Beatles Remasters - November 4! - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

AKA · 04-01-2003, 04:59 AM

Here's the press release:

It Won't Be Long: At Last, Apple Unveils The Remastered Beatles Series

18 Classic Beatles Titles Set for Release

LONDON, March 31, 2003 -- On the heels of the DVD release this week of "The Beatles Anthology, Apple is pleased to make another special announcement: the entirety of The Beatles' original UK catalog has been meticulously restored and will be re-released on a series of dual layer hybrid Super Audio discs this November on the Apple label, via Capitol Records in the U.S. and EMI in Europe. Eighteen albums are part of the most comprehensive single artist re-issue series ever undertaken. Each disc has been encoded with two layers -- one containing a normal CD program, the other Super Audio CD program of the same repertoire. The idea is to provide complete backward and forward compatibility for the consumer, as the albums are playable on both SACD-compatible machines as well as standard CD players. Each dual layer disc was remastered using Sony's Direct Stream Digital process resulting in brilliant fidelity in both standard or SACD formats.

"Over the years, Apple has been flooded with requests to reissue these albums using the latest digital technology," remarked Beatles spokesman Geoff Baker, who noted that the albums were first released in the CD format in 1987. "2003 marks the fortieth anniversary of The Beatles' first album. It seems like the appropriate time to undertake the project." Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick cites DSD mastering which samples the original audio signal 2,822,400 times per second, 64 times faster than standard CD encoding, as one of the main catalysts for the series. "DSD more accurately reflects the sonic quality of analog than any other medium so the depth one hears on these discs in standard or SACD playback is quite amazing."

The restoration process for Apple's Remastered Beatles Series started with hundreds of hours of painstaking research around the globe to determine the analog sources most true to the original Beatles studio recordings.

Final mastering for all albums was completed under the direction of the legendary Bob Ludwig who commented, "While three generations of music fans, myself included, are all quite familiar with the Beatles' material, DSD has afforded us the opportunity to showcase both their brilliance all over again in a meaningful way."

All 18 of the albums in Apple's Remastered Beatles Series, highlighting such classic tracks as "Hey Jude," "Here Comes The Sun," "In My Life," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am The Walrus" and, of course, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," will be released November 4th with Capitol handling distribution in North America. Suggested retail list price is $17.98 for single disc packages.

A complete listing of the album titles in Apple's Remastered Beatles Series follows:
Please Please Me
With The Beatles
A Hard Day's Night
Beatles For Sale
Help!
Rubber Soul
Revolver
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Magical Mystery Tour
The Beatles (The White Album)
Yellow Submarine
Abbey Road
Let It Be
1962-1966
1967-1970
The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl
Past Masters Volume One
Past Masters Volume Two

About The SACDs
Fans of the Beatles and SACDs will be pleased to hear that the release of these SACDs remains on track for a November 4th release date. The very limited initial set of the discs will carry bonus DVDs which include the original promo films and live performances of songs from each album, as well as other "goodies," fully restored and remastered in 5.1 Surround Sound.

The project is said to be "one of the most comprehensive restoration and remastering programs ever undertaken for a major catalog". Each album will be made available as a Stereo Hybrid SACD which includes a Stereo Super Audio CD (SACD) layer as well as a standard CD layer. This will offer the consumer compatibility and playback on any SACD or CD player. With an SACD player, the laser pick-up automatically reads the SACD layer while a (standard) CD player's laser pick-up will automatically read through the SACD layer to the CD layer.

Original art and liner copy have been replicated in digipacks that capture the look of the original LPs. Graphics and texts will be rendered exactly as they first appeared as part of the LP packages "without gratuitous after the fact embellishment", underscoring Apple’s "commitment to authenticity that is the hallmark of The Remastered Beatles Series".

Apple says that "every effort has been made to ensure that each of the 293 tracks presented on the 21 discs covering all 18 titles meet the highest audio standards that exist today making The Remastered Beatles Series the Beatles collection for the ages." The SACDs will sell for a suggested retail list price of $17.98 for the single disc SACDs in the United States market.

New To CD
The Beatles album At The Hollywood Bowl has never been available on CD and Apple is presenting it in The Remastered Beatles Series with a new stereo remix for 2003. Originally released in 1977, this album includes classic selections from the legendary 1964 and 1965 concerts.

