One of the biggest and best marketing campaigns ever in order to get you to buy things most music fans will already own, and that the majority of people will listen to in such a way that it really doesn't matter if they're remastered or not. Never mind if most people will tell the difference even if they listen on a fantastic music system.

Music aside, which most people know and have an opinion on, there was always going to be a certain amount of emperor's new clothes about the whole thing.

I picked up 'A Hard Day's Night' in, er, Tesco, the other night. And I thought I've got this, I know this music inside out. I'm intrigued by the 'extras,' sure - but I have very little time to sit down and read CD sleeves... so I put it back.

Maybe that was the wrong decision, I'm not sure. Trouble is, if I buy one, I'll feel the need to buy all of 'em...

...then there's really no need to get the new ones, unless you really want to hear AHDN and BFS in stereo - on the other hand, if you're at all interested in the mono/stereo variations, then the mono box is right up your street (and the beautiful, spot-on packaging is a welcome bonus).

but I only own the "Number 1's" CD by the HJH. I've opened several tabs of online retailers, comparing prices and reviews, stood in ASDA and HMV and looked, held and inspected the physical goods (even marvelling at how one retailer adds and extra £2 to the price of the CDs compared to the online stores) and the only conclusion I seem to be reaching is that the Mono set seems to be the one to buy.
Now I have spent big in the past - I own both Throbbing Gristle box sets,for goodness' sake, but something about the current price and the fact that HMV had SO MANY of the mono box sets out makes me think that they can't stay at that price forever and that patience is a virtue..any advice?

next week, and i shall be getting some gift vouchers for a certain high st record retailer. My original intention was to get as many of the beatles remastered cds as i could. However I was in a supermarket the other day and couldn't resist picking up 'Revolver', as it was the only album I never had on cd (had it on cassette for some reason). Now that i've listened to it, and the initial hype surrounding the releases has died down, I can't help thinking that I should just buy a load of new cds?

about nothing. I am only bothering to reply out of boredom with all the postings on this site about the bloody Beatles. You have all fallen for the marketing bollocks. What is new exactly? A difference in sound quality that is difficult to detect? Is that really what we are discussing on here?

who claims that the new remasters only contain hardly noticeable changes need their ears syringing. The monos are the way to go but you can read that anywhere atm. Whether listening on a crappy car stereo or a top hi fidelity system its clear from opening notes whata great job Martin Jr etc have done.

It seems that they have become the anti Emperor's new strides in that people have prejudged them and feel free to say they suck w\o actaully listening to them. The only 'difficulty' involved is why they bother. Especially if you have no love for the music in the first place or have become so jaded with them over time.

I haven't got the Past Masters on CD yet so I'm not sure about any improvement in them but from listening to lots of the mono n stereo over the past week I can hear clarity, depth and feel that wasn't there before with v little effort. If these Cds were shit I would be one of the first shouting it from the Apple rooftop but to my ears (and thats all I have to go on) they are fab.

is EMI's finest marketing scam. Would be interesting to see some of the reviews of the 1987 cd releases and I;m sure we'd be reading the same nonsense re: clarity, instruments we didn't know were there, like being in the studio with them etc. The fact these are not deluxe with extras is clear there is more to come in next few years.
I did a quick beatles comp for a car journey yesterday from my (1987) cd's i'd ripped on itunes and to my ears there's nothing wrong with them, they sounded bloody good and that's after being compressed and burned onto a cdr.
I'd be surprised if many people would pass a 'pepsi' challenge on these cd's compared to the 1987 ones.

When all's said and done, no one is forced to buy this reissue set if they're happy with the 1987 originals. It's nothing new for stuff to be endless repackaged, I'm sure loads of people have bought the same films on video, DVD and now blu-ray. Eventually you just have to stop shelling out. You can't really argue with the project, it's only right and proper that The Beatles' music should sound as good as it possibly can on CD, it would be a dereliction of Apple's duty not to remaster all this stuff. While the box sets are pretty pricey the individual albums are going for under a tenner, which isn't too bad if you want to sample the improved quality.

The audio engineers who did the remastering, the people who compiled the new photographs and artwork and the people who wrote the linear notes are the ones who did the work that generated the interest and gave the publicity a focus beyond the computer game. How many of them do you think are getting a royalty? I'm sure they are being handsomely reimbursed for their time, but it may be that you find a boxset retailing at £200 entering the album chart and wondering about the maths there.

