German 2nd Cut (1972)
SHZE 186
Discogs | German Matrix Database
Matrix:
Side A: SHZE 186 A-X2
Side B: SHZE 186 B-2
This is the 2nd cut which replaced the first cut (that I don’t have) that was released in 1966 and re-released in 1969 on blue Odeon/Hörzu labels. The 1972 HörZu version is this version (I also own a copy from late 70s on the Apple label with the catalog number 1C 072-04 097, which contains the same cut). So, a search for this version can prove quite tricky, as it can be easily confused with the ’69 HörZu version (1st cut), and the 1980 “1C 172” version (3rd cut). Visually, this record can be identified by having wide deadwax areas on both sides. The SHZE parts of the matrix are stamped very close to the label area, and there can be an additional 04097-A-2 / 04097-B-2 part added.
Now to the sound. Pleasant, interesting, but a bit different! I would describe it as this: the bass has been slightly reduced in power, and the stereo panorama has been widened compared to the UK. The result is a slightly different experience from the UK version. Whereas in the UK, everything is folding harmonically together, in the 2nd German cut, you have a greater instrument separation (the trebles are brilliant!) and thus better details, but less an integrated experience as a whole.
This is noticeable on various songs to a different degree. “Taxman” is probably the best example for demonstration: the instruments are wider apart, the bass is slightly less strong, and the voice is more prominent. The bass reduction in bass is also feelable on “And Your Bird Can Sing” which somehow lack substance in the center, leaving a kind of an acoustic hole, while the voice is slightly too present once again.
This effect is less noticeable on some other tracks. In fact, on “Eleanor Rigby”, and “Love You To”, being not too bassy to begin with, you barely notice a difference to the UK. On “Here, There and Everywhere” you notice the heightened mid-ranges, as you do on “For No One” (great details in Paul’s voice on this one!) or on “Good Day Sunshine” (still having enough meat on that low piano chords), without the bass feeling noticeably less. “Yellow Submarine”, an intricate track, is actually a joy on the German version, with every effect localizable in the space, the stereo panorama being wider and the bass reduction feeling very slight. “She Said, She Said”, actually sounds slightly better on the German version, the UK sounding more muddled, whereas the difference in bass is rather negligible. The last three songs on Side B featuring a hammering, pounding bass on the UK, are slightly reduced in that aspect on the German version, but to different effects. “I Want to Tell You” I actually liked slightly better on the German version, as the bass is less overpowering the midrange details. In “Got to Get You into My Life”, the UK wins again: in addition to reduced bass, it sounds somehow brittle on the German version, the horns and the singing being too thin. And as for “Tomorrow Never Knows”, I once again liked the German 2nd better: it is more dynamic, less murky, the voice less buried in the mix, the sound effects very distinctive, the tambourine on “it is being…” especially well-defined even compared to UK. The bass doesn’t feel weaker, but rather more detailed.
Overall: A mixed bag of impressions. The German 2nd is an excellent cut, which basically has four things changed to the UK: 1) slightly reduced bass (and I mean, very slightly), 2) slightly heightened mid-range, making the singing voice more prominent, 3) a widened stereo panorama, thus making details in instrumentation more distinct, and 4) keeping the deadwax areas wide, thus improving the sound of the last track on each side (I suppose, that happened on the cost of bass reduction). However, the UK is still a more smooth, consistent and harmonic listening experience with a more powerful bass line.