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5.27pm
31 March 2008
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I posted this on the Beatles Examiner site, but I think it's worth a repost here to get a conversation going.
Apple have confirmed that they're working on remastered vinyl reissues of The Beatles' back catalogue. Now, it's pretty obvious that they need to do something special to make people buy them all over again, particularly since the CD remasteres were touted as the collections to have.
Jeff Jarvis, head of Apple, told Mojo magazine: ""They are incredibly complicated in terms of getting the masters right and getting the packages right. … How do you assemble them? How do you put them in a box? How much do they cost? We want to make sure we're doing it right and that people get real value from it."
So… here's my suggestion. Forget about a box set containing all the albums – they've done that trick with the CDs. Instead, release individual box sets for each album. Give the fans something proper to get excited about.
Think about what Radiohead did with In Rainbows (and others have since, including Macca as the Fireman/Electric Arguments). Release the album on heavyweight vinyl, add a bonus CD of alternative mixes/takes and a code to download digitally.
Here's the killer. Throw in some reproduction memorabilia (Beatles wigs, board game, ticket stubs etc), contemporary news reports, and some proper historical liner notes (the Kevin Howlett ones for the remasters were pretty poor, unless one gets excited reading about 'bouncing down' reduction mixes over and over). A hardback book would be nice too, with the last word on each album. Quality vinyl is a must.
What do people think? Would you buy these? Here in the UK that sort of thing typically sells for around £40-50 – about $90. It would be prohibitively expensive for most people, but I know I'd save up for them. I think they'd actually be quite popular – the mono remasters sold more than I expected, and Apple Corps would be happy at making yet more cash.
1.46am
14 October 2009
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Interesting thoughts Joe.
When I read it my initial thought was that they would have to be mind-blowingly out-of-this-world to convince me to buy. It took a great deal of 'tact and deplomacy' to get my wife to accept I was spending £360 for the recent remasters on CD ("Why do you want to spend that on music you already have…….surely they don't sound any different?" she said!).
The other big point of contention would be the question of how many people now have a turntable to play such things on? I have one but I had to go out and but it several years ago so I could listen to vinyl still and yep, more money was needed to do that.
What else is there to do if you want to generate interest from the masses and not just us hardcore collectors? The Hollywood Bowl concert on CD nicely remastered would be great – in fact we know they have all THREE concerts (one from 1964 and both 1965 shows) so why not a box set of those? We also know for a fact that what they sang and played it was we hear; no studio overdubbing was done, so the world would get to hear The Beatles perform LIVE and appreciate just how good they were…….albeit for 25 minutes each time 
4.10am
13 November 2009
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Ha. I was about to post this article myself (How could it not be news?!), but then I checked the date of the article – yeah. Turns out 'new' is a relative term with Beatles news sites. 
So anyway, my two cents: I enjoy buying records, but they're still a novelty to me. Finding a good copy I don't have is fun, so the idea of paying for the whole set at once kind of kills it. So since it's not my preferred method at the moment, I'll stick with the cds.
Besides, it would only be the British versions. Not that there's a problem with that per se – they're canon and awesome – but I'd like to see the American/international versions too. Some of the covers are really bad, and they mixed up the songs, but it's all a part of Beatle history, right?
Perhaps they could release a coffee table book?
11.38am
31 March 2008
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If it's a coffee table book you're after, this is lovely: http://www.beatlesbible.com/bo…..of-vision/ (though the table in the pics is my dining room one, not a coffee table!)
I was lucky enough to be sent a freebie – before then I was skeptical that it would be worth purchasing, but I was impressed with the care and attention to detail, and the feel of the set. I still wouldn't put my CDs in there though, as it's an impractical way to store them. Anyway, one of the books has front and rear cover reproductions of the US and UK albums, in full size.
Apparently the guy behind it is working on a John Lennon one in time for the October-December celebrations. 
7.35pm
15 February 2010
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I think this is a cool idea, but it'll definitely make it hard to pick up the original vinyl releases at a reasonable price.
9.37pm
6 April 2010
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I like your ideas Joe. I already own most of the Beatles albums on vinyl, but I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. I can't help it!
11.23pm
13 November 2009
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Joe said:
If it's a coffee table book you're after, this is lovely: http://www.beatlesbible.com/bo…..of-vision/ (though the table in the pics is my dining room one, not a coffee table!)
I was lucky enough to be sent a freebie – before then I was skeptical that it would be worth purchasing, but I was impressed with the care and attention to detail, and the feel of the set. I still wouldn't put my CDs in there though, as it's an impractical way to store them. Anyway, one of the books has front and rear cover reproductions of the US and UK albums, in full size.
Apparently the guy behind it is working on a John Lennon one in time for the October-December celebrations.
High attention to detail except for cd storage? I wonder if he'll consider a slimmed down version because the book portion looks great.
So based on this one, do you plan to buy the John Lennon version (and the McCartney, Harrison, and Starkey editions that will no doubt follow)? If they had little legs, you could line them up for a decent length coffee table. 
11.55pm
4 April 2010
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I'm all for it. I mean, records aren't gone yet, right? The soundtrack for an Elvis movie recently was released on vinyl, The video game Bioshock 2's soundtrack was released on a record. No reason to stop the flow.
12.05am
13 November 2009
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I swear, the internet reads my mind sometimes. The Beatles Covered
1.05pm
31 March 2008
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Oh crap. I can feel the credit card twitching again…
7.31pm
6 April 2010
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That's pretty cool. I had no idea the album covers varied so much from country to country. The more you know…
11.47am
10 May 2011
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I bought a Rubber Soul one.
It was a 'faux' gold-vinyl in it.
Costed only 15 bucks.
12.59pm
19 September 2010
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Nothing. I prefer to buy my vinyls used and have buying vinyl as a treat. I doubt Apple will ever due it, but I am, potentially, a lonely voice against.
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