The Beatles Remastered Stereo Box Set

It's the perfect last-minute holiday gift for the right person: the music-obsessed, the classic rock enthusiast or the one who almost has it all.

I mean, I don't think I'm the first one to say this, but The Beatles were a pretty good band. And the recent release of the Beatles' music—a boxed-set with all 13 Studio remasters plus Past Masters—is a must-have for big fans of the group's music. Cluck Klosterman's sarcastic introduction to his piece on the new set for The A.V. Club captures my sentiments pretty well: Yes, I know you've already heard The Beatles' music, but the new disks are worth a listen (and perhaps a purchase):

Like most people, I was initially confused by EMI’s decision to release remastered versions of all 13 albums by the Liverpool pop group Beatles, a 1960s band so obscure that their music is not even available on iTunes. The entire proposition seems like a boondoggle. I mean, who is interested in old music? And who would want to listen to anything so inconveniently delivered on massive four-inch metal discs with sharp, dangerous edges? The answer: no one. When the box arrived in the mail, I briefly considered smashing the entire unopened collection with a ball-peen hammer and throwing it into the mouth of a lion. But then, against my better judgment, I arbitrarily decided to give this hippie shit an informal listen. And I gotta admit—I’m impressed. This band was mad prolific.

On September 9, Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music released the digitally remastered Beatles catalogue to coincide with the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band" video game. It took a team of specialists four years to complete the process of improving the audio quality of the original recordings. And as with most projects with The Beatles' music, great care was taken not to change too much about the original recordings.

"From the onset, considerable thought was given to what audio restorative processes were going to be allowed," reads the media release for the boxed set. "It was agreed that electrical clicks, microphone vocal pops, excessive sibilance and bad edits should be improved where possible, so long as it didn't impact on the original integrity of the songs."

The edits are perhaps minor and would only be noticed by the most conscientious of listeners—less than five minutes of the 525 minutes of Beatles music was subjected to de-noising technology, for example. However, the set as a whole sounds like it was recorded with the highest care. To my ears, it sounds "very good".