Customer Reviews

Ep Collection

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The box set Beatles EP collection has a lot going for it. Besides being an almost comprehensive selection of their catalogue, it includes mono versions of some songs that are not widely available (on CD anyway).

The real gem here is the packaging, which faithfully reproduces all of the Beatles EP artwork and culminates in the full reproduction of the Magical Mystery Tour double 45 booklet.

The Magical Mystery Tour CD's are notable for having BOTH mono and stereo mixes of the songs on

that EP.

A great collection for any Beatles fan. The songs are among the best ever in rock/popular music and never sound out of date.

The EP box set was the most recent collection issued by EMI, in the early 90s, and has the most up-to-date remastering. The CD catalog of 1987 sounds nothing like this, and even the CD Singles box set, which thankfully has the mono singles, but is still not as clear sounding as this EP box. Please Please Me is the litmus test: listen to the Singles box set version, and the actual Please Please Me CD, and then put this on from the EP box set...WOW. It's like a new world. This is by far the cleanest, clearest, most dynamic mastering of ANY of this material. From Me To You, She Loves You, Hold Your Hand, Slow Down, Can't Buy Me Love, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, all of these songs are in their best sonic incarnation on this box set. The EP box was indeed a well-kept secret. Basically, if you want to hear any Beatles song that was issued on EP, you need this. The sound quality is far superior over anything else currently available, and all of the songs here are in their glorious mono mixes, apart from the stereo/mono Magical Mystery Tour EP. And regarding the stereo Mystery Tour, it is NOT redundant to have it issued again in this box set, because as I've said, it has benefited enormously from more recent remastering, so the stereo versions of songs like Walrus, Fool on the Hill, and so on, sound better here than on the stereo CD from 1987. Contrary to the previous review, we HAVE been done a favor by having both versions of Magical Mystery Tour included here. It keeps the EP box set authentic, as MMT was originally issued in both formats, and once again, the stereo version sounds better here than anywhere else. If you're looking for the best sound, this EP box is a must.

This is a collection of the original British EPs with bonus material of questionable worth. We get one CD for each EP (for the most part, four songs per disc) in individual sleeves donning the original cover art. Thankfully, the two MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR discs--one mono, one stereo--each contain all six songs from the film (originally, the six songs where spread between two EPs in one package).

With this boxed set, we get more than our fair share of redundancy. 31 of these songs are the same mono versions that can be found on the group's first four albums--which have been available on CD since the late 80s--and the same mono versions of "From Me To You," "Thank You Girl," and "She Loves You" can be found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE. Many of these 34 songs--again, the same mono versions--can also be found on the other compilations as well as THE BEATLES CD SINGLES COLLECTION boxed set, which gives us the rare, but exquisite mono versions of "I Want To Hold Your Hand," "I Feel Fine," "Day Tripper," "Paperback Writer," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am The Walrus," and others.

Bootlegs aside, the mono CD versions available only in this boxed set are those of: "Long Tall Sally," "I Call Your Name," "Slow Down," "Matchbox," "Yesterday," "Act Naturally," "You Like Me Too Much," "It's Only Love," "Nowhere Man," "Drive My Car," "Michelle," "You Won't See Me," and five of the six songs from MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR ("Walrus" comes with the SINGLES COLLECTION mentioned above).

A major reason why I jumped to buy this release was to get my hands on the mono version of "Slow Down." The stereo mix is a mutilation, severely sapping this white-hot performance of its delirious intensity and power. Indeed, the stereo presents a masterpiece that has been hacked to pieces--the balance of the vocals, rhythm section, and guitar solo detrimentally altered. Here the mono presents a perfect sonic picture, a band in one of the hottest rock 'n' roll performances ever. The stereo mixes of "Long Tall Sally," "I Call Your Name," and "Matchbox" also reveal gross deficiencies when compared with their mono counterparts. (These four songs share one EP; the stereo versions are found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE.)

