unboxing vinyl

It's rather sad, admittedly pathetic actually, that even though it's not a proper album, this is my first ever Beatles purchase.

Of course, being a remix project by the Beatles original producer and his son, with permission but without any involvement by any member of the Fab Four, it's technically NOT a Beatles album and in my opinion shouldn't be marketed as such, but rather a soundtrack to the stage show. I don't suppose though, that anyone has bought it without knowing what it is. And, it is pretty excellent.

You can't live in the free world and not know how big the Beatles were and still are, and knowing a dozen or two of their songs just from movies and commercials over the decades. Their influence in music and popular culture reaches beyond comprehension. But because their music was recorded so long ago, the sonic quality of the recordings just never appealed to me much. The same is true of most recordings from their era or before. It seems though, the older I get, the more I'm looking into the past for important music I've missed.

It took me awhile to cave in to the hefty price just to satisfy my sonic curiosity. Then I was very reluctant to open it, still not sure if this was something I'd like. Back when Napster was a free-for-all, I downloaded the entire Beatles catalog in one click, slapped it on a DVD disc and quickly skipped through it. It sounded terrible, and it was overwhelming. I let it play in the background a few times but none of it stuck with me and it eventually landed in one of many backup disc spindles never to be seen again. Stars On 45 remained by fave Beatles [related] material until now- this is an amazing album that gives me chills during several songs and transitions.

The album art is fittingly beautiful, with very quiet 180 gram discs. A full-size 12"x12", 28 page booklet of collages and photos from the show. I was hoping to see those famous Apple labels, instead they are solid red with the LOVE logo in black, but overall a very satisfying package.



theBeatles.com
Official LOVE site (with a nice screensaver for downloading, featuring a kaleidoscope Strawberry Fields Forever)