Reporting For Duty
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Categories
The White Album (as a single LP)
StirredNotShaken
Toronto
This is a really interesting concept I worked on the past few days. I'm very much an album listener, and I consider The White Album to be rather poor, unfortunately. It's got my two favourite Beatles songs ever on it, a bunch of others that are top tier, but then has some of the most atrocious garbage they've ever committed to tape.
The other problem? It's way, WAY too long (not that I mind an album this long; there have certainly been 90+ minute albums that have been very well made, but when you get 90 minutes with crap like Revolution 9 taking up 8 whole minutes of it, something's wrong). I've condensed this double LP into a single LP, and this was an amazing listening experience. I have all my notes on my process, which I will post at some point, and this is my final draft of the new album. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado...
The White Album
Side A
1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. I'm So Tired
6. Blackbird
7. Why Don't We Do It in The Road?
8. Julia
Side B
1. Birthday
2. Yer Blues
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Helter Skelter
7. Long, Long, Long
The important things to note:
- Each side has been made to fit the limitations of vinyl; Side A clocks in at 23:03 and Side B clocks in at 22:43 for a total length of 45:46. Though you could, theoretically, fit 28 minutes onto a side of an LP, the sound quality would be awful. I took the length of the longest side on White Album (24:27; Side 4) and set a guideline that neither side of my single LP White Album could exceed that length.
- Back in the U.S.S.R. opens the album as it does on the real White Album. Julia still closes the first half and Birthday still opens the second. Since Side 4 has been cut entirely, Long, Long, Long ends the album instead of Good Night.
- One Harrison song per Side as per Beatles' tradition.
- Anyone who knows the album will notice that Side B is, song for song, Side 3 of the original album. This is because I consider Side 4 absolutely unneccessary and cut it in its' entirety. I also consider Side 3 of White Album to be the best side of an album ever and couldn't bring myself to remove any songs from it nor modify it in any way.
- The remaining 15 out of 30 songs still play in the order they appear on the original album.
So, thoughts? I highly encourage everyone to listen to this new version of White Album. I give it 10/10 and, had it been real, would easily say it was the best Beatles album and, indeed, one of the best albums of all time. If only it had been like this.
The other problem? It's way, WAY too long (not that I mind an album this long; there have certainly been 90+ minute albums that have been very well made, but when you get 90 minutes with crap like Revolution 9 taking up 8 whole minutes of it, something's wrong). I've condensed this double LP into a single LP, and this was an amazing listening experience. I have all my notes on my process, which I will post at some point, and this is my final draft of the new album. Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado...
The White Album
Side A
1. Back in the U.S.S.R.
2. Dear Prudence
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. I'm So Tired
6. Blackbird
7. Why Don't We Do It in The Road?
8. Julia
Side B
1. Birthday
2. Yer Blues
3. Mother Nature's Son
4. Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey
5. Sexy Sadie
6. Helter Skelter
7. Long, Long, Long
The important things to note:
- Each side has been made to fit the limitations of vinyl; Side A clocks in at 23:03 and Side B clocks in at 22:43 for a total length of 45:46. Though you could, theoretically, fit 28 minutes onto a side of an LP, the sound quality would be awful. I took the length of the longest side on White Album (24:27; Side 4) and set a guideline that neither side of my single LP White Album could exceed that length.
- Back in the U.S.S.R. opens the album as it does on the real White Album. Julia still closes the first half and Birthday still opens the second. Since Side 4 has been cut entirely, Long, Long, Long ends the album instead of Good Night.
- One Harrison song per Side as per Beatles' tradition.
- Anyone who knows the album will notice that Side B is, song for song, Side 3 of the original album. This is because I consider Side 4 absolutely unneccessary and cut it in its' entirety. I also consider Side 3 of White Album to be the best side of an album ever and couldn't bring myself to remove any songs from it nor modify it in any way.
- The remaining 15 out of 30 songs still play in the order they appear on the original album.
So, thoughts? I highly encourage everyone to listen to this new version of White Album. I give it 10/10 and, had it been real, would easily say it was the best Beatles album and, indeed, one of the best albums of all time. If only it had been like this.
^ Back to Top
The MI6 Community is unofficial and in no way associated or linked with EON Productions, MGM, Sony Pictures, Activision or Ian Fleming Publications. Any views expressed on this website are of the individual members and do not necessarily reflect those of the Community owners. Any video or images displayed in topics on MI6 Community are embedded by users from third party sites and as such MI6 Community and its owners take no responsibility for this material.
