New Beatles Box Sets

I'll take the UK Parlophone CD's for my money. If you can't have the Parlophone, Odeon, or lastly the Mofi OMR vinyl IMHO these are the next best. I have compared them to each of these vinyls and they are not half bad. Why would you want the Capitol pressings that are way down the dup chain?
Happy Listening!

Hey Zaikesman: I don't disagree, the versions you grew up with ARE the versions for you, and that makes good sense to me. I was lucky enough to have an British friend who sent me the "real" versions whenI was a kid, so I never listened to the American albums (although I bought and still have them all, most still sealed). I did hear the songs on the radio, and always shook my head and wondered why they felt the need to do that. But man, the CDs -all of them - have always suuuuucked. So my advice stands - buy the original British (or American if you must) LPs, and play the heck out them. They still sound great today!

I have only one Parlophone LP, a later pressing of the UK-only compilation "A Collection Of Beatles Oldies" (originally released for Xmas '66 and deleted not long after the group broke up). The cover art is great, but the sound doesn't strike me as anything special compared to Capitol and Apple releases of some of the same material.

RF: It's not that I "want" or "don't want" the pressings I have -- it's that they're either what I've always had since I was young, or what I've come across by chance in my used record scrounging (not at record stores -- at garage sales, thrift stores and such). The Beatles are nominally my favorite rock band of all time, but I don't pursue building my collection from either an audiophile or a Beatles-collector point of view, and have never paid money worth mentioning for any of it. I just have what I have, and to tell the truth, hardly ever listen to The Beatles at home, as it's so familiar and I'm always getting more not-so-familiar records to listen to. But maybe I ought to try one of the Parolophone CD's you mention, since I presently have no Beatles on CD -- any best bets to your mind?

Zaikesman, Not to belabor a point but what I find most interesting about the original (pressing) sound is… well, that that is the way the band intended it to be. So to my liking, I find it more emotional and up front, a little rawer, a little more to the point, that’s all.

As for recommendations... I really recommend Revolver on Parlophone CD for one because it was a turning point in their carrier from the pop rock sound to a more sophisticated and moderately psychedelic sound, complex construction of songs, experimental use (at the time) with sitar, classical instruments, etc making many of their works more on the order of compositions than just songs.

You can't beat the White album for its diversity. Two albums of pure genius for the time or even for today in my mind, moving though so many differing moods. That’s a lot of diverse songs to release in one package. IMHO it’s great stuff.

Sgt. Pepper was a landmark, it shook the foundations of rock music, even the Stones felt compelled to (try) and match it.

Happy Listening!

RF: I was asking more about the sonic success of the CD, in your mind, than I was about the music -- of course we all know the music. Anyway, the 'White Album' was Apple on both sides of the pond (and sounds excellent in the US issue). What I'm interested in is, which Parlophone CD is the most significant improvement on its closest Capitol LP counterpart? Neither Sgt. Pepper or particularly Revolver sounds all that good on the Capitol LP, but the earlier releases are probably the ones Capitol altered the mastering of the most. Anyway, I don't know about the theory that the band "intended" the UK releases to sound the way they did -- they may sound better, but I doubt the group had anything to do with the mastering process (more likely that the different song selections were better reflective of what they had in mind).