The Beatles Stereo Box Set is currently sold out on Amazon (although it is available at a store called Collectors Choice Music) but you can essentially make your own stereo box set by buying all of the individual parts (save for the box itself and the DVD of the mini documentaries which are included on each CD.)

Unfortunately this isn’t possible with the mono box set (which is also sold out) because the mono versions of The Beatles albums are not available for individual purchase.

For a limited time (I don’t know how long?) each of these remastered stereo CDs will be embedded with a short documentary on the making of each album (these are the same documentaries that are included on the DVD in the box set.) They are playable on your computer (not on a DVD player.)

What follows are the “14 Steps To Making Your Own Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set” that you should be able to easily follow so you can get all of what’s really most important about this box set (that’s the songs of course!)

(#1) Buy The Remastered Please Please Me Stereo CD

Please Please Me was The Beatles first album so it’s important from a historical perspective regardless of it’s quality. And I think the fact that 10 of it’s 14 songs were recorded on a single day (February 11, 1963) gives it a certain feeling of energy/urgency that does help to make the album better than sum of it’s parts.

This is not to say it doesn’t have any songs worthy of a listen. It opens (“I Saw Her Standing There”) and closes (“Twist & Shout”) on high notes and the title track is an early classic. On the other hand, I’m not much of a fan of “Love Me Do” but it was The Beatles first single, so that’s something.

(#2) Buy The Remastered With The Beatles Stereo CD

The Beatles second album, With The Beatles, was released in the UK on November 22nd of 1963 (the day that JFK was assassinated.) It includes some pretty cool originals. Most notably “All My Loving” which I think is a strongest song on their first two albums. Definitely not among their most essential albums, but still every true Beatles fan will want to own all of their remastered CDs.

(#3) Buy The Remastered A Hard Day’s Night Stereo CD

The Beatles third album, A Hard Day’s Night, was a huge step up in quality from their first two albums. It was also a big step up in original songs quantity. While both of their first two albums contained 8 originals and 6 covers, their third album including 13 originals and no covers. It’s also the only Beatles album to contain only Lennon/McCartney songs.

(#4) Buy The Remastered Beatles For Sale Stereo CD

I’m a big supporter for this album as I think it’s massively underrated. I think the 8 originals on this one are better than the 8 originals on their first two albums (quite a bit better in fact) yet most people rank it behind those albums, I don’t know why. The covers? They have their moments I guess. But it’s really the originals like “I’m a Loser,” “No Reply” and “I’ll Follow the Sun” that make the album an enjoyable listen for me.

(#5) Buy The Remastered Help! Stereo CD

Another album that I think is a bit underrated. Often I’ve people say that this album pales in comparison with A Hard Day’s Night but I don’t hear it that way at all. Sure Help! contains a couple of covers while A Hard Day’s Night is all originals but if you compare the 13 originals of A Hard Day’s Night to the 12 originals of Help! I think it’s a pretty even battle. And songs such as the title track, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” “Ticket to Ride,” & “Yesterday” are pretty big steps forward artistically.

(#6) Buy The Remastered Rubber Soul Stereo CD

If Help! was a big step forward artistically then Rubber Soul was a huge step forward. “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” included sitar on a western popular music recording for the first time. Many of the songs featured lyrics that were far more thought provoking than the lyrics on their earlier albums (“Nowhere Man” & “In My Life” being the best examples.) In every way this album introduced a more mature version of The Beatles to the world. This album was also only their second to include only original songs (and from now on their albums would not include covers, save for the snippet of “Maggie Mae” on Let It Be.)

(#7) Buy The Remastered Revolver Stereo CD

Revolver was a groundbreaking album both as far as songwriting and production is concerned. “Love You To” was the first western pop song based around classical Indian instrumentation. The album also featured backwards recordings (on “Tomorrow Never Knows” & “I’m Only Sleeping”) for the first time on a popular music album. “Tomorrow Never Knows” was also an originator with it’s use of tape loops and the fact that the song stays almost entirely on one chord (influenced greatly by Indian music.) Revolver is an absolutely essential Beatles album.