James Bond News • James Bond Articles • James Bond Magazine
Comments
I might get some accusations of laziness for Side B just being Side 3 of the original double LP, but to me, Long, Long, Long needed to be the album closer, and I made a rule that my track listing had to follow the order of the original double LP regardless of which songs I removed. This automatically eliminated Side 4, not that I would've included any of those songs anyway.
I think Side 3 is flawless. I used to have a huge distaste for Birthday, Yer Blues, and EGStHEMaMM but all three of those are five-star songs for me now. I couldn't exclude any of them from my final draft and I found enough that I either disliked or felt didn't properly fit into a single LP to cut from Side 1 and Side 2.
For the record, Glass Onion was the last song to get cut because of the time constraint per side. If I hadn't had the time constraint, I would've (very regrettably) cut it anyway because I'd already taken out The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, which segues into While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Glass Onion's transition into this was very awkward, and having Dear Prudence precede WMGGW instead of Glass Onion remedied the transition as if TCSoBB never existed.
I cannot believe I am living here without an entire collection of Beatles cds. That has got to change!
I would also include Obla Di Obla Da. Another feeling good song from Paul McCartney! I would remove Why Don't We Do This On The Road because it is too negativity.
You know, I just went through my list of the songs that had to stay no matter what, and save for "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" that was basically all of the ones that made the final cut.
Reasons for removing each song (in track order on the original album):
Side 1 - This is the most emblematic side of the album for me; there's five fantastic songs on here, including the two best The Beatles ever did. But then there are two mediocre songs and one absolutely horrendous one. That's about the general ratio of quality the entire album has.
Glass Onion - I REALLY wanted this one to stay. It was the last one I took out, and it was pretty much solely for the time constraint reason. Dear Prudence wasn't going and WMGGW sure as HELL wasn't going. Looking, back, though, there are a couple of other reasons. WMGGW has a hangover from Bungalow Bill, something John Lennon shouts out (I can't quite understand what he says) and Glass Onion's string outro is abruptly cut off by it. Dear Prudence, on the other hand, ends with silence and the shout from John is very effective at jerking the listener back into the album after the soft, beautiful yet haunting Dear Prudence almost carries them away. Also, Glass Onion is at almost exactly the same tempo as WMGGW. While I wanted to make the album have a more unified sound, I still wanted to capture some of the variety that the album has, and having two songs next to eachother at almost exactly the same tempo just didn't sit well with me.
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - It just doesn't fit. I don't outright dislike the song, but along with Side 4, this one was cut right away. Possibly the most out-of-place Beatles song ever. This would've been much better on something like Magical Mystery Tour.
Wild Honey Pie - Garbage. This was out right away. Utterly useless track and I'll never understand why it was included on the album, much less on the mostly otherwise fantastic Side 1. Seriously, who heard this and went "Yeah, Paul, that sounds great. I bet it'll work just great with the rest of the album"?
The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill - This, along with Glass Onion, made it past the first listen of my first draft. It was cut after. The flamenco guitar intro being abruptly cut off by "HEY, BUNGALOW BILL, WHAT DID YOU KILL, BUNGALOW BILL" is just sloppy editing and really genuinely bothered me enough to cut the song out. Plus the ending with the applause is absolutely pretentious. Oh, and John let Yoko sing part of a verse since he was apparently her slave or something. That's how I like to justify that disaster, anyway. You can already guess how bad her "contribution" is.
Side 2 - I'm mixed on this side. I want to say I really like it but I also kind of want to say I'm indifferent to it. I ultimately cut five of the nine songs from this side, though most of it boils down to songs just not fitting in properly.
Martha My Dear - Simple. It doesn't follow Happiness is a Warm Gun well. At all. Since this is no longer the transition between one side of an album and the next, but rather the transition between two songs on the same side, it needed to be more cohesive. "I'm So Tired" does a MUCH better job of it.
Piggies - This is the second-worst song George Harrison ever wrote. (We'll get to Savoy Truffle later). I don't hate it but it's certainly the worst song on this side.
Rocky Raccoon - I really wanted to keep this one but the transition out of Blackbird was really awkward. After I'd cut it, the time constraint became an issue anyway. It wouldn't have stayed even if it sounded perfect off of Blackbird. I really, really like Rocky Raccoon, though. I'd like to make that very clear right now.
