UK release: The Beatles’ stereo vinyl box set

The Beatles’ stereo vinyl box set has been issued in the UK, Japan and Germany.

The box set contains includes 14 albums including the Past Masters collection, and a bonus lavish 252-page hardback book by Kevin Howlett with a chapter on each album. Orders from the official Beatles store also include a bonus limited edition t-shirt.

The albums are also on sale individually, although the hardback book and t-shirt are unavailable separately.

The reissues use 180-gramme audiophile quality vinyl, with audio taken from the 2009 remasters. The compact disc reissues from that year used limited 16-bit files, but the vinyl versions use the full 24-bit versions.

The albums Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Yellow Submarine come with additional inner sleeves. Sgt Pepper has a reproduction of The Fool’s original inner sleeve design and an insert detailing the figures on the cover artwork, while Yellow Submarine contains the liner notes originally found on the North American release.

Although artwork and liner notes have been reproduced faithfully, the reissues are not precise replicas. The sleeves are not the fold-over laminate covers with matte backs seen in the 1960s, and the single-ply gatefold cover for Beatles For Sale has been replaced by a double-ply one similar to Sgt Pepper’s. The sleeve for The Beatles (White Album) is not top-opening, although the poster and portrait inserts are all included.

A mono vinyl box set is due for release in 2013.