The Beatles - Stereo Vinyl 2012 Box Set

By Kory Grow at Rolling Stone
Five years to the day after the release of The Beatles in Mono, a box set of the group's monaurally mixed catalog through 1968, the band is issuing a vinyl version of the box set. Although the quartet put out stereo versions of their albums concurrent with the mono ones throughout most of their career, the Beatles considered the mono versions as definitive.
The limited-edition 14-LP Beatles in Monovinyl box set includes the group's first nine U.K. albums – from Please Please Me to The Beatles – the American-compiled Magical Mystery Tour and a collection of Mono Masters, which consist of non-album singles and tracks, all on 180-gram vinyl with artwork matching the original releases and a 108-page hardbound book. Each mono LP will also be available to purchase individually, outside of the box set.
Grammy-winning engineer Sean Magee and Grammy-winning mastering supervisor Steve Berkowitz remastered each record for vinyl in the same room at Abbey Road Studios where most of the group's albums were recorded, using quarter-inch master tapes without the help of any digital technology. Instead, they opted for the mastering procedures used in the Sixties, even consulting notes used by the original engineers who cut the vinyl. Magee and Berkowitz spent weeks listening to the recordings, comparing the masters with first pressings of the vinyl albums from the 1960s.
The record cover–sized book accompanying the box set contains new essays and a detailed account of the mastering process by radio producer Kevin Howlett. It also contains rare photos of the Beatles in the studio, archive documents and articles and ads from publications in the Sixties.
The box set and the individual mono vinyl releases will be available September 9th.
The Beatles issued a vinyl box set of the stereo versions of the albums in 2012. Magee told Rolling Stone that while he spent less time working on the vinyl editions than he did on the CD versions of the box set, he did encounter some roadblocks, mostly concerning the letter "S," which was coming out raspy and distorted on LP. This required him to reduce the volume on almost every "S." "A good example is 'She Said She Said,'" he said. "It's time-consuming, but it's the best thing to do – attention to detail, and being as fastidious as you can."
Earlier this year, the Beatles put out a CD box set called The U.S. Albums, which contained the American versions of their LPs and their rearranged track lists. The release was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the group's arrival in the United States and coincided with the Beatles receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys and a TV program called The Night That Changed America. For the latter, Paul McCartney teamed with Ringo Starr for "Hey Jude," among other performances.

The Beatles - In Mono Vinyl Box Set

By Steve Guttenberg at Cnet.com
If you're under 40, there's a good chance you've never heard the Beatles' music the way it sounded in the 1960s. All of their music, every note of it, was recorded on analog tape -- but all of the Beatles' CDs and LPs mastered after 1986 were sourced from digital masters. Even the 2012 remastered stereo LPswere cut from digital masters. So the big news here is the 2014 remastered mono Beatles LPs are the first to be 100 percent all-analog albums since the 1980s. If you've never heard the band's older LPs, the new mono, 180-gram LPs will knock you for a loop. I have the limited-edition "The Beatles in Mono" box set, but the mono LPs are also available individually.
To put some perspective on why I'm making a big deal about this, almost all new LPs by today's bands are mastered from digital sources, even when they were originally analog recordings! Digital is cheaper and faster technology. Analog tapes are delicate, locating an analog tape machine in tip top condition isn't easy, and mastering all-analog LPs can be a big hassle. Generations of engineers have grown up with digital -- they don't always have the skill set required to get the best out of analog tapes.
That's why the latest Beatles mastering job was performed at Abbey Road Studios by engineer Sean Magee and mastering supervisor and all-around nice guy Steve Berkowitz. "The Beatles in Mono" CD boxed set released in 2009 was created from digital masters. For this vinyl project Magee and Berkowitz cut the records with the original analog tape masters, and no digital converters were used. Magee and Berkowitz worked in the same room at Abbey Road where most of The Beatles' albums were cut in the 1960s, guided by the sound of the first-generation albums and detailed transfer notes made by the original cutting engineers.
Their hard work paid off -- the new LPs are the quietest pressings I've ever played, with nary a pop or click. The quality control issues I experienced with the 2012 stereo LP remasters are thankfully not repeated with the mono LPs. The LPs for all markets are being manufactured in Germany.
I own a ton of stereo British and American pressed Beatles albums, but just two original mono British pressings, "Rubber Soul " and "Revolver." Both of these are in excellent condition so they were called into service for comparison listening tests. My old LPs sounded a tad more compressed and less clear, the 2014 versions were more three-dimensional. Obviously, they were much quieter, and there was more depth and body to the sound of voices and instruments. I felt like I was listening back through time and tapping into more of the Beatles' energy. Vocals are more present and, for lack of a better word, complete.
I know some Beatles fans prefer the sound of the mono versions of the albums -- possibly because the mono mixes were supervised and approved by The Beatles back in the day -- the stereo mixes were not. Even so, the mono versions never really connected with me -- but there's something about the sound of the 2014 LPs that's turning me around. The more direct quality of the sound, compared with the stereo versions, is addicting. The orchestral climax on "A Day in the Life" sounds more dramatic on the mono "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP. I've heard the tune a zillion times before, and now it's changed for me. That's monumental.
The box set's 12-by-12-inch hardcover book features new essays and a detailed history of the mastering process. The book is beautifully illustrated with studio photos of The Beatles, fascinating archive documents, and articles and advertisements sourced from 1960s publications. The quality of the printing is superb; the large storage box for the 14 LPs and book is nicely done.
For the mono-curious, I'd recommend starting with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," but any album from "Rubber Soul" forward would do; The 14-disc "The Beatles in Mono" box set would make a terrific gift for any Beatle fan with a high-end turntable. The last three Beatles albums, "Yellow Submarine," "Let It Be," and "Abbey Road" were stereo only and never released in mono, so they're not included in this new series.

