It's the same songs with updated sound in the remastered Beatles "1" CD, which hits the streets in the U.S. today (Tuesday). But there are some differences in the little details between the new and the old "1".
The new "1" substitutes the 9/9/09 remastered versions. If you've heard those remasters, you know what you'll hear. The differences vary by track, but in general, the remastered tracks aren't that different from the old "1" versions.
The new version also uses the same mono/stereo tracks from the original. The three songs that were in mono on the old "1" -- "Love Me Do," "From Me To You" and "She Loves You" -- are in mono on the remastered version.
But "From Me To You" is also available in a much better sounding version in stereo on the remastered "Past Masters." EMI apparently chose to stick with mono versions on the songs that were that way on the original. But if the idea was to update "1" with the remastered versions, why wasn't it used? This is a change that should have been made.
Like the rest of the remasters, the new "1" has gone to a digipack with the words "The Beatles" and the Apple logo on the side at the top left of the new disc. It also has a new catalog number -- 5099952932526 instead of 724352932528.
The final page credits have been updated to reflect the sonic upgrade. The original two paragraphs of credits beginning with "These original analouge masters have been digitally remastered ..." have been replaced with "Remastered by" and the names of the new remastering team Guy Massey, Steve Rooke, Paul Hicks, Sean Magee and Sam Okeil and project coordinator Allan Rouse, with "thanks to Simon Gibson." The copyright has also been updated to 2009.
In addition, one other notable change is the notation that "Apple" and the Apple logo "are exclusively licensed to Apple Corps Ltd.," a reference to the outcome of the Apple Corps - Apple Computer legal skirmish.
The new "1" booklet retains the individual pages of release information and pictures of international releases (credited to the collections of Bruce Spizer and Joachim Noske) from the original, as well as the introduction to the booklet written by Sir George Martin.
"1" was originally earmarked for the general public and actually works well as a Beatles sampler (with maybe a couple of small subjective changes). It has sold well on iTunes in the week since its release.
But now it's on physical CD in its new era version. As the song written by Paul McCartney for Badfinger goes, if you want it, here it is. Come and get it.
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Steve Marinucci is the author of the Beatles Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-2082-Beatles-Examiner), Paul McCartney Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-34954-Paul-McCartney-Examiner), Vintage Rock 'n' Roll Examiner (http://www.examiner.com/x-19248-Vintage-Rock-n-Roll-Examiner) and TV on DVD Examiner columns on Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/x-10254-TV-on-DVD-Examiner).
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