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Beatles' back catalogue to be remastered for September release

New collections includes mono and stereo mixes

April 7, 2009 | 8 Comments
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The Beatles' entire back catalogue has been digitally remastered for release this September.

The extensive collection, which features all 13 of The Beatles' studio albums along with the 'Past Masters' compilations, will be released worldwide on September 9 - the same day The Beatles' 'Rock Band' game is set to come out.

A statement regarding the release said that a team of Abbey Road technicians have spent four years remastering the albums in stereo, resulting in the catalogue being available to buy at its highest fidelity since it was first released.

For a limited time each album will contain an embedded link to a special mini-documentary featuring previously unreleased snippets of The Beatles chatting in the studio and archive footage.

Each stereo album will be available to buy individually, or as a collection in a box set.

A further box set of mono recordings - called 'The Beatles In Mono' - is also being released on September 9.

The new collection is the first time The Beatles' material has been remastered for CD since 1987.

It is currently unclear whether the collection will be available digitally. Speaking last month, George Harrison's son Dhani said the group is considering launching its own online application to sell its music digitally.

The full list of remastered Beatles' albums being released this September is as follows.

Stereo albums (available individually and as a box set):

'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'

'The Beatles In Mono' (box set only):

'Please Please Me'
'With The Beatles'
'A Hard Day's Night'
'Beatles For Sale'
'Help!' (CD also includes original 1965 stereo mix)
'Rubber Soul' (CD also include original 1965 stereo mix)
'Revolver'
'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
'Magical Mystery Tour'
'The Beatles'
'Mono Masters'

Meanwhile, check out our photo gallery devoted to The Beatles' historic trip to the USA in September 1964.

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Comments (8)

Add a comment

gazhat

Apr 7, 2009

.........champion, some good news on NME and about time these were coming out, add to this Neil Young's Archives in July that'll pretty much do for me for my 36th birthday on 12th Sept...

w1lko

Apr 8, 2009

bit annoying the mono mixes aren't getting released individually

Number Johnny Five

Apr 8, 2009

Great, I've always wondered what the Beatles would sound like if squeezed through today's hideous normalization and compression obsession.

EpDefadus

Apr 9, 2009

It could be great. I just hope the re mastering doesn't take away from that nostalgic Beatles sound.

verymetal13

Apr 9, 2009

I have some of the material and i think these popsters have a bright future ahead of them!

sealofmadness

Apr 9, 2009

It's always a good thing when beatles stuff is re-released, but seriously, is there any actual point in remastering them? the records sound gorgeous as it is, so why tamper with them?

punkrock_1976

Apr 9, 2009

Good news? Yes and No. I'm with w1lko and Number Johnny Five on this one. EMI/CrApple have been dragging their knuckles way too long to have me really excited. For instance, did they celebrate the 40th Anniversary of 'The White Album' last year with brand new CD/LP releases in mono and stereo? No! Fans were offered 'White Album' hoodies and fountain pens instead through The Beatles website. What. A. Joke! The record buying public have been listening to the poorly mastered CDs that were originally issued back in 1987 - 4 albums staggered every few months (if I remember correctly) - something that is unlikely to happen here and break your bank balance in the process! Since then we (Beatle Fans) have had 'Live at the BBC' (Pretty good. Mainly sourced from 'off-air' recordings, because Auntie Beeb had wiped the masters!), 'Anthology' (Great! Have no complaints really - the triple vinyl looks and sounds Ace!), 'Yellow Submarine Songtrack' (Remixed and Remastered. Not bad. Worth picking up on yellow vinyl) and 'Let It Be... Naked' (which was also good, but could've done with using the original cover of the Fab Four overlooking the balcony at EMI's Manchester Square offices in 1969 - just like the 'Please Please Me' sleeve, but with beards and longer hair!), 'Help' DVD (which was nice to have a good print of, and the box was nice with lots of 'bits' too!) and finally the 'Love' album (The less said about that, the better. Although play 'Get Back' from 'Love' against the 'Let It Be' CD and the recording has really been Amped Up!) No doubt we'll be paying a premium for the releases, like people have done since 1987. Can you find a brand new Beatles CD under a tenner? Probably not! Why an extra disc with QuickTime movie files? DVDs cost to much to produce? No doubt some enterprising soul will group 'em together and issue a DVD... Fan-made collections by Purple Chick and Dr. Ebbets are available through collectors and torrent sites and wipe the floor with all previous CD releases and put CrApple to shame! Fans are treated to both Mono and Stereo mixes of each LP - lifted directed from mint vinyl and gently declicked, PLUS B-sides, alternate versions/mixes and extensive recording details. Check out Dr. Ebbetts CD release of 'Abbey Road' for instance, against the official 1987 release and you'll hear what I mean. Pisses all over it! I heard a fella interviewed on 6Music last night regarding these reissues and said that with today's technology all the clunky edits recorded on the 4-track tapes have been smoothed over. If I did hear that correctly, 4 years getting the sound right better be bloody worth it! If you're a hardcore Beatle fan, these have come a little too late. The best way to hear these albums is to track down good condition pressings of the original albums on vinyl, or seek the Purple Chick and Dr. Ebbetts releases if you're into CDs - which are free! End of Rant!

baddeath

Sep 8, 2009

This from Wikipedia:This official remastering may render the bootleg remasters obsolete: Ebbetts announced that he would no longer make his versions available after he heard advanced samples of the official remasters which he judged to be superior.