The Beatles - In Mono CD Box Set

By Edison (California, United States)

I think it would be more helpful for potential buyers to compare the various incarnations of Beatle material out there so that buyers can make an informed decision about what is right for them. There really is not a definitive package of Beatle recordings. Each has it's own magic and benefits and you just need to figure out what you are after.
As for me, so you know, my background is a musician and recording studio owner with 32 years of experience. As for my perspective in comparing Beatle recordings, I've owned the entire Beatles catalog, both American and British versions, in multiple and various pressings on vinyl LP, as well as many unique foreign pressings, cassette and some 8-tracks. I currently have the 1980's box, the Capitol box sets, the Apple remastered stereo box and the Apple remastered mono box and I've been listening to them all side-by-side for this review.

I think buyers of these discs may fall into a few key categories:
1. Long-time Beatle fans who had the original LPs
2. Audiophiles who are looking for the most pristine audible version
3. Young/new fans who just want a nice copy of everything

In short, I'd recommend the following for the respective categories:
1. Apple remastered mono box or Capitol box set, rounded out with individual missing discs
2. Apple remastered stereo box
3. The previously-available 1980's box set

Here's why:

For category 1, the remastered mono box set (or the Capitol box sets, which are stereo and mono) may be the way to go, then just round it out with the individual copies of the missing discs. The mono box has much better sound, clearer than ever before, but still reminiscent of the original LPs tonality and far superior packaging. The mono remasters mimick the original LP packaging even down to spine text and the printed paper inner sleeves! Each disc in the mono set has a resealable outer plastic sleeve (Japanese style) and a plastic inner sleeve to protect the actual disc. The box itself affords direct access to any CD without disturbing the others and the overall box is about the size of CDs, so it fits nicely on a CD shelf (albeit a slightly taller CD shelf; e.g. CD/DVD shelf).
The remastered stereo box is a terrible package. It's 12" high and vertical, doesn't fit on the shelf with other CDs/DVDs. You can't access any CD individually. Instead you have to lift this cloth strap to pull an entire stack of CDs out to get to the one you want, frequently spilling the others everywhere like a deck of cards. You are forced to grab the disc surface to get it out of the cardboard sleeve it's in. Only the front cover reproduces the original artwork. Everything else, back, inside and booklet, while it's nice that there are new, never-before seen photos, makes it hard to reminisce if you remember the original LPs. But for audiophiles and new fans, this packaging might be fine, or even preferred.
The remastered mono CDs only have the original liner notes on the back cover, as they were on the LPs, but this is difficult if not impossible to read. The mono set also lacks the album recording notes that the stereo box has. Only notes for the past masters discs seems to be included in the mono set. The benefit of the remastered stereo CD packaging is that the original liner notes are printed in a booklet for each disc, so they are easy to read.
Unlike the mono remasters, the stereo CDs themselves have significantly different sound from the original LPs. Whether you consider it better is subjective depending on your listening goals. For example, Please Please Me (and all other discs that Paul Hicks remastered) seem to be bass-heavy compared to the original LPs and CD sets. While it's quite an improvement that you can now hear the bass lines clearly and the balance seems more up to date with modern recordings, it just won't be as familiar to those who owned all the original albums. Additionally, the beautiful reverb tails that were on the original Please Please Me album seem to decay quicker on the remaster. (Possibly due to various limiting/compression/eq artifacts?) The mono remaster of Please Please Me seems to suffer this same way. The reverb tails are slightly shorter than previous CD editions like the Capitol box or 1980's Apple box.
The mono set, being mono, all musical elements have to fight for audibility in the center, so, for example, you won't be able to focus on a particular instrument all the way through as easily. The real benefit of the remastered stereo box sound is that you can now clearly hear many of the little things that were previously buried in the mix. It is beautiful and incredible sounding. The various layers of overdubbed parts across the entire box set are clearly audible, which is a treat to hear clearly for the first time.
There are a very few cases, however, where this isn't true. One very small example is on Don't Bother Me. Early in the song George can be heard saying "Fast" on the backing track, but only on the Capitol box set stereo version is this completely and clearly audible with the level of detail other tracks in the Apple stereo box have. This gets back to my point that there really isn't one definitive set. Details come out differently in different versions. There are also some strange artifacts of this latest stereo remaster. For example, on Maxwell's Silver Hammer, the lead vocal occasionally seems to shift between being perfectly centered to splitting into a duophonic kind of sound from both the left and right. None of my other copies exhibit this characteristic. I believe this may be caused by phase artifacts introduced in the remastering from the heavy processing required to being out all the details. I also noticed that on some songs the lead vocals actually were quieter than on other available CD editions, possibly caused by the same.
The short movies included on the stereo remaster CDs and the DVD are sometimes interesting, but not great. There are a few comments buried in there that I had never heard before, but there are also strange inaccuracies; like seeing stills from Paperback Writer/Rain promo films during the Rubber Soul segment. In general, the movies are only a bonus for Beatle completists, due to a couple details that are revealed. They aren't terribly enlightening otherwise.
While the mono set lacks the videos, the bonus of the mono set is the complete original cover art (front, back and inside, where applicable) as well as all the original inserts, e.g. the 4 individual photos from the white album and the original green cut-out card in Sgt. Pepper, not to mention the groovy rose-to-pink paper inner sleeve, etc.
These sets are a bit overpriced. If the stereo set had the mono packaging, then it would be worth the price. The mono box really should be reduced to the price of the stereo set or less, particularly since it's no longer a limited edition (or at least the edition has been expanded such that it's not as much of a rarity now) and it doesn't have all the music or extras (no booklet for each album, no movies).
The terrible packaging, the overpriced price tag and significant deviation from the original sound (in general) knocks the remastered stereo box down to 3 stars for me. (Yes hearing all the little details is great for me as a fan, but the tonal balance was compromised notably to get that, and that is not how these albums were originally mastered nor intended to sound by George Martin and the band themselves. I think these details could have been brought out reasonably without changing the sound as much as they have.) Because of the cost and significant differences from the original cover art and sound, I can't consider the stereo remaster a 'definitive' set, but rather a supplement to the others sets that are available.
The mono remaster box however, I give 5 stars for having pristine sound without sacrificing the original tonality of these legendary recordings, having the original LP packaging and inserts, much better protection of the discs and sleeves, as well as sized to fit on a CD/DVD shelf.

