“Let me tell you how it will be …”
The Beatles’ “Revolver” returns in late October, with a modern remix and plenty of outtakes, but without a multichannel Blu-ray.
As with the recent series of Beatles reissues, the unheard work had been long debated by fans as details leaked out over the summer.
There will be six formats for “Revolver,” the star attractions being a five-CD deluxe edition and a four-LP version with bonus EP. The vinyl comes half-speed mastered on 180-gram discs.
All releases include a new stereo remix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell. An Atmos surround version will be available for streaming (Apple Music exclusive), but not for download. Martin has said the decision to skip the Blu-ray — included on all remastered Beatles sets since 2017’s “Sgt. Pepper” — was not his.
The move means no physical or downloadable multichannel version of “Revolver” will come to market at this time.
The “Revolver” project is a bit of an outlier in the deluxe reissue series (so far), since the album was created with mid-1960s studio technology (four tracks compressed into two). Martin and company used the AI audio technology invented for the recent “Let It Be” documentary to render the instruments and voices into discrete and usable components.
“It was kind of designed for mono,” Martin told Variety. “There wasn’t much stereo around in ’66, certainly in the U.K.” (Martin is the son of the late Beatles producer George Martin.)
The tech presumably could be used to create new mixes of “Rubber Soul” and earlier albums, none of which have participated so far in the Giles Martin series.
The “Revolver” project also offers 2022 stereo remixes of “Paperback Writer” and “Rain,” the single that signaled the Fabs’ move into psychedelic music. The psych vibe would carry over to “Revolver” with key tracks “Taxman,” “I’m Only Sleeping,” “She Said She Said” and the stunning album closer “Tomorrow Never Knows.”
The “Revolver” outtakes include take 1 of “Tomorrow Never Knows” and a mono mix. There are two discs of “Sessions” with “Yellow Submarine” and “I’m Only Sleeping” getting the most extensive looks.
The deluxe editions include a 2022 “mono transfer of the original tape.” And a 100-page book with a foreword by Paul McCartney.
A two-CD set includes the new stereo mix and highlights from the sessions. There is also a standalone vinyl LP, a single CD and a vinyl picture disc.
Now streaming as a sample is a punchy and promising re-do of “Taxman.”
The “Revolver” reissues street Oct. 28, continuing the long Beatles tradition of having new product in the stores for holiday gift-giving. Amazon currently shows about $140 for the super deluxe CD set and $200 for the vinyl set.
Sooooo excellent — and more than a little surprising!