CDs packaged in three panel digi-pak with digital mini documentaries
Remastered by Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee
-Contains:
All 13 Studio remasters plus Past Masters (digi packaging with digital mini documentaries)
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
Past Masters
DVD of all 13 mini-documentaries (Running time: 40 minutes)
Beatles Photos
The Beatles Merchandise
The Beatles Rock Band
More from The Beatles
The Beatles Mono Box Set [LIMITED EDITION]
The Beatles [USB] [LIMITED EDITION]
Abbey Road
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
The White Album
Rubber Soul
Album Description Digitally remastered 17 disc box set (16 CDs + DVD) containing all 14 original Beatles albums released between 1963 and 1970 plus the two CD Past Masters collection of non-album tracks and a bonus DVD containing all the mini documentaries that can be found as enhanced tracks on each of the individual CD releases. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere. The albums have been remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London utilizing state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. Within the CDs' new packaging, the booklet includes detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. Capitol.
A Box Set Worthy of "The Fab Four"March 18, 2010 Mark R. Wietstock The Beatles:
Everything that can be said has already been said at one time or another about the Beatles and their influence on the world of popular music. The scope and depth of that influence simply can't be overstated. In short, there has never been a more earth-shaking confluence of raw musical talent, creative ingenuity, cultural upheaval and advancements in recording technology than what the world experienced along with four boys from Liverpool, England over the period from 1960 to 1970 ... and there most likely never will be again.
This box set is amazing, not only for the digital remastering (which is phenomenal by the way), but because the set gives a new generation of popular music lovers an opportunity to experience the entire creative "life cycle" of what can only be described as the world's best known and most beloved rock band of all time. The big difference is that this generation doesn't have to experience the Beatles' music from tiny, paper speakers on their auto dashboards, portable tape players, suitcase phonographs or cheesy cabinet "hi-fi" systems. For some of us dinosaurs, that's the way we first heard the Beatles. No, this generation gets to hear the Beatles on modern stereo equipment, from CDs that have been remastered for that kind of listening. More on that subject below.
Packaging Pros and Cons:
The packaging for this box set is pretty awkward. It's basically designed as a two-compartment tray, in which all the individual CDs are stacked face up, in the order of their original release dates. The open tray is covered by a folding panel that's attached to the bottom left of the box/tray, and wraps around the box from left to right, with the last panel being secured to the right side of the box/tray by flat magnets placed under the outer coating. The outer coating is nicely laminated to resist wear and damage from contact with hands and fingers, and the set includes a matching slip cover, also made of laminated posterboard, that slides over the closed box, to keep the storage box from being inadvertently opened, and further protecting its outer surfaces. In order to get the CDs out of the box, first, you have to know which of the two stacks inside contains the CD you want, pull up the entire stack with a ribbon that runs underneath the stack, and pick out the disc you want. The thing that sucks about this storage system is that, unless the disc you want to hear is the one on top of the stack, you literally have to pull up half the disc collection in order to leaf through the stack and pull out the one you want to hear.
While the outer packaging of this box set definitely leaves a lot to be desired, it did allow the makers to do something that's probably far more important to fans: to put all the CDs in individually-sealed packages that replicate the fronts and backs of the original albums. The individual packages are really remarkable in themselves. They have a lighter laminate coating to protect them from damage in handling, and fold out to reveal time-sensitive photos of the band, many of which are rare and/or unique to this box set. Each CD package includes a booklet tucked into its own pocket, with more photos, liner notes on what was happening with the band at the time of the album's recording and release, and even recording notes showing the source material for the digital remastering. The labeling on the discs themselves replicates the labeling placed on the center of the albums when they were originally released as vinyl LPs. The White Album (a 2-disc set) includes a smaller version of the poster that was originally enclosed with the LP release, with collaged photos on one side, and the lyrics to all the songs on the other.
If you're like me, and always avoid putting your fingers on the playing surface of your CDs, you will find that getting the discs out of their individual packages can be a little challenging. They're slipped into pockets that open on the right. I found that the easiest way to remove the disc without having to grab the edge and pull it out is to hold the open edge of the enclosure above your knee or free hand, and gently squeeze the pocket at the top and bottom, let the disc fall out half way, then use the hole in the middle to pull it out the rest of the way. Getting the discs out is particularly awkward with the White Album and Past Masters packages, that contain two discs. For example, because the packages fold out flat, with two discs tucked into pockets that lay side by side, it's hard to get the "middle" disc out without worrying that the second disc is going to fall out of the other pocket as you're fiddling with the middle one.
