The Beatles - The Capitol Albums Vol. 1
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Free Music Notes for The Capitol Albums Vol. 1
Free Music Review: Until a UK equivalent comes along...
Hit: 4 Stars
At first glance it would seem strange that there would be a British market for these American permutations, in whose compilation the Beatles had no hand, and which stretched the original British albums into far greater number by mixing up the tracks with assorted A-sides, B-sides and EP tracks. However, although all the British Beatles albums were released in both mono and stereo versions, the CD versions of the earlier albums (up to and including Beatles For Sale) have been monaural. This was apparently at the recommendation of George Martin, who thought the crude stereo of those early records was below standard for the modern listener. Since then, certain songs have appeared in stereo mixes by George Martin on collections such as The Beatles 1962-1966, The Beatles 1967-1970 and One, but many are available on an official release here for the first time, together with their mono counterparts.
Meet The Beatles! comprises 9 titles from With The Beatles plus the single I Want To Hold Your Hand and its B-sides (This Boy in the UK; I Saw Her Standing There, taken from the album Please please Me, in the US).
The Beatles' Second Album consists of a further 5 titles from With The Beatles plus the B-sides Thank You Girl and You Can't Do That; the single She Loves You/I'll Get You; and 2 tracks from the EP Long Tall Sally.
Something New takes 8 tracks from A Hard Day's Night and adds the other 2 tracks from Long Tall Sally and a German language version of I Want To Hold Your Hand.
Beatles '65 derives mostly from Beatles For Sale (8 of its 14 tracks) plus the single I Feel Fine/She's A Woman; and I'll Be Back, from A Hard Day's Night.
These have all been remastered from the masters used to prepare the original American vinyl albums. These are generally the same as the British masters except that they had been "re-equalised" for the American market, and this generally translates as the addition of echo and reverb. While it is fascinating to hear the effect of this, most markedly on the second disc, The Beatles' Second Album, my British ears usually prefer the original versions.
There are some interesting variants to the British counterparts which in some case amount to more than mere re-equalisation. Money (That's What I Want) is an alternative version; the stereo mix of Thank You Girl features additional harmonica; Paul's voice is uniquely not double-tracked on the mono version of And I Love Her; and the mono version of Anytime At All does not have the overdubbed piano found elsewhere.
Finally, as stereo mixes of the singles were not available at the time of the albums' original compilation, vile fake stereo mixes (or "duophonic" versions) were concocted, and these have been allowed to stand here. The tracks to avoid are the "stereo" versions of I Want To Hold Your Hand, This Boy, You Can't Do That, She Loves You, I'll Get You, She's a Woman and I Feel Fine.
Let's hope The Parlophone Albums Vol. 1 in similar format but with best available and new stereo mixes is planned.
Free Music Review: BUY THIS...BUT ALSO BUY FOUR EMPTY CD CASES....
Hit: 5 Stars
If you want to take this boxed set of early Beatle music out any place with you, say in the car or to a party, better buy 4 empty cd cases first.
While the music is great, undeniably so, Capitols efforts to package it falls far short of a hobo's wet cardboard sleeping box. If you are not carefull upon opening, cd's fall out every which-a-way making for a maddening episode. The inner box does fold up to resemble something like the Anthology disks, and while the music will last over hundreds of years, the boxes won't withstand a sneeze.
I am somewhat of an artist, so what I did was run the album sleeves through a copier, coloured them with coloured pens and inserted same into 4 plastic cd cases and off I go. Put the original boxes in the top closet and they may last your grandkids.
Any day now, Capitol will issue the second 4 albums. Thank goodness I bought 8 extra plastic cases.
Free Music Review: Stereo versions a must
Hit: 3 Stars
After the disappointment of buying the early albums on CD in their original British formats only to discover that they are in boring MONO, I was thrilled to hear these versions in glorious STEREO, just like they appeared on vinyl originally. But WHY include the mono versions on each album as well? Don't need it, don't want it!
I admit that the mini albums are very cute, but the entire package isn't compatible with CD storage systems and thus has to be stored separately. Bad choice. I was able to put nearly all four albums onto just ONE CD, which is now the only version I listen to. A lot of work, but worth it. Now I don't have to listen to the two German versions, and can hear nearly every track from these four releases without a break. Heaven!
Doug Austin, Sacramento, CA March 2006
Free Music Review: Just as they should be!
Hit: 5 Stars
The first four Beatles albums in glorious duo-phonic stereo! Just as I remember them on my vinyl LP's... before I was forced to buy Parlophone releases when The Beatles' catalog was released on CD. These albums on CD were a loooooooooooooong time coming. So, now...
Where is volume 2? Uh, Apple? Hello? Why make us wait over a year for the 1965 Capitol albums on CD? Does this mean that it won't be until we have a new President in The White House that we'll ever see "Yesterday and Today", "Revolver".... and, perhaps, The United Artists "A Hard Days Night" and The "Hey Jude" album on CD? At THIS rate, sure seems that way.
News flash! I just read that Volume 2 will be announced shortly... with a target release date of April 11th!!!!
Free Music Review: Worthwhile due to its superior sound quality to the original EMI release
Hit: 5 Stars
I've been waiting for the re-release of the Capitol albums for years, because in my memory they had better sound quality than the original EMI releases, so when this disc set became available, I went out and got the first set I can find.
After listening to this mix, I have to conclude that Capitol records must have had much better recording equipment than the Abbey Road Studio at the time. Listen and compare the palpability of Paul McCartney's vocals on "And I Love Her" on the mono track of "Something New" album and EMI's "A Hard Day Night" album. You'll see (hear ?) what I mean. Then listen to "She Loves You" on "The Beatles Second Album", and EMI's "Past Masters Volume 1". Listen to the kick drum Ringo's playing. You can actually hear the felt hammer hitting the drum on Capitol's version, but EMI's version is just a mush.
I'm surprised that mixdown done on the same master (or a close second generation) tape can have such disparingly wide difference in sound quality. I also think Capitol must have had superb recording engineers at the time to bring out these qualities which EMI engineers failed to see in their own recording !
I only wish that they will continue to bring back the old Capitol Recordings for the sake of better sound. I also would like to see them bring back "The Beatles Story" double album which was a riot to listen to, and captured the essence of the moment when the "Beatle Mania" was sweeping the world.