by Bruce Spizer,
Beatles author and historian

When Apple announced that it had commissioned a Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas based upon the music of the Beatles, many fans of the group moaned and groaned. But when they later learned that the idea for the show had come from George Harrison and that the music would be reworked by Beatles producer George Martin and his son, Giles, the skepticism was replaced with hope that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. People seeing the show, titled "The Beatles LOVE," began reporting that the music was incredible. It wasn't a straight remixing of the Beatles catalog, but rather was a seamless blend of music often mashing up one Beatles song with others. It was hip, exciting and adventurous. And in the Mirage's LOVE theater setting with its mind-boggling sound system of over 6,000 speakers and the capability of delivering up to 25 separate music tracks, the sound was stunning, unlike anything ever heard before. But the question remained, how would LOVE translate to a stereo CD with only two tracks of separate music or to an audio DVD with 5.1 surround sound? The answer is spectacularly.

"The Beatles LOVE" is available in two editions. The standard edition is a 78-minute stereo CD, while the special edition contains the same CD as the standard edition plus an 81-minute audio 5.1 DVD. Anyone owning a DVD player should pay the extra money to get the extra disc. Although the CD and the audio DVD contain the same 26 basic tracks, the songs "Revolution" and "Back In The U.S.S.R." received additional editing on the CD to trim the its running time down to 78 minutes. This was done because the defect rate for CDs increases significantly when exceeding 78 minutes. Apple is to be praised for offering both formats in one deluxe package, giving fans a CD to play in the car and a DVD to play at home.

Listening to "LOVE" reminds us of and reinforces our perception of how great the Beatles were. While John Lennon and Paul McCartney are universally recognized as great songwriters, the music of George Harrison shines throughout "LOVE" so that we no longer think of the music of "Lennon-McCartney," but rather the music of "Lennon-McCartney-Harrison." The Eastern and mystical elements of Harrison's compositions work well within the context of "LOVE." The increased clarity of the recordings allows us to hear Ringo's crisp steady drumming in a way that puts to rest any doubts as to whether he was a fabulous drummer or merely someone supplying the beat behind the incredible music generated by his fellow band members. While the sound of Paul's bass often failed to cut through on early Beatles recordings, advances in technology and improvements in sound equipment and techniques bring it to the front where we can hear his melodic runs and feel its thump through a sub-woofer. Although John was insecure about his voice and frequently requested that George Martin and the Abbey Road engineers find ways to alter it, on "LOVE" we are often treated to its pure sound, revealing that John had a lovely voice after all. Because the character driven lyrics of the group's later work are more suitable for theatrical interpretation than their early pop-rock love songs, most of the music comes from the group's later years in the studio.

The creative mash-ups of Beatles songs will most likely garner the most attention on "LOVE." In nearly all instances, the blending of elements of different songs works quite well. And most of the relatively straight renditions, such as "I Am The Walrus," "Help!" and "Something," are presented in stunning clarity. While some listeners may be disappointed by the editing on a few of the tracks to keep the program's running time at a CD-friendly length, these edits work well within the context of the program.

"LOVE" opens with a vocals-only rendition of "Because" supplemented at times with the sound of birds. The isolated vocals showcase the beauty and intricacy of the voices and harmonizing of John, Paul and George. The clarity of the 1969 recording is amazing. This is followed by the fading chord at the end of "A Day In The Life" played in reverse so that its volume increases and leads into the opening chord of "A Hard Day's Night," which introduces Ringo's drum solo from the "Abbey Road" medley. All of this leads into the second identified track, "Get Back," whose intro is spiced up by the addition of the guitar solos from "The End." The sound of the crowd from the 1965 Shea Stadium concert is heard in the background, giving the impression of a live performance.

The next track is identified as "Glass Onion," but youthful listeners should be aware that this is not your grandfather's "Glass Onion." The song has a totally different feel and includes snippets and sound effects from songs such as "Hello Goodbye," "Magical Mystery Tour" and "Only A Northern Song." Its string ending leads into the strings from "Eleanor Rigby." The creation of an instrumental introduction for the song is one of many enhancements that works effectively in "LOVE." When Paul's vocal finally comes in, we are once again reminded of the beauty of his voice. The end of the song flows into John's gentle finger-picking guitar from "Julia."