Extra Features:
Each of the music CDs includes an album-specific "mini-documentary," accessible only from the disc drive of a personal computer, with photos, video and audio commentary by the individual Beatles and George Martin. For those who don't listen to their CDs on their computer, the box set also includes a separate DVD with all the same mini-documentaries on it, so no one who buys the box set will miss out on the mini-documentaries. I've watched them all, and they're very well done ... like little video/audio scrapbooks for each album.
The set also includes a 2-disc "Past Masters" collection, also digitally remastered, that provides a bunch of mono and stereo singles and EP cuts that were not included on any of the 13 studio albums. These days, it's pretty much unheard of for record companies to release songs as singles, but in the Beatles' heyday it was a common practice, because many consumers bought their music in the form of 45's, which typically had some big "hit" on the "A" side, and a lesser-known cut the company wanted to promote on the "B" side. Consider the 45 as the ancient equivalent of a 99-cent iTunes download, and you can start to appreciate how big and important the 45 market was to companies like Parlophone (the label George Martin worked for) and Capitol.
Digital Remastering:
For those of you who may not be familiar with this term or what it means (and don't laugh, fellow geeks ... there are PLENTY of music lovers out there who don't know, and don't care), all the Beatles' music was originally recorded on magnetic tape, their first album on a two-track system, most of them on a four-track system, and then finally an 8-track system, beginning in 1968. This type of recording, sometimes referred to as "analog," was once the way all professional music recordings were made, and it actually continued to be the norm for many years after compact disc (CD) technology first appeared. CD technology was developed for playback, that is, making a digital or computerized version of an analog recording, and then burning that into a CD that is then used only for listening to the music. CD technology was a true breakthrough, in that it eliminated the age-old problem of music playback being impaired by the "hiss" associated with contact media (e.g., magnetic tape running over a head, or a needle running through a groove in a vinyl record). It wasn't until very recently, however, that computers evolved to the point where they were cheap enough, fast enough, and had enough memory capacity to do "real-time" digital recording of any quality comparable to even the most rudimentary multi-track analog recording systems. Some sound engineers STILL prefer analog tape masters for some kinds of recording ... but I digress. In order for any analog recording to be placed on a computer or compact disc, it has to be "remastered," a process by which the analog audio signal is run through a series of computer algorithms, and converted into digital information that a computer can store, read and play back. The higher the quality of the original analog recording, the higher quality you get in the digital remaster, and that brings me back to this box set.
The digital remastering of this box set release is nothing short of amazing. It apparently took the sound engineers at Apple/Capitol/EMI over four years to do the whole set. Most of the albums in the set were remastered from the original analog studio master tapes, but a few were remastered from prior digital remasters that George Martin did in 1986. I've heard Beatles music my whole life, from just about every kind of sound source imaginable (phonograph, reel-to-reel tape, radio (both car and home), cassette, vinyl LP AND compact disc, through both headphones and speakers, and I have NEVER heard so much of the Beatles' music sound so darn good, all at once, and all in the same retail package. The audio system at my computer workstation is equipped with 24-bit Soundblaster audio, fed into a 100-watt amp, 15-band stereo graphic equalizer, Infinity desktop speakers and an Infinity powered subwoofer. I tinkered with playback that was EQ-enhanced, and straight up with no added EQ, and found that all of the tracks sound as bright as I've ever heard them, with clear and distinct instruments and vocals, running throughout the audible frequencies. They respond brilliantly to a little well-placed EQ, with Paul's bass, in particular, being more clearly discernible than I ever remember hearing in any previous recordings, digital or otherwise. This box set incorporates all the best of modern digital remastering technology and mixing techniques, while simultaneously doing the least possible violence to the integrity and ambience of the original recordings. These guys really pulled out the stops and did a truly remarkable job of remastering this collection, and now it's ours ... forever. BRAV-O, guys ... bravo ... simply outstanding work.
