Although Abbey Road was the second-to-last Beatles album released, the disc represents the Fab Four's final collaboration, the point where John, Paul. George and Ringo set their differences aside for one set of sessions and produced a masterpiece. The remastered version is a fitting climax to the new Beatles remaster series, and we're going to talk about it today.
Where the old CD issue had a compressed mix that made everything sound like guitars, the new brings all the keyboards are clear and to the fore of the mix. This is a good thing. The Beatles were experimenting with different instruments and textures at this point, and this new mastering brings those out into the front of the aural mix. You can finally hear the electric piano on "Come Together", the Moog synthesizer, which shows up on "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", and the Hammond organ solo on "I Want You (She's So Heavy). You can even hear the organ fills that John inserted underneath the verses of this song, which is even heavier in this iteration.
"Because" and the following medley is for me, the closing of the Beatles story. The electric harpsichord sounds really good here, not to mention the tiny synthesizer grace notes. And the triple-tracked vocals are gorgeous and lush--comparable to the a cappella version which opened Love.
"You Never Give Me Your Money" has also been cleaned up. It sounds like Paul playing up in the attic before joining the rest of the lads downstairs for the song's energetic middle section. Rich layers of organ and bass guitar wash over Ringo's slow-rolling drums in "Sun King", a 'light' song that now has an epic weight. In its new mix, the the fake Spanish/Italian/Liverpudlian words are clearer, though still nonsensical.
"Mean Mr. Mustard" snarls out of the speakers, and "Polythene Pam" (based on a real Beatles follower) is a slab of jagged guitar. "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" (another Beatles song based on a real incident, raises the energy level before the final triptych of "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight" and "The End."
The short songs barrel forward with fresh momentum. The gorgeous orchestration of "Golden Slumbers" unfolds in new detail, and as the four Beatles launch into "Carry That Weight" it sounds like a raucous, drunken wake. The Ringo-dominated drum jam that kicks off "The End" rocks hard, and the guitars slice, slash and cut through the mix. The final, cascading vocal harmonies are a fitting close to the album, followed by that magnificent guitar chord and the final, 'accidental' coda of "Her Majesty."
If all that isn't enough for you Abbey Road lovers, click here to visit the famous pedestrian crossing webcam, and see what's going on on the spot where Paul walked barefoot.
He's not dead, you know. Neither are the Beatles.
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