The Beatles Stereo Box Set

Now that I have been listening to The Beatles In Stereo Box Set for almost a full seven 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 clearer these new CDs sound when comapred to the old CDs. I hear lots of details in these songs that I have never heard before! It’s really like rediscovering The Beatles timeless music all over again as I go through each of the 14 albums in The Beatles Stereo Box Set.

There’s already been a lot of debate among fans of The Beatles over what sounds better; The the mono or the stereo? This debate is raging because along with this stereo box set The Remastered Beatles In Mono CD Box Set was also released this month.

I think the stereo CDs sound much better for the later albums 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!

In short, I’m very glad that I bought both box sets and I really think they are both essential for serious 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.

Obviously the main reason I love this box set is how great The Beatles music sounds in remastered stereo but I also should give a “shout out” to the really great 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.