Okay, this is turning out to be quite the month of The Beatles if I do say so myself.
With the release of the various 50th Anniversary configurations of “The BEATLES (White Album)” Beatles fans have had a LOT to celebrate as of late.
Just a few years ago the thought of hearing three CDs of unreleased “White Album” out-takes seemed like a pipe dream but with the Super Deluxe set we got just that plus demos and a remix to boot!
(Note: I use either “The BEATLES” or “White Album” interchangeably when referring to the album as the official name of the album is “The BEATLES” but most people just call it by its nickname the “White Album” because of its stark white album cover.)
While the amount of different variations of “White Album” set is headache inducing – there’s a 3 CD set, a 6CD/Blu-Ray set, a 2 LP set and a 4 Lp set – as usual Beatles fans of all budgets can dip their toes in wherever they like and sample some new Beatles material.
Today I’m going to add one more “White Album” configuration to the pile (as if one needed another variation! ) – the 3 SHM-CD format set that was released in Japan. (Sheesh, I hear wallets around the world groaning.)
Readers of this blog have seen me talk of the SHM format previously (okay, more than once I must admit) and so I thought it might be fun to highlight the groovy SHM-CD set that came to my door just yesterday (and no my troubles aren’t so far away – sorry, couldn’t resist).
Last week I highlighted the granddaddy “The BEATLES” Super Deluxe set which features 6 CDs plus a Blu-Ray disc and lovely hardback book.
This 3 SHM-CD set contains two CDs that feature the new 2018 remix of the album plus one CD that features the 27 Esher demos of most of the songs that eventually made up the “White Album.”
What you my ask is the need for a 3 CD version of “The BEATLES” when all of this music is a part of the massive Super Deluxe set? Well my dear friends welcome to collecting!
I actually do think that the SHM-CD format tends to improve the sound of the music, especially the bass which I feels gets more defined and smoother, plus the Japanese sets are so well made that as a collector I really love to add them to my collection.
As you can see from the above photos the set comes in a nice fold out cover complete with a mini replica of the poster that came with the vinyl version of the album as well as a nice booklet and a booklet with the lyrics and text in Japanese.
There is a worldwide release of this 3 CD set in non-SHM-CD format but for me the SHM-CD is worth getting because of the slight improvement in sound. At last for me anyway, your mileage may vary.
Take a gander at the set above and even if you don’t want to spring for the SHM-CD set I hope you check out some variation of the new “White Album” remix as it’s a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of this landmark album and what could be better than good music especially heading into the holiday season.
Until next time, be well and enjoy your weekend (what’s left of it!).
Records, CDs and Music: 