The classic original Beatles studio albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at Abbey Road Studios in London over a four year period utilising state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the Beatles catalogue has seen since its original release.

Within each CD's new packaging, booklets include detailed historical notes along with informative recording notes. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. The newly produced mini-documentaries on the making of each album, directed by Bob Smeaton, are included as QuickTime files on each album. The documentaries contain archival footage, rare photographs and never-before-heard studio chat from The Beatles, offering a unique and very personal insight into the studio atmosphere.

Beatles Photos

The Beatles Merchandise

The Beatles Rock Band

More from The Beatles

The Beatles Mono Box Set [LIMITED EDITION]

The Beatles Stereo Box Set

The Beatles [USB] [LIMITED EDITION]

Average Customer Review: ( 278 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

However, songs like "I'm A Loser," "Baby's In Black," and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party" reflect a kind of weariness creeping in that later evolved into the introspective Rubber Soul. I mean, check out the sombre mugs on the album cover!

There aren't that many cover songs here than there were on their first two albums, but the ones they cover are beauts. The best of these is Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" with that immortal chorus, "give me that rock and roll music/if you wanna dance with me."

That being said, the Beatles have expressed that melancholy in upbeat songs such as "No Reply." That is about a girl who dates someone else and has her family covering for her. The poignancy expressed with the "I nearly died" refrain. And "I'm A Loser," in the same uppity vein, has lyrics such as "Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown." is it for her or for myself that I cry?"

The mid-paced "Baby's In Black" has shades of Dylan, hard to tell since all four of them are singing in contrast to Dylan's stark solo vocal. Love that lyric: "Baby's in black and I'm feeling blue."

Paul sings a nice slow ditty "I'll Follow The Sun", which happened to be one of his earliest compositions dating back to the late 1950's. In contrast, he wildly covers the engaging Little Richard medley, "Kansas City/Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey." Wonder how it sounds compared to the original.

Despite being Buddy Holly fans, "Words Of Love" is the only Holly song done, and it's lovingly done on this album, with Ringo's percussive instrument being a packing case of all things!

George's only song here is the Carl Perkins number "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby." Ironically, Ringo's song here is also a Carl Perkins number. Both do their admirably best here.

For Sale is still a superior Beatles album despite the sobriety of many of the songs.

30 of 32 found the following review helpful:

The Best Of Both Beatles WorldsOct 16, 2004
By Alan Caylow
"Beatles For Sale," the Fab Four's fourth album, is not regarded as highly as their other works. The Beatles hammered this record out pretty fast as they recorded it between tours, and they were pressed for time in coming up with new stuff. Thus, the album is only half original material, while the other half are cover songs (8 Beatles originals and 6 covers, to be precise). But I'm not bothered by this one single bit. Yes, more original songs would've been appreciated, but we must remember that one of the Beatles' early trademarks was doing excellent cover songs as well as their own stuff, and "Beatles For Sale" gives you a healthy dose of both. The end result is a wonderful Beatles album. Regarding the band's original compositions, they're all classics: John Lennon's "No Reply" and "I'm A Loser," Paul McCartney's "I'll Follow The Sun" (an older song that McCartney dug up from his club days with the group) and "What You're Doing," and the duo's brilliant collaborations on "Baby's In Black," "Eight Days A Week," "Every Little Thing," and "I Don't Want To Spoil The Party." The Beatles ain't no slouches when covering other people's songs either, and the batch of covers on "Beatles For Sale" are all tremendous fun. Lennon has a great time at the mike on Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music," McCartney tears it up on the medley of "Kansas City" and "Hey Hey Hey," Ringo Starr gets one of his signature vocal performances on Carl Perkins' "Honey Don't," and George Harrison, also a Carl Perkins fan, does great justice to "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby." "Mr. Moonlight" is another fine cover, as is the group's rendition of Buddy Holly's "Words Of Love" (with Ringo playing on a packing case!).The Beatles' close friend Derek Taylor wrote in the album's liner notes back in 1964: "The kids of AD 2000 will draw from the music much the same sense of well-being and warmth as we do today." Needless to say, Taylor was 100% right. "Beatles For Sale" may be underappreciated by some, but it shouldn't be. By dividing the album into half originals and half covers, the Fab Four give us the best of both of their musical worlds. Whether doing their own stuff OR other people's, these guys had the magic touch. "Beatles For Sale," filled with great Beatles music from beginning to end, is great testament to that.

24 of 26 found the following review helpful:

The last of their rock'n'roll albumsJan 17, 2004
By Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan"
This, their fourth album, is similar to Please please me and With the Beatles in its general style, featuring a mix of covers and originals. The covers remind us all of the singers who inspired the Beatles - this time it's Carl Perkins, Little Richard, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry.

The original songs include three songs that were considered for UK singles release but weren't. Eight days a week was released as a single in America, where it went to number one. The other two, No reply and I'm a loser, were not released as singles anywhere as far as I know. I don't want to spoil the party is (by Beatles standards) generally overlooked, but Rosanne Cash covered it and took it to the top of the country charts in the eighties. It was the first cover of a Beatles song to top the country charts and may still be the only one. I'll follow the sun and Baby's in black are other brilliant originals.

This album was the last of its kind. Subsequent album took the Beatles away from their roots as they experimented with different sounds and styles. To some people, that's when the Beatles became interesting, but I enjoy all their music. If you enjoy their early music, you'll love this album.

20 of 22 found the following review helpful:

Beatles For Sale [Remastered] - Buy It!Sep 12, 2009
By William E. Houser Jr. "call me panzer: Book, Music, and History lover"
I just purchased this at a local store, as I am too impatient to wait for the other 6 I ordered through Amazon. Those people that say that they can hear no difference do not know what they are talking about. All of the accoustic guitars are now bright and jangly as they should be. The bass is more prominent and the drums are crisper, all without overpowering the vocals.

There is more seperation between the voices so you can tell who is singing which part. It is not all muddled together, each individual instrument stands out on its own. Anybody who expects a modern digital recording from a 1964 analog source is just being unrreasonable. Remember, these were recorded on two- and four-track recorders, so with any bounce down to add instruments, you will have some loss of sonic ability, in spite of all they can do. It's just the limit of the 1964 analog source tape. For what it's worth, in my mind, it's a welcome addition - a veritable breath of fresh air. I highly recommend this album.

10 of 10 found the following review helpful:

I'm definitely one of those people who will praise every Beatles album, but...Apr 08, 2006
By M. Piskula "sunchild786"
This is one of The Beatles' best albums. I grew up listening to them, and have probably heard every song ever written by them over 100 times each, if not more...but 'Beatles For Sale' has always stood out more for me. For my entire 20 years, "What You're Doing" has no doubt been a favorite of mine; this is a song that I have never gotten sick of and no kidding, I listen to it at least once every day. If you're a Beatles fan, well, you know exactly what i'm talking about when I say that The Beatles are about as close to perfection that we're ever going to get from any band. With songs like "Eight Days A Week", "Every Little Thing" and "I'll Follow The Sun", how could one not love this album?! There really isn't any low point on this album. Personally, the "Medley" isn't a favorite of mine, but it's ok, because every other song is great. If you don't own this album, you truly don't know what you're missing and if you're just starting to listen to The Beatles, this is a great album to start with.

See all 278 customer reviews on Amazon.com