Release Round-Up: Week of January 21
The Beatles, The U.S. Albums (Apple/Capitol/UMe)
The centerpiece product of The Fab Four’s 50th anniversary celebration (thus far, anyway) is a 13-disc box featuring the original, unique American releases on Capitol/United Artists from 1964 to 1970 (including six titles from that first year alone). All but the spoken-word documentary album The Beatles’ Story will be available individually, and all but that and 1970’s stereo-only Hey Jude compilation will be available in mono and stereo on the same disc.
The U.S. Albums: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Meet The Beatles!: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Beatles’ Second Album: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
A Hard Day’s Night: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Something New: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Beatles ’65: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
The Early Beatles: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Beatles VI: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Help! Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Rubber Soul: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Yesterday and Today: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Revolver: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Hey Jude: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Del Amitri, Waking Hours / Change Everything / Twisted: Deluxe Editions (Mercury/UMC)
Best known in the U.S. for peppy rock radio hit “Roll to Me,” the recently-reunited Glasgow rockers’ first three alternative-friendly albums for A&M are being expanded as double-disc sets with heaps of non-LP B-sides.
Waking Hours: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Change Everything: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Twisted: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Mike + The Mechanics, The Singles 1985-2014 / The Living Years: Deluxe Edition (UMC)
To time with Mike Rutherford’s new memoir, the Genesis guitarist/bassist’s famed side-project (with vocals from Paul Carrack and Sad Café’s Paul Young) is first anthologized with a career-spanning double-disc hits and rarities set, and then an expansion of 1988’s The Living Years (whose title track was the band’s biggest worldwide hit), featuring a new version of the track with vocalist Andrew Roachford and a disc’s worth of live recordings from 1989.
The Singles 1985-2014: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
The Living Years: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Paul McCartney, Off the Ground (MPL/Hear Music)
Sir Paul’s 1993 album gets a no-frills new remaster. (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)
Charo and The Salsoul Orchestra, Cuchi-Cuchi: Expanded Edition / Loleatta Holloway, Queen of the Night: Expanded Edition (Big Break)
Two more expanded albums from the Salsoul label on BBR – one from label queen Loleatta Holloway and the debut album from the famed singer-comedienne.
Charo: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Loleatta Holloway: Amazon U.K. / Amazon U.S.
Major Harris, How Do You Take Your Love / Margie Joseph. Knockout: Expanded Edition (Funky Town Grooves)
FTG puts the first and only RCA album by ex-Delfonic/”Love Won’t Let Me Wait” singer Major Harris on CD for the first time, while expanding a 1983 album by Harris’ onetime labelmate Margie Joseph.
Major Harris: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Margie Joseph: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Various Artists, Playlist: The Very Best Of (Legacy)
The latest wave in Legacy’s low-price hits series includes some converted greatest hits titles (Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits, Journey’s Greatest Hits Live, Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan) but also some new titles – chiefly some newly-curated compilations from Dean Martin, Ronnie Spector, Jermaine Jackson and Ray Parker, Jr. (All Amazon U.S. and U.K. links can be found in the link above!)
The Second Disc 
The new Beatles U.S. Albums box set is absolutely stunning to look at and it sounds great but the original U.S. mixes are all but gone. There are a few minor things still intact like the false start on “I’m Looking Through You”, the mono and stereo mixes of the long version of I’ll Cry Instead, and the version of “I’m Only Sleeping” seems to be the original version found on “Yesterday…And Today”. “I Feel Fine” and “She’s A Woman” no longer have the bathroom echo but just very slight echo added. You hardly notice it at all. I give this box set five stars because of the packaging. Each cd has an exact reproduction of the original album cover including the different colored Capitol Records inner sleeves which show other albums available from the label back in the day. Both “The Beatles Story” and “Help!” feature gatefold covers like the originals. “Yesterday…And Today” has the original Butcher cover and it also comes with a vinyl sticker featuring the trunk cover. Luckily it’s not stuck over the Butcher so no peeling required! All of the cd’s are on the classic rainbow Capitol label with the oval Capitol logo at the top instead of left center like the cd’s in the two previous U.S. Albums sets. The label on the “A Hard Day’s Night” soundtrack is the black United Artists label as found on the original vinyl album and “Hey Jude” has the green Apple label. All of the covers are much nicer than the ones in the previous box sets and feature the titles printed on spines and are constructed like the original covers except for the pasteover part which is on the back instead of the front. Quality-wise this box set leaves the two from 2009 in the dust. The booklet is very well done too. It’s too bad they didn’t include “Magical Mystery Tour” even though it’s in both of the 2009 sets. It was originally an exclusive U.S release and it wasn’t issued in album form in the UK until the 70’s. I would be disappointed in this set if it weren’t for the fact that I have all of the original U.S. mixes on cd which were done by Dr. Ebbetts. He remastered each stereo and mono album from pristine original vinyl. Because of this I can
live with the changes done to the mixes. The set is the same size as the 2009 mono box but it’s slightly deeper. If you live and breathe the Beatles like I do you’ll want this box set in your collection. Hard to believe it’s been 50 years. If you lived through it all this is a nice souvenir.
Ernie
January 21, 2014 at 22:13
I would still consider the British gatefold EP of Magical Mystery Tour to be an album, though a 7 inch album. The greatest mistake that the US version of MMT made was not blowing up the 7 inch UK cover to a full 12 inches (instead they put the border around the 7 inch image). If Capitol had done a full 12 inch blow-up of the original EP cover, it would definitely have been considered one of the all-time classic LP covers. Instead it is a ho-hum cover design, largely ignored in classic album cover reviews
Kevin
January 22, 2014 at 08:59
Hey Kevin,
There are two great Magical Mystery Tour fantasy covers available, one of which is exactly as you describe!
These covers are beautiful quality although it just the cover. Check them out at this link.
http://www.thebeatlesbutchershop.com/MAGICAL-MYSTERY-TOUR.html
Ernie
January 22, 2014 at 09:35