The Beatles – 1967-1970

Got this for Xmas and I haven’t stopped listening to it since then. The mix on this pressing is amazing. I’ve listened to the majority of these songs plenty of times and this mix gives them a new feel like they’re new releases. Dear Prudence is jaw dropping. Within You Without You sounds like a jam session of Indian musicians. The pressing is very quiet and the transparent royal blue color is gorgeous. Thinking of getting the red one now ;)

Excellent update of a classic album, and half speed master makes a noticeable improvement.

Oftentimes, I wait a few listens before leaving a review. Sometimes, you hear a record and you just know.

Optimal basically pressed a perfect record (or three) here. My Hana ML reads it as DEAD (aka CD) silent. Optimal pressed it very flat, pretty centered, and crystal clean. The transparent blue vinyl is gorgeous - different than I expected. I thought it would be a metallic blue based on the photos, but I may prefer the way the blue vinyl actually is.

Miles' cut is remarkable. I love it. I know a lot of old school Beatles fans complain about these modern mixes and masterings, but this is masterful. "Dear Prudence" has NEVER sounded better or more three dimensional to me. I have extraordinary NM OG UK 1st presses of ABBEY and BEATLES, which I adore. And I love both the original and the modern cuts. This is so clean, nicely separated, and present. My OGs do not play as clean as this, which is to be expected - they're gonna turn 60 soon!

The only bone I can find to pick is that paper inners are ridiculous in 2024. Holy static electricity! It will take years to dissipate that electrical charge. They're currently powering my small transitor lightbuls. Hyperbole aside, not a huge deal. They live in archival inners now.

This is an absolutely INCREDIBLE production. If you love, or even like, the Beatles, this is a record you should have. I'm so impressed.

Mine came with big scratches on 'Get Back'. I could return it but I got it at a very discounted price and amazon would not replace the item, just refund it. Bad luck I guess.

The content sounds great but my records are very very noisy (crackles, pops and static) between tracks and on quiet parts.

The pressing sounds great, my only complaint is about the packaging, it’s the tightest 2 LP gatefold jacket ever created that they shoved an extra record in one side. Expected better quality for the price, should have definitely made this one a double gate.

Seems like a pointless purchase imo. I understand boxsets with unreleased material but the outdated best ofs? They should do box sets of please please me through rubber soul

This pressing is a joy to listen to. Great soundstage with great highs and deep bass, with almost zero surface noise. My only minor criticism is 2 of the discs were slightly warped/dished (not enough to affect playback) and that all 3 centre holes had to be enlarged slightly to fit on the spindle on the deck.

I bought the new blue vinyl limited edition directly from the UK Beatles store only a few days after release. I had it within just 2 days after placing the order. Another 2 days later it showed already as out of stock on the website, so I thought I was lucky to have been one of the last ones to get a copy. But another 2 days later it was then back in stock again (and has been ever since), so I am not sure how limited (and thus collectable) this edition actually is.

The pressing of the discs is very good. No surface noise and only a handful of minor single clicks throughout all 3 discs (it has to be said though that I play the discs always wet (distilled water/ alcohol mix), so there would not be any clicks due to dust or static).

The mixing and mastering of the tracks is very pleasant for listening. Certainly much more so than some of the weird stereo mixes that were issued in the past (especially some of the earlier CD mixes which are a torture to listen to, especially with headphones). There are some differences in the sound between the tracks, but this is only to be expected for a compilation. After all, the recording technology progressed a lot in those 3-4 years covered here, and the 'Abbey Road' tracks sound a lot more polished than the 'Sgt. Peppers' ones for instance. But I think they have done a good job here to minimize the differences.

Having said this, I think the mixing/mastering is slightly bright and could have done with a bit more bass. I haven't heard any of the previous vinyl releases, but this is probably due to the fact that they recorded about 25 min on each side of the first 2 discs, which means the grooves had to be cut with a smaller distance than usual between them, thus forcing them to reduce the bass. The treble on the other hand (important for avoiding sibilance in the vocals) is maintained by the half-speed mastering. In this respect, I think it would have been better to put some of the tracks from the first 2 discs on the 3rd disc (which is very short in comparison). It would have broken the format of the previous vinyl releases, but it may have enabled an even better sounding mix.

Because of the small groove distance/pitch on the first 2 discs, you have to take care to set your anti-skating force of the tonearm very accurately (especially if you play the record with 1.5g or less), otherwise it may skip (I had it skip forward on a couple of tracks with my usual anti-skating setting, so had to increase to increase anti-skating force slightly).

Also, be aware that the hole in the middle of the discs may be slightly small. I had to press them down when putting them on, and then had some problems getting them off again afterwards. I used a small file to make the holes slightly bigger so that I can put the discs on and off without problems. I never had this issue before with any of the hundreds of vinyl records I own, so this is quite unusual.

Despite the small imperfections mentioned, I would certainly recommend this edition of the Blue Album. It may well be the best-sounding release of it yet.

5 star reviews for this obnoxious cash grab? You guys pay 80 euros for A COMPILATION??