© Apple Corps Ltd, 2009
Have I ever posted about The Beatles? Probably not, because let’s face it, you come here for new music, not for music that just about everyone is already familiar with, right? That said, I wanted to pass along the news that the entire back catalouge of one of the most storied bands of all time is being remastered and re-issued this September.
That’s right, the albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilizing state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release.
The collection comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, with track listings and artwork as originally released in the UK, and ‘Magical Mystery Tour,’ which became part of The Beatles’ core catalogue when the CDs were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections ‘Past Masters Vol. I and II’ are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc. These 14 albums, along with a DVD collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set.
A second boxed set has been created with the collector in mind. ‘The Beatles in Mono’ gathers together, in one place, all of the Beatles recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It will contain 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes, plus two further discs of mono masters (covering similar ground to the stereo tracks on ‘Past Masters’). As an added bonus, the mono “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes, which have not been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all original inserts and label designs retained.
Sorry to do a paste in from the press release, but this is exciting news for music fans and I wanted you to hear it straight from the source on this release. Have a look at some of the packaging below.
© Apple Corps Ltd, 2009
© Apple Corps Ltd, 2009
Apr 9, 2009As a huge Beatles fan… I mean from the time I was 12 onwards, I knew every song in that catalogue and could place them by year and album, it’s a sickness, I know,… I wonder if it will be compressed so much that even with the stereo sound and modern technology it will never rival vinyl or if it will be a true improvement?
Joe, what do you think? I mean part of the beauty of the Beatles’ sound is contained in the technology of the time, the fact that Martin had to work within the parameters of the 60s and 70s. I’m interested in a technical opinion, as I’m just coming at it from a fan’s perspective.
I think it’s a big cash grab honestly, but as a fan and collector myself, it is hard to ignore. I imagine I will buy at least one of the sets when the time comes….
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10:54 am
The music fan in me says “sweet!” but the cynic in me says “KA-CHIINGGG!”. I guess it will really depend how much better it all sounds but as someone who already has pretty much all of the proper studio albums, it will have to be a mega-upgrade audio-wise for me to (i) dump the current CDs and (ii) re-invest in the new CDs….