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Giles Martin confirms that ‘Revolver’ is the next Beatles reissue

Box sets expected in October

By Paul Sinclair

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137

Producer Giles Martin has confirmed that The Beatles’ 1966 album Revolver is the next reissue in the ongoing campaign.

Regarded by many as their finest album, Revolver was the last studio long-player to be recorded while the band were still touring (although they played nothing from it in 1966) and saw John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr really start to experiment with sonics and using ‘the studio’ to shape their sound. Examples of that include the backwards guitar on ‘Paperback Writer’ B-side ‘Rain’ and John’s astonishing psychedelic, one-chord closer, ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’. Everyone was at the top of their game; George’s contributions were in the form of the brilliant ‘Taxman’ and ‘Love You To’, his foray into North Indian classical music (continued on Sgt. Pepper with arguably the inferior ‘Within You Without You’).

Nothing from Revolver was ever played live by The Beatles. The nearest they got was the non-album single ‘Paperback Writer’

The album contains some of Paul’s finest ballads and it’s still amazing to think that songs of the quality of ‘For No One’, ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ were all on the same album! Ringo’s much-loved ‘Yellow Submarine’ also features on Revolver (despite the animation and US soundtrack being released two years later in 1968) and it’s fair to say that his drums are turned up to ’11’ for the first time (as is Paul’s bass).

The Revolver reissue and box sets haven’t been officially announced but there were plenty of rumours going around towards the end of last week, with Variety taking the decision to post about the, still unofficial, news.

On Sunday, Giles choose to retweet Variety’s news story, which perhaps didn’t go down too well with Apple and their label partner Universal Music, but I guess the cat was out of the bag and it puts an end to the speculation. Martin even followed up with another tweet a few hours later with the words “It’s all going a bit immersive too…” and a picture of some headphones on the desk of a mixing studio. This is effectively confirmation that a Dolby Atmos Mix of Revolver will part of the offering (not a surprise, since ‘Abbey Road’ and Let It Be both included Atmos Mixes in their respective box sets).

To stress once more, nothing is confirmed, but you can find the rumoured track listings below, which appear feasible enough. They include a new stereo remix, two CDs of sessions, the original mono mix via a new tape transfer and a four-track ‘Bonus EP’. The blu-ray will include a Dolby Atmos Mix, a 5.1 mix and perhaps the mono mix and some other content.

I spoke to Giles last year about mixing The Beatles and I specifically asked him about Revolver and whether the so-called ‘de-mixing’ technology was good enough to allow him to remix the 1966 album. His answer suggested not, but he left the door open for it to happen:

I don’t think [de-mixing] is [good enough] at this moment in time. And I just think you have to have a good reason to do it. And that reason has to be a sonic improvement, there’s no point in doing it for the sake of it. Although I can’t really answer that because I haven’t really looked at that properly”.

Giles Martin

It’s worth going back and reading that interview, which is primarily about Let It Be and his work on Peter Jackson’s Get Back documentary. I’ll do my best to try and talk to Giles again about Revolver.

Revolver is likely to be the start of a reverse-chronology reissue approach to The Beatles studio output. Since 2017, Apple/UMC have worked forward from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band with 50th anniversary releases. They re-released that ground-breaking album five years ago and followed it in yearly increments with 1968’s ‘The White Album’, Abbey Road (1969) and Let It Be (recorded in ’69, released in 1970). COVID and Disney’s Get Back plans denied fans an album reissue in 2020, which is why Let It Be arrived a year ‘late’ in 2021.

The next reissue should be 1965’s Rubber Soul unless Apple opt to switch to 60th anniversary reissues for an autumn 2023 reissue of the band’s 1963 debut Please Please Me.

The official announcement about Revolver is expected in the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned to SDE for
the usual comprehensive coverage of formats, content and pre-order links.

Tracklisting

Revolver The Beatles / RUMOURED track listing for Revolver 4CD+blu-ray box

    • CD 1: 2022 Stereo Mix by Giles Martin & Sam Okell
      1. Taxman
      2. Eleanor Rigby
      3. I’m Only Sleeping
      4. Love You To
      5. Here, There And Everywhere
      6. Yellow Submarine
      7. She Said She Said
      8. Good Day Sunshine
      9. And Your Bird Can Sing
      10. For No One
      11. Doctor Robert
      12. I Want To Tell You
      13. Got To Get You Into My Life
      14. Tomorrow Never Knows
    • CD 2: Sessions
      1. Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1)
      2. Tomorrow Never Knows (Mono Mix RM 11)
      3. Got To Get You Into My Life (First Version/ Take 5)
      4. Got To Get You Into My Life (2nd Version/ Unnumbered Mix)
      5. Got To Get You Into My Life (2nd Version)
      6. Love You To (Take 1)
      7. Love You To (Unnumbered Rehearsal)
      8. Love You To (Take 7)
      9. Paperback Writer (Takes 1 & 2/Backing Track)
      10. Rain (Take 5)
      11. Rain (Take 5/Slowed Down)
      12. Doctor Robert (Take 7)
      13. And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version/Take 2)
      14. And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version/ Take 2/ Giggling)
    • CD 3: Sessions
      1. And Your Bird Can Sing (2nd Version/Take 5)
      2. Taxman (Take 11)
      3. I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal Fragment)
      4. I’m Only Sleeping (Take 2)
      5. I’m Only Sleeping (Take 5)
      6. I’m Only Sleeping (Mono Mix RM11)
      7. Eleanor Rigby (Speech Before Take 2)
      8. Eleanor Rigby (Take 2)
      9. For No One (Take 10/Backing Track)
      10. Yellow Submarine (Songwriting Work Tape/ Part 1)
      11. Yellow Submarine (Songwriting Work Tape/ Part 1)
      12. Yellow Submarine (Take 4 Before Sound Effects)
      13. Yellow Submarine (Highlighted Sound Effects)
      14. I Want To Tell You (Speech & Take 4)
      15. Here, There And Everywhere (Take 6)
      16. She Said She Said (John’s Demo)
      17. She Said She Said (Take 1/Backing Track)
    • CD 4:
      1. 2022 Mono transfer of original tape of Revolver
    • CD 5: Bonus EP
      1. Paperback Writer (2022 Stereo)
      2. Rain (2022 Stereo)
      3. Paperback Writer (Mono)
      4. Rain (Mono)
    • Blu-ray audio
      1. Dolby Atmos Mix
      2. 5.1 Mix
      3. Possibly the mono transfer

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137 Comments

137 thoughts on “Giles Martin confirms that ‘Revolver’ is the next Beatles reissue”

  4. I’m so disappointed that a Blu-Ray, multi-channel mix isn’t included. I have no interest in having to stream a multi-channel version and Apple/The Beatles/Universal doing this sucks. While the outtakes are fine, I’m really in it for the Blu-Ray. Fail from the label and I won’t be buying this.

