incendiary

It's turning into a bit of a Beatles' blog, I guess, but of all my neuroses this is easily the most harmless hahaha......

The newly remastered, resequenced and remixed "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" album shows Beatlemania at the height of its' power. The performances presented here exude an energy and enthusiasm that only the deaf would not appreciate what all the fuss was about. If anything, "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" would be as good a starting point for a psychological study of the human psyche than anything one could ever encounter. The sound of 20,000 screaming, hysterical teenagers, mainly girls, doesn't let up throughout the set. And as ever, the Beatles knew when to up a notch in their performances to get the audience to scream even louder. Did they do it on purpose just to wind the crowd up even more? Probably?

Modern technology, as good as it is, hasn't got to a point where the background din can be separated from the Beatles live prowess. The band still sound interested, their set brimming with exuburence and power that later tours would lose. Producer, Giles Martin, son of Sir George Martin, is a chip off the old block. He is as intimately acquainted with the Beatles sound as his father was, and in comparison with the original "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" album of 1977, he has merely dusted down and applied a new sonic sheen to the band's offering. The vocals shine on this re-release, the bass and drums mainly occupy the left channel, lead and rhythm guitars to the right - the shows were originally recorded on 3-track tape in chaotic conditions. George and Giles Martin have given us the live shows that have never done the Beatles justice...until now.

Highlights? The opener, "Twist And Shout" is raucous with a throat-tearing Lennon vocal. "Can't Buy Me Love" is full of urgency and pleading, "She Loves You" is almost as spine-tingling as the single, and "Long Tall Sally" proves that Paul, if any were ever needed, was as good vocally on visceral rockers as his writing partner. They really are THAT good. And this isn't me being a slobbering sycophant, I can listen to this with a critical distance and still say it's incendiary.

Buy. Download, Steal. Or something. This won't happen again.