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313 of 319 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beatles Remastered....but should they have been Remixed?, 15 Sep 2009
This review is from: The Beatles Box Set - Remastered in Stereo (Audio CD)
I've had the Beatles Stereo Box set for nearly a week now, and have listened to all the albums a number of times through and feel compelled to post my feedback to help anyone unsure about taking the £169.99 financial 'plunge'....
In fairness, I have to admit to being a dedicated Beatles fan (for the past 40 years) - so I'm not going to give an unbiased view on the music collected together here in one place...it's a true treasure trove.
However, I do back up the point a number of other reviewers have put forward that, whisper it, some of these remasters don't actually sound that good - they're better than the 1987 releases, without a shadow of a doubt - but let's face it, it would be difficult for them not to sound better after 22 years of CD development!
Now don't misunderstand me, several albums in this Box Set sound substantially better compared to the late 1980's digital releases:
ABBEY ROAD is now a very satisfying, detailed and dynamic listen - this is especially apparent when you hear the musical 'duel' of guitars and drums that make up the album closer 'The End' - in truth, every track on this remaster is far better than the muddy mix on the 1987 CD.
THE BEATLES (White Album) now delivers a fine stereo image with real 'studio depth' and lots of power to vocals, Lead guitars and Bass guitar - beating the 1987 2CD set quite easily.
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND is now far more balanced as a stereo listen, especially satisfying on Headphones - all the instruments and vocals now sound believable and crisp, with Paul's melodic Bass playing really jumping forward - it makes the 1987 CD version redundant.
RUBBER SOUL and REVOLVER have a number of highlights - as does the PAST MASTERS set.....but the earlier albums, from PLEASE PLEASE ME to HELP! and the final LET IT BE disc are (at times) not really in the same sonic ball-park.
Now, how could I possibly be so critical of the sound on this Box Set? - Well, I've no doubts that the Abbey Road team have done their best - but they have simply squeezed the maximum they can out of 40 to 47 year old Album Master Tapes.
In comparison, over the past 5 years or so we have been treated to the remastered back catalogue of a growing number of equally prominant Artists such as The Doors (on DMC), Elvis Presley (on FTD) and The Rolling Stones (on ABKO) who, after initial 'slap-dash' releases in the 1980's and 1990's have all finally done justice to their heritage by making every effort to trawl tape vaults and sound archives to find, wherever possible, the First Generation Session Multi-tracks to Remix fresh Album Masters - anyone owning any number of these CD's will bear witness to the fact that as a consequence of all this extra effort, they sound truly 'STUNNING' - sounding like they were recorded yesterday....
In fact this technique isn't anything new to the Beatles' Technical Team either, the very same work was done on the 'Yellow Submarine - Songtrack' Album as well as the 'Let it Be - Naked' release - which is why they both sound superior to their respective 2009 remasters.
As such, I feel an opportunity has been lost to make this release a truly definitive one, especially when the Technical Lead for the Remaster Project at Abbey Road (Allan Rouse) has been quoted as saying (in the latest October 2009 issue of The Record Collector Magazine) that the Remastering process for all the Albums only took around 3 months - not the 4 years that is so often quoted in many reviews...it seems there was plenty of time to provide Remixed Album Masters from the Original 2, 4 and 8 track Session Multi-tracks....but this fantastic opportunity wasn't taken - perhaps it was stopped by the surviving members of the Group - but it's a real shame it didn't happen.....
So, is it worth buying this Stereo Box Set? Well, yes it is.....each CD album is held within its own glossy digipack which includes informative liner notes in a booklet stored within...the outer box (with its outer slip-case and magnetic securing clasp) has been beautifully designed and manufactured - as a result, the whole package gives the owner plenty of user appeal...
Is this the best The Beatles' Albums have sounded on CD? Well, at the moment yes.....but if they'd been Remixed from the Original Session Multi-tracks they would have sounded even better!
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78 of 84 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stereo Box Set Review, 9 Sep 2009
This review is from: The Beatles Box Set - Remastered in Stereo (Audio CD)
I have received my Beatles stereo box set today with eager anticipation of hearing The Beatles in the best quality today's technology can give us. I have to say that although I have heard these albums many times before the crisp, clear and almost new freshness to the records is beyond my expectation. I am very pleased to say the least. I don't have over the top expensive music equipment or the need to break each recorded layer of a song down to the finest detail, I just want to sit back and listen to one of the world's finest band in superb clarity....this box set does this!! Great packaging, great pictures, documentaries and information on each album...Fantastic. This is the best Beatles collection to date in my opinion.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A mirror to my mono review..., 10 April 2010
This review is from: The Beatles Box Set - Remastered in Stereo (Audio CD)
This is a mirror of my review on the mono version of this release, now that I have had time to go through both. It is less a review of the albums themselves, rather, which boxed set is best, particularly if you only can afford one, or even just don't want two copies of something that is almost, bot not quite the same.
Musically (pulled from the mono review):
The the music is amazingly, almost insidiously brilliant is beyond doubt. The sheer amount of songs on all of these albums that are recognizable is beyond doubt. The Beatles influence on modern music cannot, in my estimation, be underrated.
All of the albums have remarkable musical strengths.
On the stereo release, my favourite albums are Abbey Road, Magical Mystery Tour and the White album, which were all recorded with a bit more of a nod towards stereo imaging.
Boxed set specific (again some of this was pasted from my mono review, as appropriate)
The downside...
Nothing to do with the actual music, but rather, the apparent greed of the label. For the vast majority of the Beatles albums sound better on the mono release.
The latter albums sound better in stereo, and, the mono version does not contain the later releases that were stereo only (Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road, Let it Be, also the videos).
So you have three choices:
1) Buy the mono, and if you want the latter albums, buy them separately. Considering the mono version is more expensive to start with this is a frustrating option.
2) Buy the stereo version. You get all the albums, and thus some sense of completeness, with this method. But not all, or even the majority are in their optimal format.
3) Buy both. Maybe the only way to make sure you get your preferred version of each album. The obvious annoyance, is cost. And who really wants to buy two boxed sets for completeness sake, apart from those like me who want both optimal and completeness. It does annoy me that to get this I needed to have so much space taken up, but, such is life.
Comparatively, my review is not as good as many of the others here, that is obvious, but as a mainly metal fan I still have to admit to this bands genius and believe most collections are replete without at least one of these re-releases. It's just a shame about the purchasing options..
As per my mono boxed set review, it is a shame that the releases have come out like this, but I have to recommend this stereo boxed set over the mono, especially if you only wish to own one of the boxed sets for whatever reason you have.
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