  5. I’m not super rich but i’m not super poor either (wouldn’t be here) but i’ve never listened anything on 5.1 or atmos (except the movies of course). I have an iphone 13 but i’m not crazy to spend almost the same amount money for an Apple headphones to listen to “Atmos”.

    Well once my father bought an onkyo stereo micro system that could play SACD, i played the police, Depeche mode hybrids and i found nothing special there i assume one needs to have the 5 or 7 speakers? An expensive technology still IMO.

  6. No surround bluray in the set I’m hearing today, but there’s a 7.1 atmos mix for streaming.
    Absolutely beggers belief.
    The ONLY reason they have me as a customer in the first place was because I was curious to hear Sgt Pepper in surround and THAT then persuaded me to buy the Beatles back catalogue and all the other remastered boxsets since. I was never a fan before that.
    I don’t do streaming services of any kind. Absolutely zero interest, so since I won’t be able to listen to the 7.1 mix, I also won’t be buying this set.
    Universal can get stuffed. They’ve lost a customer for this set.
    Utterly the worst decision they could have made.
    Let’s hope enough people complain that they make it available to download!

      1. I may be wrong, but I think Amazon Music, Apple Music and Tidal have Atmos streaming. Most of these services, however, don’t provide the same quality as a Blu-Ray Audio disc. From this interview with Steven Wilson:

        The difference in sound quality between Dolby Digital Plus/JOC Atmos on Apple Music and Dolby TrueHD Atmos on Blu-Ray is not subtle. You can hear MP3-like artifacts in the rear and height speakers. There must be quite a bit of data compression required to fit 12 discrete channels of audio into a streamable file.
        Yeah, it’s an MP4. You’re essentially looking at a 2 GB Atmos file reduced to about 50 MB. I’m hoping they’ll be able to increase the file size over time, as home internet speeds improve.

        There are also dedicated surround music stores like this but I don’t think major labels are going to go that route now that they’re all set on streaming…

  7. One of the very first albums I ever owned – my mum bought it on cassette, along with The Beach Boys Greatest Hits Vol 2 – when my siblings and me were very young. Must still have it somewhere…

    The tracks were in a different order, presumably to better-balance the playing times of each side. As a result, the CD playing order never sits quite right to my ears!

    Would love to have seen a 5.1 Blu-ray included with this set, and couldn’t the new stereo mix and original mono master both have fitted on to a single CD (perhaps even with the “EP”) to reduce some costs and make the Blu-ray inclusion more economically viable? Or another sessions disc? I love sessions discs!

  9. Ringo has posted pictures tonight of the box set and confirmed there is no Blu-ray UTTER MADNESS!
    Paul can you look into getting the mixes released on an SDE Blu-ray???
    If you need a petition I’m sure one will be up and running soon,

    1. For anyone not finding the pictures, it was a video on Instagram. Here’s a screenshot of the contents. Definitely no blu-ray:
      EDIT: It may be the vinyl box set, which wouldn’t have a blu-ray, but I have my doubts.

      2. This could be the reason why they trotted Ringo out to start promoting this set early. No Blu-Ray equals lower sales, so we’d better use the “big guns” to push this product before word gets out

  10. Well, I hope that Giles got approval from Apple for confirming this. Could be his last remix otherwise ! Let’s see the content before going off on no blu-ray. Surely Apple will have noticed the success of the SDE blu ray audio series and won’t make the 5.1 streaming only. Oops – just went off about no blu-ray !

  12. I’d be disappointed if there isn’t a blu-ray in this deluxe version. All the previous blu-rays included a hi-res stereo version as well as the 5.1 mix. I’m not sure how good the Dolby Atmos will sound considering it’s source, will it just be ambience in the rear speakers or can the technology isolate the instrumentation. I’d rather own it on disc than have to pay for a streaming service.

    I did take a one month trial with Tidal last week. Initially, I tried the app through my pc which is connected to an Atmos amp via HDMI. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Atmos to work. I then read that using an Android TV the app automatically recognises an Atmos configuration.

    I added Tidal to my TV and finally I was able to stream Dolby Atmos and 360 Reality Audio. It seems to me a lot of the 360 Reality Audio are titles previously released on SACD. I listened to a few atmos tracks including A-ha “Take on Me” which sounds really good. Other tracks didn’t sound as good so it’s a bit of trial and error to find the best mixes.

    1. Unfortunately I have had it confirmed with an always reliable source that there is no Blu-ray in the box.
      No doubt they got a good deal of money from a streaming company to make the
      Atmos streaming exclusive.
      I’m not set up for surround and my wife thinks I have enough speakers as it is but it is a disappointing development.Wait for the complaints after official announcement!

  13. Interestingly, or perhaps not, this has made me dig out my original copy and I have found that I have 2, both Mono.

    Also, many people don’t realise how massive an event a new Beatles album was. I was 14 and my Dad bought this on the day of release, brought it home after work, played it, we all (Mum, Dad and 5 children) listened intently and my Dad pronounced it was terrible. He thought that they had cracked up. In fact, he soon swapped it with someone for another album.

    Sorry about the irrelevant ramblings. I can’t wait to get this.

  14. Whew! Reading the new comments today, I must demur:

    The Beatles don’t have “weak” (original) tracks! “Good Day Sunshine” reminds me of GREAT family-vacations in Myrtle Beach, SC and Ocean City, MD — all thru the early to mid-70s!

    It’s the Beatles – the backbone of ALL great modern-pop/rock/jazz we STILL enjoy today.

    Bring it all on in hirez 5.1+

    1. My first copy of Revolver was the UK 1970s cassette with the scrambled track listing and Good Day Sunshine was the first track on side 1, took me ages to get used to the proper track order when I bought the CD.
      There are rumblings that the box set won’t have a Blu-ray which is bizarre as there is a Dolby Atmos mix but this might only available through streaming. I’m praying this won’t be the case but… Be prepared to be disappointed.

  15. Thanks to everyone joining in and answering my question as to why no demo or session of Good day Sunshine…l still think for completion sake, Giles could have done something with the incomplete takes, or even stripped back the final take, to just piano, some little or no vocal, whatever works! I have the books that people made reference too, and have since dug them out, and I am now re-enjoying them again. Thanks!

  16. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Blue and Red albums. I know they were remastered and released on 180g vinyl a few years ago (fantastic pressings if done in Europe, not Canada), but I for one would LOVE to have these two albums reissued on opaque colored vinyl next year.

    I truly do wonder if the Beatles/Universal/Apple will do anything next year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of those two albums. They are so iconic and important to many Beatles fans who first got into their music because of those two releases.

    1. I agree that they are iconic. I was born in 1969 and the Red and Blue albums were my introduction to the Beatles music. They, along with other late 70’s Capitol compilations, were my first owned Beatles records. So many people my age had the same experience (also Hot Rocks from the Stones was similar). In 1978, Capitol Records pressed those two sets on red and blue vinyl, respectively. I still have them and they are beautiful. Its probably because of them and the memories they evoke, that I, to this day, am a physical music collector.

