The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 (Longbox) [BOX SET] [LIMITED EDITION] [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

The Beatles

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 11, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 11, 2006
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000EQHXQY
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (120 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8,026 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #97 in

  Music > Classic Rock > British Invasion

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Unless your name is Ryan Adams, you're probably not in the habit of releasing four albums in four years, let alone the same number in one. But that's exactly what the Beatles did in 1965, thanks to Capitol Records' practice of mixing and matching tracks from their U.K. releases to create new, shorter records for the American market. Because standard-issue Beatles discs follow the British discography, The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2 marks the first CD appearance of The Early Beatles (March), Beatles VI (June), the Help! soundtrack (August), and the U.S. version of Rubber Soul (December), which are presented in both mono and stereo. And since the Brits' Please Please Me and Beatles for Sale are available only in mono, that means a lot of tracks are making their stereo CD debut here, including "Please Please Me," "Twist and Shout," "Kansas City/Hey Hey Hey Hey," "What You're Doing," and "Every Little Thing." This is also the first CD appearance of Ken Thorne's incidental music from Help! (James Bond intro, anyone?), as well as of the original wide-separation stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul (not the 1987 George Martin digital remixes that appear on the British discs). All told, a full 82 of this set's 92 tracks have never before been available on CD. It's not quite the sonic revelation that was Vol. 1 (that box contained 32 stereo CD debuts, this one only 14), but it's a great listen nevertheless. Also included is a colorful, 60-page booklet featuring rare photos and liner notes by Beatles historian Bruce Spizer. --Benjamin Lukoff

More from the Beatles

The Beatles (The White Album)	Revolver	Abbey Road
The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1	The Beatles 1	Let It Be... Naked

Product Description
THE BEATLES "THE CAPITOL ALBUMS VOL. 2" includes the four albums released by Capitol Records in 1965: The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) & the American version of Rubber Soul. All tracks have been digitally remastered and are presented in both Stereo and Mono. Many tracks appear in stereo for the very first time on CD. Special packaging includes original album cover artwork and a 60-page collector’s booklet with rare photos.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

120 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Every Little Thing, April 11, 2006

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

The good news is that for American Beatles fans we get the albums the way they were originally released in the U.S. The sound is extremely good considering the age of these mastertapes. The gems here are "The Early Beatles", "Beatles VI" and"Rubber Soul". "Rubber Soul" was altered as well but Capitol curiously chose to remove 4 songs and replace two of these with acoustic tracks from "Help!" creating a much more folk-rock sounding album when compared to their British masterpiece. Each one has its merits incidently this one does have the false intro for "I'm Looking Through You" that was on the original stereo issue. The first pressing doesn't feature the original mono mixes (nor does "Beatles VI" although "The Early Beatles" and "Help!" do) but the stereo master remixed for mono. Capitol has already corrected the problem and is setting up an exchange program. Keep your receipt though.

"Beatles VI" actually came out before "Rubber Soul" but featured tracks from "Help!", the earlier "Beatles For Sale" and single tracks such as the gorgeous B-Side "Yes It Is". The stereo tracks sound extremely good and there's not as much as the annoying echo that Dave Dexter poured on some of the tracks from their first couple of albums.

"Help!" has some terrific songs on it but the American release was always weaker than the British although I have always liked the James Bondish intro to the title song that wasn't ever on the original British release. For those purists that want Ken Thorne's score it makes its CD debut here alternating with the album tracks as on the original album release. Unfortunately Capitol elected (according to Bruce Spizer)not to recreate the gatefold jacket due to time constraints--that's too bad as it was a nice feature of the original packaging.

"The Early Beatles" features the oldest songs from their catalog--it's actually a reduced version of their first album "Please Please Me". The stereo tracks (a lot of which are true stereo and not the duophohic ones that appeared on their earlier albums)sound great. I was surprised at how crystal clear "Love Me Do" in this stereo remix.

The box the set comes in isn't all that great. The long box features a box that folds over to house the CD cardboard holders. Two complaints here 1) The packaging still looks cheap even though it's been improved and 2) the cardboard holders should have had plastic sleeves to hold the CDs in so they don't get scratched up. The reproduction of the album graphics are closer to the original ones although, again, they've been modified for the CDs. The pictures are much cleaner and clearer looking. A couple of options here contact Capitol (I called their 800 # listed here and got a recoridng asking for name, address, etc.)or just wait a couple of weeks until the replacements hit town. Then again if enough people mail back their previous editions of RS and BVI this might actually become a collectible. It's a tough call.

The booklet is great with rare (and not so rare) photos quotes from the band and a brief essay by Bruce Spizer who has written a number of books on the band's U.S. releases. Again I would have liked to see sturdier packaging but this does improve slightly on the previous packaging. Evidently the first set didn't set the world on fire like Capitol had hoped selling only a million units so I was surprised to see Capitol move forward with this release. Hopefully they'll release the last set and include "Revolver", "Yesterday and Today", "Hey Jude" (aka "The Beatles Again"). I'm also hoping that they will finally release the mono version of "Sgt. Pepper" and "Magical Mystery Tour" as part of the same package.

Capitol has not issued a recall but, instead, has offered to replace the two discs with the incorrect masters used. Hopefully they'll be more careful with Volume 3. The new discs with the correct mixes has a sticker on it with SK1 in tiny print on the cover of the CD box just below the information on the release.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Received correct version., June 1, 2006

By	M.P. (Chicago) - See all my reviews

I ordered this from amazon on May 30th and received it today and it is the corrected version. To anyone who gets theirs and wants to know an easy way to tell which version they have, the fixed version has a small SK1 on the yellow sticker on the outside wrapper of the package. If you threw the wrapper out, pop in Rubber Soul and listen to track 9 (I'm Looking Through You-Stereo). Notice the false start? Now listen to track 21 (I'm Looking Through You-Mono). If this track also has the false start, you have the error copy. I know this info is out on the web, but it took me a while to track it down, so I hope this saves some time.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to exchange your wrong copy, or find the right in the stores, read below!, April 12, 2006

By	Jeff B - See all my reviews

I just got off the phone with the vice president of sales for Capitol Records, and he said to call the 800-468-2362 number to exchange your set for the correct one. He told me that they will send you a prepaid envelope to put your set in, and then they will send you a new one. Amazingly, he said that the Capitol people AND the Apple people didn't notice the mistake, and it took some techincal people to realize what had happened!

And if you want to find the CORRECT version in the store, here's how- there won't be any sticker saying which on is which, but if you look on the regular sticker that is on it, look AFTER the catolog # and look for 'SK1'. THAT is the correct version!!!! Will probably be a few weeks before they make their way into most stores, but if you want to keep the screwed up one, go for it and then get the correct one.

He also told me that within the next year they plan on releasing 'The Travleing Wilburys' albums- FINALLY! V.3 of The Wilburys also is supposed to have a DVD with it too. AND (like Mazzy was saying) within the next year they also plan on reissuing the complete Beatles catalog in newly remastered discs with 5.1 stereo. He also says that new pics and other info for many of the albums has been discovered and will be included with the new reissues, especially since next year is the 40th anniversary of 'Sgt Peppers'. So it looks like there will be a LOT to look forward to from Capitol.

As far as a Volume 3, he says it's up to the Apple people to decide when it will be done. I asked about the deal with 'A Hard Day's Night' since it was released through United Artists and he said he didn't know whether it would be part of any of the sets or not. There's been some sort of legal battle over it and other material (like some of the video footage from 'Let It Be) in Denmark. So we'll have to wait and see (and I bet they'll be a LOT more careful on future ones!!)