The Smithereens, Meet The Smithereens (Koch, 2007)

The Smithereens gained a considerable amount of attention in the late eighties and early nineties for their ability to make quality modern rock while remaining true to their classic rock roots. They had a run of radio-friendly rockers like "Blood and Roses," "Behind a Wall of Sleep," and "Only a Memory," but eventually the hits dried up. Now Pat DiNizio and the lads have re-invented themselves, for an album at least, as a Beatles tribute band. Meet The Smithereens! reproduces in its entirety, from "I Want to Hold Your Hand" to "Not a Second Time,", the 1964 Capitol LP Meet The Beatles! which brought Beatlemania across the Atlantic for the first time.

Remaking an album song for song seems like an odd concept, the same way that remaking a classic film came across as odd before it became commonplace. I think you can make it work, though, if you hold on to what was good about the original and show it the proper respect as you present the material to an audience that won't all be familiar with it. I think The Smithereens have succeeded in that regard here. The band members are old enough to have seen the first appearance of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show when they were kids, and their collective destiny was probably set right then and there. The purpose of Meet The Smithereens!, then, appears to be to capture some of the spark The Beatles instilled in them and bring it into the present day.

Despite DiNizio's vocal limitations relative to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the musical performances throughout Meet The Smithereens! are solid. And of course, the selection of material is impeccable. Given that The Beatles' recorded output only got better as the sixties progressed, it's easy for somebody too young to have lived through it to forget that their early music was really good too. I suppose I should thank The Smithereens for the reminder.

Will Meet the Smithereens! make anybody forget the original versions of the songs? No, but I really don't think that's their intent. Like fine performers of traditional music, The Smithereens are putting their own stamp on the music that inspired them, in the hopes of directing the attention of younger listeners not just to them, but to The Beatles as well. So I think there's a place for recordings like this one if they at least do the originals justice, which Meet The Smithereens! does.

Overall grade: B+

reviewed by Scott

The Beatles, Love (Apple, 2006)

George Harrison and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté were close friends, stemming from their mutual interest in motor racing. At some point they discussed the possibility of putting on a Cirque du Soleil production choreographed to the music of The Beatles, beginning the process that eventually led to the premiere of the show Love in June 2006 at the Mirage in Las Vegas. Dominic Champagne was brought in to direct the show, and naturally, Beatles' producer George Martin was asked to oversee the music. Told to assemble an hour and a half of sounds from whatever Beatles recordings he felt were appropriate, and encouraged to be as experimental as he could, Martin recruited his son Giles to help him dive through the most legendary, important, and valuable master recordings on the planet and create the right combination of songs -- or the right combination of combinations of songs -- to fit the stage show. As Giles Martin describes in the liner notes to the soundtrack CD of Love, it felt at times like he was "painting a moustache on the Mona Lisa."

Love consists of 26 tracks, all altered in some way from the original recordings. Some songs are simply remixed, some have either the vocal or the instrumental tracks isolated, and some are sped up or slowed down to tie in with other recordings. The only new recording is an orchestral arrangement scored by George Martin to accompany the acoustic demo version of George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" that was first released on The Beatles Anthology Vol. 3. A few of the alterations are particularly inspired, most notably the combination of George's vocal on "Within You Without You" with Ringo's drum track on "Tomorrow Never Knows," and the guitar track on "Blackbird" slowed down to lead perfectly into "Yesterday." Unfortunately, no video footage of the actual show is included, making it difficult to place the songs in any sort of context.

Is Love an essential addition to the Beatles' canon? No, not really. Like the Anthology sets, it provides some insights into how The Beatles worked in the studio. The different takes on the originally released material will generate considerable interest among the band's fans, especially the many completists who have to have everything, and should meet with the general approval of most of them. But like the Anthology sets, the novelty and curiosity will wear off after a few listens. Love has some fun moments, but I'm still going to go back to the original albums when I need a Beatles fix.

Overall grade: B

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