Love

The Beatles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 21, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol/Apple
• ASIN: B000JK8OYU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (973 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,260 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #24 in Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion

Track Listings

1. Because

2. Get Back

3. Glass Onion

4. Eleanor Rigby/Julia (Transition)

5. I Am The Walrus

6. I Want To Hold Your Hand

7. Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing

8. Gnik Nus

9. Something/Blue Jay Way (Transition)

10. Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You (She's So Heavy)/Helter Skelter

11. Help!

12. Blackbird/Yesterday

13. Strawberry Fields Forever

14. Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows

15. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

16. Octopus's Garden

17. Lady Madonna

18. Here Comes The Sun/The Inner Light (Transition)

19. Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry (Transition)

20. Revolution

See all 26 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

It begins with a twittering of birdsong lifted from "Across the Universe." And once the triple-tracked a capella harmonies of "Because" enter, followed by snatches from "A Hard Day's Night" and "The End," leading into a fired-up "Get Back," it becomes obvious that this is far more than just another Beatles compilation. This is Love, conceived by the Fabs' former producer George Martin and son Giles as a stageshow soundtrack to Cirque de Soleil's Las Vegas spectacular of the same name, but appears to have taken on a life of its own. Whereas the Beatles' last release, 1, delivered the (over?) familiar hits in a nice, simple package, Love is a mélange of the familiar and obscure, all literally mixed together in one 78-minute audio collage which succeeds in reminding the listener just why the Beatles truly are, as Lennon put it, "toppermost of the poppermost." There's no new Beatles material per se, but the songs are all approached differently--some are cut together in a flawlessly mixed medley (check out "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!/I Want You/Helter Skelter"), some reassemble different backing tracks and vocal performances to create new spins on old classics; but all the songs are revitalized considerably. Even in its weakest moments (which probably work better in the context of the show itself), Love is still a formidable prospect, and one has to admire Martin's willingness to go out on a limb with such a project. While purists may complain that the cut 'n' paste nature of the project is simply tampering with perfection, at the very least it'll make them reach for the originals and enjoy them all over again. For newcomers and everyone else, it makes a fine listen, both in its sonic clarity (the actual tracks are the best they've sounded on CD) and audacious nature. --Thom Allott

More from the Fab Four

The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2	Revolver	Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Anthology 1	Anthology 2	Anthology 3

Product Description

LOVE, is a fascinating reworking of numerous classic Beatles recordings by the band's original producer, Sir George Martin and his son Giles. LOVE, is also the title of the highly successful Cirque du Soleil show, a co-production with Apple Corps, featuring the music of The Beatles, currently wowing audiences in Las Vegas. In creating the music for the show and for the album, George and Giles have created a continuous "soundscape" - a series of well-known Beatles songs augmented by additional instrumentation and vocals taken from their vast bank of original multi-track tapes. If you can imagine "Strawberry Fields Forever" beginning with John's original demo before going into an early take of the song and then climaxing in a musical collage including the piano solo from "in My Life" and the harpsichord pattern from "Piggies" and lots, lots more - or "Get Back", prefaced by the "Hard Day's Night" opening guitar chord, the guitar and drum solos from "The End" and segued into "Glass Onion", you will begin to get the picture. But hearing is believing! The guys have pushed back the boundaries and come up with a brand new work that will add to the enduring legacy of the band. The result is an amazing album that not only reinforces the timeless quality of the group's recordings - the fans will have fun enjoying the roller coaster experience of the album whilst trying to spot where all the pieces come from. It is also destined to open up a new legion of fans to The Beatles experience.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

322 of 331 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Beatles' extravaganza is a magical mystery tour... November 21, 2006

By jazzmusikeditor

Format:Audio CD

Of all the possible posthumous incarnations for the Beatles, here's one of the most unlikely - as soundtrack to a Las Vegas circus.

It isn't any old circus, admittedly, but Canada's arty, super-acrobatic Cirque du Soleil, whose current Las Vegas show, "Love", is modelled on the story of the Beatles and characters from their songs: "Eleanor Rigby", "Sergeant Pepper" et al.

More importantly, "Love-the-show" - the result of George Harrison's friendship with Cirque founder Guy Laliberte - involved producer George Martin disinterring the group's master tapes from the Abbey Road vault for he and his son Giles to remix and remodel.

The results blast "Love" audiences from a state-of-the-art surround-sound system that includes speakers in individuual seats.

And the first thing "Love-the-album" does, at least in its DVD surround-sound format, is to blow you away with sheer sonic wizardry. Set to a noisy dawn chorus, complete with fluttering wings, the three-part vocal harmonies of 'Because' arrive with the clarity of an ice blue sky. The chugging introduction to 'Get Back' hurtles out of the mix like a train. The pumping fairground organs of 'Mr Kite' reek of steam and sawdust. Hearing many of the familiar tracks is like viewing an old masterpiece after cleaning: the light is brighter, the shadows deeper. Here, the trebles tingle while the bass end booms.