    4. For me are the worst compilations ever, so depressing, my father bought them on vinyl when i was 13 years old, was the worst introduction to The Beatles ever, the photos, the sound (the hiss), the beards, the compilation per se.

      1994 and live at the BBC was released on CD that was the turning poing for me, that’s when i jumped into The Beatles wagon, my own format my own band my own memories.

  17. Clever move to work backwards from Sgt Pepper instead of going forward with Please Please Me. TBH was never a fan of the three chord boy band oooohhh jingle jangle jewellery jewellery stuff. Bring on the Revolver and Rubber Soul.

    I think we will mostly likely see Band On The Run 50th before London Town/Back to the Egg ever sees the light of day. Doesn’t Mecca hate these records,

  18. There are no outtakes of ‘Good Day Sunshine’, because the master is take 1. I quote from Mark Lewisohn’s ‘The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions’: ‘Wednesday, 8 June (1966): one of the quickest recordings on Revolver: Paul’s GDS. The version released on the LP was actually take one, although it had numerous overdubs …’ (There were 2 more takes of the rhythm tracks but they did not receive overdubs, as take one was considered ‘best’). One could also read the entry for this song in Ian MacDonald’s ‘Revolution In The Head’. Suffice it here, to quote the last sentence: ‘… Superbly sung by McCartney and exquisitely produced by Martin and his team, GDS displays The Beatles at their effortless best.’ I agree: GDS is one of the highlights of Revolver. And, MacDonalds’s book is not the Bible to me: unlike him, I love ‘Across the Universe’, and consider ‘Revolution No. 9’, and the next one, the closer ‘Good Night’, marvelous pieces of music. On the other hand, Revolver is a very good album, with a superb cover, but it suffers from a flawed sequencing, in contrast to SP, which in that aspect is perfect, as is the White Album, although in a whole other, almost opposite – seemingly, randomly – way. They both flow in a gracious, self-reinforcing way, which makes them their 2 best albums: ex-aequo. (The American MMT-album is no. 3) And I am dazzled still by their 50th anniversary SDE’s … Aaah, The Eshers demos: sublime ! PS: I consider ‘Within You, Without You’, as did John, George’s best composition: in it, he grasps, as good as perfectly, the modal soul and circular nature of Indian classical music. Even the title is a most farsighted synthesis of the Hindu outlook on Life. Wisely, he never tried again …

  19. I’m sure I’m in the minority on this, but while I’m definitely looking forward to Revolver, I’m most excited about the prospect that the technology is at the point where we will get my favorite Beatles album, Rubber Soul, next year.

    1. Apparently not.

      “Universal held a Los Angeles listening session for the upcoming “Revolver” release this week. Interestingly, a Dolby Atmos mix of the album was played, although that mix will not be made commercially available.”

      :/

      1. You are right.I was going off the preorder Amazon links that were mistakenly put up for a few hours.They listed 6 discs as they too made the assumption there was going to be a Blu-ray.
        The spin about its exclusion will be a masterwork in nonsense.

  21. It’s interesting to note that there is no session take or demo of Good day Sunshine. There was nothing either on the Anthology… is Paul trying to play down the existence of this song, that a lot of people think is average at best. Personally I prefer it to any number of eighty’s songs….
    All stand together, Ebony and ivory, say say say……
    ……..that efing Xmas one and bloody
    mullet of Kintyre !!!!

          1. I am just standing up for ‘Good Day Sunshine’. This track was much loved by Ray Davies at the time & was seen as having a Lovin’ Spoonful influence. Some music critics have used to the latter to dismiss it as derivative, but I think it is a great track.

            And as for the weakest track on ‘Revolver’ I think that is a pointless search in a near flawless album. As for ‘Yellow Submarine’ which lots of folk (including here) like to knock without the track we would not have the joyous film of the same name. Case made for its existence.

          2. Does anyone remember The Beatles Cartoon TV series from this period? If I’m not mistaken, “And Your Bird Can Sing” was the opening theme song, and “Run For Your Life” from Rubber Soul was the closing theme song.

    2. With the exception of Ringo’s drumming, “Good Day Sunshine” is, otherwise a one man band Paul McCartney overdubbed effort. John & George don’t perform on the song. This is why there is no alternate take.

  22. I’ve ordered the hopefully 5CD/Bluray from Amazon France for £99.55/€115. It says 6 discs but the title when you order comes up as ‘tbc’, but says the label is Universal, which has worked for pre-orders in the past. I did order from a link provided by a French member of the SHF, sorry I can’t provide a link on this iPad.

    I’m quite happy with just short of £100, Let It Be SDE was £110 on release day for the 5CD/Bluray. Yes I know if I wait 6 months I could get it £30 cheaper, Revolver was one of the first LPs I bought with my own money and is probably my favourite Beatles album and I want to be playing this set on it’s day of release.

  23. If we get “Got To Get You Into My Life” with the drum break restored to proper volume just before Paul sings, (barely audible) boppita-boppita, boppita-boppita (loud)”GTGYIML,” I will be happy. I have never liked that the volume drops to almost nothing for that short drum break. Inexplicable. Just that small change would make the song that much better, in my opinion.

  24. I am obviously so in the minority as to be a blip on Apple’s Core… But, what I wouldn’t give for some sort of Deluxe Magical Mystery Tour… With The SGT Pepper release we get the singles that lead up to MMT and then we bypass to go directly to White Album. For me, it’s the Walrus/MMT material that I’d love to see expanded and celebrated. I know it’s not an “official” UK album, but where might we get this material remixed or spruced up? Perhaps I haven’t examined my SgtPepper or TheBeatles or AbbeyRoad packages closely enough…

    1. I fully agree. They could even restore the original EP order for the occasion and present the singles in chronological order (although I suppose the US LP with the added singles has become the de facto standard). Then add Yellow Submarine, since it fits in the same timeframe and mops up tracks that already come from the Pepper era (“Only a Northern Song”). And of course there is the performance piece “Carnival of Light”, which has been vetoed for earlier releases but what better opportunity would there be for finally releasing it?