Just thinking back to comments I saw somewhere (it may have been on here even) that someone had intended to download all the mono albums on the basis that no one involved needs the money.

We should remember that we're talking about remastered CDs here, not anything remotely as radical as stripping Spector's strings off "The Long And Winding Road" for Let It Be... Naked, alternative takes or mixes à la Anthology, or what Giles Martin did (which included overdubbing whole new string sections) for the Love project. That's remixing; this is mere remastering.

Remastering just means preparing the final - or, as in this case, the original - mix (which is what George Martin and the Beatles handed over to the pressing plant when their work at Abbey Road was done) so that it can be copied multiple times while still sounding as much like that original mix as possible. And, er, that's it. In fact, digital remastering of an analogue mix - mono or stereo, it doesn't matter - should, by definition, be barely detectable to most people on most systems, since all it involves is the audio equivalent of a wash and brush up, not extensive plastic surgery. You can reduce some hiss and hum here, give the dynamics a bit more oomph there and that's about it.

Unless you side-by-side the new reissues with the original 1987 CDs, I very much doubt you'll hear anything you've never heard before. And I suspect those people who claim they can are simply rediscovering music they probably haven't sat down and listened to attentively for years, perhaps decades.

All the guff about "finally, it's here: the Beatles' music the way the Beatles intended!" is just that, guff - as well as an insult to the craftsmen who mastered the originals back in the Sixties to run off the vinyl we all grew up on.

I have yet to hear a remaster that threw up something extra to the original recording. It is merely a cleaned up sound. I may buy Rubber Soul and Revolver - not because they are remastered but because I don't have them on cd and would quite like to own them. I got bought the entire Anthology set from my work colleagues when it was released as it coincided with my 40th. It was a nice birthday present but not worthy of the hype.I suspect most of the purchases of these new additions will be as birthday and christmas presents.

mixes are an insult to the craftsmen. The mono mixes are the ones that the Beatles signed off on and took care over. To claim that those were how they intended their music to be heard is perfectly valid.

If you don't believe that these are a major improvement then fine.
But no one is putting a gun to your head. You don't have to participate. 1987 is a hell of a long time ago and these buggers have been a long time coming.

And thank god they aren't like 'LOVE' as the sound on that was about as subtle as a sledgehammer

is a thing of beauty - overpriced beauty admittedly - but I made the plunge and don't regret it. It is a real pleasure working through the albums and actually listening rather than just having them playing in the background / in the car etc. Is it a bit much to admit to reading the appropriate sections of "The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions" whilst listening?

I'll get me anorak.

I do wonder how many people will be / have been caught by the "remastered not remixed" element of these releases and anyone expecting radical differences will certainly be disappointed (although how good would it be to hear sensitive re-mixed stereo versions with the panning issues sorted. I don't know if it's even possible, although the Love album suggests that it can be done).

All that said, the remasters do have a fantastic "new" quality to them in terms of the depth of some of the tracks and the clarity of vocals and some instrumentation. I've found that this is most evident on headphones (of course) but crank it up in the car and you'll feel it as well. This ISN'T the emperor's new clothes, but I do accept Archie's point about listening properly for the first time in a while in a lot of cases.

Only a waste of money if you don't want to listen to them !

while Paul had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the listener

on abbey raod that i hadn't before - handclaps and organ trills

and I am not an avid beatles listener

golden slumbers, noted by someone esle, is superb

of the mono set, and don't regret it at all. The music, of course, sounds better as it was what was 'signed off' by the band, but the packaging, with each sleeve an exact miniature replica of the original, is also a thing of beauty. My trainspotter tendencies have been indulged in full with the inclusion of details like the Emitex 'dust sleeves', and the Parlophone/Apple labels on the discs themselves.

If you're a fan, and can afford it (and I can't, really!) I would highly recommend it. In due course I'm sure I'll also purchase Abbey Road and Let it Be, to complete the set.

I had my doubts about the stereo mixes but the re-mastered Magical Mystery Tour is simply astonishing. Always for me a dire, muddied CD in its 1987 incarnation this is an absolute revelation from first track to last. Lend an ear...preferably two...and you'll be blown away.

What Archie said...
Sitting listening to Abbey Road paying more attention to every detail than even on my first listen. Thats bound to throw up some missed moments.
A tenner well spent, time well spent..