Original, First Generation Masters Used Whenever Possible
Apple says that meticulous attention has been paid to ensure that original analog sources for all of these titles are as close to first generation as possible. Research conducted around the world turned up a number of "the best quality two-track masters ever used to produce discs by the Beatles". The result is said to be recordings that when played back in SACD "provide unprecedented brilliance and warmth never before experienced outside of the Beatles' recording sessions". The Stereo CD version of these recordings was created with SACD's Super Bit Mapping Direct process.

The People Behind The Scenes
As the Remastered Beatles series moves to the SACD pressing plant before its release, Apple has also released information on the team behind the album remasters. The people involved in the project are as follows:

Restoration Producers: April F. Ools and Heve Stoffman
Sound Restoration and Archive Coordinator: Anthony Michael Hall
Analog to Digital Transfers and Tape Archive Research: Jim Backus
Mastering: Max I. Miser/Compression Mastering
DSD Engineer: Pete Best
Additional Tape Archive Research: Marco and Jean Polo
Additional Analog To Digital Transfer: Nancy "Lil" Magill and Seymour Skinner
Production Assistants: Prudence Farrow and Biff Henderson

Repackage Art Direction: Michaelangelo Warhol and Klaus Voormann
Repackage Design: Dante Hicks
Art Production Assistants: Adobe J. Photoshop and Folgers Coffee
Conception: I.M. Maculate

laceyinthesky · 04-01-2003, 02:18 PM

Yikes.. I'm gonna be spending a lot of money trying to buy all of those when they're released. Oh well.. it'll be worth it right?

AKA · 04-02-2003, 02:30 AM

Nobody caught that this is an elaborate April Fool's joke. This makes me a saaaaaaaad panda.

laceyinthesky · 04-02-2003, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AKA
Nobody caught that this is an elaborate April Fool's joke. This makes me a saaaaaaaad panda.

ah damn! I feel stupid. I should've read the names at the bottom instead of just skimming over the whole thing. I hate April fool's!

dlemond · 04-02-2003, 01:39 PM

Good to see Dante Hicks getting work outside the Quick Stop.

What about Randal???

Ian · 04-03-2003, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dlemond
What about Randal???

By the time he showed up the remastering was complete.