In summary:

If you are a long-time fan who wants to reminisce and re-experience the original LPs, I would suggest either the new Apple remastered mono box set or Capitol box sets, then round it out by buying any individual stereo discs that are missing (Abbey Road, Let It Be, etc.).
For the new fan who wants a copy of everything but isn't nit picking over whether they can hear John say, "Cranberry Sauce" on Strawberry Fields or whether everything is in mono or stereo, the previous 1980's box set would be just fine. You might even find it used/cheap on an auction site, now that these remastered boxes are available. For what it's worth, the previous 1980's box set actually does sound like the original LPs. It's just that people are listening to them on modern equipment. Those mixes were originally created for equipment with tube amplifiers and real wood speaker cabinets, which impart a great deal of bass and warmth to the sound. Putting the same mix through printed circuit board stereos with modern plastic little speakers doesn't quite work with the music to produce the intended result.
For the audiophile who must hear the creaking chair on the final chord of Sgt. Pepper in stereo, the newly-remastered stereo box would be the way to go. The remastered stereo set is also good for anyone who wants to read the original liner notes from the albums and learn more about how the albums were originally recorded.
For the Beatle-completist who must have a every version of a Beatle recording, I'm assuming you already own the 1980's box, the Capitol boxes, the Apple-remastered stereo and the mono box sets prior to reading this review, and there is no review that would help you, since a Beatle purchase is compulsory. 

The Beatles - Japanese 5 CD's Bos Set

By Steve Manassas
In the 1960s and 1970s, Toshiba-EMI, forerunner of EMI Music Japan, and now Universal Music Japan (UMJ), issued the largest number of Beatle records of any country in the world - more than 30. In addition to three "specially created for the Japanese market" albums, Toshiba-EMI also issued all of the standard British LPs, as well as all of the U.S. albums, except for Beatles '65,Rubber Soul, and Revolver, and also issued non-U.K. European compilations, such as THE BEATLES' BEAT and THE BEATLES' GREATEST. They were also the only country, outside of the U.S. and Canada, to issue Capitol Records' documentary The Beatles' Story, in a deluxe box set, no less, with text of the album's narration in Japanese and English (!). Toshiba-EMI also issued all of the compilation/theme albums of the 1970s and early 1980s, including both the U.K. and U.S. versions of RARITIES, as well as the World Records 8-LP mail-order box set From Liverpool: The Beatles Box, which, sadly, I do not own.
As a result of EMI/UMJ's heavy involvement with The Beatles in Mono (The Complete Mono Recordings), as well as The U.S. Albums collection, it was only natural that UMJ put together a 50th Anniversary collection of The Beatles' Japanese albums on CD. There are only 5 discs in the set, including the three "specially created for the Japanese market" albums - MEET THE BEATLES!, THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM, and BEATLES NO. 5 (with front cover art and graphics similar to Beatles '65). While obviously modeled after their U.S. Capitol counterparts, these Japanese Odeon versions have significantly different track listings. On the reissued vinyl albums on Apple, which I own, some, but not all, of the tracks appeared in "fold-down" mono mixes created from the stereo master tapes, but the CDs are pure mono, from the 2009 remasters. NOTE: The version of "Love Me Do" from MEET THE BEATLES! is the standard LP version with Andy White on drums, not the original Ringo-on-drums single version, as Amazon claims. Once you unscramble the unusual running order of the tracks, the three CDs contain the complete contents of the Please Please Me and With the Beatles albums, plus all of the MONO MASTERS non-LP tracks from "From Me To You" through "She's A Woman," with the exception of the B-side "I'll Get You," which was apparently displaced by "Can't Buy Me Love" on THE BEATLES' SECOND ALBUM.
The Japanese version of A HARD DAY'S NIGHT has a significantly different cover, but is otherwise identical to the 2009 remastered U.K. stereo version. The Japanese version of HELP! has the original 1965 stereo mix, which can also be found on Disc 5 of THE BEATLES IN MONO box set (tracks 15-28, following the mono mix).
As with the earlier mono and U.S. box sets, each CD comes in a resealable outer cellophane wrapper, with faithful reproductions of the original LP sleeves. HELP! has an impressive gatefold sleeve, with the standard British cover artwork on the front, a black-and-white autographed photo of the band on the left-inside gatefold, Japanese liner notes on the right-inside gatefold, with a color photo similar to the U.S. album on the back, but with different cover graphics. Each CD - issued with the original black-and-silver English-language Odeon label - is housed in a rice-paper inner bag, with reproductions of the original paper inner sleeves, complete with flaps. The first three albums have plain off-white inner sleeves; BEATLES NO. 5 and HELP! have colorful inner sleeves (slightly different) promoting other EMI Japanese releases; classical on one side, mostly from Capitol and its subsidiary label Angel Records, and pop, rock, and jazz titles, many of them also from Capitol, on the reverse side. Interestingly, the Japanese BEATLES FOR SALE is featured on the inner sleeve, even though it is not included in this CD box set. Each CD also contains reproductions of the original inserts, with Japanese, English, and German lyrics; the HELP! album also contains a color still photo of The Beatles from the film.
The package also contains a mini-cellophone package of the five OBI strips for each of the albums, and a colorful collector's book, featuring reproductions of the early Japanese LPs, EPs, and singles (some duplicating the U.S. releases, others with unusual couplings), a photo of a master tape box for one of the EPs, and photos of several Beatles-related Japanese music magazines. The EPs, usually mono 45 RPM records in most markets, are in stereo and play at LP speed, 33 1/3 RPM. I own the Apple reissue of the HELP! EP (Odeon/Apple OP/AP-4110) and it was the first and only record to have "I'm Down" in true stereo, until the ROCK 'N' ROLL MUSIC LP was issued in 1976. The ANNA EP (Odeon/Apple OP/AP-4118) contains a simulated stereo version of "Sie Liebt Dich"; a true stereo version would not emerge until the RARITIES albums were issued in the U.K. and U.S. in 1978-79-80. In addition, BEATLES NO. 5 was the only LP in The Beatles' worldwide discography to include "Sie Liebt Dich" prior to RARITIES. Only four Beatle albums contain both German-language tracks: BEATLES NO. 5 (possible "fold-down" mono on vinyl, pure mono on the CD), the U.K. RARITIES (stereo with echo), PAST MASTERS ("fold-down" mono on 1988's PAST MASTERS, VOLUME ONE; true stereo without echo on the 2009 remastered two-CD set), and MONO MASTERS (pure mono). The U.S. RARITIES includes "Sie Liebt Dich" in true stereo without echo; Capitol had previously issued "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand," in both mono and stereo, on SOMETHING NEW.
The liner notes of most of the rest of the booklet are in Japanese only, but the song lyrics also appear in English (and German, for "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" and "Sie Liebt Dich"). They appear to be the original words and are not translated from the Japanese. Even the outer slipcase box, which has English text, has its own resealable cellophane wrapper, so collectors can keep the wraparound Japanese-language banner intact on the outside of the box.
This set is not for everyone; most fans will be satisfied with the standard British and U.S. releases. It is aimed at Japanese Beatle fans, who, much like their U.S. counterparts, want CD versions of the albums they grew up with, as well as the worldwide Beatles collectors' market. This collection will probably not come down in price anytime soon, and once out of print, will no doubt become even more expensive, so if you are interested, grab one before it is gone.