  25. floating around on the interweb is a track by track comment on the leaked “sessions” CD track lists of the upcoming “Revolver” album. The comments are taken from Mark Lewisohn’s “The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions” book from 1988.
    Revolver: Special Edition (leaked track list)CD2: SESSIONS01. Tomorrow Never Knows (Take 1) — Thursday 7th April 1966
    “Take 1 of ‘Mark I’, the working title of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ (the latter being a Ringo-ism seized by John as the ideal title for his masterpiece), was a heavy metal recording of enormous proportion, with thundering echo and booming, quivering, ocean-bed vibrations. And peeking out from under the squall was John Lennon’s voice, supremely eerie, as if it were being broadcast through the cheapest transistor radio from your local market, and delivering the most bizzare Beatles lyric yet, including one line taken directly from Dr. Timothy Leary’s version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.” (p. 72). Appears on Anthology 2
    02. Tomorrow Never Knows (Mono Mix RM 11) — Monday 6th June 1966
    “The fourth anniversary of the Beatles’ first visit to EMI’s Abbey Road studios, celebrated with an evening of Revolver remixing…Remix 11 of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’, no longer ‘Mark I’, was marked out as the new ‘best’ and was cut-out for the master tape of the album. But on the day the LP went into the cutting room, 14 July, George Martin telephoned Geoff Emerick and had him replace it with the original ‘best’, remix eight,” (p. 82).
    03. Got To Get You Into My Life (First Version/ Take 5) — Thursday 7th April 1966
    “Take five had the organ and then a full drum intro, heavily limited, and it was also the first to feature vocals. These were not only superb, Paul being backed by John and George, but different too, Paul singing ‘Got to get you into my life, somehow, someway” at the instrumental breaks, and John and George offering the chant ‘I need your love’ four times over in the refrain. This take was marked ‘best’ on the tape box, if only temporarily,” (p. 72). Appears on Anthology 2
    04. Got To Get You Into My Life (2nd Version/ Unnumbered Mix) — Monday 25th April 1966
    “Rough mono remixes, without echo, for the purpose of cutting acetates. When remixing proper commenced, on 18 May, those were also numbered one and two.” (p. 76).
    05. Got To Get You Into My Life (2nd Version) — Monday 11th April 1966
    “More work on ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’, perfecting the rhythm track. Take eight was deemed ‘best’, later to be overdubbed with vocals, guitar and its distinctive brass passages.” (p. 72).
    06. Love You To (Take 1) — Monday 11th April 1966
    “The first [take], a basic rhythm track, had George singing to his acoustic guitar accompaniment, with Paul supplying backing vocals” (p. 72).
    07. Love You To (Unnumbered Rehearsal) — Unknown
    08. Love You To (Take 7) — Monday 11th April 1966, Wednesday 13th April 1966
    “The sitar came in at take three, and again as an overdub onto take six, along with a tabla, bass and fuzz guitar…Take seven of ‘Granny Smith’ was a reduction mix of the four-track take six, creating spare recording tracks. George added another vocal, Ringo contributed tambourine and Paul sang high pitch harmonies on the lines ‘They’ll fill you in with all the sins you see’, though this latter contribution was left out of the mix, and therefore, the record.” (p. 72, 73).
    09. Paperback Writer (Takes 1 & 2/Backing Track) — Wednesday 13th April 1966
    “The song was recorded in just two takes, and one of those was a breakdown.”
    Lewisohn also notes:
    “There can’t be many number one hit singles on which the French nursery rhyme ‘Frere Jacques’ is sung. But ‘Paperback Writer’ is one. It was Paul’s idea that John and George should rekindle childhood memories with this unusual backing vocal, recorded on 14 April behind Paul’s progressive lead.” (p. 74).
    Therefore, the vocal on Take 2 is an ‘SI’.
    10. Rain (Take 5)
    11. Rain (Take 5/Slowed Down) — 14th April 1966
    “The other song recorded today was ‘Rain’. ‘One of the things we discovered when playing around with loops on ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ was that the texture and depth of certain instruments sounded really good when slowed down,’ recalls Geoff Emerick. ‘With ‘Rain’ the Beatles played the rhythm track really fast so that when the tape was played back at normal speed everything would be so much slower, changing the texture. If we’d recorded it at normal speed and then had to slow the tape down whenever we wanted to hear a playback it would have been much more work.’.
    ‘Rain’ features not just instruments slowed down but slowed down vocals too. John’s lead on take five of the song, the first to feature vocals, was recorded at 42 cycles per second. Tape machines usually ran at 50. Hence when John’s vocal was played back it sounded very fast indeed, halfway to Mickey Mouse. ‘An offshoot of ADT was that we had a big audio oscillator to alter the frequency of the tape machines,’ says Emerick. ‘We would drive it through a power amp and the power amp would drive the capstan wheel and enable you to speed up or slow down the machine at will. John — or George if it was his song — used to sit in the control room on mixes and actually play the oscillator.’ Again, now that the discovery had been made, few recordings on Revolver, or indeed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, would be spared this new vari-speed technique.” (p. 74).
    12. Doctor Robert (Take 7) — Sunday 17th April 1966
    “Only the backing track was recorded on this day: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass guitar and drums, plus maracas played by George, harmonium by John and piano (by Paul). The vocals were superimposed on 19 April. At this early stage the song was 2’56” long but in remixing (and there were several of these) it was always edited down to 2′ 13″.” (p. 75).
    13. And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version/Take 2)
    14. And Your Bird Can Sing (First Version/ Take 2/ Giggling) — Wednesday 20th April 1966
    “This day’s two takes of ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ captured the strident guitar work of the version which was to end up on Revolver, but that is where the similarity ended. Take one of the song was the rhythm track only, guitars and drums, and it was unrecognisable in this form from the song which finally evolved. Take two, the best for now, had innumerable overdubs, there being at least three Lennon vocals, two McCartney harmony vocals and one from George, plus additional tambourine and bass. The tape also captured hysterical laughter by John and Paul during one of the overdubs, developing into impromptu whistling by the song s end.” (p. 75). CD Two, Track 14 appears on Anthology 2
    CD3: SESSIONS01. And Your Bird Can Sing (2nd Version/Take 5) — Tuesday 25th April 1966
    “‘Okay boys, quite brisk, moderato. foxtrot!’ Under this somewhat confusing directive from maestro John Lennon the Beatles launched into the re-make of ‘And Your Bird Can Sing’. The first attempt, take three, although only a rhythm track, was a very heavy recording but the song grew progressively lighter after that, although guitars were always well to the fore.,” (p. 77).
    02. Taxman (Take 11) — Thursday 25th April 1966
    “Takes one through to ten concentrated solely on the rhythm track, the first vocals being introduced at take 11. But although, by this time, the song was close to completion, there were several differences between this and the final version. The “one, two, three, four” spoken count-in had yet to evolve, as had the “Mister Wilson, Mister Heath” refrain sung by John and Paul. In place of the latter was, at this point, a very fast and very high “Anybody gotta bit of money?” sung three times over by John and Paul in a style not dissimilar to that adopted by 1970s group 10CC on some of their hits. The other major difference at this stage was the absence of the rasping lead guitar solo at the end of the song. Here it came to a full ending on three strums of a guitar. (The end solo was in fact a tape copy of the middle eight piece, edited together on 21 June at the final mono and stereo remix stage.)” (. 77). Appears on Anthology 2
    03. I’m Only Sleeping (Rehearsal Fragment)
    04. I’m Only Sleeping (Take 2)
    05. I’m Only Sleeping (Take 5) — Wednesday 27th April 1966
    “Just before midnight — an apt time — the Beatles started work on a new song, John’s splendidly dreamy ‘I’m Only Sleeping. Again they concentrated on perfecting the rhythm track first, especially as the song was mostly acoustic at this stage, with an extra few bars of strumming starting off the song which were lopped off in the remix. ‘I’m Only Sleeping ‘was eventually to he adorned with elaborate overdubs, done on 29 April and 5 and 6 May. (p. 77). CD Three, Track Three appears on Anthology 2
    06. I’m Only Sleeping (Mono Mix RM11) — Friday 29th April 1966
    After Eleanor Rigby’ John overdubbed his lead vocal onto the tape of the previously recorded Tm Only Sleeping. It was the first of three superimposition _sessions for the song. On this occasion the tape machine was run at 45 cycles instead of 50, thus speeding up John’s voice quite considerably on playback. Just to complicate matters further, the rhythm track onto which John’s vocal was superimposed was taped at 56 cycles and played back at 47 ¾”. (p. 77).
    07. Eleanor Rigby (Speech Before Take 2)
    08. Eleanor Rigby (Take 2) — Thursday 28th April 1966
    “Once again the question of vibrato was raised, and it led to an amusing incident. Between takes one and two George Martin asked the players if they could play without vibrato. They tried two quick versions, one with, one without — not classified as takes— and at the end George called up to Paul McCartney Can you hear the difference? ” Er…not much! Ironically, the musicians could and they favoured playing without, which must have pleased Paul…The eight instruments were recorded across all four tracks of the tape, two per track, so the last job of the day was to mix this down and leave room for Paul s vocal to he overdubbed onto a newly vacated track. The reduction was numbered take 15. ” (p. 77). Take 14 appears on Anthology 2