Don't Pass Me By - I don't like having to take Ringo's only song off, but it REALLY didn't work following up Blackbird and just felt off even after Rocky Raccoon, which I took out after DPMB. It didn't even feel right following the song that it normally follows, so at that point it was too out of place to stay. Good song though.
I Will - Too similar in feeling (and length) to WDWDIitR? for me. It ultimately came down to just a time constraint issue anyway. I love "I Will" and hated to just toss it out like that, in fact I think I may like it better than "Why Don't We..." but just feel like the latter fits on the single LP better.
Side 3 - Nothing was taken off of here. Best side of an LP ever in my books and just absolutely flawless. I really tried finding something to take out but I couldn't. I already had my Side A filled out, so I figured, why not just keep this side the way it was and make it Side B? Listening to it, it worked extremely well.
Side 4 - Ahh, here we are. The WORST side of an LP ever. It was the stuff on here that made me hate the White Album when I was younger. Not a single song off of here made it onto the single LP, making it the absolute complete opposite of Side 3.
Revolution 1 - The crap version of a decent single. All the studio banter just detracts more and more from this the more I hear it, and I don't agree with the slower tempo at all. It's like they recorded Revolution a second time, only this time they didn't give a shit about it. Either that, or they went drunk into the studio, didn't realize the record button was on, and Yoko thought it would be a good idea to include this. Or something. I don't know.
Honey Pie - No. Moving on.
Savoy Truffle - This is the most fascinating, puzzling, magnificently awful song I've ever heard in my life. How in the hell could the best Beatle write something so bad? A list of desserts. Maybe this was George trying to sabotage the album as a big eff-you to Lennon-McCartney for screwing him over on every album? I don't know. At least George dumped it here instead of putting it on something like All Things Must Pass.
Cry Baby Cry - I really don't get it. This song is often called the best on Side 4 and among the best on the album. I think it's pitiful at best. This is everything bad about the way John Lennon writes, summed up in 3:02. When John wrote good stuff, he wrote some of the best stuff ever made. When the quality dropped, it took a complete nosedive. Happiness is a Warm Gun is proof of the former; this is proof of the latter.
Revolution 9 - Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Why. Oh look, I said "Why." nine times. Did reading that aggravate you? Make you question the meaning behind why I would even bother doing so? Completely confuse you? Does it seem absolutely pointless? Should I make an 8:22 long song around it? If you answered "Yes" to every question except the last, then congratulations! You're a normal, functioning human being! And not high on LSD! But back to my point. WHY. DID. YOU. WRITE. THIS. JOHN? How did the rest of the band not veto this utter piece of "experimental" trash from existence on this planet, let alone existence on this album? I can't think of any other song that makes me physically angry. Wait. Does this even count as a song? Oh, that's right. It doesn't. At all.
Good Night - THIS is the best song on Side 4. Which isn't saying much at all. I find it pretty dreadful and a crap way to close the album. "Long, Long, Long" does a much better job at it and is much more effective as a closing track. This is very, very dull. I just can't understand what makes this so appealing to people, to the point where they actually want it as the closing track. It's just so... unfulfilling. It feels like the album just ends out of nowhere without any real sense of conclusion, of a finale. "Long, Long, Long" delivers all of those things for me. It really feels like an ending. "Good Night" doesn't even come close to giving me a sense of finality.
Side A is definitely the better half for me, and Skelter should have been the last song.
My band used to do a really kicked up version of Sweet's "Fox On The Run" if anyone's interested. Back to the topic.
I don't think you can beat the song that all but gave birth to metal. Helter Skelter is absolutely genius but I really feel it needed a sort of epilogue to follow it. Long, Long, Long, delivers very well on that account.
Also, I think I like Side A of my single LP version better than Side 3 of the original, but it's a tough call for me. Just 15 fantastic songs from start to finish.
Don't get me wrong, I think it works brilliantly to close the album. I just feel like, since LLL was there, it was more effective for it to stay.
I think "Glass Onion" is a grand song and should have made your final cut.
As for the Harrison tunes, "Savoy Truffle" definitely belongs.
I would have left "Long , Long, Long" and "I'm so tired" off your version.
The version of Revolution that was released on the radio stations versus the one on the album. I think most of us would prefer the heavy rock version we heard on the radio back then.
