The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 & 2 [Remastered] (2004 & 2006)

In 1964, the Capitol Records, U.S. home to the Beatles, released four compilations - 'Meet The Beatles', 'Beatles Second Album', 'Something New' & 'Beatles '65.' Each set sold over one million copies & still remains popular among the Beatlemania. The sets became out of print in 1987, but 17 years have passed & 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 & available in both stereo & 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

Long Box Version. This box set contains stereo and mono versions of the four Beatles albums released by Capitol in 1965, namely "The Early Beatles", "Beatles VI", "Help!" and the American version of "Rubber Soul". The albums were mastered from the original Capitol tapes using 24-bit digital technology. The packaging is similar to that of "Vol. 1" and the set contains a 56-page booklet. EMI.

Unless your name is Ryan Adams, you're probably not in the habit of releasing four albums in four years, let alone the same number in one. But that's exactly what the Beatles did in 1965, thanks to Capitol Records' practice of mixing and matching tracks from their U.K. releases to create new, shorter records for the American market. Because standard-issue Beatles discs follow the British discography, The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 marks the first CD appearance of The Early Beatles (March), Beatles VI (June), the Help! soundtrack (August), and the U.S. version of Rubber Soul (December), which are presented in both mono and stereo. And since the Brits' Please Please Me and Beatles for Sale are available only in mono, that means a lot of tracks are making their stereo CD debut here, including "Please Please Me," "Twist and Shout," "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey," "What You're Doing," and "Every Little Thing." This is also the first CD appearance of Ken Thorne's incidental music from Help! (James Bond intro, anyone?), as well as of the original wide-separation stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul (not the 1987 George Martin digital remixes that appear on the British discs). All told, a full 82 of this set's 92 tracks have never before been available on CD. It's not quite the sonic revelation that was Vol. 1 (that box contained 32 stereo CD debuts, this one only 14), but it's a great listen nevertheless. Also included is a colorful, 60-page booklet featuring rare photos and liner notes by Beatles historian Bruce Spizer. --Benjamin Lukoff