A wash of sound effects suggesting the overall chaos of "Revolution 9" lead into the next tract, "I Am The Walrus." For the first time, the second half of the song is presented in something other than mono. Digital technology has allowed George and Giles Martin to isolate the radio broadcast from the original mono mix and create a stereo mix for the CD and a 5.1 mix for the DVD.

The sound of 17,000 hysterical Beatles fans and the KRLA disc jockeys' "And now, here they are, the Beatles" introduction, both from the 1964 Hollywood Bowl concert, precede the oldest song in the program, "I Want To Hold Your Hand." According to Giles Martin, the track features the live Hollywood Bowl performance of the song laid over the studio version. Sir George notes that modern technology has allowed them to combine "all the wonderful atmosphere of the Hollywood Bowl and the better music that we recorded in the studio." This is followed by a clever rock 'n' roll mash-up, "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing." The track, which also contains the guitar solo from "Taxman," is another showcase for Ringo's powerful drumming.

The next selection, "Gnik Nus," is just what its name implies. It is the vocals of "Sun King" played backwards over the droning sound of an Indian instrument. Even in reverse, the harmonies of John, Paul and George are gorgeous. This brief track leads directly into a straightforward rendition of "Something," which improves upon the original mix from "Abbey Road." The song's final chord merges with the keyboard opening to "Blue Jay Way." Bits of that song are merged with a brief vocal bit from "Nowhere Man."

The hurdy-gurdy circus excitement of "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" is a natural for the program. The 5.1 mix places the listener inside the big tent. Towards the end, the song is mashed with the thundering ending riff from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" and, appropriately enough, Paul's vocal from "Helter Skelter." The swishing sound of the white noise generator from George Harrison's Moog in "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" bridges the hard-cut ending of the song's final riff to a straight-forward version of "Help!" The concluding harmony vocal note of the song is followed by a rare second of silence, bringing a brief pause to this incredible tour-de-force of Beatles music.

Paul's finger-picking guitar from "Blackbird" flows into another McCartney acoustic guitar classic, "Yesterday." The pitch of the first song was slightly lowered to allow for the smooth transition. As for "Yesterday," the clarity of Paul's voice and the steel strings of his guitar make it sound if Paul is in your room giving a private performance.

Placed at the mid-way point of "LOVE," "Strawberry Fields Forever" is an incredible production number that traces the evolution of the song and develops into a thunderous mash-up. John's count-in leads into an early demo of the song, which flows into the group's first recording of the song (Take 1), the first remake (Take 7) and the second remake (Take 26). In December, 1966, George Martin edited the first part of Take 7 with the second part of Take 26 to form the released master of the song. This was accomplished by speeding up Take 7 and slowing down Take 26 to get the two different performances into the same key and tempo. Nearly four decades later, assisted by digital technology and son Giles, Sir George upped the ante by manipulating the speed of four different versions of the song to get them all in the key of B and create a truly fascinating piece of music. During the song's concluding build up and fade out, the horns from "Sgt. Pepper," the piano solo from "In My Life," the trumpets from "Penny Lane" and the harpsichord from "Piggies" are brought into the mix. As the song heads towards the end, the music from "Piggies" and the drums and vocals from the "Maori finale" of "Hello Goodbye" take over. This is one selection that not only works well within the context of the show, but stands triumphantly on its own.

"Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows" is another effective mash-up. It opens with the seagull-like noises (actually tape loops of distorted guitar) from "Tomorrow Never Knows" and John singing "Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream, it is not dying, it is not dying." This leads into Ringo's relentless drumming from the song. George's vocal from "Within You Without You" is then flown in. As the track evolves, the Indian instruments from Harrison's song are brought into the mix. The seagull effects continue as the song ends and leads into a pattern of slow keyboard notes, combined with low organ notes from "Old Brown Shoe," that gradually speed up to reveal the opening riff to "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds." This version of the song is relatively straightforward, but notable for the pureness of John's voice and prominence of Paul's melodic bass runs.