The Beatles - LOVE

By Stephen Thomas Erlewine
If boiled down to a simple synopsis, the Beatles' LOVE sounds radical: assisted by his father, the legendary Beatles producer George, Giles Martin has assembled a remix album where familiar Fab Four tunes aren't just refurbished, they're given the mash-up treatment, meaning different versions of different songs are pasted together to create a new track. Ever since the turn of the century, mash-ups were in vogue in the underground, as such cut-n-paste jobs as Freelance Hellraiser's "Stroke of Genius" -- which paired up the Strokes' "Last Night" with Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" -- circulated on the net, but no major group issued their own mash-up mastermix until LOVE in November 2006. Put in those terms, it seems like LOVE is a grand experiment, a piece of art for art's sake, but that's hardly the case. Its genesis lies with the Beatles agreeing to collaborate with performance dance troupe Cirque du Soleil on a project that evolved into the Las Vegas stage show LOVE, an extravaganza that cost well over 100 million dollars and was designed to generate revenue far exceeding that. During pre-production, all involved realized that the original Beatles tapes needed to be remastered in order to sound impressive by modern standards when pumped through the huge new theater -- the theater made just with this dance revue in mind -- and since they needed to be tweaked, they might as well use the opportunity to do something different with the familiar music, too: to remix and re-imagine it, to make LOVE be something unique to both the Beatles and Cirque du Soleil.
Keep in mind the Cirque du Soleil portion of the equation: George and Giles Martin may have been given free reign to recontextualize the Beatles' catalog, but given that this was for a project that cost hundreds of millions of dollars this wasn't quite the second coming of The Grey Album, where Danger Mouse surreptitiously mashed up The White Album with Jay-Z's The Black Album. This isn't an art project and it isn't underground, either: it's a big, splashy commercial endeavor, one that needs to surprise millions of Beatles fans without alienating them, since the mission is to please fans whether they're hearing this in the theater or at home. And so, the curious LOVE, a purported re-imagining of the most familiar catalog in pop music, winds up being less interesting or surprising than its description would suggest.
Neither an embarrassment or a revelation, LOVE is at first mildly odd but its novelty soon recedes, revealing that these are the same songs that know you by heart, only with louder drums and occasionally with a few parts in different places. Often, what's presented here isn't far afield from the original recording: strip "Because" down to its vocals and it still sounds very much like the "Because" on Abbey Road -- and that arrangement is actually one of the more drastic here. Whether they're songs as spare and stark as "Eleanor Rigby" or "Yesterday," as trippy as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" or as basic as "Get Back," the songs remain the same, as do most of the arrangements, right down to the laughter and sound effects sprinkled throughout "I Am the Walrus." There's only one cut that has the thrilling unpredictability of a genuine mash-up and that's a cut that blends together "Drive My Car," "The Word" and "What You're Doing," punctuated with horns from "Savoy Truffle"; a chorus from one song flows into the verse from another, as keyboards and percussion from all three, plus more, come together to make something that's giddy, inventive and fresh. But that's the exception to the rule, since most of this delivers juxtapositions that seem obvious based on the concept of the project itself: it doesn't take a great leap of imagination to set the melody of "Within You Without You" to the backing track of "Tomorrow Never Knows," since both derive from the same psychedelic era and share similar themes.
Throughout LOVE, songs are augmented by samples from roughly the same phase in the Beatles career, so "Strawberry Fields Forever" is enhanced by "Penny Lane," "Hello Goodbye," "Piggies" and "In My Life," but not "There's a Place," "It Won't Be Long," or "I Feel Fine," selections that could have been truly startling. It also would have been startling if those snippets of "Penny Lane" and "Hello Goodbye" were threaded within "Strawberry Fields," in a fashion similar to "Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing," but they're added to the end of the song, a move that's typical of the Martins' work here. With a few exceptions scattered throughout the record, all the mash-ups are saved for the very end of the song, which has the effect of preserving the feel of the original song while drawing attention to the showiest parts of the Martins' new mixes, giving the illusion that they've changed things around more than they actually have.
Not that the Martins simply add things to the original recordings; that may be the bulk of their work here, but they do subtly change things on occasion. Most notably, they structure "Strawberry Fields" as a progression from the original demo to the finished single version (a move that is, admittedly, borrowed from Anthology 2) and they've used an alternate demo take of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," to which George Martin has written a sympathetic new string arrangement. It also has to be said that the craft behind LOVE is impeccable: it flows as elegantly as the second side of Abbey Road, which is an achievement of no small measure. But there lies the rub: even if LOVE elicits a certain admiration for how Giles and George have crafted their mash-ups, it elicits a greater admiration for the original productions and arrangements, which display far more imagination and audacity than the mixes here. Take a song as seemingly straightforward as "Lady Madonna," a Fats Domino tribute so good the man himself recorded it. This mix highlights weird flourishes like the carnival-esque vocal harmonies of the bridge -- things that were so densely interwoven into the original single mix that they didn't stand out -- but by isolating them here and inserting them at the front of the song, the Martins lessen the dramatic impact of these harmonies, just like how the gut-level force of McCartney's heavy, heavy bass here is tamed by how it's buried in the mix. The original has an arrangement that builds where this gets to the good part immediately, then stays there, a problem that plagues all of LOVE.
Here, the arrangements have everything pushed up toward the front, creating a Wall of Sound upon which certain individual parts or samples can stand out in how they contrast to the rest. This means that LOVE can indeed sound good -- particularly in a 5.1 surround mix as elements swirl between the front and back speakers, but these are all window-dressing on songs that retain all their identifiable elements from the original recordings. And that's the frustrating thing about this entire project: far from being a bold reinvention, a Beatles album for the 21st century, the Martins didn't go far enough in their mash-ups, creating new music out of old, turning it into something mind-blowing. But when there's a multi-multi-million dollar production at stake, creating something truly mind-blowing is not really the goal: offering the familiar dressed up as something new is, and that's what LOVE delivers with big-budget style and flair, and more than a touch of Vegas gaudiness. It's an extravaganza, bright and colorful and relentless in its quest to entertain but beneath all the bluster, LOVE isn't much more than nostalgia masquerading as something new.

