A few nuggets, a few more bombs
07/19/1999
(3 out of 5 stars)
"This album is worth buying for a few tracks, namely Jeff Beck's incredible interpretation of A Day in the Life, Jim Carrey's surprisingly good and hilarious version of I am the Walrus (he could front a rock band, no sweat, on personality alone), Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin's Come Together (if George can make Robin sound decent singing, he can make anyone sound good!), and Vanessa Mae's beautiful take on Because. Goldie Hawn cracks us up w/ her lounge version of Hard Day's Night, as well. However, the rest is either mediocre or mostly fodder (Celine Dion, Phil Collins, Sean Connery--doing spoken word for In My Life! Ouch!). Buy it cheap if you can. Showcases George's amazing production talents, using a plethora of seasoned backup musicians to recreate the Beatles moods relatively well."
Sir George Martin's swan song as a record producer
Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 01/27/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"For me George Martin has always been the "Fifth Beatle." Certainly from a performance standpoint that honor will go to Billy Preston, but Martin was the producer of most of the Beatles' recordings from 1962 to 1969 and that counts for a lot in my book. Martin's willingness to provide a nurturing environment and to do strange new things in the recording studio gave John Lennon and Paul McCartney license to do strange things like guitar feedback at the start of "I Feel Fine" and the string quartet for "Yesterday." When Martin decided to official retire in 1998 he decided to produce on last album, picking a selection of Beatles tunes that he had originally produced and coming up with some often offbeat performances to do singing (although not all of the guest artists are singers). The result, as you might expect, is a mixed bag. According to your tastes you will almost most assuredly find a couple of duds here, but you should also find a couple of efforts that you will appreciate.
Martin makes it clear that are no limits with the opening track, where Robin Williams sings "Come Together" while Bobby McFerrin provides the mouth music. When you start off with that track then Jim Carrey doing "I am the Walrus" does not seem that strange. But by the time Billy Connolly finishes the first verse of "For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" you get the point and there is really no reason not to skip ahead to the next track. The finale, with Sean Connery performing what is basically an dramatic reading of "In My Life" could be considered one of the comic twists in the album, but I like it; it remind me of the spoken word tracks on Moody Blues albums (besides, Martin first made his reputation doing sound recordings with Peter Ustinov and Peter Sellers, so there is a historic sense of coming full circle with this final track that I think you have to appreciate).
The rest of the tracks are more straightforward but still provide some creative twists and turns. Goldie Hawn giggles a tad too much in "A Hard Day's Night," but giving the song a jazz spin works, while feature Jeff Beck's guitar playing rather than any vocals on "A Day in the Life" actually gives the song even more of a sense of majesty. Celine Dion's "Here, There and Everywhere" is a rather straightforward performance, but she is here mainly because she has worked with Martin on her own albums. Martin even toots his own horn by putting together a new version of the "Pepperland Suite," just to remind all of those people who never flipped over to the other side of "The Yellow Submarine" soundtrack that he dabbled in writing some music as well. For me the glass is half full on this one and giving Sean Connery the final word on Martin's behalf seems totally appropriate."
Sad Goodbyes....
Thea Holmgren | Henderson, NV USA | 09/18/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I can see wanting to say a planned "Goodbye"; That doesn't mean anyone wants to let you go! A beautiful album... as always!
If you enjoyed the beautifully orchastration on this album, check out a long forgotten jewel on America's 1976 "Hideaway" album . My favorite- Hideaway Pt.2!"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1