Ringo's vocal showcase begins with the strings from "Good Night," which serve as the backdrop to his singing the opening verse of "Octopus's Garden." The sound is enhanced by background sound effects and vocals from "Yellow Submarine." The track quickly morphs into the "Abbey Road" version of song. To beef up the sound, Ringo's drums from "Lovely Rita Meter Maid" are brought into the mix during the guitar solo.

The introduction to "Sun King" and rain sound effects serve as a transition leading into the next identified song, "Lady Madonna." The track opens with drums from "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" and the background vocals and sax solo from the song before settling into the familiar piano intro and lead vocal from Paul. The instrumental sax break is replaced with sped-up organ (played by Billy Preston) from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," the riff-driven guitar from "Hey Bulldog" and a bit of Eric Clapton's guitar solo from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."

The Indian drums and droning instruments from "Within You Without You" combined with the slowed down chant of "Sun, sun, sun" from "Here Comes The Sun" serve as the introduction to "Here Comes The Sun." The song is followed by a transition piece featuring the instrumental backing from Harrison's "The Inner Light," which was recorded in Bombay, India.

The version of "Come Together" on "LOVE" is similar to the "Abbey Road" mix, but Paul's backing vocal is given a bit more prominence. The instrumental backing to "Dear Prudence" is blended into the track towards the end of the song. A transitional piece titled "Cry Baby Cry" is actually Paul's uncredited "Can You Take Me Back," which followed "Cry Baby Cry" on "The White Album." This is mixed with a bit of the orchestral build-up from "A Day In The Life" to give the piece a weird other-worldly sound that serves as the lead-in to two songs showcasing the Beatles as rockers with political consciousness. "Revolution" is a remix of the fast single version of the song. Its ending flows into a relatively straightforward rendition of "Back In The U.S.S.R.," which contains some vocal ad-libs not found on the "The White Album" master.

The version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" selected for "LOVE" is George Harrison's beautiful studio demo from July 25, 1968, which features George's vocal backed only by his acoustic guitar and Paul's simple but effective harmonium towards the end of the song. In order to give this lovely performance more depth, George Martin scored and added a tasteful string backing--the only new music created for "LOVE." "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is another "LOVE" track that not only works as part of the song-cycle, but also stands out on its own.

"A Day In The Life" is remixed for "LOVE," but is, except for the pre-song intro, left unaltered. The track opens with the studio chatter, alarm clock test, piano and John's "Sugar plum ferry, sugar plum ferry" count-in that precedes Take 1. The "LOVE" version of the song gives listeners an idea of how incredible the "Sgt. Pepper" album will sound if and when it is remixed in 5.1 surround.

"Hey Jude" is a song that had to be in "LOVE," but its seven-minute plus running time necessitated it being edited. According to Giles, "'Hey Jude' was fun to do because there was demand to...take a sad song and make it shorter! So I actually listened to Paul's version of it on the Super Bowl and took out that verse so there's a verse missing." During the sing-along ending, the music drops out for two of the repeated choruses. The first contains vocals and percussion backed by drums from "Magical Mystery Tour." This is joined by Paul's bass in the next chorus before the music is brought back to the front.

The end of "Hey Jude" (with only horns remaining in the mix) crossfades into "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)." The rocker is an effective link to the final selection, "All You Need Is Love." The song is remixed, but otherwise left alone until its ending, which incorporates the Beatles singing "We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the closing strings to "Good Night." As the music comes to an end, "LOVE" finishes with the concluding moments of "The Beatles Third Christmas Record" from 1965. After George says, "Put the red lights off" (meaning the recording session is over), John follows with "This is Johnny Rhythm just sayin' good nights to yoose all and God bless ya." It is a fitting ending to an incredible 81-minute song-cycle full of beautiful harmonies and melodies, creative mash-ups, music laced with mysticism and psychedelia, rockers and familiar anthems that define the music and culture of the sixties.

Bruce Spizer is author of the critically acclaimed books, The Beatles Records on Vee-Jay, The Beatles' Story on Capitol Records parts 1 & 2, The Beatles on Apple Records, The Beatles Solo on Apple Records, and The Beatles Are Coming! The Birth of Beatlemania in America, and served as an official consultant to Capitol Records on The Capitol Albums Volumes 1 and 2.