September 2009
55 posts
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Beatles iTunes announcement rumor gets one step...
As Steve says, these rumors have happened so often, it’s easy to become jaded. But this one is different for a lot of reasons.
One, today Apple sent out invites today to a press event on 09-09-09. When this latest rumor first started, I thought yes, this is it. Then I thought that since Beatles Rock Band debuted via Microsoft at E3, maybe Apple Inc is just being a bitch trying to steal the...
August 2009
57 posts
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Even 7-Eleven is participating in 090909
As read here, the remastered CDs will be available all over the place, including:
Restoration Hardware
Starbucks
Whole Foods
Ralph’s
Pathmark
7-Eleven
Blockbuster
It’s not like this is a new idea (especially for Starbucks). I’d rather see Beatles albums than “Songs for Your Mood Swings” lame-ass cds near the check out lines of these places.
Highlights:
...
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Possible proof of Apple Inc's 090909 Beatles... →
As I was saying in a previous post, if the Beatles music doesn’t appear on iTunes when Beatles Rock Band is released, they stand to actually lose revenue.
“I’ve seen music come a long way — from records and cassette tapes to CDs and downloads — and it’s as cool as it ever was,” McCartney said from England. “I don’t mind how the music gets to them, as long as it’s...
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Amazon offers Beatles community message boards →
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Microsoft offers Beatles exclusives via XBOX Live
From this article:
…you’ll also be able to fill even more of your entertainment time with music videos, documentaries and movies inspired by the Fab Four on Xbox LIVE. From classic tunes from band members to the best of the Mersey’s music from today and the critically acclaimed documentary, “Imagine: John Lennon,” it’s all there for you at the touch of a button.
Need more ways to prove...
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Uninteresting interview with Paul for Billboard →
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Spinner.com interview with Josh Randall
As read here.
Highlights:
I met Yoko many times over the course of the project. In the end, she came to see our progress and it was such a huge help because at the time our version of John was not really there. She’s an artist and she’s really with it, so she was able to figure it out really quickly. She told us, “He doesn’t move the right way. His eyes aren’t...
VH1 will play The Beatles Anthology + more →
This is near and dear to me because althought I was a fan before it was originally released in 1995, I didn’t become obsessed with the Beatles until after the Anthology aired. I hope the same thing happens to some 17-year old girl this time around.
The “more” includes:
The Beatles Retrospective with Mark Goodman
Help!
The Beatles Anthology 2
and some solo Beatles stuff like...
Babyboomer essay on the New Beatles
As read here.
Highlights:
She talks a lot about that book everyone is talking about due to its antagonistic title, “How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ‘n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music”.
“When the Beatles appeared on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show,’ it was the last time a live performance changed the course of American music, and when they...
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Photos of people playing the BRB demo at Best Buy →
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Best Buy becomes Beatles central
From bestbuy.com:
Celebrate the release day of The Beatles remastered CDs and The Beatles Rock Band game. The ten Best Buy stores below will open at 8 a.m. September 9, so you can meet local radio DJs, play The Beatles Rock Band game, compete in trivia contests, enter sweepstakes and more.
Here are the locations. I’m not sure if I’ll go to this. The MN store is nowhere near the...
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LA Times on the new Beatlemania
As read here.
Highlights:
Retailers have been taking advance orders for the individual CDs, box sets and Rock Band for months, and it’s a good bet that the Beatles will appear near the top of sales charts one more time.
Pride, and mild indignation, emerged when Rouse was asked what tapes were used as source material. “We would never consider using anything other than...
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Pre-order club update: TV Commercial
Update: People are trying to tell me that these are the actual Beatles. I would totally believe that Paul is real, but the rest aren’t quite right. Anyone is welcom to send me proof to @factory_worker.
The Beatles Rock Band TV commercial has hit the pre-order club. It’s not what I would have expected, but it’s really great. And short.
They got 4 Beatles lookalikes to step...
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Apple Inc will hold a press conference on 09-09-09... →
New iPods and iTunes 9 are expected…perhaps the gateway to downloadable Beatles tracks.
I really think this is it. Apple Corps has said that one reason why the Beatles music has not been available for download has been the current state of the digital music (1987 cds). They were waiting for remastering, and for EMI to stop being dumbasses. Clearly that time is now.
EMI and Apple Corps have...
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LA Times reviews remasters →
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Mojo reviews remasters →
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I played Beatles Rock Band today
Today, Best Buy stores set up a demo of the Beatles Rock Band game. The demo I played did not include the bundled instruments, or even the Rickenbacker or Gretsch. In fact, the demo was so unassuming that I walked up to the TV and two guitar controllers, waiting for the video to move from the logo splash screen then walked away because it looked dumb.
When I got back to the station, a guy was...
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Bits from the Paul interview with Game Informer
We finally got the eyes right, they’re awesome.
What’s that at the end?
We wanted to play it [their music] to someone, in that case on a mono record player, and then through the ages on CDs, downloads.
Question: Were there songs in The Beatles’ catalog that you felt needed to be there?
PM: Yeah mine… mine. Basically, mine. [laughs]
If they thought they could make...
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More DLC deets
Maybe I missed these in the press release. It’s from Joystiq.
Abbey Road will arrive first on October 20 at a price of $16.98 (1360 ), with individual tracks for $1.99 (160). Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band will follow in November, and Rubber Soul will arrive in December.
Damn that’s pricey for an album. But I guess it’s almost like getting a whole new game, so...
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Gamer Informer interview with Paul →
Rolling Stone ups the ante →
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Album DLC deets
From the press release.