"Yesterday" was not released as a British single but was released as a single in the U.S. (with "Act Naturally" as the B-side) in September 1965. It was a huge hit in America, holding the number one position for four weeks. Strangely, the British YESTERDAY EP was not released until March 1966--all four of the tunes coming from the previous year's HELP! album. The stereo version of "Yesterday" has the guitar to the far right and has the string section (somewhat buried) to the far left, both unnaturally disconnected from the vocals. The mono immediately sounds much more realistic, having presence and full, rich sound. And the strings have bloom instead of sounding like they've been squashed into a corner. "Act Naturally," "You Like Me Too Much," and "It's Only Love" also sound much better in mono, more nourished and focused (as if the band were right in front of us). The stereo versions suffer from the typical treatment: drums and the rest of the rhythm section hard left, one or two guitar parts and occasional percussion hard right, and vocals in the middle, sounding detached.

"Nowhere Man" was also issued as a single in the States but not in Britain. And it too was issued on a British EP with three other songs from an album (RUBBER SOUL) that had been released months prior. The stereo mixes of both "Nowhere Man" and "Drive My Car" shove most of the rhythm section far left and the vocals far right. This peculiar split gives us a lopsided, artificial sound, with the vocals undesirably sounding as if they have been pasted into the sonic picture. The same is largely true regarding "You Won't See Me"--except for Paul's bass, which sounds as though it's coming from a backroom way off somewhere. The stereo "Michelle" places Paul's vocal to the right and the harmonies to the left. The abnormal separation does not add to the song's intimacy but in fact destroys it. This mono EP restores the realism and impact to these phenomenal tunes.

In this set we get both the mono and stereo versions of MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. Although the mono is welcome, the stereo versions of these songs have been available on CD since the late 80s. (Advertising makes it sound as though we have been granted a favor by the inclusion of both the mono and stereo.)

And then there is the EP that was issued well after the 13 British originals. It was formerly included as a bonus with an earlier incarnation of a Beatles EP collection issued as a boxed set in the early 80s. The information listed on the back of the CD sleeve is now outdated and, of course, erroneous. The stereo version of "The Inner Light" (the notes making it out to be a rarity) has been available on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO since the late 80s, and the stereo version of "Baby You're A Rich Man" has been on the CD version of the MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR album for as long. The differences between this stereo "She's A Woman" and the well-known stereo version are miniscule. Finally, this stereo version of "This Boy" is included on PAST MASTERS VOLUME ONE.

Do I recommend this release? Yes, but only to people like me who are willing to pay quite a lot for the mono versions of a few Beatles tunes that are unavailable elsewhere.

This is a beautifully-packaged set with all of the original UK EP covers and liner notes. EP's or extended-plays were quite popular in Britain and in Europe, and some even made the singles charts, even though they had more than 2 songs on them and were more expensive than singles. Although this set duplicates songs from the Beatles' albums and compilations on CD, it's well worth getting for the superior mastering. Most of the songs sound significantly better than their other releases on CD and the others sound at least as good. Also this set has many mono mixes which are different and in most cases better than the stereo mixes. The biggest improvements in my opinion are Twist and Shout, Nowhere Man, I Am The Walrus, Flying (the mono mixes)... actually I could go on and on! The sound is very smooth and natural. You can really hear the bass notes distinctly and follow the bassline on the songs. As well, She's A Woman has a count-in edited out of most other releases.
Expensive, but revelatory, sound-wise.

I just purchased this set and I am very pleased with it, so here are my comments:
I will first comment on the MONO versions, I think the other reviews cover this topic well, I wasn't around during the original releases, so the stereo versions were my first experience with these songs. I played the stereo versions back to back with their mono counterparts, and the mono does sound better, so if you really like the beatles (The answer to that should be YES) then you will definetely enjoy the mono versions of these songs.

This set is also appealing because it features all the original artwork for each EP, it makes for a great display, and provides a great nostalgic feel to the set.

How the Set is packaged: All the CD's come in the cardboard sleeve (with original art) and are in a compact box the size off all the discs stacked on each other. In other words, it's the exact same size as all the discs put on top of each other with no room left over. It opens from the top, kind of like a fold-out hinge. It is made of quality cardboard, I say quality because its a very sturdy box. The title "The Beatles Compact Disc EP Collection" is written in gold neatly across the front. I go into so much detail because the pictures do not do it justice. The original artwork was a major factor in my decision to buy this set, and I was not disappointed.

