Though EMI put considerable effort into both the sound and packaging of the remastered Beatles catalogue in 2009, and then staked out a new market with its iTunes downloads in 2010, many fans of the group have argued that such newfangled ways of hearing the band are inauthentic â€" that the experience just isn't the same on anything but vinyl, the format on which the albums were originally released.
The arguments, heard regularly since the introduction of CD's in 1983, are familiar: many listeners find that music sounds warmer, more rounded and more natural on vinyl than in digital form, and you can't argue with their preferences for 12-inch-by-12-inch cover art over the shrunken booklets that come with CDs, or the on-screen versions sold with the downloads.
Vinyl enthusiasts will get their way on Nov. 13, when the Beatles' stereo catalog will be reissued both as a series of separate albums â€" the original LPs, using the original British track sequences, plus a two-disc “Past Masters†set that includes all the singles and other non-LP tracks â€" and as a box set that also includes a lavishly illustrated, 252-page, LP-size hardbound book by the BBC producer Kevin Howlett. The box will be a limited edition of 50,000 copies, worldwide.
The LPs will be pressed on audiophile quality vinyl, using a version of the cleaned-up masters prepared for the 2009 CD's, with the exception of “Help!†and “Rubber Soul,†which will use the remixed versions that George Martin, the group's producer, oversaw in 1986. The packaging will reproduce the original LP artwork, including extras like the cut-outs and the pink, white and red inner sleeve that came with “Sgt. Pepp er's Lonely Hearts Club Band,†the 24-page booklet that came with “Magical Mystery Tour†and the poster and portrait cards that came with the “White Album.â€
The decision to use the digital masters may be contentious among collectors, who have been arguing for years that EMI should release a high-quality vinyl set made directly from the original analog masters prepared in the 1960's. The 2009 masters are digital copies of those recordings, and although they embody a few notable fixes â€" the repair of a dropout in the guitar part of “Day Tripper,†for example â€" they have been sent through a digitizing process that, some listeners feel, degrades the original analog sound.
The Beatles' mono recordings, which were also released on CD in 2009 â€" and which some listeners consider superior to the stereo versions, on the grounds that the Beatles were closely involved in their preparation â€" are to follow on LP in 2013.
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