(#8) Buy The Remastered Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Stereo CD

Sgt. Pepper’s… was revolutionary in the way it presented the album as a whole rather than just as a collection of songs (as great as the songs on Revolver are, the album does sound like a collection of great songs more than an album that flows together.) It contains some of The Beatles finest work, most obviously the epic closer “A Day in the Life.” I invite you to listen closely to Paul McCartney’s bass playing on this album next time you put it on. It will open up new layers in your understanding of why this album is so great (and it is.)

(#9) Buy The Remastered Magical Mystery Tour Stereo CD

While this album was originally not an album, it was released as a six song EP in the UK, I still think it actually flows well as an album more so than most of The Beatles albums (including really great albums like Rubber Soul & Revolver.) I think it’s because of the “trippy” nature of all of the songs, whether overtly trippy (like “Blue Jay Way” & “Flying”) or more subtly so (“Hello Goodbye”) there’s a certain psychedelic aesthetic that holds the songs together. I think the one exception to that is actually the final song, “All You Need Is Love,” which does sound “tacked on” to me.

(#10) Buy The Remastered White Album Stereo CDs

Right now this is only $18.99 and it’s a double album. In comparison the other albums are $12.99 just for the one CD. That makes it a better deal than all of the other Beatles albums and if I had to get just one Beatles album, this would be it. The White Album is their greatest work in my opinion. It’s not as consistently great as Revolver and it doesn’t flow together like Sgt. Pepper but the breadth of musical styles over it’s 30 songs more than makes up for it.

(#11) Buy The Remastered Yellow Submarine Stereo CD

The least essential Beatles album. In fact it’s hard to call it a real Beatles album as it only includes four actual Beatles songs not found on other albums. But, that being said, if you are a real Beatles completest (and I’m assuming you are if you’ve read this far) you will want to get this. Plus “It’s All Too Much” and “Hey Bulldog” are great songs and this is the only place to get them.

(#12) Buy The Remastered Abbey Road Stereo CD

This is the top selling remastered album on Amazon and it’s the best selling Beatles album of all time so I think it’s safe to say it’s The Beatles most popular album. It’s not my personal favorite, but I can understand why it is so many people’s. It’s probably their most “modern” sounding album (somewhat because of the song styles and somewhat because of the move to new recording equipment) and side two flows together better than any other side of any Beatles album. I think it’s amazing that this is actually the last album the band recorded. How many bands can say they left at a peak like this?

(#13) Buy The Remastered Let It Be Stereo CD

Despite Phil Spector’s over the top orchestration (most notably on “The Long & Winding Road” and “Across the Universe”) I think this album also holds together as a cohesive whole pretty well precisely because it does come across as a bit ragged. I think it’s really their most “rock n roll” album in that way. And I really don’t get why so many people seem to think of this album as a failure. How can an album with songs as great as “Let It Be,” “Get Back,” “Across the Universe,” “Two of Us,” & “I’ve Got a Feeling” be a failure? That makes no sense to me.

(#14) Buy The Remastered Past Masters Stereo CD

33 songs for $16.99 (current price.) This is probably actually the best deal of all. It’s a collection of the 33 recordings The Beatles released from 1962 through 1970 that were never included on any of their albums. You may think that means it’s just a bunch of unessential b-sides but you couldn’t be further from the truth. Many of The Beatles greatest songs were never included on their albums. To get an idea of what I’m talking about, the Past Masters double disc set includes “Hey Jude,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “She Loves You,” “We Can Work It Out,” “Day Tripper,” “Paperback Writer,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “Lady Madonna,” & “Rain.”

More Beatles CDs To Consider Buying

Once you’ve already got all of The Beatles officially released ’62-’70 catalog in remastered stereo you may also want to get the above additional CDs which feature previously unreleased recordings (the Anthologies & Live at the BBC), alternative mixes (Yellow Submarine Songtrack & Let It Be… Naked), and “mash-ups” of their recordings (Love.) I also definitely recommend getting the mono box set when it’s back in stock (assuming they make more!) because most of The Beatles albums were originally mixed (and meant to be heard) in mono.

You may have noticed I didn’t include any of their “greatest hits” CDs. That’s on purpose. I don’t see any reason to buy those because they just include recordings that you already own (if you’ve bought the above CDs) so why own them twice? I also think it does a disservice to their albums to get used to their songs as a part of a compilation CD rather than as a part of their real albums.

EDIT: The Beatles Mono Box Set Back In Stock At Collectors Choice Music.

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