New Beatles Box Sets

the parlophone uk pressings are mastered from the george martin 1980's updates that were also used to create the cd's at that time. the original pressings(u.s. and u.k. were cut using different masters, even if the differences are not radical

I don't have the second edition, but the first bunch of Capitol is terrible. I can't sit through one CD at a time, more like 5-10 minutes at the most. Extremely bright, forward, shouty and metallic sounding. A complete waste of money. I would not risk spending any on Vol.2

Based upon this:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/13/technology/beatles.reut/index.htm?cnn=yes
I think I'm going to wait and see what transpires.

the early beatle records were indeed bright,forward,shouty, and metalic. they were also brilliant. you have to enjoy these for what they were, and still are...the most important rock music ever made.

Slaw3: Having grown up on the American Capitol mix of "I Feel Fine", ever since radio switched over the CD remixes I've dearly missed hearing that gloriously reverb-laden version when it comes on while I'm driving in the car. OK, so the CD remixes were a bad idea from the start IMO -- I bought "Rubber Soul" back when it first came out just to see and practically got sick to my stomach, just awful -- and the comparitively threadbare version we hear on radio today is no more "correct" to my mind than Capitol's version, which at least is reflective of its historical period. As John Lennon said, the record's the thing -- there is no original performance to accurately recreate with a pop record; the sound of the record itself is the artwork, and that includes choices made in mastering which become part of our consciousness of that art. Stickin' with my 60's LP's and 45's...