2019 Beatles UK Singles boxed set (Was: "Beatles Mystery Boxed Set")*

No there isn't. I haven't bought it, it's definetly not essential.

 

I actually credit this set with breaking the spell for me. it was this release that made me realize how much I was spending just to look at things on a shelf. It started by skipping this release and eventually led to paring down a few things. I have 2 other singles boxes, the eps and hundreds of individual 45s from these guys that I still don’t really dig out that often.

That said if it goes below $100, I may grab one

 

Maybe in the USA, don't forget the market abroad (Europe, Asia, Africa...)

 

The 20 year old I follow on Instagram that just bought this box would disagree with you...

 

Very true!

 

I was speaking generally. Anecdotally, there are exceptions, of course.

 

Yep, this one broke the spell here as well.

 

Looks like it may be a phenomenon. Maybe lots of folks are re-evaluating habits and obsessions these days.

 

I skipped this one even before finding out that I *need* the mono box. So it didn't quite break the spell, it rather made me more choosy.

 

I'm not entirely sure about that. about 60-70% of the traffic in my record store are under the age of 30, and they are most certainly buying Beatles records to the point that it is hard for us to keep them in stock, new *and* used.

 

Well, that’s encouraging, especially when it’s common to read remarks on YouTube like “who are the Beatles?”

 

I thought that, too, but they're only allowing a maximum of two sets to be purchased (at the current price of about $113). I figured they wouldn't impose such a low limit if they have tons of sets in stock.

 

Just for kicks, I looked at some other websites to see how much this box set is selling for. Amazon's current price of about $113 is far and away lower than any of the other websites:

Target $185
Deep Discount $210
Acoustic Sounds $230
Sound of Vinyl $230
UDiscover $230

And on ebay, new/sealed sets from U.S. sellers are priced at about $175 and higher.

But for some reason, people don't make any effort to search on the web for a lower price, so I'm sure that those websites selling this set for $230 are successfully doing so. And for the life of me, I don't understand why so many people buy music on ebay for significantly higher $$$ than what Amazon is charging.

Everybody knows about Amazon, so it seems reasonable to think that anybody looking at something on ebay would at least check Amazon's price. But, maybe some people despise Amazon so much that they refuse to give them any business. Or, perhaps Amazon has blocked them from buying anything on their website.

 

Bumping this thread.

I haven’t listened to this box since before the pandemic and never got though the box in its entirety. I pulled it out today and listened to a few 45s and also pulled out my 1982 singles box, cleaned a few of the records and spun them too.

I compared Hey Jude, as well as From To You/Thank You Girl from both boxes. To be honest, I thought the new cutting of the From Me To You single sounded better than the late 1970s/early 1980s reissue, which sounded tinnier in comparison. The new cut wasn’t as bright but it was better balanced overall.

Hey Jude was a bit of a tossup. I have no complaints with the sound of the newer version.

Over the next month or so, I plan to go though this box and A/B the contents with the 1982 box. I don’t know why this box has been labeled as a sonic failure. I suppose it was due to Michael Fremer’s histrionics, which was extremely unfair, and no, my system isn’t even close to his, but it ain’t bad either. Looking back, he really did a hatchet job on it.

 

Two singles in the box that definitely do not sound better are the first two. Nothing is going to beat the original red label Parlophone version of Love Me Do (for obvious reasons), or the 1970s recut of PPM/AMY.

 

Looking forward to your comparisons. I myself don't go back to that box very often. The sound was just a little off somehow... Flabby? I thought this even before I read the Fremer review.

I would have concluded that the meh sound was "because they weren't trying to cut these hot like the originals, but with a full frequency modern cut that's honest to the master tape."

But then I recently listened to Mono Masters and was blown away by how great the songs sounded there. At 33rpm, cut less hot because of the LP format... Still sounded more involving.

Why?

So interested in seeing how you compare them to the 82 cuts.

 

Thanks, I’ll post some of my thoughts as I go along.

I agree with you on the Mono Masters LP set, which is my favorite source, by far, for the mono singles/mixes. Unbeatable.

 

Thanks for this.

I don’t always agree with him. He’s also wrong about the original PPM master tape being destroyed before the 1976/1982 singles collections. Just listen to Ask Me Why. It sounds the same as the 1963 single (different mix, drier vocals), except it’s a better sounding cut.

 

Overall, I really like the new set. It's punchy, the sleeves are cool, and the booklet informative.

That being said, the Mono Masters 3-LP set is the most impressive of the entire box because of how great and improved sounding the songs are. I'm so surprised that the set is still available at retail.

I got the singles box for ~$135 on Amazon, and perfectly happy with the purchase. I occasionally revisit it if I just want to hear a particular song. But the Mono Masters set is fantastic.

 

People were looking for modern day remastered sound on these. Their purpose was to recreate how these records sounded when they were first released. This is how I approach this set, anyway. And on those terms, I'm very happy with how they sound. And as in those days, as the years rolled on, the recordings began sounding better and better.

 

I got this for Christmas but didn’t get a around to listening to the singles themselves a few weeks back. A nice sounding set, but the warping on a few of the discs is pretty dreadful. Not much QC going on.

 

The warpage issue is indeed a confusing one…the set has beautiful flawless packing except for that..even the 45’s come in nice inner sleeves inside the very nicely made outer picture sleeves..makes no sense that there’s pretty much a universal warp issue on all the sets that seem to have been discussed. Very luckily-At least in my case and hopefully everyone that bought it-itdoesn’t affect the playing.

 

Complain. I had five replaced.

 

Some of mine were so warped they were unplayable, but I managed to fix them all by placing them under a big stack of heavy coffee table books, one at a time. It took a couple of months to unwarp them all completely, but I ended up with a flawless set in the end.