The Beatles U.S. Albums box set - your impressions ... (continued)

Continued from here:

The Beatles U.S. Albums box set - your impressions...

 

Wow! 1,610 posts in thread one.

 

Like a lot of people I suppose, I went for Y&T, AHDN and Hey Jude only, already owning Cap. Vol. 1 & 2. Am thinking that the box price will go back down after the honeymoon period - if I decide I can't live without it. Sound on these three is - to me - a little duller (maybe smoother is a better description) than the Capitols, although I slightly prefer the sound of the Caps. Apples to oranges - I know ( no pun intended).

 

How is the booklet? (I already bought Y&T and have the 2 Capitol sets so I need a REAL GOOD excuse to by the box)

 

I'm having so much fun playing around with this boxset's music. Last night I made some itunes playlists out of MTTB, TBSA, Beatles '65 and The Early Beatles, in order to put together the mexican 60's -70's first four beatles albums. It was a funny exercise, just like making mix tapes so many years ago. Of course, not without some help from the 2009's stereos and monos, along with Capitol Records vol. 1 and 2, to fill some gaps. It's great having all these cd options available. I share with you my free version of "The Beatles vol. 4 YEA! YEA! YEA!" (sic) mexican album-playlist:

A Hard Day's Night (Mono) - AHDN soundtrack.
I Should Have Known Better - AHDN soundtrack.
If I fell - AHDN soundtrack.
I'm happy just to dance with you - AHDN soundtrack.
And I love her - AHDN soundtrack.
Tell me why - Something New (Capitol Records vol. 1)
Long Tall Sally (Mono) - The Beatles Second Album (US)
Anytime At All - Something New (Capitol Records vol. 1)
I'll Cry Instead (Mono) - AHDN soundtrack.
Things we said today - Something New (Capitol Records vol. 1)
When I get home - Something New (Capitol Records vol. 1)
I'll Be Back - Beatles '65 (Us Album)

 

I'm sorry, I don't do impressions. My training is in psychology.

 

It's very nice, with lots of ads for the albums from the era, and a cool essay placing the US albums in the context of the Beatles' career. Is it worth $150? No.

 

I agree, seems a bit of a 'cash grab' for that Grammy salute thing, but saying that, it is nice to have A Hard Days Night, Help and Yesterday & Today. The original USA Revolver, Rubber Soul, Something New and Hey Jude are terrible compilations in my opinion, especially the USA Revolver which totally 'unbalances' the groups songs from that era, they might as well have taken John Lennon's picture of the artwork and called it The 'Threatles' !!

 

I got the set from Amazon. ca when it hit (about) $99. A great box set

 

Yes, should it drop to reasonable levels it would be quite nice to own.

 

I bought it because I was able to take advantage of the great $95 USD price from Amazon Canada. Did I need it?, no. Have I enjoyed it now that I've heard the whole thing?, yes. It's a nice package and a fine compliment to the Mono box which I purchased in 2009. It's nice to finally hear the stereo remasters of the early material. The sound is very good, and I'm glad I have options when I want a Beatles fix. But if I had bought the 2009 stereo box along with the Mono set then this would have been a ridiculous purchase. Since I did already own the Capitol Years boxes which I got cheaply off the used market I didn't really need the new box, but it is a hell of a lot nicer than those sets. So no complaints at $95, but I never would have dropped $180 for it.

 

On the previous part of this thread, there was a discussion about the Y&T album and the three Lennon Revolver tracks. Just an observation: Paperback Writer/Rain was released about a couple of weeks before that album (IIRC). Maybe there wasn't time, but they could have put back one of those Lennon Revolver tracks and added that recent single. Y&T and Revolver would be 12 song albums (but that single would probably be duophonic as the A-side was mixed for stereo later that year for A Collection of Beatles Oldies and Rain was mixed for stereo for Hey Jude a few years later).

 

They didn't need to use ANY of the 'Revolver' songs on Y&T, 'Paperback Writer', 'Rain' and 'I'm Down' would have fit perfectly (though John would have then ended up with only two songs on THIS album instead of on Revolver). My hunch is that this wasn't done because Y&T would then be almost entirely made up of previously released singles, not a great selling point for a 'new' LP.

 

Thank you. That makes sense.

 

So, how do you think the covers look? One member, about a month ago, thinks there are image issues with Y&T, mentioning that some bootlegs looked better. He also was critical of the Hey Jude cover.

They look fine to me. I just think the comments are the typical over critical stuff that comes from various members of this forum - as if they could do a better job.

 

...or they could have placed Paperback Writer & Rain on Revolver.

 

My apologies. I should have said, one member posted last month, that he thought Y&T had image issues

 

Sorry that joke was aleady taken (see post 5 or 6 in the first thread). You'll HAVE to use your training in psychology instead.

 

The Beatles U.S. Albums: "The new and improved 2014/2009 U.K. Versions!"

 

Finally picked up the entire box set and I am enjoying it. This is the first time listening to Hey Jude since I didn't feel the need to since I'm so used to the UK catalog. HJ is an all over the place mess of a record.

 

I got my box a couple of days ago, the packaging is not too bad but not as perfect as it should be for £100+. The spine of Beatles Story is kinda crinkled, some of the inner plastic bags are well crumpled. Also the outer plastic wallets are kinda flimsy, one of mine split right up one edge when reinserting the CD cover. Worst of all, many of the discs are smudged with fingermarks - surely that should not happen with a brand new sealed box from Amazon?

 

it wouldn't have been fair. an album that perfect would have caused thousands of potential artists to give up.

 

Ooops. Sorry I missed that. Must have been busy elsewhere. Oh yeah. That was my birthday.

 

I kind of felt like it was a good summation of their career in terms of how their sound changed over time (ignoring the psychedelic era).

I still enjoy it although I made my version years ago.

 

JK.....I'm here all week....