If any of you potential buyers are wondering whether or not this is a truly complete set, I can assure you it is. I checked around online to find a complete list and they all seem to agree that this is complete. The Beatles released 14 EP's (Remember that Magical Mystery Tour is 2 Discs making the total 15 discs to this set)

This is an official release from Parlophone, it was the counterpart to the CD Singles Collection, and comes in the same packaging (except one is labeled EP, the other Singles) I have purchased the Singles Collection as well and I am definetely pleased with both the sets. For those of you wondering what I am talking about with the Singles set, Amazon does sell and you shouldn't have any problem finding it.

So You want a complete beatles CD collection? Here's a list for all you Beatle Nuts (Like myself!): (This is not included in the EP Boxset!!!)
1. Please Please Me
2. With the Beatles
3. A Hard Day's Night
4. Beatles for Sale
5. Help!
6. Rubber Soul
7. Revolver
8. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
9. The Beatles (White Album)
10. Yellow Submarine
11. Abbey Road
12. Let it Be
13. Magical Mystery Tour
14. Past Masters Vol. 1
15. Past Masters Vol. 2
16. Live at the BBC
17. Baby it's You [Single for Live at the BBC]
18. Anthology 1
19. Free as a Bird [Single for Anthology 1]
20. Anthology 2
21. Real Love [Single for Anthology 2]
22. Anthology 3
23. Yellow Submarine (Songtrack)
24. The Beatles 1
25. Let it be...Naked
26. LOVE
27. Capitol Albums Vol. 1
28. Capitol Albums Vol. 2
29. EP Boxset
30. Singles Collection

You can also include the sets 1962-1966 and 1967-1970, but I am not to fond of them personally.
I also did not include their early career with Tony Sheriden, thats a whole other story, and I did not include bootlegs, my thinking is, if the Beatles want me to hear it, they will release it legitimately; so until then, I ignore them.

If you search through Amazon and elsewhere, you will come up with a whole bunch of stuff, but these are all the official releases, and include all their songs so you can't do better than that. (I am still referring to the above list of CD's, not the Boxset)

There you have it, my ratonale for buying this set. It helped complete my collection and is an excellent set.

This is a beautifully-packaged set with all of the original UK EP covers and liner notes. EP's or extended-plays were quite popular in Britain and in Europe, and some even made the singles charts, even though they had more than 2 songs on them and were more expensive than singles. Although this set duplicates songs from the Beatles' albums and compilations on CD, it's well worth getting for the superior mastering. Most of the songs sound significantly better than their other releases on CD and the others sound at least as good. Also this set has many mono mixes which are different and in most cases better than the stereo mixes. The biggest improvements in my opinion are Twist and Shout, Nowhere Man, I Am The Walrus, Flying (the mono mixes)... actually I could go on and on! The sound is very smooth and natural. You can really hear the bass notes distinctly and follow the bassline on the songs. As well, She's A Woman has a count-in edited out of most other releases.
Expensive, but revelatory, sound-wise.

i just bought one from -importcds via amazon marketplace. but i found out that its poor printing quality for every single cover/sleeve. also, it's not the original uk box set which is made in uk by EMI, rather the CDs made in italy by imsgroup.it. i think, that might be the counterfeit. i wrote them immediately and got a response of saying that "you are welcome to return an unopened item for refund". then i wrote them back two times to let them know that it's opened now and still want to return and get refund. but there is no more response. i think it will be really unfair if they don't accept a return of such kind of product sold by their company even it's opened now. i am still waiting. i don't know if this situation happened to any of you guys here who bought this item via amazon or its marketplace, or this info will be helpful to others who want to buy this item soon.

I've listened to the new remastered Mono Box Set, that was new in 2009. It doesn't even compare to the EP Box set.
Listen to the difference in the sound of the Bass. how much clearer the drums and acoustic guitars are. Too bad the
remastering engineers didn't A-B their work to this. How's that Roosy? Hope that was helpful.

I bought this ep box set for my collection. When I started listening to it, I was amazed with how good this collection sounds. The music was clear and crisp. Bass presence is evident. Overall, the mono remasters in this collection sound better than the originally released beatles cds in 1987-88 in mono.

The sound was much better, brighter and leaped out of the speakers, more than I expected and the printing reproduction on each CD cardboard cover was spot on with great attention to detail. I was however surprised that the cardboard opening was at the top of each CD cardboard container rather than the side as per the original 7 inch record, a nice touch also would have been a plastic cover for each CD.