The Beatles - 1967-1970

By Mark Barry
Commonly known as the "Blue Album", the 2LP vinyl set "1967 - 1970" became an instant classic when it was first released in April 1973 (as did its "Red" counterpart "1962-1966"). When they were finally reissued onto the new CD format in 1993 however, they caused consternation because of their extortionate full price.
So is this newly remastered 2010 mid-priced 2CD reissue on EMI/Apple 5099990674723 any better - the answer is an emphatic 'yes'.
PACKAGING:
The first thing you notice is that the clunky double jewel-case of the 1993 reissue has been dumped for a three-way foldout card sleeve. The centre and right flaps picture the photograph on the inner gatefold of the original vinyl double album (St. Pancras Old Church in London, 27 July 1969, The Beatles with the public looking through the railings - it's the same photo on the "Red" album). It also houses the two CDs - CD1 has the full Apple label (14 tracks, 51:15 minutes) and the 2nd CD has the half Apple logo (14 tracks, 48:43 minutes). The vinyl set is yet to come, the Digital Download versions are available from 25 Oct 2010 and there's also an issue that lumps both the Blue & Red reissues together as one package in late November.
The left flap houses a new 32-page booklet. The lyrics are intact from the inner sleeves of the original album issue, there's new liner notes by BILL FLANAGAN the MTV Executive and author of "Evening's Empire" (a book on Rock in the Sixties) and there's plenty of superb colour photos from the period - it's impressively done. Downsides - some complained that the 09/09/09 card digipak sleeves for The Beatles reissues were easy to smudge once out of the shrinkwrap and worse - the inner flaps easy to tear as you removed the disc. I'm afraid these are the same. I suppose I would have been naïve of us to think that EMI would actually listen to the complaints of 2009 about packaging, but they haven't - the need for these issues to look the same as the preceding ones has overridden all considerations... Having said that, I still think they look great - substantial even...
PLAYING TIMES:
Unlike the "Red" issue which could easily have fitted onto 1CD (and even included bonus tracks), as you can see from the playing times provided above, it would not have been possible with this set. Anyway - EMI would of course argue that a single CD issue of this most `iconic' of double albums would fundamentally alter the aesthetic of the original release. At least this time, this 2CD reissue is at mid price, so we're not being charged for the privilege of separation.
TRACK CHOICES:
The compilation itself is basically the A-sides of all their UK 7" singles releases between 1967 and 1970 in chronological release date order with a few key album tracks thrown in for good measure. Eagle-eye fans would therefore note that up to and including "Get Back" - ALL Beatles UK 7" singles for that period were issued only in MONO ("The Ballad Of John & Yoko" was their 1st STEREO single in the UK). So the tracks on the album should reflect that - the MONO single mixes. But EMI did nothing of the sort. They're all in STEREO (there's 4 MONO on the "Red" set) and i would argue that accuracy's loss is the listener's gain, because the STEREO versions used here are awesome.
SOUND:
Although the compilation is copyrighted to 2010 (released Monday 18 Oct 2010 in the UK and 19 Oct 2010 in the USA), the liner notes don't try to hide that these are the 2009 remasters by the same team who did the much-praised Beatles catalogue of 09/09/09. The sound quality is fantastic - breathtaking clarity on instruments - the piano and guitars on "Lady Madonna", the jet screeching in at the opening of "Back In The U.S.S.R", the brass on "All You Need Is Love", Billy Preston's superb keyboard work on "Let It Be", the wonderfully loose live feel of "Don't Let Me Down" (best B-side ever?) - and so on.
CONTENT:
But what impresses most is the actual listen itself. Even now, it's truly shocking to hear just how accomplished The Beatles became during this ludicrously productive period. And diversity of writers crept in too. There's the 4 Harrison gems "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", "Old Brown Shoe" and the magical double of "Something" and "Here Comes The Sun", while Ringo gets the witty "Octopus's Garden". Leaving the rest as Lennon-McCartney originals. And what an embarrassment of riches they are...
7" perfection comes twice - "Strawberry Fields Forever" b/w "Penny Lane" and arguably the greatest single ever released - "Hey Jude" b/w "Revolution" (melodious Paul on the A with rockin' blistering John on the B). Most bands would kill a close relative to get anywhere near this level of genius. And by the time you get to the ballads at the end of Disc 2 - "The Long And Winding Road" and "Across The Universe" - adjectives begin to fail you... Were The Beatles really 'this' good - the answer is yes - and always will be.
To sum up - the sound on these new reissues is fabulous; the packaging better than the 1993 versions and each is being sold at mid-price - available in most places for less than the price of a single new album. You can't help but think that millions of people globally will take one look at these beauties on a shelf somewhere and slap them straight into their shopping baskets. And rightly so...
