Date set for vinyl remasters
The Beatles catalogue remastered on vinyl now has a release date: October 4th 2010. The presentation will be in a 16-LP box, and the albums will also be available individually.
The vinyl pressings will be made on 180 gram vinyl, the covers will stick to the original artwork, and a 100 page hard back book will be included with the boxed sets.
In late 2009, Jeff Jones (CEO of Apple Corps) said that they were working on the vinyl remasters, but that they did not yet have a release date set because they wanted to make sure they got it right rather than rushing out a product to meet a release date. I’m afraid I have no information on issues like mono vs stereo, different dates for different continents or anything, but I’m sure there will be details in a forthcoming official press release.
The CD remasters were released on September 9th 2009, and were available both as a stereo boxed set, individual stereo CD’s and as a mono boxed set. Whereas the mono release stuck to the original cover art, inner sleeves and labels (like miniature LP’s), the stereo CD’s had some makeover regarding additional pictures in the digipack covers and they all had booklets with newly written sleeve notes. It’s likely that the 100 page book included with the remastered vinyl boxed sets will contain the same material, only in a larger format and all together.
The big question: will these be kept analog (analog tapes through analog EQ/compression if needed directly to the lathe to cut the master) or will there be a digital step in-between?
I personally have never understood the appeal of what is basically a CD transferred to vinyl. The beautiful "analog-ness" is ripped out of those kind of vinyl pressings by the digital step.
Analog all the way!
Couldn't agree more Gonzales!
Luckily, it is pretty much inconceivable now that such issues are not part of the 'getting it right' process Jeff Jones of Apple Corps has referred to.
Apple Corps is now served by a widely aware and experienced team across the gamut of multimedia. These people range from Paul's team including Scott Rodger, surely THE most clued up guy in the entire 'new music industry' and his cutting edge expertise sits alongside Jeff Jones' pre-eminence in legacy releases.
I'd even say Neil Young, as a close mate of Paul, has probably had some input even if it's just the high-end watermark he's set with his own reissue/remaster team.
And then there's Abbey Road…
In other words, I have no doubt that these vinyl remasters will set a new standard in themselves for analogue restoration.