04-01-2003, 04:59 AM	#1
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	Beatles Remasters - November 4! Here's the press release: It Won't Be Long: At Last, Apple Unveils The Remastered Beatles Series 18 Classic Beatles Titles Set for Release LONDON, March 31, 2003 -- On the heels of the DVD release this week of "The Beatles Anthology, Apple is pleased to make another special announcement: the entirety of The Beatles' original UK catalog has been meticulously restored and will be re-released on a series of dual layer hybrid Super Audio discs this November on the Apple label, via Capitol Records in the U.S. and EMI in Europe. Eighteen albums are part of the most comprehensive single artist re-issue series ever undertaken. Each disc has been encoded with two layers -- one containing a normal CD program, the other Super Audio CD program of the same repertoire. The idea is to provide complete backward and forward compatibility for the consumer, as the albums are playable on both SACD-compatible machines as well as standard CD players. Each dual layer disc was remastered using Sony's Direct Stream Digital process resulting in brilliant fidelity in both standard or SACD formats. "Over the years, Apple has been flooded with requests to reissue these albums using the latest digital technology," remarked Beatles spokesman Geoff Baker, who noted that the albums were first released in the CD format in 1987. "2003 marks the fortieth anniversary of The Beatles' first album. It seems like the appropriate time to undertake the project." Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick cites DSD mastering which samples the original audio signal 2,822,400 times per second, 64 times faster than standard CD encoding, as one of the main catalysts for the series. "DSD more accurately reflects the sonic quality of analog than any other medium so the depth one hears on these discs in standard or SACD playback is quite amazing." The restoration process for Apple's Remastered Beatles Series started with hundreds of hours of painstaking research around the globe to determine the analog sources most true to the original Beatles studio recordings. Final mastering for all albums was completed under the direction of the legendary Bob Ludwig who commented, "While three generations of music fans, myself included, are all quite familiar with the Beatles' material, DSD has afforded us the opportunity to showcase both their brilliance all over again in a meaningful way." All 18 of the albums in Apple's Remastered Beatles Series, highlighting such classic tracks as "Hey Jude," "Here Comes The Sun," "In My Life," "Eleanor Rigby," "I Am The Walrus" and, of course, "I Want To Hold Your Hand," will be released November 4th with Capitol handling distribution in North America. Suggested retail list price is $17.98 for single disc packages. A complete listing of the album titles in Apple's Remastered Beatles Series follows: Please Please Me With The Beatles A Hard Day's Night Beatles For Sale Help! Rubber Soul Revolver Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Magical Mystery Tour The Beatles (The White Album) Yellow Submarine Abbey Road Let It Be 1962-1966 1967-1970 The Beatles At The Hollywood Bowl Past Masters Volume One Past Masters Volume Two About The SACDs Fans of the Beatles and SACDs will be pleased to hear that the release of these SACDs remains on track for a November 4th release date. The very limited initial set of the discs will carry bonus DVDs which include the original promo films and live performances of songs from each album, as well as other "goodies," fully restored and remastered in 5.1 Surround Sound. The project is said to be "one of the most comprehensive restoration and remastering programs ever undertaken for a major catalog". Each album will be made available as a Stereo Hybrid SACD which includes a Stereo Super Audio CD (SACD) layer as well as a standard CD layer. This will offer the consumer compatibility and playback on any SACD or CD player. With an SACD player, the laser pick-up automatically reads the SACD layer while a (standard) CD player's laser pick-up will automatically read through the SACD layer to the CD layer. Original art and liner copy have been replicated in digipacks that capture the look of the original LPs. Graphics and texts will be rendered exactly as they first appeared as part of the LP packages "without gratuitous after the fact embellishment", underscoring Apple’s "commitment to authenticity that is the hallmark of The Remastered Beatles Series". Apple says that "every effort has been made to ensure that each of the 293 tracks presented on the 21 discs covering all 18 titles meet the highest audio standards that exist today making The Remastered Beatles Series the Beatles collection for the ages." The SACDs will sell for a suggested retail list price of $17.98 for the single disc SACDs in the United States market. New To CD The Beatles album At The Hollywood Bowl has never been available on CD and Apple is presenting it in The Remastered Beatles Series with a new stereo remix for 2003. Originally released in 1977, this album includes classic selections from the legendary 1964 and 1965 concerts. Original, First Generation Masters Used Whenever Possible Apple says that meticulous attention has been paid to ensure that original analog sources for all of these titles are as close to first generation as possible. Research conducted around the world turned up a number of "the best quality two-track masters ever used to produce discs by the Beatles". The result is said to be recordings that when played back in SACD "provide unprecedented brilliance and warmth never before experienced outside of the Beatles' recording sessions". The Stereo CD version of these recordings was created with SACD's Super Bit Mapping Direct process. The People Behind The Scenes As the Remastered Beatles series moves to the SACD pressing plant before its release, Apple has also released information on the team behind the album remasters. The people involved in the project are as follows: Restoration Producers: April F. Ools and Heve Stoffman Sound Restoration and Archive Coordinator: Anthony Michael Hall Analog to Digital Transfers and Tape Archive Research: Jim Backus Mastering: Max I. Miser/Compression Mastering DSD Engineer: Pete Best Additional Tape Archive Research: Marco and Jean Polo Additional Analog To Digital Transfer: Nancy "Lil" Magill and Seymour Skinner Production Assistants: Prudence Farrow and Biff Henderson Repackage Art Direction: Michaelangelo Warhol and Klaus Voormann Repackage Design: Dante Hicks Art Production Assistants: Adobe J. Photoshop and Folgers Coffee Conception: I.M. Maculate
	Last edited by AKA; 04-01-2003 at 05:33 AM.

04-01-2003, 02:18 PM	#2
laceyinthesky Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 13, 2002 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,906	Yikes.. I'm gonna be spending a lot of money trying to buy all of those when they're released. Oh well.. it'll be worth it right?

04-02-2003, 02:30 AM	#3
AKA Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 17, 2001 Posts: 15,746	Nobody caught that this is an elaborate April Fool's joke. This makes me a saaaaaaaad panda.

04-02-2003, 01:39 PM	#5
dlemond Hey, I know you. Moderator Forum Veteran Join Date: Dec 03, 2001 Location: New Jersey Posts: 6,751	Good to see Dante Hicks getting work outside the Quick Stop. What about Randal???