    09. For No One (Take 10/Backing Track) — Monday 9th May 1966
    “Ten takes of another superbly crafted Paul McCartney ballad, “For No One’. The first nine consisted of the rhythm track only, Paul playing piano and Ringo the drums. On the 10th take, the one they felt was best, Paul overdubbed a clavichord (hired, at a cost of five guineas, from George Martin’s AIR company) and Ringo additional cymbals and maraca. Paul’s lovely vocal was recorded as an overdub on 16 May and the song’s equally lovely French horn solo was overdubbed on 19 May. There was no role for either John or George in the recording of ‘For No One’.” (p. 78).
    10. Yellow Submarine (Songwriting Work Tape/ Part 1)
    11. Yellow Submarine (Songwriting Work Tape/ Part 2) — Unknown
    12. Yellow Submarine (Take 4 Before Sound Effects) — Thursday 26th May 1966
    “Whatever one’s opinion of ‘Yellow Submarine’, one thing is clear: it is a very interesting recording, crammed full of sound effects, party noises, whoops, chants and general silliness. On this day, 26 May, the Beatles recorded the framework of the song — four takes of the rhythm track — and then overdubbed the main vocals. Take five was a tape-to-tape reduction of take four, ready for the later superimposition of the many and varied sound effects.
    ‘I have a clear memory of them doing the rhythm track of’ Yellow Submarine’,” says Geoff Emerick, ‘because George Martin was off with a bad bout of food poisoning and he sent his wife Judy [to be, they married on 24 June 1966] along instead to keep an eye on things, and I suppose to make sure we all behaved ourselves! She sat in George’s place at the console making sure that the Beatles got everything they wanted.’
    Whether it was because of George’s absence or not, rehearsals — not recordings — took up most of the session. Just before they launched into take one proper John Lennon, ever the impatient Beatle in the studio, exclaimed “Come on. It’s 20 to 10 [ie 9.40] and we still haven’t made us a record!” That take one, like all of the rhythm track takes, had a much longer introduction than was eventually released on disc, with acoustic guitar (John), bass guitar (Paul) and tambourine (George) all preceding Ringo’s drums and the part of the song where the lyrics would come in.
    Take four had the best rhythm track, so it was onto this that all of this day’s vocals were superimposed. Ringo s lead—and the backing sung by John, Paul and George — was recorded at 47V2 cycles in order that it be speeded up on replay. The song’s other variation at this stage from what would be released on record was a full, rounded ending. On record it was faded out.” (p. 80).
    13. Yellow Submarine (Highlighted Sound Effects) — Wednesday 1st June 1966
    “Just inside the doorway of studio two at Abbey Road there is a small room cum cupboard called the trap room which houses a many and varied collection of assorted oddments — everything from a cash till to old hosepipes and a football supporter’s rattle. Its stock has been sadly depleted over the years but in 1966 it was full to overflowing with such items. The Beatles decided to raid it and almost all of the effects on ‘Yellow Submarine’ came from there. ‘
    The cupboard had everything,’ remembers Geoff Emerick, ‘chains, ships bells, hand bells from wartime, tap dancing mats, whistles, homers, wind machines, thunder-storm machines… everything.’ Studio staff were brought in to join the fun.
    John Skinner and Terry Condon were given the task of making whooshing noises. ‘There was a metal bath in the trap room,’ says Skinner, ‘the type people used to bathe in in front of the fire. We filled it with water, got some old chains and swirled them around. It worked really well. I’m sure no one listening to the song realised what was making the noise.’
    ‘They had a whole crowd of people in to do the effects,’ says Emerick. ‘Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones was there chinking glasses, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Harrison [George’s wife].’
    These three – and others like George Martin, Neil Aspinall, Mai Evans and the four Beatles — all lent their voices to the song’s increasingly raucous chomses. ‘There was one particular shout that John did,’ recalls Geoff Emerick. ‘The door to the echo chamber behind studio two was open so he went and sat there, singing all that ‘Full speed ahead Mister Captain’ stuff at the top of his voice.’
    After the recording was over Ken Townsend remembers Mai Evans marching around the studio wearing a huge bass dmm on his chest, with everyone else in line behind him, conga-style, singing ‘We all live in a yellow submarine’!
    The original tape reveals that overdubs of the effects were plastered throughout the song, although they were only used sporadically on the record. John Lennon blew bubbles in a bucket, and outside session musicians – their names alas lost – were brought in to play traditional brass band instruments.
    Ironically, one of the most remarkable overdubs – the one which took the most time to plan and record — never made it onto the finished article. It was a spoken passage by Ringo for the beginning of the song, faded up into the acoustic guitar intro and lasting for as long as 31 seconds. It consisted of at least four separate superimpositions, dominated by Ringo s speaking voice but aided and abetted by George, Paul and John all doing likewise, mixed into one melange. The theme of the lesson was the walk from Land’s End to John O’ Groats. [The southernmost tip of England to the northernmost tip of Scotland.] “And we will march to see the day to see them gathered there, from Land )’Groats to John O’Green, from Stepney to Ufecht, to see a yellow submarine….”
    Superimposed underneath Ringo’s voice while he was saying those words over and over again was the sound of marching feet, not too dissimilar to the sound which John Lennon used to open his 1971 song ‘Power To The People.
    It was a most peculiar overdub, although why the Beatles chose to discard it after they had injected such effort is not known. Indeed it is not too clear why they did it in the first place. ‘The Land O’Groats to John O Green bit might have come about because there was a doctor, Barbara Moore I think her name was, who had walked from Lands End to John O Groats for charity,’ says Geoff Emerick. ‘Everyone was talking about her then. As for the sound of marching feet, they did that by putting coal in a cardboard box and sliding it from side to side.’ A remix of this take with the spoken passage faded in and overdubs raised in volume appears on the Real Love CD single
    14. I Want To Tell You (Speech & Take 4) — Thursday 2nd June 1966
    George Harrison, in securing an unprecedented three compositions on a 14 song Beatles album, was clearly having problems with his song titles. What was in the end to become ‘Love You To’, itself a title not mentioned in the lyric, had the working title of ‘Granny Smith’, after the brand of apple. Now, for the song ‘I Want To Tell You’, the problem evidently arose again, hence this burst of chat on the session tape prior to the recording of take one:
    George Martin: “What are you going to call it, George?”
    George [who doesn’t know]: “I don’t know”
    John: “Granny Smith Part Friggin’ Two!
    [To George H] You’ve never had a title for any of your songs!”
    In a burst of laconic wit, engineer Geoff Emerick came up with a title, ‘Laxton’s Superb’, another type of British apple. [It was incorrectly spelt on the tape box as ‘Laxstone Superbe’] If it was to be “Granny Smith Part Friggin’ Two” then Laxtons Superb’ fitted the bill perfectly. But midway through the 3 June session the title changed again, this time to the more appropriate ‘I Don’t Know’, humorously based on George’s answer to George Martin’s original question.
    By the 6 June remix it had become ‘I Want To Tell You’.
    As for the recording, five takes of the rhythm track (a piano, drums, guitars) were taped before George chose the third as being best and went back to overdub his lead vocal, backed by John and Paul. More instruments — tambourine, maracas and more piano — were also added.
    A tape-to-tape reduction copy was then made and was numbered (somewhat confusingly) take four. Handclaps were added to this and the song was complete except for a final overdub on 3 June. A quick recording.
    ‘One really got the impression that George was being given a certain amount of time to do his tracks whereas the others could spend as long as they wanted,’ says Geoff Emerick. ‘One felt under more pressure when doing one of George’s songs.’” (p. 81).
    15. Here, There And Everywhere (Take 6) — Thursday 16th June 1966
    “Paul McCartney had already shown himself extremely adept at writing beautiful ballads, but they don’t come any better than this gorgeous piece of music, ‘Here, There And Everywhere’. It has long been Paul’s own favourite.
    The song was perfected in sessions spread over three days, and on [Tuesday 14 June] four takes were recorded. Just one of those – the fourth – was complete and even then it used only two of the four tracks available. But it was the first to feature any vocal work, the result of a drop-in and at least one overdub. Paul had vet to record his lead but here he was joined by John and George for a take of the charming backing vocals, the highly melodic “oohs” and “aahs”. These early takes were faster than the version released on disc, with the vocals speeded up to match…The best part of a further nine hours on ‘Here, There And Everywhere’, with nine more takes…” (p. 83). An edit of Take 7 SI onto the final Take 13 appears on the Real Love CD single
    16. She Said She Said (John’s Demo) — Unknown but circulating unofficially
    17. She Said She Said (Take 1/Backing Track) — Tuesday 21st June 1966
    “It took just shy of nine hours to record ‘She Said She Said’, the group spending most of the time rehearsing through at least 25 takes. Then the recording proper began, with three takes of the rhythm track in this instance drums, bass and two guitars ).” (p. 84).

