Beatles 64 Box: Capitol Albums 1

Japanese pressing features the same tracks as all other pressings but includes a bonus Japanese/English booklet. In 1964, the Capitol Records, U.S. home to the Beatles, released four compilations - 'Meet The Beatles', 'Beatles Second Album', 'Something New' and 'Beatles '65.' Each set sold over one million copies and still remains popular among the Beatlemania. The sets became out of print in 1987, but 17 years have passed and they are now available again in a deluxe four-disc box set. 'Beatles Capitol Albums Volume 1', due Nov. 16, will collect the four albums with a 48-page special booklet. All the tracks have been digitally mastered using 24-bit technology and available in both stereo and mono versions. Twelve of the forty five tracks were not available in the U.K. original edition. EMI. 2004.

When the Beatles catalog was first issued on CD in the '80s, an attempt was made to standardize the releases (which often varied wildly in content internationally) by using their original British format. But this confounded many Fabs fans in the U.S. who now found CDs with track listings that often differed dramatically from their original American LPs. More maddening, the initial four releases were only available in not-so-glorious mono mixes. This four-CD collection of the band's 1964 American album releases finally addresses those concerns, and then some. Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, and Beatles '65 have been digitally prepared from Capitol's vintage album masters and presented in both the original stereo and mono mixes released back in '64. This set gives younger fans a chance to finally hear the band's epochal early music in stereo--and should please an older generation by returning massive hit singles like "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," "She's a Woman," and "I Feel Fine" to their original American album contexts. The booklet contains a wealth of rare photos and concise notes by noted Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn. --Jerry McCulley