A new mix of The Beatles’ Real Love has been dubbed “awkward” by fans who pointed out a problem with John Lennon‘s voice.
Anthology 4 will feature a selection of unreleased materials along with remasterings of previously released recordings, including Free as a Bird and Real Love. Both songs have split fans, with some preferring the original recordings. Lennon’s work on both songs was the point of discussion for fans of the r/Beatles subreddit, with many saying the changes made to his voice were too much. A fan has taken to the subreddit and suggested the Real Love mix sounds “horrible” and “extremely dry”. Others were much more appreciative of Jeff Lynne‘s latest mix of The Beatles‘ work, with the songs sounding clearer to some, and completely different to others.
A post to the forum reads: “They played part of the new mix for Real Love in a video for Anthology album pre-orders… It actually sounds so horrible. John’s vocals don’t mix at all with the backing instruments and vocals, like it’s awkwardly above the track. It’s also extremely dry, like it was on the Free As a Bird mix.
“No disrespect to Jeff Lynne, but I don’t think his ears are what they used to be. I’m extremely disappointed. Real Love was my favourite of the reunion songs. It could’ve sounded fantastic.” Not everyone was upset with the upcoming remix, with many expecting a “terrible” new version and being left pleasantly surprised by the new version.
One fan wrote: “I expected terrible, but from what I heard, I thought ‘this is nice.’ It’s great to have a clean hifi version and a beautiful smashed-together lofi version.” Another added: “I’m really glad we have both versions. Both have their merits.”
A third shared: “Big disagree it sounds much better than the new Free as a Bird mix in my opinion.” Others are thankful the release of a new Free as a Bird mix has not replaced the previous version. One fan wrote: “I’m really glad they didn’t go the revisionist way and suppress the original mixes of Free as a Bird and Real Love from the new Anthology.
“That being said, I’ve been enjoying the new mix of Free as a Bird a lot, the instrumental is much more detailed and John’s voice is very moving, even if, yes, a little dry. The new Real Love is promising to me. I guess Lynne went that way to emphasise the difference between the two.”
Another added: “I agree with you in principle. As long as nobody messes with the original stuff, I’m good. I would love everything to be released. Just don’t mess with the real recordings and releases.”
A third shared: “It works better than free as a bird in my opinion. Though it sounds like they didn’t fix the biggest issue with Real Love, and that is the sped-up tape. We still get chipmunk Beatles. But I’m glad they fixed his vocals on this one, it was never of very good quality. Free as a Bird had that ghostly quality, and it fit the song; Real Love’s vocal just always sounded like a bad recording.