  26. peace and love peace and love.

    Ringo has another EP out soon too….. come on man, i love you but just put out a full length album – stop drip feeding us like we were with the multiple let it be/get back releases.

    also . . . Ringo’s change the world 10″ vinyl EP (yes, another EP) has yo-yo’ed itself down again to £6 incl postage on amazon.co.uk … so it is not all moans from me.

    Revolver: me gonna get the deluxe cd box of that definitely – but might have to wait for it to drop to £70 sometime next year…baby, i aint a rich man.

        1. I’d rather have London Town and Back To The Egg please. Not that they’re better albums; it’s just that I’ve waited for so blooming long for those two that I can’t drum up much excitement for Revolver. I’ve got Revolver on Stereo LP, 87 CD, 09 Stereo CD, 09 Mono CD, Capitol 04 CD, but I ain’t got Back To The Egg on any format. Plus I’m still waiting on Let It Be to drop to a sensible price. To be honest I’d probably be more excited over Broad Street getting reissued (as long as the film was included on BluRay).

      2. Not sure about Back to the Egg but it would be a close call for me between SDEs of Revolver and London Town.
        Don’t get me wrong – I prefer Revolver as an album but I really like the McCartney archive sets and I would love to see what would be unearthed for London Town (my favourite Wings album – at the moment at least).

  30. Hello everyone! The great “Yellow Submarine Songtrack” included some entirely remixed songs from “Revolver” thanks to Peter Cobbin and the late Allan Rouse and their team. Of note: “Taxman” was the only one remixed for the Beatles: Rock Band… But anyway, I think now it´s possible to remix the early albums with modern technology. Some songs from The Beach Boys were remixed for the first time even those known as mono. Maybe someday we’ll finally hear “Love me do” and “She loves you” on stereo, punchier, and inmersive.

  31. Ooooooh lovely! Revolver is one of my personal favorites. I know they might not be the MOST beloved but I really hope boxes for MMT and YS come out sometime. I grew up loving the Yellow Submarine film and I really enjoy George’s score on Side 2. I’d love not only remixes of the songs but extended score sessions and the extended version of It’s All Too Much. As for MMT, it has squarely replaced the EP for decades now and a box for it could serve as a 1967 odds and ends box (including Carnival of Light, hopefully).

  32. This is great news about a fantastic, life-affirming, music changing Beatles album.

    Personally I don’t have a definitive fav Beatles album; it changes if not every day but down through the years and depending on where I am in life – a bit like my take on Sinatra albums and even the Beach Boys. ‘Revolver’ has been my fav as points but I just love it just as I adore ‘The White Album’, ‘Abbey Road’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Rubber Soul’ and their debut. The only Beatles album I personally have always thought over-rated is ‘Sgt Pepper’. It is an album with brilliance but also filler (‘Good Morning, Good Morning’ anyone?) and it has often been judged more as a cultural artefact than for its music.

    Brilliant abt ‘Revolver’. Only down and I cannot believe Apple have buggered this up: is are we never going to get an audio release of the Rooftop Concert?

    Which adds insult to injury as last year’s ‘Let It Be’ album (as opposed to the awesome ‘Get Back’ film) was a totally botched exercise: 52 years and counting and they still never got that release right with countless brilliant takes and entire tracks left off (‘The Palace of the Kings of the Birds’ for example – an extract of which can be heard on the outro of the ‘Get Back’ film).