I've loved re-hearing these classic Beatles songs in this beautiful sound quality - I really have - and despite some minor packaging quibbles - the 2010 version of the "Blue" album is wholeheartedly recommended.

The Beatles - 1962-1966

By Mark Barry 

Commonly known as the "Red Album", the 2LP vinyl set "1962 - 1966" became an instant classic when it was first released in April 1973 (as did its "Blue" counterpart "1967-1970"). When they were finally reissued onto the new CD format in 1993 however, they caused consternation because of their extortionate full price.
So is this newly remastered 2010 mid-priced 2CD reissue on EMI/Apple 5099990675225 any better - the answer is an emphatic 'yes'.
PACKAGING:
The first thing you notice is that the clunky double jewel-case of the 1993 reissue has been dumped for a three-way foldout card sleeve. The centre and right flaps picture the photograph on the inner gatefold of the original vinyl double album (St. Pancras Old Church in London, 27 July 1969, The Beatles with the public looking through the railings). It also houses the two CDs - CD1 has the full Apple label (13 tracks, 31:02 minutes) and the 2nd CD has the half Apple logo (13 tracks, 31:45 minutes). The vinyl set is yet to come, the Digital Download versions are available from 25 Oct 2010 and there's also an issue that lumps both the Red & Blue reissues together as one package in late November.
The left flap houses a new 32-page booklet. The lyrics are intact from the inner sleeves of the original album issue, there's new liner notes by BILL FLANAGAN the MTV Executive and author of "Evening's Empire" (a book on Rock in the Sixties) and there's plenty of superb colour photos from the period - it's impressively done. Downsides - some complained that the 09/09/09 card digipak sleeves for The Beatles reissues were easy to smudge once out of the shrinkwrap and worse - the inner flaps easy to tear as you removed the disc. I'm afraid these are the same. I suppose I would have been naïve of us to think that EMI would actually listen to the complaints of 2009 about packaging, but they haven't - the need for these issues to look the same as the preceding ones has overridden all considerations... Having said that, I still think they look great - substantial even...
PLAYING TIMES:
It doesn't take a particular genius to work out from the playing times provided above that this set could easily have fitted onto 1CD (and even included bonus tracks). But EMI would of course argue that this would fundamentally alter the aesthetic of the original release. At least this time, the reissue is at mid price, so we're not being charged for the privilege. I think the new price pitch makes the 'one' disc argument a mute point. Besides, I like the break, taking out the first disc and putting in the second - it's how the original 2LP issue was. And better, it doesn't actually diminish the listen, if anything it enhances it.
TRACK CHOICES:
The compilation itself is basically the A-sides of all their UK 7" singles releases between 1962 and 1966 in chronological release date order with a few key album tracks thrown in for good measure. Eagle-eye fans would therefore note that as ALL Beatles UK 7" singles for that period were issued only in MONO, so the tracks on the album should reflect that - the MONO single mixes. But EMI did nothing of the sort. In fact the original 1973 albums stated only STEREO on the labels and only the STEREO code was reflected in their catalogue numbers too. At least this time this new 2010 issue notes that Tracks 1 to 4 on Disc 1 are in MONO, while all other are in STEREO ("Love Me Do" is the album mix and not the single version). Bottom line - I would argue that accuracy's loss is the listener's gain, because the STEREO versions used here are awesome.
SOUND:
Although the compilation is copyrighted to 2010 (released Monday 18 Oct 2010 in the UK and 19 Oct 2010 in the USA), the liner notes don't try to hide that these are the 2009 remasters by the same team who did the much-praised Beatles catalogue of 09/09/09. The sound quality is fantastic - breathtaking clarity on instruments - George Harrison's sitar on "Norwegian Wood" - the string quartet on "Eleanor Rigby" and so on.
CONTENT:
But what impresses most is the actual listen itself. Even now, it's truly shocking to hear just how accomplished The Beatles were. Re-listening to each disc in straight order is a gobsmacking experience - and by the time you get to the real song-writing genius of "Ticket To Ride" and especially "Yesterday" (the song that single-handled shut all the begrudgers up) - you're left with a renewed sense of awe. "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" were a single for God's sake - not on any English album at the time of release! "Paperback Writer", "Ticket To Ride", "Michelle" - track after track of brilliance... Were they really 'this' good - and so early on - the answer is yes - and always will be.
To sum up - the sound on these new reissues is fabulous; the packaging better than the 1993 versions and each is being sold at mid-price - available in most places for less than the price of a single new album. You can't help but think that millions of people globally will take one look at these beauties on a shelf somewhere and slap them straight into their shopping baskets. And rightly so...
I've loved re-hearing these classic Beatles songs in this beautiful sound quality - I really have - and despite some minor packaging quibbles - the 2010 version of the "Red" album is wholeheartedly recommended.

