My First Listen To The Beatles "Love"

Brian was kind enough to burn me a copy of "Love", the latest Beatles release. Love was created by George Martin and his son Giles. It's a trip, man.

Remember Harry Nilsson's song "You Can't Do That"? No, Of course, you don't. Well yeah, you do, but the rest of you don't. Nilsson's ode to the Beatles was a crazy combination of a number of Beatles songs into one song. Was it the first mash-up? Well, it wasn't officially a mash-up, I guess, since it didn't use original recordings, Harry sang and played the different parts, combining them into one new song.

Anyway, this new Beatles album "Love" is kind of like that, except they DO use the original recordings. It's a mash-up, or more aptly a sound collage.

I've only listened to the first half so far, but man, it sucked me in. I was listening with my headphones and walking in the windy winter and got so absorbed in the music that I nearly walked straight into a mysterious man in a black trenchcoat. I had completely fogotten where I was (apparently, in a creepy spy novel).

The album seems like it was really carefully and lovingly pieced together. The sound quality is amazing. There are some parts where you can really hear Ringo's drumming. All these little details that you never noticed, or I never noticed anyway, come up to the foreground.

And it's a virtual Where's Waldo game of hide-and-seek. The thing is more full of easter eggs than Veruca Salt's Easter basket. I was trying to just listen and enjoy it for it's own musical quality rather than attempting to figure out where each little riff or scream came from. I wasn't trying to see if there was a Dharma Initiative symbol on that bus. But next time I listen, you bet I will.

The problem with a burned cd, besides the ethical one, is that the songs don't mesh together. Each track stops dead and the next one starts. For this album, that doesn't work. Part of the fun is the way the tracks merge in and out from each other. A burned copy of Dark Side of the Moon is kind of useless too. So, maybe I'll actually buy the real album. Seems like something I'd like to have for years to come.

I've been messing around with this Amazon Associates thing. What that means is that anytime someone buys a cd by clicking on my links here, I get a gazillionth of a penny. Now, I'm not trying to sell these albums to you. I just figure if I am going to be writing about a record and I'm going to link to it, I may as well try and do it through this thing. That way I can toss another gatrillionth of a penny into the School for the Dead fund. Also, if I now decide to buy the record, maybe I can click on the link and save myself a bathrillionth percent. Wouldn't that be something? Besides, it's kind of fun to be able to see how many people clicked the link and went on to buy it or not. I enjoy stats.