    1. I feel the same way as you do about the Beatles albums, throughout different parts of my life there has been one album which has had more relevance. Sadly ‘Beatles for sale’ is still waiting for it’s big moment.
      I get what you say about Sgt. Pepper, it is so rooted in the time it was created and although it was sonically and technically an incredible achievement in recorded music I find the songs inescapable from the album. I have to listen to the album as a whole as I find the separate songs don’t work on their own, except Getting Better.
      So I look at Sgt Pepper as if it was a soundtrack album (nobody mentioned the 1978 film). A bit like Peter Gabriel doing things like Birdy between his main albums.
      I actually prefer Magical Mystery Tour to listen to as a ‘Beatle’ album.

  33. So I’m guessing that 12 out of 14 tracks on Revolver will get the “2022 Stereo Remix” treatment while “Yellow Submarine” & “Eleanor Rigby” are in their “2015 Stereo Remixes” from “1” (same with “Paperback Writer” & “Rain”, unless “Rain never got a recent stereo remix at all on “1+”)?

  35. So, nothing to mark the 50th anniversary of Love Me Do then? An official CD release of A COLLECTION OF BEATLES’ OLDIES updated to include LOVE ME DO and P.S. I LOVE YOU and other album tracks.

    1. maybe for the 65th in 2027. At this point – Anniversary editions are not the priority; after 2020 Fubar’d the 50th anniversary celebration of the release of LIB. Like most stuff from Apple Corp; the only thing predictable is the unpredictability of their next moves.

  37. It looks like they are going to reduce the CD box set to match the vinyl box set, just like with Let It Be.

    This is really going to push me towards the more expensive vinyl box as Blu Ray audio means nothing to me and a CD containing 4 tracks is just laughable.

  38. My favourite Beatles cover… the artwork is phenomenal. If they’d substituted ‘Yellow Submarine’ for ‘Rain’ it would have been undoubtedly their best album.

    Culturally that award goes to ‘Sgt Pepper’ but musically for me it’s ‘Abbey Road’ followed by ‘Revolver’

    Can’t wait.

  39. Wonderful, exiting and beautiful news.

    One of the most eagerly anticipated album box sets of all time finally being announced. This combined with the possibly revolutionary leap in technology and perspective make this a special moment.

    The Beatles, how lucky we are to have them beside us in this frankly scary world.

    1. Hi John
      Found this comment a bit strange as after the first issue of the Beatle albums on cd in 1987 we had to wait 22 years for the albums to be remastered in which time a lot of other artists remastered and reissued their back catalogue several times over. Since then the albums have been reissued on vinyl and then these box sets have been released. It’s amazing that Apple haven’t exploited The Beatles back catalogue more with coloured vinyl, picture discs and overpriced limited editions. In my life (wrong album) I’ve had 7 copies on various formats but I’ve never felt exploited as, with all Beatles albums, they get played a lot and get enjoyment out of them.
      At the end of the day you have a choice to buy this new release which I’m guessing you won’t be?

      1. @Craig, totally agree – agree especially with the last sentence.

        I own two copies of Revolver – the Mono version (from the Mono masters box) and the original Stereo (not, I hasten to add, an original copy of course). When I compare that to how many copies of Metamatic by John Foxx I own (I’m too ashamed to post the figure here :-) ) it pales into insignificance.
        Or look at the Suede back catalogue and how that has been ‘exploited’ in a much shorter timeframe.
        I plan to buy this (price permitting) because it is one of my all-time favourite albums by any artist. But ultimately for me it boils down to this:
        Just because something is made available doesn’t necessarily mean I have it (particularly at the moment when funds are getting more and more stretched).

      2. All the singles were reissued as picture discs, having already been reissued in picture sleeves (twice), but unlike Parlophone (ahem!) they didn’t give up part-way through (Bowie). Coloured vinyls exist for all Beatle Apple lps inc. 62-66 & 67-70 and YSS was (obviously) yellow.

  41. I got the impression that Peter Jackson & Weta’s demixing technology used for the Get Back project was developed pretty late in the process, possibly after your interview with Giles Martin. Here is a YouTube link where Peter breaks it down in a promo video for Disney: https://youtu.be/qQFPnA8OgLo?t=76 It’s quiet, drums are silent while the vocals are clear. The guitars don’t bleed through when the drums play. For a single track of the 4 track of Taxman where the band recorded bass, guitar and drums (was it on 1″ high quality tape?), this demixing technology should perform really well. I’ve seen some recent interviews with Peter Jackson, but no one has asked him about whether the Weta demixing tech was used for this project. Would it work the same for Tomorrow Never Knows? I don’t know. That said, I look forward to hearing the Revolver remix.

  42. I look forward to all the great news, bitching, and moaning via this site and the Hoffman forum. Love all the contents; especially the outtakes. See you all on Tuesday Sept. 13th – for the official announcement!

  43. Looks like all the Revolver era tracks from Anthology 2 are on the ‘rumoured’ track list (apart from Eleanor Rigby strings version). I don’t think this has necessarily happened with previous box sets?

      1. The Get Back documentary also willfully sabotaged physical product to promote streaming. I always assumed that this was Disney’s doing … (and unfortunately they succeeded.) I hope Apple is nog going to go down the same path.

  45. Very excited…..
    But, I wish they would put a bit more thought into the graphics on screen when you play the Blu ray other than it being a screen saver. Why not put a different picture (loads of amazing pictures from the recording sessions) for each song or at least put the song lyrics. The solo John and George releases are just as bad for this but I did start to hyperventilate from excitement when I realised that whilst listening to the Blu-ray of All things must pass that the falling leaves on the screen gradually changed colour! It was all too much and I had to lie down to recover.

  46. This release must be legit as I happened upon it last Thursday or Friday. Ironically it was after I said to my wife that there would be no more Beatle related releases this year. Imagine my shock and joy than not ten seconds later when I happened upon this:
    thebeatlesrevolver.com
    And it says it’s coming Winter 2022.

  48. Was not really expecting something like this but I am so looking forwards to it. One of my favourite Beatles albums and in this digital age I have always included on my playlist for this album Rain and Paperback Writer, had these been on the original album it would have been huge.

  51. Funny how Klaus Voormann’s LP cover is both iconic/splendid and, at the same times, lets the music down. It is my belief/idee fixe that if this album had had a more colourful and slightly psychedelic cover, it would have done the music more justice, would have make it seem more ‘of its time’ or ‘hip, and would have had the album vy for the attention that is now almost solely bestowed upon Sgt. Pepper‘s: Almost all of the innovations that Pepper is so much praised for already appeared in one form or another on Revolver. Just a thought I can’t get out of me head :)

    1. The Beatles had a tendency to react to themselves. The colourful ‘Pepper’ sleeve was a deliberate contrast to the monochrome ‘Revolver’, itself a reaction to the soft autumnal shades of ‘Rubber Soul’. Had they gone for full colour on ‘Revolver’, what would the ‘reaction’ have been when they came to sleeve Pepper? Remember that the reaction to ‘Pepper’ was a completely blank, white space…a butterfly flaps its wings etc.

