Today’s blog probably falls into the not needed but cool category but here I go nonetheless.

Sixty years ago in June and July of 1966, The Beatles gave their only concert performances in Japan at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan. In honor of that, Apple Records has issued 2 SHM-CDs (as well as two vinyl Lps) celebrating these Japanese concerts.

These new anniversary reissues are replicas  of two special 1966 Japanese vinyl issues of The Beatles first two UK albums “Please Please Me” and “With the Beatles” that were released in Japan in honor of The Beatles performing at the Budokan.

These brand new releases are only available in Japan but can be found on various CD import Websites (Importcds.com for one) as well as places like Amazon.

Now I have to say that when these were first announced I was thinking to myself “really do I need these?” and of course the answer was no. UNTIL I saw them on Facebook and that was all she wrote.

I decided to get the 2 SHM-CDs and am very happy to say that they are thing of beauty (see photos above and below).

They are beautifully done as most Japanese SHM-CDs are and both contain mini-lp style covers each with gatefold openings that have small booklets in the gatefold and each contain a mini poster of The Beatles walking onto the stage  of the Budokan arena.

I’ve talked about SHM-CDs on this blog many times and again I have to say that I find them to sound a bit less compressed than their regular CD counterparts and a little bit more clear. Of course many in the collector community poo poo the idea that SHM-CDs sound better but even if we don’t agree on the sound quality the packing of these Japanese CDs is superb!

I thought I’d share some photos of these two special SHM-CDs here as these reissues are really of interest to a small section of collectors but for those that are interested at least you can see what you’ll get if you decide to purchase them.

There’s no new or unreleased music here just lovely reissues celebrating The Beatles iconic Japanese shows and for any true blue Beatles fan a great addition to a Beatles collection.

Here is the link to The Beatles Web store which goes into more detail about these releases:

https://www.thebeatles.com/beatles-60th-anniversary-their-first-visit-japan

As usual enjoy this snapshot of the two SHM-CDs with photos of each that I bought and if you decude to purchase them they are limited and will only be available for a short time.

Until next be well and see you soon.