It’s The Beatles for sale — again

SINGAPORE — Another year, another Beatles re-release. Forty-five years since the world’s most influential band broke up (when Paul McCartney officially announced that he was leaving the band on April 10, 1970), it seems that the world still can’t get enough of the Fab Four.

How else can one explain the enormous success of re-releases and compilations that have flooded the market, sets such as Anthology, the Love soundtrack for the Cirque du Soleil show, and the 2009 mega-release of all their albums in remastered, remixed digital glory — in both stereo and mono versions.

More recently, there were The Beatles Bootleg Recordings and On Air: Live At The BBC Vol 2 (both in 2013). Last year, three boxed sets were put out, The US Albums, The Japan Box and The Beatles mono vinyl set.

Today, Universal is re-releasing the compilation 1, which comprises all 27 No 1 hits The Beatles attained in the United Kingdom and the United States. (The original album was released back in 2000.)

Why should anyone get 1 again? Well, because no Beatles re-release ends up as a simple rehash. Giles Martin, the son of George Martin — the guy who produced most of The Beatles’ songs and not the author of Game Of Thrones — has put his deft producer’s touch to those 27 tracks. Then there are the videos: 1 now comes with an accompanying DVD or Blu-ray, featuring 27 promotional videos to those 27 songs.

Along with this release is The Beatles 1+, a collection that includes the album and DVD, with another disc of 23 videos, including alternate versions, as well as rarely seen and newly restored films and videos. A two-LP, 180g vinyl package is also set to follow.

“The videos have … never ever looked this good; so that’s a good thing. The songs have never sounded this good and in surround, too,” said Martin.

Together with his team, Martin redid the music with new stereo and 5.1 Dolby Digital and DTS HD surround audio mixes. These, he said, make the songs “more punchy”.

“The job and the pressure put on by The Beatles — and everyone else — is that they wanted me to make everything sound brilliant. And I went, ‘Doesn’t it already sound brilliant?’ and they went, ‘Yes but we want it to sound even more brilliant’. It’s a challenge, but an honour too,” said Martin.

“Of course, no one has to buy it. Okay, that’s not a very good sales pitch, I know, but all I can say is that it’s a perfect companion, especially the DVD — it’s quite emotional watching it and seeing the progression of the band,” he added.

“I don’t have to tell people why they should buy The Beatles, they don’t have to buy this at all. All I can say is I put every ounce of my heart and soul into it to make it sound good. I don’t think this is a cynical marketing project. I really don’t. If you get the package you’ll see that a lot of care has gone into it.

“There are Beatles ashtrays, and then there’s this. If you want to spend your money on something, spend it on this.”

Of course, as with any music release relating to The Beatles, there will be brickbats, and Martin is fully prepared for that eventuality. “You will always make mistakes. It’s human nature. I try not to read all the comments. If anyone is going to criticise the work, it’s going to me; and trust me, I’m going to say a lot worse things than other people would,” he said.

“You put your heart into everything, but you could go mad if you got wound up in that. I just go home and play with daughters and have a nice time. I try to go see my dad — he’s now 89 — and we watch sports on TV and drink champagne, sometimes. And you just have to get on with life.”

Speaking of getting on with life, Martin, whom some have dubbed as the man taking over the mantle from his father for producing The Beatles’ music, is going to leave the Fab Four aside for the immediate future. “I do have another life, you know? I’m working on Star Wars at the moment. I’m also the head of sound for the audio company Sonos, which makes speakers.”

Nevertheless, Martin said that there are some Beatles projects he would not mind taking a crack at, such as a re-issue of the Live At The Hollywood Bowl album, which was released on vinyl in 1977. Unlike other Beatles albums that have been remastered and digitised, the Hollywood Bowl concerts have remained untouched and fans have been clamouring for a digital version of that album.

“I have to be honest. There’s more stuff that we don’t do than we do. The original recordings for the Hollywood Bowl concerts didn’t sound that great. My father would say so himself,” he said.

But there could be light at the end of that tunnel. Martin, who is involved with director Ron Howard’s new Beatles project chronicling Beatlemania and the band’s touring years, said that reworking the sound for The Beatles’ 1966 live performances at Japan’s Budokan Theatre (which he did for the Martin Scorsese documentary about George Harrison, Living In The Material World) is a sign that cleaning up the Hollywood Bowl recordings can be done.

“Here’s the thing: We have to make sure the technology is right to make it sound good. I’m always working with new forms of technology ... (but) you have to not overdo things or overcook stuff,” Martin elaborated. “So I will be finding ways to make Hollywood Bowl sound great, and you will hear it.”