      1. You could say that Magical Mystery Tour was the follow-up to Pepper, and that happily continued the colour scheme. Furthermore, I think the white cover and the title-less LP also did that album a huge disservice. Striking … but its effect quickly runs out, leaving you with … nothing as a visual image. But I agree, these what-ifs have little value … Just some thoughts on a Tuesday afternoon :)

    2. I respectfully disagree, I think you could make the case that like With The Beatles, the monochrome made it stand out more alongside other album covers of that time.

      And as it turns out, Revolver is a bit less of a zeitgeist album than Pepper, it accidentally suits it to have a less time-specific design.

      1. That’s the weird thing: it is a wonderful album cover! I think it’s one of their best! But I wonder what had happened if Revolver had been presented as, like you say spot on, a ‘Zeitgeist’ album? Wouldn’t people have recognized it more easily as the groundbreaking album it really was?

        1. I can only speak for myself; Revolver was the first Beatles disc I ever owned, purchased in 1991. (Grew up hearing the Beatles solo output in the 1980s). By 1990 or so I was researching their career, reading books. Several pointed to Revolver as unique in their catalog, a bridge between the rock band they were pre-1966, and the musical auters they had quickly become. That’s why I made it my first purchase. None of my musician friends really knew the Beatles, but many borrowed my Revolver CD, and it converted many to our ‘faith’.

          Which is a long way of saying I doubt a change to its cover would have helped me, hindered me, or changed my view of the record – because it was the music that ultimately mattered.

          I do agree with you that Revolver’s cover is not a real representation of the music, at least in the same vein as Sgt. Pepper’s cover. And that’s true for several of their LPs – the White album, Help, etc. Still, a great cover it is.

          1. Since I seem to let my ‘what-if’ persona free reins: I think a Klaus Voormann-like cover, updated for its time, would have fitted the White Album brilliantly! The same colourless starkness, but with a lote more content and style. I didn’t happen of course. So no use. But I’m just daydreaming aloud

  54. Cannot wait for this – my finger is readied for pressing on Buy Now when things go live. Hope there’s an all vinyl version of the super deluxe (as Let It Be was) which would then possibly make more sense with the EP.

  55. Some insiders have stated that there is no bluray included in the set. I don’t believe that they’d take such a backward step personally. The 4 track EP will be a standard inclusion from now on it seems but nobody wants them.

    I also hate the big book being included in the vinyl and CD sets because I’ll get both and adds to the cost.

    You really can’t tell but I’m looking forward to this :-)

  56. I can see Yellow Submarine and Magical Mystery Tour working (particularly with the extra MMT tracks ). Possibly as one set?
    Also you might be able to do it with Rubber Soul.

    After that though the first few albums don’t appear to be recorded in a sophisticated enough manner for the SDE to work well. Help! might just about be. I suppose you could remaster the Anthology Albums.

    1. I came here to make this very point. Resources are getting scarcer and whilst I am still for physical releases, filling a CD with just a few minutes of music is not good. Particularly when there are other discs that are barely half full also included. This of course has two issues.
      a) The trend towards tailoring an SDE CD set towards the full vinyl release so releasing 4 short CDs so that you can claim parity with the 4 x Vinyl Set.
      b) Maintaining album integrity within a box set. Look at the 8CD set from Blondie, where each album has tracks appended.

      Tough one and I don’t know the answer.

      1. The labels would put 5 minutes on each disc and make a 200 disc set if they could get away with it. A few artists like to give value for what they are selling. But a lot like the cash grab better. I have long been an advocate for filling up discs to at least 77 minutes when 79:57 is not possible lol. I’d love an artist’s entire catalog on a huge set without continuity with the albums, just put everything in chronological order. With Prince it might get awkward with an album like Lovesexy, where the songs blend in to one another. Or at least keep the albums on one disc with bonus tracks tagged on to fill them up.

        1. CDs are cheap, I don’t care that much about them being stuffed to the brim. It’s more useful (IMO) to use them as an organization tool. Put the original album on one disc, bonus tracks on other discs. But I’m also alright with putting a double LP on a single CD, assuming it fits without editing.
          But a 4-track CD in a box set just to match an EP in the corresponding LP box is pushing my limits. Especially when there are other “bonus” discs with available room.
          And not putting *all* the content on the Blu-Ray is practically criminal. Kudos to Yoko Ono, or whoever is responsible for organizing the John Lennon Imagine & Plastic Ono Band boxes.

      2. Great points Chris! Here are my thoughts:
        a) Mirroring the number of tracks for a CD release because of vinyl (time/duration) limitations makes zero sense to me. We can argue all day about the benefits of one format or the other but the facts are that compact disc media wins over vinyl in this category – should be exploited and used to it’s maximum potential whenever possible. This should extend to CD specific releases as well- if a doulble album fits on a single CD…release it as a single CD.
        b) Maintaining album integrity – not really a deal breaker for me as long as the general spirit of the original album track running order is in place. Tacking on bonus songs, demos, remixes, etc. at the end of the album proper is fine by me. I think Blondie’s approach was very consumer centric as folks not wanting to purchase the big box didn’t need to with the 3 CD release and fans interested in all the available tracks got them as nice add ons for the specific album they were associated with. When I put music on my server that’s ripped from CD, I always include the period correct bonus songs/remixes/etc. so that’s my point of view on things.

      3. I think a bigger environmental issue for music is the amount of resources being used to press vinyl and especially poorly selling albums, or albums with no remastering that have been previously released on vinyl. Or my pet peeve of combining vinyl with CDs in boxed sets which some people buy but won’t use the analogue or digital portions. I used to buy CDs of everything (if available), but as I approach 60, I can’t justify more shelving for CDs, burdening my kids with more stuff to deal with when I am gone, and the monetary and environmental cost of production and shipping, when I can get a CD-quality download for less. I do except some of my favorite artists and boxed sets or releases with unique content but my regular CD spending has been reduced substantially.

        What I’d really like to see is all albums released in 96/24 as a download and/or DVD/BD.

        1. Hey Derek, I get the monetary bit, I get the pfaff for our loved ones bit, space at home, production and shipping and so on and agree with it all, but I would love to hear from someone who knows what they are talking about, as I don’t, regarding the environmental impact of streaming vs. physical. I’ve read bits that seem to argue that streaming, with it’s dependance on servers etc. having quite the environmental impact re: heating and CO2.

          I guess creating 5,000 vinyl albums, paper, shipping etc has an impact. But so does 988,154 Billion streams, which is just the US number in 2021, so add the rest of the world to that and it is monstrous. As I say, I don’t know the answer but streams are not innocent in all of this. Best of the bad alternatives?

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