Remastered Beatles Albums Coming In September

The Beatles catalogue has been digitally remastered for the first time and will be released on CD worldwide by Apple Corps. and EMI Music on Sept. 9 (that's "number nine, number nine, number nine" for you White Album devotees).

Two new Beatles box sets will be released the same day, and each album will be packaged with the original U.K. album art, expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. A limited initial run of each CD will also be embedded with a brief Bob Smeaton-directed documentary about that particular record.

The Beatles' 12 studio albums, Magical Mystery Tour and the Past Masters Vol. I and Past Masters Vol. II collections, which will be combined into a two-CD set, will result in a release of 14 titles encompassing 16 discs. This will be the first time the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on CD.

The albums were remastered at London, England's Abbey Road Studios over four years, using both modern technology and vintage studio equipment to maintain the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings.

All the titles will be collected in one box set, while a second box set aimed at hardcore collectors and titled The Beatles In Mono features all the band's recordings that were mixed for a mono release. It contains 10 of the albums with their original mono mixes and two further discs of mono masters. The mono Help! and Rubber Soul discs also include the original 1965 stereo mixes that haven't been previously released on CD. These albums will be packaged in mini-vinyl CD replicas of the original sleeves with all original inserts and label designs.

There's still no news on The Beatles' music becoming available to purchase via download, but there's been a lot of speculation that a digital licensing agreement for the Fab Four's music is very close. Both Apple Corps. and Paul McCartney have expressed reluctance to digitally release the group's music until all the albums had been remastered.

The Beatles: Rock Band video game will also arrive in stores on Sept. 9.

Here are the remastered Beatles albums coming your way on 9/9/09:

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)
Abbey Road
Let It Be
Past Masters
Yellow Submarine