Stereo vs. Mono:
Some audiophile purists have complained that the vocal panning (that's the engineering process of shifting vocals, usually split evenly between left and right channels, to one side or the other of a stereo sound system) and other effects applied in the process of converting the original analog studio tapes into a digital format don't accurately reproduce the mono mix that George and the Boys "intended" when most of these albums were first released. With all due respect for the purists, however, I don't think the Beatles and George Martin mixed their stereo studio masters down to mono because it was the way they "intended" the Beatles' music to be heard, or because they thought mono was somehow better than stereo. They mixed down to mono because they knew 99% of their target market would be listening to the music from mono playback sources (e.g., portable phonographs and AM radios), and they wanted the music to sound as good as it possibly could coming from that kind of source. Now, the exact opposite is true. With the widespread availability of high quality, relatively inexpensive stereo devices, practically no one listens to music through mono sound sources any more. Consequently, most of the discs in this box set (with the exception of a few tracks on the "Past Masters" set) have been digitally remastered from the original analog stereo master studio recordings, for stereo playback, on modern stereo components. That means that what you're hearing in this stereo box set is as close as you're ever going to get to hearing what George and the Boys actually heard in the studio BEFORE the masters were mixed down to mono. I've seen a few reviews suggesting that some individual songs/albums have characteristics that sound better in mono, and they probably have good reason to believe that, but the most balanced reviews seem to agree that overall, the stereo set is far superior in terms of clarity of individual vocals and instruments within the mix.
Let's face it ... most people don't want to buy multiple versions of the same music, or spend thousands on specialized audio equipment, just so they can geek out over tiny differences between the sound of one recording/remastering format compared to another. Most people just want to enjoy the music, and be happy with the way it sounds on their existing audio equipment. This stereo box set fills that bill, in spades. For audiophile purists and hardcore fans who DO enjoy geeking out over differences in remastering/recording formats, more power to ya. Most of the contents of this box set (with the exception of Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be, which were all originally recorded and released in stereo) are included in the mono box set, which faithfully reproduces the mono mixes that George and the Boys created, and which Apple/Capitol/EMI originally used for production of the untold millions of vinyl 45's, LP's and magnetic tapes originally distributed to radio stations and the music-buying public when these gems were first released. It seems there are quite a few of these purists out there, because the mono box set has sold far more copies than Apple/Capitol/EMI ever dreamed, and most of the people who've gotten the mono box set are also giving it rave reviews, swearing up and down that the mono versions are far better than their "stereo" counterparts. I haven't compared them myself, so I offer no opinion on that subject. I only know that the "stereo" remasters all sound fantastic to me, and my guess is that they will sound fantastic to most of you, too.
Conclusion:
Believe it or not, it's now been 40 YEARS since the Beatles called it quits. John is dead. George is dead. Paul is 67, Ringo's turning 70 this year, and George Martin is in his 80's. We love our Beatles, and as many reviewers have already said, it's about time that the people at Apple/Capitol/EMI finally got it right ... for US ... the music lovers who, after all, created this vast marketing behemoth with our hard-earned simoleans. Buy this item with confidence, but make sure you buy from a reputable retailer who will guarantee authenticity. Ebay, and even third-party sellers on Amazon, are swamped with cheap, mass-produced Asian counterfeits. Anyone purporting to sell you a "brand new, factory-sealed" version of this box set for around $100 is most likely peddling these illegal knockoffs, which I've heard the Asian scammers are wholesaling for around $60. US buyers should insist on US manufacture and sealed packaging, complete with the FBI seal and anti-piracy warnings on the rear panel of the outer sleeve, and all the individual disc packages inside the box. The tech wizards at Apple/Capitol/EMI finally did the right thing by the Beatles and their fans with years of diligent remastering work and "9-9-09" release of this truly remarkable work product. In turn, let's all do the right thing by them, and do all we can to make sure that Asian counterfeiters don't reap an ill-gotten profit at their expense.
This music makes no sense...March 18, 2010 JR(Philadelphia, PA) 0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I heard a bunch about this band so I picked this up. I guess this is supposed to be the soundtrack for a generation that sat around, played records, took lsd and smoked dope all under the guise of being socially aware. Now I guess the same fools are playing these CD's while they get old and hog all of the social security. I don't get the appeal at all. This music can't disappear into the anals of history fast enough for my liking.
BeatlesMarch 12, 2010 M. S. Dawson(WAterloo, IA) Arrived on time and in mint condition. Just does not get any better than this for true Beatles fans.
I love it yeah, yeah, yeahMarch 9, 2010 William P. MacMonagle(Kannapolis, North Carolina United States) I was waiting for something like this for years. I only regret that they broke up the Beatles 6 album.
Best Beatles collection .March 8, 2010 P. J. Letteri 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Beatles box set is the best they ever produced and when looking allways look for master recordings ,these went one step further using the Superb Prism electronics and taking 2 years to put modern technology to work not to change anything but preserve the original recordings by just removing any pops or clicks and background noise ,excellent work.!!The Beatles Stereo Box Set
