Disco de The Beatles: “The Capitol Albums Vol. 1 [Box]”

Capitol did a tremendous job with the music here. They did exactly what they were supposed to do: take the original American Capitol stereo and mono mixes, transfer them cleanly and leave them alone. All of the original anomalies are here: Lennon's harmonica overdub on Thank You Girl, which was only in America, guitar overdub in Money, the extra verse in the US mono I'll Cry Instead (but not the stereo), the single-track McCartney vocal in the US mono And I Love Her, the extra reverb on both stereo and mono US versions of She's a Woman/I Feel Fine, the double-track intro vocal on the US stereo If I Fell, and so on. These are all here, exactly as they were on the US albums. And for that, Capitol deserves applause, because frankly I've been disappointed with the Yellow Submarine remaster, and Let It Be Naked. I don't like tampering. This box set is the genuine (American) article.

And it's worth preserving for what it was and is. The Beatles and George Martin both knew exactly why Capitol was releasing different versions of these records in America, and George Martin gave Capitol his stereo mixes for that purpose, after which Capitol added some reverb on certain songs, but the fact of the matter is that both Martin and the Beatles had no problem whatsoever with this practice. And by the way, the butcher cover of Y&T was NOT a protest against these American releases. That photo was a protest against the carnage of the Vietnam War. The band said it, and the photographer also says it. So stop the myth that it was an anti-Capitol photo. It was an ANTI-WAR photo.

I actually like the fake stereo and reverb from these US albums...it was a product of the times and of the era, and in fact the first four mono UK albums as they sound on the current EMI CDs are very flat, dull, and dry. This new Meet the Beatles beats the pants off With the Beatles. It's big and bold. The Beatles 65 material has never sounded better, listen to Baby's in Black. No comparison to the Beatles For Sale CD. For those who really wish to hear a cleaner version of With the Beatles, you can have some fun by taking these new mono mixes in this box set, and reconstructing With the Beatles from the tracks here on MTB and the 2nd Album. You'll make yourself a new version of WTB that sounds way better than the flimsy EMI disc.

With all of this said, I dock one star for the packaging. The album covers look discolored, not their original colors, worst offense. The sleeves force you to pull the disc out by your fingers and possibly smudge the disc, second offense. The cardboard packaging is ridiculously cheap, third offense, and the booklet is irrelevant and useless, fourth offense.

My suggestion? Get the "Beatles On Capitol Records" book, scan the covers from there because they look much better, print out your own front and back covers, and put these discs in jewel cases to keep them safe. That's what I've just spent an hour doing, and the packaging is now in the trash. Terrible job on the packaging, but I have to say, kudos to Capitol, they did a great job musically by cleaning up the American tapes, and then leaving them the hell alone.

Superb! Excellent!

Over the years, I've bought well over five hundred items from Amazon; but this is the first time I've felt compelled to write a review.

If you're a Beatles aficionado (especially of the early Beatles ((and especially if you were there to witness the `60s)) )- these CD's are an absolute MUST for your collection!

When I first heard them- I went through a real mind-shift regarding something that had haunted me for years. It was something that pertained to the quality of digital sound:

Back in the late `80's- when I first began my CD collection- I was quite let down by the sound quality of compact discs- the sounds seemed sterile, frozen- almost lifeless. After a while, I came to the conclusion that it was simply due to the newness of digital technology and perhaps a lack of digital expertise by the engineers involved. When I got these albums a few weeks ago- all of my previous opinions changed. Suddenly, I realized that the very first CD's I'd bought for my collection were the newly released British Beatles CD's (which- up until now- had been the only official Beatles CD's on the market)- and I very quickly realized why these first CD's had sounded so frozen and lifeless to me: the simple fact is- the British versions are very different soundwise from the American (or Capitol) versions I'd been used to up until that time. While the British versions are dry and understated; the Capitol versions are tastefully iced over with reverb and a variety of effects that greatly enhance their songs. These Capitol versions were the Beatles that I'd been hardwired with from an early age (and much, much prefer!). It was almost like an epiphany after all these years as I realized that it wasn't the digitizing of the records that had made my first CD's sound sterile- but instead- the dry understated sound of the original British albums themselves.

I'd be very interested to find out what was done to enhance and Americanize the original tapes- and who did it. There's definitely reverb slathered on as well as a fine-tuning of the frequencies (someone really knew how to carve out their frequency niches) and maybe some tweaking of the RPM's. To me, one of the truer tests of a good mix is if you can actually hear the bass guitar as a separate enhancing instrument- and here- every instrument is very much definable (when listening to these CD's in my car- I almost feel like I'm in the middle of the fellows onstage). Anyway, whatever was done- it was done quite well. The American versions not only leave the essence of the Beatles intact, but also add a vibrantly haunting quality that nearly makes these records a living entity.

