The Beatles - A Hard Days Night (1964) Stereo Remaster

Craig in Indy

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OK, back to our original topic...

A Hard Day's Night (1964)

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First, I know I said I wasn't going to indulge in any opinions about the music on these albums, but I've got to say this is one fine, fine record. The progress Lennon and McCartney had made in their writing craft by the time they got to this, only their 3rd album, is amazing. In the space of about 18 months they went from a group that did rock and R&B covers with a few promising original tunes, to a band with resident songwriters who were producing increasingly sophisticated material in quantities great enough that they could fill out their records with their own music. The songs on this album point very clearly toward the kind of music they'd be making a little later on. They have much more in common with Rubber Soul than they do with either of the first two records. The stylistic break between the songs of those first albums and A Hard Day's Night is every bit as great as the break between Rubber Soul and the Revolver/Sgt. Pepper era.

Having said that, this is the first of the remasters that I think isn't always 100% successful. On the whole it's an improvement, definitely, but there are odd things happening here and there, and they aren't always for the best. Anyway, to the sound of the individual songs:

1 – “A Hard Day’s Night”

The one thing that stands out for me here is the opening chord. In the stereo remaster it sounds as though it’s two guitars being played, so I assume it was and we just couldn't hear it before (unless it was a single guitar recorded in stereo, and I doubt that they would have had the technology at the time, or that they would have utilized it if they had).

2 – “I Should Have Known Better”

Here’s an anomaly of a sort I haven’t run across before. In the remaster there’s a glitch in John’s opening harmonica part – just before the vocal begins he pauses in his playing, like he had to swallow or something. In the old mono CD, that doesn’t happen – the part is played cleanly right up to the start of the vocal. It would be interesting to learn why the change. It’s very clearly not something that is just now audible where it wasn’t before – these two harmonica parts are either completely different recordings, or the original was spliced and/or dubbed to cover the error.

3 – “If I Fell”

There’s an electric guitar that's playing whole note chords on the first beat of each measure, and in the mono version I never noticed it. It isn’t that it’s completely obscured by the other sounds, but it certainly isn’t as easily heard as it is in stereo. On the downside, the double-tracked lead vocal is a little less focused and a little more echo-ey in the remaster. This is the first disadvantage I’ve heard so far on the remasters.

4 – “I’m Happy Just to Dance with You”

Strangely, here George’s vocal is a little better focused than on the mono CD. Plus the bass and drums share the left channel and can be heard a little more clearly without the guitar piled on top of them. But the stereo version lacks a little bit of the sparkle that comes from Ringo’s cymbals. This one is kind of a mixed bag.

5 – “And I Love Her”

The overall level of the guitar and the percussion seems a little down in this. Only the woodblock seems to be about the same general volume level as it was on the old CD. It gives the song a sense of having a little greater dynamic range, but at the price of feeling like the soft parts are a little too soft.

6 – “Tell Me Why”

Whaddaya know? There’s a piano being played in the opening bars, and I never noticed it before. Going back to the old version, I hear it (since I now know it’s there), but it doesn’t have the low-end weight that the new version has.

7 – “Can’t Buy Me Love”

Unlike other tracks on this album, this one actually seems a little brighter than the old version. I think it’s primarily from a little greater frequency extension on the vocals, to the point where some might think it sounds just a little shrill. The drums have a little more presence and air around them, and the bass seems a little easier to follow the actual notes.

8 – “Any Time at All”

Here’s another surprise – there’s a piano playing single descending bass notes in each measure of the verse – something I had not heard before. The guitars seem down in the mix a bit, but they have a nice chiming kind of sound that (and this is going to sound kind of ridiculous) reminds me a little of early REM.

9 – “I’ll Cry Instead”

The electric guitar is by itself in the left channel and can be heard much more cleanly than before.

10 – “Things We Said Today”

Again, the guitar (this time acoustic) is more easily heard by itself in the left channel. And for the first time (that I’ve noticed anyway), Paul’s overdubbed harmony vocal part is separated a little from the main vocal, and put just slightly right of center.

11 – “When I Get Home”

Nothing really strikingly better here, other than it being easier to hear “into” the music, since it isn’t presented as a big opaque wall of mono sound.

12 – “You Can’t Do That”

Separating the two guitars helps with clarity a lot, and John’s vocal sounds decidedly more real. It has a textural quality to it before that didn’t come across on the old CD.

13 – “I’ll Be Back”

Like “When I Get Home,” this one is an improvement overall, but there isn’t any one aspect of it that’s remarkably better than the old version. And you could maybe make a case that the vocal is down a little in the new version, and isn’t as obviously the centerpiece of the aural landscape as it should be.
 

Fred

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There's a little known fact that there is actually a version of "If I Fell" by the Beatles that features 3 part harmony vocals. The album version is just John and Paul, but I think the rare version additionally has George, or possibly Paul double-tracked, I'm not sure. It's here if you want to judge for yourself - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx5HjiMMzSU
 

Jon

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And I Love Her was the first Beatles song I remember hearing. My sister had the vinyl, I've got it now, it's scratched to Hell, but I can't get rid of it. I must have heard the other songs before it, but that one stayed with me. It's still probably my favourite.
As a kid, I don't think I'd heard anything quite like it.
 

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