"Helter Skelter" was written by Paul when he decided he wanted to do an "obscene rock song". a great tune by Sir Paul.
Also, there's a part of me that thinks that if they hadn't made a double album then we would have missed out on some of these songs. The amount of creativity that went into this is amazing. Perhaps if they weren't experimenting with all these different sounds then it would have turned out much differently.
However, on digital it does nothing for me. Listening to an original vinyl in stereo album makes all the difference, the sound is both clean and grungy.
Even a track like Revolution, which I don't rate, has a real texture to it on vinyl. Comparing it to a CD, it's like picking out a postcard from the gift shop that looks like the painting you've just seen. Sure, you get the idea, but...
It's true that the understated songs on the album, like Rocky Racoon, have their charm. Don't Pass Me By is less clanging in mono, I think, and Helter Skelter rocks in mono vinyl. It's pure punk.
@OHMSS69, Glass Onion was the very last song I cut, solely to accomodate the time constraint. I considered taking "Why Don't We Do It..." off, but if I did that, it'd mean there wouldn't be a single track between Blackbird and Julia. Besides, even then, Glass Onion would still violate the time constraint. Also, Glass Onion doesn't go well into WMGGW thanks to the hangover from Bungalow Bill that's on WMGGW. Dear Prudence remedies that problem.
It seems to me, @StirredNotShaken, that you are operating from a significantly mistaken perception here. That perception is: that the double album released under the title, "The Beatles," and commonly known as the White Album is an overlong and flawed product that needed a strong editing hand to pare it down and perfect it. That is not at all the case. The double album as it exists is a perfect package depicting something we can find nowhere else: the dissolution of the greatest pop music group of its day, perhaps the greatest pop music group of all time. It is a double album simply because the parameters that the Beatles had been operating under no longer existed. Lennon and McCartney were no longer writing together, indeed, the entire group was no longer even RECORDING together. Each individual member came into the studio by himself and laid down his own tracks, or made his contribution to the others' compositions, on his own. The four Beatles could not have possibly gotten together and decided on a track order, or which songs to keep for the album and which to eliminate. Each was essentially operating as a solo artist making guest appearances on a friend's track(s). The group had already broken up by the time this album was recorded, they just hadn't bothered to call the lawyers yet. They hadn't even found the way to tell each other what each one already knew: in order for John, Paul, George and Ringo to grow artistically, the Beatles had to be set aside. John said it best when he first heard George's initial solo album a few years later: "If the Beatles had to break up in order for George to come out with All Things Must Pass, then the Beatles should have broken up years ago!"
There's one thing you say that I seriously need to take issue with: "Oh, and John let Yoko sing part of a verse since he was apparently her slave or something." This is reminiscent of the sort of calumny that Yoko has had to put up with for far too long, and you really ought to apologize for saying it. Despite what too many have claimed, Yoko did not break up the Beatles. The Beatles broke up the Beatles; no one else would have been able to. John himself felt that, far from enslaving him, Yoko had freed him by helping him to understand that he didn't HAVE to be Beatle John anymore if he didn't want to. And he didn't; he had been very unhappy being Beatle John for awhile at that point. (He used to refer to the time making the movie "Help!" as his "fat Elvis" period.) What would you have rather had: happiness for an artist whose work you enjoy, or another decade's worth of unhappiness for him yoked to collaborators with whom he no longer wished to collaborate?
I consider The Beatles broken up from 1968 onwards. And I don't hold that to Yoko. But she hasn't a musical bone in her body yet John insisted on letting her wreck his songs left and right. That's the problem I have.
Also, I feel that Let it Be (the film and the album both) are a much better depiction of the breakup of The Beatles.
Also, for the record, I'd say ATMP is better than any Beatles album. Controversial?
I think that's an incredibly rude thing to say. You're welcome to hold any opinion you'd like, but really, you ought to find a more polite way to express that opinion.
I'm a huge fan of ATMP as well, but "better than any Beatles album"? Better than Sgt. Pepper or Abbey Road? No, I don't think so. And let's not forget, ATMP is a TRIPLE album -- one complete disc of comprised of nothing but "Apple Jams." I think that one's a trifle over-stuffed in its own right...
It's quite rude, but I don't know how else to express it.
The jams on ATMP have been a guilty pleasure of mine, always. Perhaps as a musician I just love hearing those guys, a bunch of legends, just improvising and absolutely messing around. Plus the two discs that precede it are gold.