Some of this is painstaking technical restoration. After the Beatles swapped touring for the studio, they and Martin became experts at squeezing a quart of sound into a pint pot, extending the limits of four- and eight-track recordings by 'bouncing down' tracks.

Today's technology has let the Martins reverse the process, giving instruments and voices more autonomy. Ever notice the pizzicato violins on the middle 8 of 'Something'? You will now.

The ambitions of "Love" go beyond renovation, however. Its 26 tracks are set in an ambient flow of sound collages distilled from hours of Beatles tapes and containing fragments and echoes of 130 songs in all. Frequently the effect is ghostly, as the stalking strings of 'Glass Onion' and a snatch of 'Nowhere Man' drift like ectoplasm down a corridor. 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' - one of the few numbers from the moptop days - surfaces from a scratchy haze of screaming.

The most ambitious songs emerge most improved. There is not, after all, much to be done with the rock'n'roll retro of 'Lady Madonna', whereas 'Strawberry Fields' and 'I am the Walrus' sound more than ever like avant-garde masterpieces. Harrison's 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' (the slower version from Anthology 3) is given a sumptuous string setting by Sir George.

Throughout, the McCartney/Starr rhythm section has never sounded so heavy, or the group's vocal harmonies so sharp and affecting.

"Love" vindicates the Beatles' status as master musicians and conceptualists. Not only for the spirit of optimism they embodied but artistically, they remain the act to beat. On this evidence, no one else comes close.

My favourite track is 'Here Comes the Sun/The Inner Light'.

Neil Spencer

142 of 146 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Surround yourself with the Beatles! November 22, 2006

By Bob Joseph

Format:Audio CD

For anyone who's a serious die-hard Beatles fan who thought they heard 'every little thing' the group ever did (the hours of 'Get Back' bootlegs, the mono 'White Album', all the 'rarities', Anthologies, and all the original LPs then CDs) will be amazed and impressed at what Sir George Martin & son did for 'Love' -- it must be heard, especially in 5.1 surround sound, to be believed. The original idea that George Harrison and Guy Laliberte (founder of Cirque du Soleil) to make a soundscape of Beatles music for a CDS show has been wonderfully realized. Songs we all heard for decades and hundreds of times over sound new again -- more so, the 'mash-up' concept literally re-invents the songs -- hearing 'Mr Kite!/She's So Heavy/Helter Skelter' yesterday for the first time was astounding -- the riff of 'Hey Bulldog' that makes a brief appearance in 'Lady Madonna', the string arrangment put to the demo of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', the newly remastered and remixed 'I am the Walrus' (finally!) -- it's a new day for Beatles fans. Some might view the Beatles' catalog as a sacred cow that should remain fixed and 'as was, as always should be' as they recorded it, and not be 'mashed-up' (all the superimposing of parts of one track onto another, time-shifting and altering the recordings to match tempos and keys). Understandable, since how indeed can really improve upon what they did way back when? But I very much enjoy 'Love' -- and appreciate that in with today's modern recording (Pro Tools was among the credits), Martin & son were able to present the timeless and beloved Beatles tracks in a new light, while making it clear how incredibly gifted the Beatles were -- you can hear all the instruments, vocals, sound effects better than ever before. While 'Love' might not be the best choice for a casual fan (one who has the red and blue best-ofs and/or '1'), it is an aural bonanza for a serious fan, in particular of the 'Revolver' era onwards with a focus on the psychelic years. To paraphrase the dearly departed George Harrison, I dig 'Love'!!

44 of 45 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC-DIFFERENT-IS IT REALLY A BEATLES RECORD? DAMN RIGHT IT IS! November 21, 2006

By Mitchell Cassman

Format:Audio CD

The stereo CD contains 78 minutes of music. The DVD surround sound version on DVD disc album is slightly extended version with 81 minutes of music.

FIRST OF ALL THE SURROUND IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After being asked by the remaining Beatles, Ringo and Paul, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, to make experimental mixes from their master tapes for a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, Sir George Martin, The Beatles legendary producer, and his son Giles Martin have worked with the entire archive of Beatles recordings to create LOVE. The result is an unprecedented approach to the music. Using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, Sir George and Giles have created a unique soundscape. The release of this album, which is also featured in the Cirque du Soleil/Beatles collaborative production of the same name at The Mirage in Las Vegas.

This album puts the Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John, Paul,George and Ringo.
The music is stunning. I think the most amazing thing about it is that you can pull it apart and all the elements carry with it the essence of the entire song.
George and Giles Martin highly original work in creating the LOVE album gives us a genuinely new Beatles album. It makes us respect even more, if that were possible, the creativity and brilliance of the band behind the greatest catalogue in the history of recorded music.

The 5.1 disc is a DVD-Audio/DVD-Video hybrid. The audio is presented in high-resolution 96/24 5.1 surround on the DVD-Audio part of the disc. The DVD-Video part carries 5.1 surround in DTS and Dolby Digital as well as a PCM stereo mix. This DVD album is designed to be played on DVD video equipment but will carry no video component.