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11.14am
20 September 2013
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I’ve just had my iPod on shuffle and been assaulted by “Ticket To Ride ” from the Capitol Albums – it sounds completely out of phase, so checked out the mono version, it’s obviously a ‘fold-down’ mix from the stereo and sounds even worse. Sure, it was a different era with different replay equipment and consumer demands, but seriously, what were Capitol thinking?
2.15pm
1 November 2013
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I never understood why alternate versions of albums need to exist for other countries like the US albums. Why not just have the UK albums and distribute them worldwide?
3.09pm
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1 May 2011
Offline The way the royalties and payments were made and compiled for albums in the US varied from the UK hence the lower number of songs on the albums – US albums always having around 11 songs per album to the UK’s 14 – and the Beatles were never going to change Capitol’s working arrangements, well not until they had the power to dictate the terms when renewing their contracts with EMI in 1967 (Capitol getting special dispensation for their MMT LP).
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Starr Shine?"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
2.15pm
28 March 2014
Offline R4949 said
I just received the box set and I must say I’m a little miffed about the fake US mixes not being used, apart from a few bespoke edits. However, I bought the original sets in 2004 and 2006 and found them delightful. Until then I was relying on Ebbetts and Purple Chick issues for the “correct” mixes, but those two box sets were a revelation to me. I knew the US album mixes were a bit different, but THAT different?
The packaging on the new set is great, though. The covers are great quality and the booklet is a good read (it even comes clean about the 2009 remasters being the source used). However, over £100 is a bit much.
Ya, I agree with you, it’s just a money grab. Gladly, I cancelled my Amazon order upon hearing it was just the 2009 UK mix. If you must have the Original 60’s US sound, you must buy the 2 Capital CD box sets from 2004-06, period the end. You gotta listen to “She’s A Woman “.
It is a shame they never came out with box set #3 to complete the set, like this new 2014 complete set. 
Apple beat them to it!
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
2.52pm
18 April 2013
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I own everything (except for vinyl…so far) because I’m a completist. What they did with the US Albums box doesn’t bother me in the slightest because the sound is light years ahead of the Capitol boxes. I will keep the Capitol boxes because they contain historically correct mixes, but I’ll be going to the US Albums box for listening enjoyment, because they sound better.
And I don’t think making mp3 playlists in the running order of the Capitol albums is really a substitute for owning the US Albums box. An mp3 is sonically inferior to a CD.
Also, the mono on the US Albums box sounds better than the 2009 mono box. The US Albums box contains all the unique mono mixes, and of the stereo mixes all that is missing are Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand and I Call Your Name (and I can’t tell that this sounds any different).
I’m not counting the authentic stereo mixes that are missing from Yesterday and Today because they weren’t on the original pressing of the album, and were never made widely available anyway.
Otherwise, all you are missing is some reverb, and the duophonic and fold down mixes, which are not authentic anyway.
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
7.25pm
26 January 2014
Offline Dislike that the US Rubber Soul doesn’t include Drive My Car
1.20am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline I’m about half way through the CDs at the moment and liking them a lot; as noted earlier in the thread I got them mostly for the mono versions with a few side bonuses (soundtracks etc) and I bought them from Amazon Canada at a pretty good price.
The mono versions are not quite as revelatory as I had thought, though still nice to have (I felt the same about the Dylan mono box where for me at least only the first album was markedly better in mono). I do prefer the mono for the very early songs where the stereo has the vocals off to one side, but once the stereo gets the voice in the centre I think I prefer them for the delineation of the instruments (like George’s guitar). Anyway, it’s great to get both mono and stereo on the same CD – and kind of fun listening to them in (what is for me) an unusual sequence. The packaging continues to impress me as well.
I enjoyed the soundtrack version of Hard Day’s Night and I’m looking forward to the one for Help .
The Beatles Story was more interesting than I had expected – though of course rather dated and cheesy at times – there were some interesting interview snippets. I’m not very good at picking out differing mixes but some of the music clips also seemed different from the CD versions?
Early Beatles is next cab off the rank. Overall I’m VERY glad I bough the box.
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
1.43am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Expert Textpert said
Finally finished listening to my blue box of US albums, and I’m happy I bought it.I think these are probably my favorite US albums:
Meet The Beatles
The Beatles’ Second Album
Beatles ’65
Yesterday and Today
Nice selection. It was interesting to see so many of them back in the Billboard 200.
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
3.21pm
8 November 2012
Offline Al Sussman’s spirited rant on cynicism amongst some Beatle fans. Wasn’t sure where else to put this, but much of it focuses on the reaction to the US Albums, so here it is.
parlance
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meanmistermustard4.45pm
14 December 2009
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As a person who loves to cheerfully scorn the USA-(and Canada)-only albums (many of which I owned and enjoyed before the 1987 reissues/standardization), one of my fondest memories was back in 2004 when the first Capitol Albums box was released. I was reading a review, and the reviewer praised the box, giving the standard nostalgia defense – of course the British albums are better, but for we Americans who grew up with Beatles ’65 instead of Beatles For Sale , it’s nice to once again the songs in the same running order we remember them in – and how BFS never sounded “right” to his ears because it opened with “No Reply ” and followed up with “I’m A Loser “, whereas ’65 reversed the order, and that’s the one he was used to.
