New Beatles catalog hits stores around the world

In a year marked by seemingly thousands of anniversaries and celebrations, the re-release of the Beatles catalog still stands out among the most significant events of 2009.

The songs of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr have never disappeared from the marketplace, but the last set of Beatles reissues in 1987 were largely deemed disappointments. There was too much compression on some tunes, overall poor mastering on others, and even people with meager stereos voiced their disappointment.

That reportedly isn’t a problem with the sets that are being released around the world today. Fans have their choice of 14 stereo masters in a boxed set or a limited edition mono set (11 albums). These will retail around $200 (stereo) and $240 (mono) respectively.

Once again the stereo set involves added compression, but this time the reissue engineers were careful not to pinch off the high end or overly boost the low end. The audiophiles listening to these on top-of-the-line CDs will no doubt still detect some imperfections, but the early word is that these sets are far superior to what came out in the ‘80s.

There are added bonuses to purchasing these as well. They include each release having rare photos, new liner notes and video documentaries. The mono set even includes exact packaging that matches the original art on the old vinyl albums. The stereo set also includes the two-disc collection Past Masters that also contains assorted “B” sides, singles and other novelties.

Every rock magazine in the world is issuing its own reviews of the sets, and if you purchased any of the originals when they first came out, you’ll want to make your own comparisons. If you want a blow by blow account of each stereo release check out this month’s Paste. Entertainment Weekly’s current issue also has the magazine’s picks for the 50 best and five worst Beatles songs of all time.

As someone who loved the early singles as a fan and admires the later albums from an artistic standpoint, my preference will be to grab the mono sets for stylistic accuracy. But not every location will be carrying this limited edition set, and some local retailers have already been taking reservations to prevent people from not finding a copy.

Criticizing individual Beatles’ releases makes little sense, because in my view the entire catalog is outstanding, and it really boils down to personal preference. However, my favorites, in this order, are (1) Rubber Soul, (2) Revolver, (3) Abbey Road, (4) Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, (5) The White Album.

Favorite singles are: (1) “She Loves You,” (2) “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, (3) “I Saw Her Standing There,” (4) “Can’t Buy Me Love,” (5) “A Hard Day’s Night.”

But really, you can’t go wrong with any of them and I will be astonished if these sets aren’t gobbled up before the end of the week at the latest.