The Beatles - The U.S. Albums Box Set

On February 7, 1964, The Beatles arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, greeted by scores of screaming, swooning fans who rushed the gate to catch a glimpse of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr as they took their first steps on American soil. Two nights later, on Sunday, February 9, 73 million viewers in the U.S. and millions more in Canada tuned in to CBS to watch The Beatles make their American television debut on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’ In what remains one of the world’s top-viewed television events of all time, The Beatles performed five songs on the live broadcast and ‘Beatlemania,’ already in full, feverish bloom in The Beatles’ native U.K., was unleashed with blissful fervor across America and around the world. The British Invasion had begun.
The new 13 CD box set THE U.S. ALBUMS commemorates the 50th anniversary of these history-making events, spanning 1964’s MEET THE BEATLES! to 1970’s HEY JUDE. The Beatles’ U.S. albums differed from the band’s U.K. albums in a variety of ways, including different track lists, song mixes, album titles, and art.
The box set includes the following titles:
(Disc 1) MEET THE BEATLES!, (Disc 2) THE BEATLES’ SECOND ALBUM, (Disc 3) A HARD DAY’S NIGHT [ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK], (Disc 4) SOMETHING NEW, (Disc 5) THE BEATLES’ STORY, (Disc 6) BEATLES ’65, (Disc 7) THE EARLY BEATLES, (Disc 8) BEATLES VI, (Disc 9) HELP! [ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK] , (Disc 10) RUBBER SOUL, (Disc 11) YESTERDAY AND TODAY, (Disc 12) REVOLVER, (Disc 13) HEY JUDE.
These albums were originally issued between 1964 and 1970 by Capitol Records, Apple Records, and United Artists in the United States. These new releases seek to replicate the unique listening experience heard by Americans at the time by preserving the sequences, timings, and artwork found on the albums. Capitol’s engineers in the 1960s took great care to produce what they believed to be the best possible sound for the playback equipment in use at that time. Due to the limitations of the record players of the day, engineers often compressed the sound by raising the volume of the softer passages and lowering the volume for the louder parts of the songs. They also reduced the bass frequencies since too much bass could cause the record to skip. In some cases, reverb was added to the tracks to make them sound more “American.”
The CDs are packaged in miniature vinyl sleeves that faithfully recreate the original U.S. LP releases down to the finest detail, including the inner sleeves. 11 original U.S. albums presented in both mono and stereo. Hey Jude and The Beatles’ Story are in stereo only. A Hard Day’s Night [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack], The Beatles’ Story, Yesterday And Today, Hey Jude and the U.S. version of Revolver are presented on CD for the first time. Yesterday And Today features the original album cover of The Beatles posing with raw meat and baby dolls. The package also comes with a collectible sticker of the subsequent Yesterday And Today cover art. Also included is a 64-page booklet which includes a new essay examining the U.S. albums and their historical significance, written by American author and television executive Bill Flanagan.
The box set’s dimensions are: 6 inches wide x 6 1/8 inches tall x 3 ¼ inches thick.


