right and back. This doesn’t. Also, the orchestra is screwed up; it sounds out of sync to me. But it had to be included. (FWIW, the opening is a clean opening without the crossfade.)
All You Need Is Love: 2015 remix. No complaints.
+I Am The Walrus: Oh, wow. This was fun. I heard it for the first time and HATED it. The ending was completely bizarre! Then I realized I was listening in Dolby Atmos (see previous review) and reset it for stereo and redownloaded it. Much better! It sounded just like the original.
Ahem. I realized I’d downloaded the wrong edition’s song. It WAS the original.1By now you think I’m a complete bubblehead, for sure.
I re-redownloaded it, in the proper 2023 mix this time. I relistened. The ending….is still completely bizarre. The violins and most of Shakespeare? Gone, obliterated by radio noise.2I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just me being extra-picky, so I played it for Spouse, who’s familiar with the original mix but isn’t a Beatles fanatic. His comment as the end played out: “That’s different.”
I think Giles must have chosen to include all the ambient noise picked up in the original mix. HORRIBLE decision. This is not the IATW you know and love, at least from the coda on the last chorus. Some people will probably love it. I don’t.
Hello, Goodbye: 2015 remix. No complaints.
+The Fool On the Hill: It sounded a bit more open than the original mix. Pretty much the same, actually. No complaints.
+Magical Mystery Tour: See above comment. The train goes back and forth as it should.
Lady Madonna: 2015 remix. No complaints.
Hey Jude: 2015 remix. No complaints.
+Revolution: The guitars sound really distinct, and sharp, as does Nicky Hopkins’s piano work, which I think I could hear a bit more clearly. I liked it.
Back In The U.S.S.R.: 2018 remix. This is from the very problematic White Album remix; at least, for me. I don’t remember anything awful about this track, though.
*Dear Prudence: See above. This has a clean opening (which puzzles me, since it’s right next to Back In The U.S.S.R. anyway); again, I don’t remember anything I hated about this mix. Nice addition. But where’s Rocky Raccoon??!?
While My Guitar Gently Weeps: 2018 remix. The organ has been turned down too low. *sigh*
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da: 2018 remix. It’s fine.
*Glass Onion: 2018 remix, and missing John’s backing vocal in the middle eight. Why?? Apart from that, I’m not sure it was the greatest choice for an additional John song. Cry Baby Cry or Julia would have been my picks.
*Blackbird: 2018 remix. This was a solid addition as a classic Paul song. But where’s Helter Skelter??
*+Hey Bulldog: Awesome Yellow Submarine addition and a great remix. Those vocals are now right in the center!
Get Back (single): 2015 remix. No complaints.
Don’t Let Me Down: 2021 remix. It’s missing the talking intro which Giles put on it for the Let It Be release, which is fine with me.
The Ballad of John and Yoko: 2015 remix. No complaints.
+Old Brown Shoe: This is a good mix, which doesn’t seem to have omitted anything important. I think I can hear a bit more piano on it.
Here Comes The Sun: 2019 remix. I have issues with the Abbey Road remixes, too, but this one didn’t seem too bad.
Come Together: 2019 remix. Bad. John’s moaning at the song’s conclusion has vanished.
Something: 2019 remix. Bad. Giles turned up the organ and orchestra to make the song sound as if it’s competing with The Long and Winding Road for Most Overproduced Beatles Song. I would rather they’d used the 2015 remixes for this and Come Together.
Octopus’s Garden: 2019 remix. No complaints I remember.
*Oh! Darling: 2019 remix. The doo-wop vocals are too loud. And why would you choose this song over Maxwell’s Silver Hammer, or Because?? Please.
*I Want You (She’s So Heavy): 2019 remix. Too much organ until the end, where it’s been softened at a crucial point. Again, where’s Because? That’s a better choice for an additional John song.
Let It Be (single): 2021 mix. No complaints mix-wise, but I prefer the album version.
Across The Universe: 2021 mix. No complaints.
*I Me Mine: 2021 mix. Think I would’ve preferred For You Blue, but glad George got another song.
The Long and Winding Road: 2021 mix. Actually, better than the original mix because the orchestra got turned down.
*+Now and Then: The last Beatles song.3So they say…. I have really come to love its quiet beauty. Others think it’s a dirge. Either way, I think we can agree that MAL saved the recording and that John’s voice is lovely. Remix FAAB and Real Love the same way, please! A good ending to a great collection.
Now, do you really need the Red and Blue remixes, especially if you have all of the studio albums? No, probably not. Of the two, I think the Red is the better deal since the sound on much of the earliest material, and all of the Rubber Soul selections, is a big improvement. I would love to hear MAL-assisted remixes of Please Please Me and With the Beatles, and Rubber Soul and the remaining three new songs from Yellow Submarine, with that horrible vocals-on-the-right mix. (What were they thinking?) A Hard Day’s Night, Beatles for Sale and Help!? Not nearly as much. They’re quite good as they are, to my ears.
If these remixed compilations help young people who may think of the Beatles as “old music” to appreciate their songs, I’m all for them. Let me make it quite clear, though, that I don’t want the 2009 remasters to become unavailable. Ever. That is historic work right there, and it should not be erased just because it doesn’t adhere to modern thought about proper sound. Part of the reason their work is so great is that they did their best within the limitations they had at the time. Don’t take that away from the fans.4I still think the real reason for these remixes is so that Universal/EMI/Apple/whatever can keep the copyright on this music for as long as possible. In 2059 (I think), those 2009 remasters will be in the public domain. Not that I’ll likely be around to see it.
Rating for the Blue Album: *** 1/2 out of *****