In addition, purchasers of the full album download of Abbey Road will have the option to play the famous 16-minute B-side medley as a single continuous track. The medley includes “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “Sun King,” “Mean Mr. Mustard,” “Polythene Pam,” “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window,” “Golden Slumbers,” “Carry That Weight” and “The End.”
Since...
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Is this Argentine site streaming remastered clips? →
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Gameplay tidbits
From Gamespot:
How much stuff you unlock is based on whether you got 4 or 5 stars. You can then take a chapter challenge (like the Cavern is a chapter), which accumulates note streaks from all the songs from that chapter.
“Beatles Beats is in addition to the game’s drum trainer mode, which will include 45 exercises designed to help you get your act together behind the set. If you...
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Official site finally indicates that revealed... →
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Apple + Apple = Beatles on iTunes on 090909? →
IGN Video: The Beatles: Rock Band Xbox 360 Trailer... →
BBC Fab Four Season →
BBC programming to include rare footage and excerpts from 60 songs.
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Fest for Beatles fans sheds light on remasters
From Abbeyrd:
George Martin tweaked both “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” when the albums were issued on CD back in 1987. Although “Rubber Soul” was recorded on a four-track machine, most of its songs have severe stereo separation with vocals on one side and instruments on the other. George Martin completely remixed the album to bring the vocals down the center. The...
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Clips from Sgt Pepper now available at the Amazon... →
Click Play in the Listen for Free area.
These are the clips I’ve noticed the least difference on, but then again I’m not wearing headphones.
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Today's news
I’m not sure how we will be entertained for the next 3 weeks considering that we now know a hell of a lot about Beatles Rock Band. And now more news, mostly involving the story mode extras.
Harmonix says no Beatles solo material will be available.
Apparently some “are speculating” that Hey Jude is the mystery song. Yup, I can see that.
MTV (the horse’s mouth) explains...
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What was left out
It’s really hard to think of what was left out of the BRB tracklist, assuming today’s rumor is true. Since we now know three albums will be available later, it seems like the DLC will just keep on coming (something Giles Martin had alluded to as well).
But with what I know now, I will still miss:
It Won’t Be Long
Rain
She Said She Said
Dr Robert
I’m Only Sleeping
...
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44 of the 45 songs confirmed
Well this was unexpected. According to 411mania.com, Gigwise, Joystiq and several other blogs, we now know 44 of the 45 songs. The full list will appear in Game Informer magazine’s September issue (which I looked for today at Barnes & Noble but couldn’t find). thebeatlesrockband.com has not listed the final tracklist yet.
Ringo - drum roll please (new ones are bold, * means I...
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The media jumps on board
Maybe they’ve been given more access to the game recently, but the media sure has been hot on Beatles Rock Band this week.
Wired tells us that the drum trainer is called Beatle Beats. And more info on the bonuses:
For scoring well on songs, you’ll unlock all kinds of bonuses. Each song has two photographs pulled from the Beatles’ archive, some of which have never been seen before....
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Rolling Stone has some new tidbits about game...
From this article:
“Hello, this is John speaking with his voice. We’re all very happy to be able to talk to you like this …” The voice is John Lennon’s, cheerfully greeting fans from a 1963 Beatles Christmas disc recorded for members of their fan club, and it’s just one of many gems hidden within the upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band game.
Beyond the 45 songs included in the game, fans will...
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Clip of Beatles For Sale mini doc available on... →
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Highlights from the huge NYT BRB article
Giles held a slender finger to his lips, which turned up into a playful grin. He handed cups and saucers to three people nearby and mimed a sip. The others followed his lead, and a few feet away the microphones captured the small clattering sound of four people drinking tea. The odd recording session in March was one very small contribution to what Apple Corps…
Apparently some extra...
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Sgt Pepper and Rubber Soul as DLC
According to this summary of the NYT article I mentioned in my last post, Sgt. Pepper and Rubber Soul will be offered as downloadable content after the games release.
I prediected Rubber Soul would make this cut. It’s a folk-rock album where every song would make great gameplay. But Sgt Pepper features tracks that have no guitar, or no drums. And does this mean that Within You Without You...
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Huge NYT article on BRB and the remasters →
Insight and analysis to come later
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VH1classic.com features QVC video to preorder... →
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Boston.com article
Some insights from this article.
Highlights:
When animated footage of the Beatles appeared on the screen, Ono zeroed in on her late husband, John Lennon.
“That’s not John,’’ she told Eran Egozy, one of Harmonix’s cofounders. “He wouldn’t have moved that way. That is not John’s spirit.’’ Egozy thanked Ono - and his lucky stars.
“We know what John looked like, but not what he moved like,’’...
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Great interview about the remasters
Thanks once again to Steve, this great interview with Allen Rouse, engineer.
Highlights:
The re-masters are made from the original Sixties mono and stereo master tapes, and because of this, do not allow for the changes that can be made when mixing. Therefore, the improvements that occur with the re-masters are: vastly improved digital technology (since their first release on CD in the eighties);...
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A couple BRB updates
We get the real word on what guitars are compatible with what (it says for XBox, but I assume it’s for all) here. GHWT guitar will work with BRB. Woo hoo!
Nintendo Power magazine apparently has a super nice 4-page article about Beatles Rock Band, but I can only read one online. Great job, Nintendo Power.
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BRB song predictions, part 3
Because I’m slightly bored, here are my predictions for the remaining 20 songs. This time with possible venues.
Please Please Me - Cavern
She Loves You - Cavern or Ed Sullivan
From Me to You - Ed Sullivan
A Hard Day’s Night - Ed Sullivan
You Can’t Do That - Ed Sullivan
Baby’s in Black - Shea
I’m a Loser - Shea
Help! - Shea
Ticket to Ride - Shea
She’s a Woman -Shea or Budokan
Drive...
