Review of Yellow Submarine

New digitally re-mixed song-track, Movie & Video.

The newly restored ‘Yellow Submarine’ (the cartoon movie) was released to cinemas in August of this year, and premiered during the Liverpool Beatles Convention to a rapturous response by hard-and-fast Beatles fans attending the convention.

The new digitally re-mixed ‘Songtrack’ album and video were subsequently released in September. Both were eagerly anticipated by fans all over the world. It was going to be interesting to see if our faith in the material would be justified by the response from the general public. (This was a gamble by Apple/EMI).

Did it work? You bet it did; but then you only have to listen to the album with fresh ears to realise that the quality of the work is as outstanding as ever.

It was a fairly safe gamble by Apple/EMI. The new digital re-mixing really comes into its own on the title track, with every little noise and bell being heard; and Eleanor Rigby is revealed as a real masterpiece. Each and every track benefits from the new clarity of sound, and the richness of the mixing does full credit to some of the best songs ever written by the Fabs.

This work of restoration was undertaken by engineers Peter Cobbin, Steve Hicks and Mirek Stiles, and you can tell that they approached their task with affection. They have made no attempt to change the work in any way, rather they have enhanced it with the technology now available. They insist that this was a work of restoration and enhancement, and indeed this is what it truly is. A good job well done.

Of course ‘Hey Bulldog’ is the real star of the whole album, and I feel that it is a serious mistake by Apple/EMI not to issue this as a single. It is easily one of the best songs ever done by John; the piano is as great a rock rift as you will ever hear, the lyrics are amazing and the harmonies are just right. Paul’s incredible bass-line is as good as Paul has ever played; and as for his ‘Bulldog’ impersonation! Paul imitating John? - and John’s vocals are pure Lennon! (You know what I mean). This track alone justifies the whole exercise, and on the re-mix, you can really hear how much fun the band was having at that time. Anybody in Appleland listening? It SHOULD be the final Beatles single of the Millennium!

At the time of writing the video is number 2 in the U.S. video charts and the album is number 8 in the album charts. In Ireland and the U.K. both are doing very well, with the album at number 8 in the album charts and the video at number 5.This is not the original Yellow Submarine album. It is a selection of tracks as they appear in the movie; none of George Martin’s Pepperland Suite is used. This is a different album altogether, and well worth the purchase; and I can definitely recommend that you catch the movie in the Cinema where the new surround sound version will really ‘blow your mind man’!! and the newly enhanced colour will remind the aging hippies amongst us what the psychedelic era was really all about.

The listing is as follows:
Yellow Submarine.
Hey Bulldog.
Eleanor Rigby.
Love You To.
All Together Now.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.
Think For Yourself.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
With A Little Help From My Friends.
Baby You’re A Rich Man.
Only A Northern Song.
All You Need Is Love.
When I’m Sixty Four.
Nowhere Man.
It’s All Too Much.

By Pat Moore

Back to the Top

Web www.beatlesireland.info

© 2006 Beatles Ireland. All rights reserved. No part of these publications may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without express written permission of Beatles Ireland.
Beatles Ireland is a non-profit site.