Well, unless the guy grew up listening to some super-rare one-of-a-kind edition, he’s forgetting that BOTH of those albums began with “No Reply “! So much for his “memories”. I guess it’s true that if you remember the ’60s, you weren’t there!
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10.52pm
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline parlance said
Al Sussman’s spirited rant on cynicism amongst some Beatle fans. Wasn’t sure where else to put this, but much of it focuses on the reaction to the US Albums, so here it is.parlance
I think the rant is way off base. I like the set for the mono mixes but the stereo ones are an odd collection even for me, and I don’t have any fond memories of the originals. I was listening to Rubber Soul last night and it goes from vocals in the centre of the sound stage (one of the UK Help tracks) to vocals off to the right, back to the centre (another UK Help track) then off to the side again. It just sounds very disjointed and rather silly – they needed a new mix (or the old US ones tidied up) to make it sound consistent. If they can adopt George Martin remixes as ‘canon’ then they should have had someone remix the earlier stuff in ’09; as they didn’t, the US releases would have been a great opportunity – they took the easy (and for me rather odd) way out instead.
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
11.12pm
28 March 2014
Offline Expert Textpert said
I don’t think making mp3 playlists in the running order of the Capitol albums is really a substitute for owning the US Albums box. An mp3 is sonically inferior to a CD.Otherwise, all you are missing is some reverb, and the duophonic and fold down mixes, which are not authentic anyway.
I’d love to agree with you but, my iPhone & iPod plugged into my car stereo and home stereo sound fantastic. Of course “the original source” is the 2009 UK CD’s.
As far as “Otherwise, all you are missing some reverb, and the duophonic and fold down mixes, which are not authentic anyway” statement, this was the real thing if you lived in the US, so forgive me as I cannot agree with you again.
Thanks to the 2009 UK set & the 2004-06 Capital CD sets, my iTunes has the complete UK Beatles, Canada Beatles & US Beatles discography.
I fully understand if I was a US citizen how important this set would be to me, as I had to have the 3 first Canadian CD’s (bootlegs from Russia), as they were different from the US LP’s even though I new they were not the real thing.
I do agree with you that this 2014 US set does definitely sound better than the 2004-06 Capital set for sure as the remixing has improved dramatically since then. But man, I hear ya about being a completist. It drives me nuts, it’s like a disease to me!
BEATLES Music gives me Eargasms!
12.30am
18 April 2013
Offline I’m sure your mp3s sound good but they are not as good as the CD’s they were taken from. They are compressed and have lost information.
I never listened to the Capitol albums on vinyl but I understand not buying remasters because they sound different. I have done that with a few artists if I have heard the sound is worse than or not faithful to the original. Maybe I would want to listen to an inferior-sounding Beatles album if I grew up with it.
…and I’ve listened to both versions, so I feel I can say that they are inferior…but to each his own–go with what you like. There are some good mixes on the originals.
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
5.54am
Reviewers
29 August 2013
Offline Just up to Revolver and reminded me how much I liked the stereo mix on this one (though missing 3 of John’s songs was rather odd).
==> trcanberra and hongkonglady - Together even when not (married for those not in the know!) <==
1.15pm
15 May 2014
Offline I was just wondering; because the internet did not exist in the 60s, did US fans have any way of knowing about the differences between the UK and US releases, or did they just assume they were the same until 1987?
1.23pm
1 November 2013
Offline ^ If some one from the US went to the UK or someone from the UK went to the US then they would learn about album differences
3.49pm
Reviewers
17 December 2012
Offline The Beatles regularly complained about the differences between their UK and US releases, so fans were very aware of the difference. The differences were also often pointed out in the press, and The Beatles Book Monthly was available in the US and the coverage in that was of the UK releases.
@Ahhh Girl This should be merged with one of the other “US albums” threads.
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4.39pm
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20 August 2013
Offline Merge completed.
I went to the Grammy Museum Record Theater: The Beatles’ Second Album (Capitol 2080) in Mono event last month with parlance. Of course the topic of US vs UK albums was brought up during the q&a session. It was interesting to hear Jack Oliver, former President of Apple Records, say that the U.S. albums were “not how the boys wanted them.”
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11.38am
Reviewers
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1 May 2011
Offline Was over in iTunes and discovered that the US albums are gone. Anyone know why they were taken away? Anyone know if you can still go into stores and buy them, its not like they are available for streaming?
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
12.18pm
17 January 2016
Offline I prefer the UK releases simply BECAUSE that wasn’t how the boys intended them. Track order changed, tracks left off etc.
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