Meet the Beatles

One of the most puzzling aspects of the Beatles legacy is the lack of product in the past 20 years. It's been 20 years (20 years!!!!) since the Beatles CDs were released on CD, and with the exception of an uninspired Let It Be remaster, Beatles 1, Live at the BBC issue, and the 3 Anthology sets, some expensive boxed set reissues of the american versions and a new soundtrack to Yellow Submarine, I don't think anything else has come out. In that time, I've counted at least 3 versions of Tommy, and 2 or more versions of most Who albums. Rolling Stones CDs have been reissued 2 or three times. Led Zepplin's had 1 upgrade.

Considered the original CDs. The booklets, with the exception of Sgt. Pepper, were horrible. The sound was just okay. Neither benefited from the time and attention that even some one hit wonders from the 80s have received in their reissues.

Why? Surely Apple, Capitol, EMI and everyone involved could get together and create new remasters of these albums. Each could be a two or three CD set, including the original mono masters (which, according to Geoff Emerick, had much more care put into them), the original stereo masters, and the cuts from the US versions. Detailed booklets with recording history of each song could be added as well, with historical essays. Even with slumping CD sales, I would guarantee that these new CDs would be a hit, and wouldn't cost that much to produce.

Of course, every Beatle fan has been waiting for the very same thing for years. One has to wonder why the Fab Two are more willing to approve a Las Vegas show than reissuing their classics in a manner befitting their status.