2009 24 Oct

The Beatles Remastered Stereo CDs

The Beatles are the greatest band of all time but sadly up until 2009 their music has not been available in the best possible quality on CD. Why? Because when The Beatles were first mastered for Compact disk in 1987 the job wasn’t done particularly well. This is because digital mastering in 1987 was still pretty new technology and a lot of advances have been made since then.

The Beatles Stereo Box Set includes wonderful remastered versions of every recording The Beatles released from 1962 through 1970. That means every LP from 1963’s Please Please Me through 1970’s Let It Be. It also includes all of the non-album tracks that were released during that active period on the double disc Past Masters set.

If you’re like many Beatles fans then you probably already own all of their LPs on Disc and you’re questioning the wisdom of purchasing them all again just because they may sound a little bit better or they are in nicer packaging. But the truth is that they sound a lot better. The change is very noticeable. And really, this is the best modern music ever made, I think it deserves to be listened to in it’s best possible quality.

Some tunes such as “Helter Skelter” sound so much clearer that it’s really seems like an entirely new recording. There’s so much in this music that I’m really hearing for the first time because of how much better these remastered versions sound. Even Abbey Road (which is generally thought to be the most modern sounding Beatles album) sounds considerably enhanced.

It’s astounding how clear each part of the music sounds with these new remasters. I can listen to each harmony vocal separately now! I can listen to every guitar part. But all of this clarity does not come at the expense of analog “warmth.” I actually think these new compact discs sound far more “warm” than the old ones because of the cutting edge technology used to capture the sound off of the original analog tapes.

I highly recommend The Beatles Stereo Box Set for every fan of The Beatles. It also makes a tremendous Birthday or Christmas gift if you have a Beatles fan in your life.

Of course I also definitely recommend The Beatles Mono Box Set because in a lot of ways it’s even more of an astonishing experience, at least if you’re like me and you had never listened to these original mono versions before. It’s a amazing experience to be able to listen to Sgt. Pepper in it’s original mono for the very first time. To get to hear all of the additional sound effects on the vocals and to get to listen to how “She’s Leaving Home” is faster and a semitone higher!

These mono mixes are really how the tracks were initially meant to be listened to by the band so it’s a true joy to get to listen to them like that for any genuine Beatles fan.