By G&L Rocks
While the set is getting rave reviews from most, and justifiably so, the purists, like myself are not as thrilled as we could have been.
Allow me to qualify myself; I am a musician and mastering engineer by profession, a life-long audiophile and a Beatle fan from the beginning (actually a little before they were really known in the US).
The set overall sounds great. No worries there, many of the unique mixes are present, and several 'firsts' on CD. It is a worthy compilation for the true fan.
But, it becomes obvious that these are not the actual 'final' Capitol mixes, especially on the earliest albums for the most part, as they are lacking the hard compression and reverb that the Capitol engineers added to make the records sound 'more American'. I have the original LP's and the Vol. 1 Capitol box, which is from those tapes.
From what I am hearing, it is perhaps fear on EMI's part of offending the sonic sensibilities of fans that fall in the category of millennials and Gen X'ers that are accustomed to more refined audio reproduction, when in fact, many in this demographic have been responsible for driving the revival of the vinyl LP, and who also revere these early Capitol efforts. Or it may be that they decided to give us a sonically superior version of those unique Capitol versions, which is a great idea, I just would have liked to have known before hand. I would still be on board to buy.
We are missing the few fake stereo mixes, being replaced with mono mixes, or actual stereo mixes. Audibly superior, but missing the point of a reissue like this. We want those crunchy, loud, reverberated chaotic environs Capitol created, as that is our first experience. This is less about audio quality and more about nostalgia.
Now, having said this, some tracks have the correct mixes, but lack the post production processes.
If you want to really hear what we heard back in 1964, I, like many others, would recommend either buying the original Capitol Box Sets, or start cruising eBay for good used copies of the original LP's.
I have a bit of an advantage because of my background as an engineer in dismantling 'mixes', and I have both a great stereo system, and a reference workstation with the ability to quickly do A-B analysis. Most of this box set doesn't sound much different than the 2009 remastered box sets at first listen.
But that's OK too.
On the plus side, we finally get A Hard Day's Night, the United Artists version, on CD, although some of the logic eludes me as to having I'll Cry Instead in both versions as mono, since the shorter version has a stereo mix. The original U/A release had only the musical score in stereo, and all of the Beatles' music were 'fake' stereo mixes from mono masters, with even more reverb. They are true stereo mixes here, with the exception of I'll Cry Instead. Love the score on this one!
The Beatles' Story for the first time ever on CD. This isn't for everybody, but is a fun piece for those of us that remember it.
Allow me to address 'fake stereo' issue, or as it has been mis-titled by the fan base for decades now, 'Duo-Phonic', (Duo-Phonic and Duo-Sonic were the names of the process for any stereo release by Capitol, in much the same way RCA had Living Stereo as a process brand, not as an indicator of fake stereo).
Most fans insist that The Beatles Second Album is entirely fake stereo. It isn't. It's mostly real stereo, but what the Capitol engineers did, with the heavy reverb and compression, and also panning the left channel slightly right, with all of it's channel bleed, it is very nearly like the (forgive the contradiction in terms) 'real' fake stereo mixes when listened to casually due to it's poor separation as a result.
Creating a stereo track from a mono source involves splitting the signal to two channels, and alter the EQ of each channel (roll off high end on one lower the bass on the other for example), add stereo reverb to give the illusion of two discrete channels. The stereo reverb gives a slight channel delay and channel bleed to enhance the effect. Love Me Do is mixed like this, for example, as is She Loves You, but not on this box set version. They are mono.
The later albums had less affectation from the Capitol guys, but were still very tightly compressed up until Sgt. Pepper's.
This is where I differ from most fans; I only bought singles until 1967 when I got my first stereo open reel deck, with the primary goal of getting all of The Beatle albums on pre-recorded reel. There was good reasoning for this, as the open reel tapes did not receive a lot of the heavy post production compression, and were just better sounding overall. Those of us that grew up with the Beatles in this medium are the smallest fan niche out there, but we also had the best representation, at the time, of The Beatles' recorded works.
My first tape was Revolver, and it was about 3 times the price of the LP, but well worth it. I only lately heard the Capitol LP of Revolver for the first time, and it was incredibly stressful to listen to (and I have a high end archivist turntable and signal chain)! While the tape had a certain amount of compression added, it was over the top on the LP! The 2009 remaster out performs either, as pure audio, but when nostalgia calls, I pull up that 47 year old reel.
My point is, the Capitol mixes are what they are, (or were) and are best experienced via the medium they were intended for; LP. The original Capitol Box sets capture this sound and vibe beautifully, but may not be for everyone, and may be stressful listening for most.
In the 60's I wanted the best quality possible in recordings by The Beatles. These are here now, in this set and the 2009 remasters.
And for those of us that really want those original mixes; do you think EMI will set us adrift when there is money to be made?
If you have the first two Capitol Box sets, just buy the titles you need to fill the gaps. But if you are a 'completist' as I am, you will want this Capitol set as well. It has more going for it than against it. Think of it as an audiophile version of the Capitol albums.
I love the packaging, the while the sound isn't exact to our first experience, the rest of it gives a tangible link to those early days via the artwork, play order and vibe.
If you have doubts, go to iTunes, and sample the tracks there before you invest, but do have a good audio system connected to your computer, particularly of you want to conduct your own A-B comparisons. For me there is enough difference to go for it.

UPDATE 2/17/14
I need to upgrade this to 5 stars. Capitol tapes were definitely used on at least a good portion of this collection, based on a discovery I made over the weekend.
I can only speak to Rubber Soul and Revolver at this point. True, they do lack the really heated and compressed sound of the LP, but are a dead match to my pre-recorded reels which are period to the original releases.
I bought the open reel versions as opposed to LP because they sound better and lack a lot of the post processing used for the lacquer master tapes. The tracks on Rubber Soul are from the 1965 original mix, for one, Capitol enhanced and a totally match to my later Ampex reel, warts and all! When I did critical A-B on Revolver, between the original Captiol tape and the new CD, the wave forms, compression levels, harmonic distortion (a small matter) were an absolute match sonically and in the software. Amazing! I need to do further analysis on the other albums, and it appears that while the sound is better than the original LP, these masters at least are from Capitol. I never thought i would hear this particular sound outside of my 47 year old tape, and the digital remaster i had done on it some years ago.
But meanwhile, I am just enjoying this set! I suggest you do the same!
A Hard Day's Night, was, at least on the orchestral score, the same as the LP. I was hoping for a bit of an improvement on these ate least, but sound about the same as the LP. I have the LP, so I already have the fake stereo mixes of The Beatles for that one (I remastered that particular LP to hi res digital sometime ago).
I have no absolute conclusion on the overall set in regards to whose tapes were used for which album or track, but I'll do more forensics as my mood and time permits, and if i find any other amazing aspects, I'll update here. I'm having a blast otherwise!