[.ca] The Beatles: The Capitol Albums, Vol. 1 (Box Set)

From Amazon.com:
When the Beatles catalog was first issued on CD in the '80s, an attempt was made to standardize the releases (which often varied wildly in content internationally) by using their original British format. But this confounded many Fabs fans in the U.S. who now found CDs with track listings that often differed dramatically from their original American LPs. More maddening, the initial four releases were only available in not-so-glorious mono mixes. This four-CD collection of the band's 1964 American album releases finally addresses those concerns, and then some. Meet the Beatles, The Beatles Second Album, Something New, and Beatles '65 have been digitally prepared from Capitol's vintage album masters and presented in both the original stereo and mono mixes released back in '64. This set gives younger fans a chance to finally hear the band's epochal early music in stereo--and should please an older generation by returning massive hit singles like "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "She Loves You," "She's a Woman," and "I Feel Fine" to their original American album contexts. The booklet contains a wealth of rare photos and concise notes by noted Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn. --Jerry McCulley

When will they learn?:
Nice to finally have these songs with decent sound quality. I've skimmed through the albums and I definitely prefer the mono versions. The stereo versions all have tons of reverb and the instruments and vocals are hard panned to the sides. It's like listening from the top seat of an empty basketball arena, with the band on opposite ends of the building. This is not what really bothers me though. The packaging is what really bothers me. They put the discs in cardboard replicas of the the vinyl covers. THESE THINGS SCRATCH CDS!!!!!! My Pearl Jam - Vitalogy, No Code, Tragically Hip - Trouble at the Henhouse, Rurouni Kenshin box sets, all scratched like crazy because of the stupid cardboard cases. Now I buy slim cases and leave them in those instead. A couple of these discs even got scuffed when I took them out to put them in the slim cases. Please, I'm begging you, no more cardboard cases!

Great Music:
I love these CD's. As a youngster I bought the albums and wore them out, then I bought the re-issues and wore them out. All the music is great. It is nice to hear the stereo versions (although I think the mono is better). I do think the packaging is second rate on this compilation. For the amount of money you pay, you should get something better than flimsy little replicas of the original album covers for the cds. These are stored in a cheap folding holder and then into a cardboard outer sleeve. The enclosed booklet is fine with some great quotes and pictures. If not for the cheapy packaging, this would be a 5 star for sure.

Nostalgia overload:
The greatest attraction of this set, that which creates the biggest emotional response, is the packaging. Each CD comes in it's own little album jacket. Exact. It's like handling miniatures of what you got in 1964 at K-Mart or Kresge's or wherever you bought your Beatles records. The stereo sound is pristine. And the mono mixes are wonderful AM radio renditions.

but not in Canada:
This is set is trading on nostalgia--for Americans. The Beatles had their first release in N. America with the Canadian Beatlemania. For the first few albums the order in which they were released, the contents of the albums, even the titles, varied considerably. So, it is only marginally connected to the past of a Canadian who was a teenager in 1963. By volume 2 things are in synch.

• I Want To Hold Your Hand (Stereo)
• I Saw Her Standing There (Stereo)
• This Boy (Stereo)
• It Won't Be Long (Stereo)
• All I've Got To Do (Stereo)
• All My Loving (Stereo)
• Don't Bother Me (Stereo)
• Little Child (Stereo)
• Till There Was You (Stereo)
• Hold Me Tight (Stereo)
• I Wanna Be Your Man (Stereo)
• Not A Second Time (Stereo)
• I Want To Hold Your Hand (Original Mono)
• I Saw Her Standing There (Original Mono)
• This Boy (Original Mono)
• It Won't Be Long (Original Mono)
• All I've Got To Do (Original Mono)
• All My Loving (Original Mono)
• Don't Bother Me (Original Mono)
• Little Child (Original Mono)
• Till There Was You (Original Mono)
• Hold Me Tight (Original Mono)
• I Wanna Be Your Man (Original Mono)
• Not A Second Time (Original Mono)
• Roll Over Beethoven (Stereo)
• Thank You Girl (Stereo)
• You Really Got a Hold On Me (Stereo)
• Devil In Her Heart (Stereo)
• Money (alt version to UK release)(Stereo)
• You Can't Do That (Stereo)
• Long Tall Sally (Stereo)
• I Call Your Name (Stereo)
• Please Mr. Postman (Stereo)
• I'll Get You (Stereo)
• She Loves You (Stereo)
• Roll Over Beethoven (Original Mono)
• Thank You Girl (Original Mono)
• You Really Got a Hold On Me (Original Mono)
• Devil In Her Heart (Original Mono)
• Money (alt version to UK release) (Original Mono)
• You Can't Do That (Original Mono)
• Long Tall Sally (Original Mono)
• I Call Your Name (Original Mono)
• Please Mr. Postman (Original Mono)
• I'll Get You (Original Mono)
• She Loves You (Original Mono)
• I'll Cry Instead (Stereo)
• Things We Said Today (Stereo)
• Any Time At All (Stereo)
• When I Get Home (Stereo)
• Slow Down (Stereo)
• Matchbox (Stereo)
• Tell Me Why (Stereo)
• And I Love Her (Stereo)
• I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (Stereo)
• If I Fell (Stereo)
• Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand) (Stereo)
• I'll Cry Instead (Original Mono)
• Things We Said Today (Original Mono)
• Any Time At All (Original Mono)
• When I Get Home (Original Mono)
• Slow Down (Original Mono)
• Matchbox (Original Mono)
• Tell Me Why (Original Mono)
• And I Love Her (Original Mono)
• I'm Happy Just To Dance With You (Original Mono)
• If I Fell (Original Mono)
• Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand (I Want To Hold Your Hand) (Original Mono)
• No Reply (Stereo)
• I'm A Loser (Stereo)
• Baby's in Black (Stereo)
• Rock and Roll Music (Stereo)
• I'll Follow The Sun (Stereo)
• Mr. Moonlight (Stereo)
• Honey Don't (Stereo)
• I'll Be Back (Stereo)
• She's A Woman (Stereo)
• I Feel Fine (Stereo)
• Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (Stereo)
• No Reply (Original Mono)
• I'm A Loser (Original Mono)
• Baby's in Black (Original Mono)
• Rock and Roll Music (Original Mono)
• I'll Follow The Sun (Original Mono)
• Mr. Moonlight (Original Mono)
• Honey Don't (Original Mono)
• I'll Be Back (Original Mono)
• She's A Woman (Original Mono)
• I Feel Fine (Original Mono)
• Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (Original Mono)