Now that I’ve been listening to Box Set|The Beatles Stereo Remastered CD Box Set|The Beatles Remastered Stereo CD Box Set] for almost a full 7 days I think it’s time to do a review of the set as a whole. Now I have heard everything at least once (although some albums I’ve heard multiple times and others just once) and I have no reservations in saying that these remastered CDs are far superior to the old CDs most of us Beatles fans owned previously.
It’s fantastic how much more clear these new discs sound in comparison to the old discs. I hear lots of details in these songs that I have never heard before! It’s really like rediscovering The Beatles timeless albums all over again as I go through each of the 14 albums in The Beatles Stereo CD Box Set.
There’s been a lot of debate among fans of the band over which sounds better; The the mono or the stereo? This debate is raging because The Beatles Mono Remastered Box Set was also released this year.
I think the stereo mixes sound much better for the later LPs because they allow for greater clarity which is essential considering how much is going on in most of the later mixes. But with the earlier albums it’s a bit of a closer call. I still like the clarity of the stereo mixes even with the earlier albums, but it is true that the really wide panning can be a bit distracting so I think there’s a good case for the more “powerful” sounding mono mixes too!
I definitely think both of these box sets are “must buys” for real Beatles fans. After all the mono mixes were how the albums were originally intended to be heard so they have great historical value, but the stereo mixes sound really really good, so you have to have those too.
And while the major reason I’m so excited about this box set is, of course, how great the music sounds – another great thing about it is the awesome packaging. An informative booklet with many pictures and notes on the historical context of the album and the recording process for that album is included with each CD.