If you buy these CD's- here's something interesting to do to compare the Brit vs. Yank versions (it's sort of fun). Burn a CD with the following sequence of songs:

First record "Things We Said Today" from the British version of "A Hard Day's Night"-

Followed by "Things We Said Today" from the Capitol "Something New"-

Followed by "I'll Be Back" from the British version of "A Hard Day's Night"-

Followed by the stereo version of "I'll Be Back" from the Capitol "Beatles `65"-

Followed by "If I Fell" from the British version of "A Hard Day's Night"-

Finally following all of this with "If I Fell" from the Capitol "Something New."

I think you'll find that the A/B contrast between the Brit versions and the American versions is mind boggling and inspiring to say the least.

Anyway- after all these years- I'm really glad to hear these sounds again!

Having grown up with American releases of Beatles music, listening to the sterile sound of the Beatles' UK CD masters was always a disappointment. Since the advent of CDs, I've especially longed to hear Beatles 65 in all its glory. Yearning to finally hear the Beatles' music on CD as I actually remembered it, I purchased this set hoping for the best. I popped Beatles 65 in the CD player and forwarded to She's A Woman, as I knew that song would be the true test of the new remastering. It was magnificent, to say the least. The remastering which includes echo and reverb common to the Beatles' American releases is fabulous. These CDs have the warmth of the vinyl recordings I so fondly remember. I actually experienced tears of joy listening to these CDs. They're that good. Hearing Beatles' music as I remembered it was the biggest rush - a flood of wonderful memories surfaced. I can't believe Capitol waited so long. Now I'm looking forward to the next installment of 4 CDs or so. Packaging flaws aside, this set is awesome. Hopefully, the packaging will be improved on Capitol's next installment.

Unbelievable--I rushed into the local Wal-Mart to pick this up before work this morning--hardly able to contain my excitement. When the clerk found it for me and handed me one--I immediately noticed how small and flimsy the box seemed. And when I opened it, and tried to get the insides out, again, it's difficult and cheapo... The album covers are fantastic--exact copies of the originals--which brings back SO many memories--but trying to stick a CD back into the so-called Box--what a nightmare. I've paid less money for way better construction of a boxed set.

Musically--the CDs are fantastic--just what I'd hoped for. But the cheapness of the box construction is VERY disappointing. Shame on Capitol and whomever else was responsible for that. It's not like The Beatles don't already get enough of my money. The price was fair--but not for the way the box was constructed. Just awful.

Let me start off by saying that I grew up listening to the early Beatles music in the late 70's and early 80's via British import box sets. That's how I knew the music. However, as a collector in the late 80's and early 90's I collected Japanese pressings of original stereo Capitol albums, and also combed used record bins, flea markets and garage sales for original Capitol mono and stereo albums from the early years. I found those Capitol mixes a curiosity. They would however, be the way that most North Americans would hear them effective January 1964.

The new CDs faithfully reproduce those original Capitol albums from 1964, and it's a blessing to have both mono and stereo/fake stereo versions as created by Capitol on CD at long last.

While it may be a marketing decision to 'celebrate the Beatles' 40th anniversary of their American invasion', a more realistic reason comes in the form of continually battling the hardcore bootlegger. Pressed CDs (not CD-Rs) of the Capitol albums and stereo British albums flourish on the internet (although inferior in sound quality), and this is Capitol's way of cutting those bootleggers off at the knees.

As for missing content of the year, specifically "A Hard Day's Night", that album was initially a United Artists release, and would eventually be issued on Capitol in 1980 after the label was eventually absorbed by EMI. Capitol records gained control over the 1963 material issued by Vee-Jay (with most of the same content deceptively issued on no less than 4 Vee Jay albums, 2 of which were additionally issued in 2 versions) and issued that material in March 1965.

'Love Me Do' was never a single in the US, but it was released in Canada a year before their first Ed Sullivan appearance, on Feb. 4th 1963.

This is an excellent bit of nostalgia for those who grew up on these versions for 23 years until the British-based CDs put the entire world catalogue up to 1967 out to pasture. Good or bad, that's how they are remembered.

And now, the caveat:

Of course, as has been mentioned many times, the packaging is poorly conceived. A 'long box' flimsier than a DVD digipak, (why not a thicker cardboard box with a flip top like the Parlophone Singles and EP collections), packaged with the booklet on the top half of the inner case (with the opening on the top) and 4 reproduced cardboard sleeves on the bottom half (with the opening on the bottom - a great way for these CD's to fall out and potential spill onto the floor and potentially scratch). The 48-page booklet is short on subtance. The reproductions of the original MONO album artwork (no "Full Dimensional Stereo" logo) looks badly photocopied (the 'Second Album' front cover looks especially yellowed from aging), including badly aged fuzzy-looking back cover art. I'm sure the original Lithograph slicks survived somewhere that better scans could have been reproduced. Bruce Spizer has better looking reproductions in his hardcover book "The Beatles Story On Capitol Records: Vol 2 - The Albums (available from Amazon, or visit Bruce's WWW.BEATLE.NET website). I guess one could scan those covers and make better covers for CD Jewel Cases than the cardboard reproductions Capitol created.

However, it's the music that matters, so if you want to 'wax' nostagic, this is the way to go. Just be prepared to consider devising a better form of packaging for your CD rack.