I bought the red and the blue on vinyl when they were released in 1973. At that time, album sides could not hold 30 minutes of music, hence the need for a double album.

The CD version was planned for 1992 then delayed until 1993. Prior to both projected release dates, it was announced that it would be a double disc affair even though the entire two albums could fit on one disc with 15 minutes to spare.

If this is due to the desire of preserving the original appearance of the album as a double anthology, I don't buy it.

Today, double discs are now presented in the slim CD case that look like single CDs. Therefore, they should release its blue album this way, put the red album on one disc and they would look comparable.

That way we would save a few bucks. Now for the music...

The first four songs are mono. The two track stereo tapes for Love Me Do and She Loves You are no longer in existence.

When The Beatles rerecorded their two biggest hits I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You in German in early 1964, they were able to just record the vocal track over the existing backing track of Hand. Since She Loves You's two tracks had been erased, they had to record a whole new rendition.

Please Please Me and From Me To You are also in mono. There are stereo masters for these but since Please Please Me in stereo has a vocal flub it was not used. It was announced there was no clean stereo master for From Me To You.

I do enjoy this compilation. It's great to have these songs remastered in the early 1990's, and I love hearing All My Loving, Can't Buy Me Love, A Hard Day's Night, And I Love Her, and Eight Days A Week in stereo.

In fact, this blows the excuse out of the water that the first four albums would sound terrible in stereo, so present them in mono only.

However, I wish they had used the US stereo mix of Day Tripper. This was on both US and UK versions of the red album. It is a cleaner mix, with less obtrusive echo on the vocal, has a longer fade out, and doesn't try to hide a vocal flub with a volume knob twist. The fade out should have been sung: Day Tripper...Day Tripper Yeh! The Beatles accidently sung it: Day Tripper Yeh!...Day Tripper Yeh! No attempts were made to have them resing the vocal. They just lowered the volume during the mistake. What that did was lower the entire backing track with it.

Still, it is a nice anthology with unpublished photos and the lyrics to all the songs (correct lyrics this time. Just compare the lyrics of A Hard Day's Night on the vinyl to the CD. "So why on earth should I moan, cos' when I get you alone" is correct)

Sure, there are other places to get all these songs (the original albums and Past Masters, Vol.1 & 2), and sure, Capital could have issued this on 1 cd and saved us a lot of money. But they decided to be true to the LP release (and make themselves much weathier), and this is what we've got. So here are the facts:

The music here rates 5 stars. The remastering is far superior to the other releases that contain these songs. So, if you are new to the Bealtes and want the best fidelity, you should bite the bullet on the price and buy it. If you're a Bealtemaniac, then you'll need it because of the superior sonics. If you don't like the Beatles, what are you doing here?

The Beatles: 1962-1966 contains 26 of the best "early" Beatles songs, covering the albums from "Please Please Me" to "Revolver." Of course, as any serious Beatles fan knows, there were more than 26 good Beatles songs written in this period. This album only covers the biggest "hits," and while it might be great for someone who is just becoming familiar with the Beatles, it's a waste of money for those who already know the Beatles' early songs well.

There are many great songs that aren't included on this album. The most glaring omissions are songs from Revolver. I get the feeling that whoever compiled this was biased in favor of the "early" Beatles sound, as opposed to the experimental and sometimes bizarre sound of Revolver. Revolver gets two songs on the album--Eleanor Rigby and Yellow Submarine--whereas Rubber Soul gets six. Among those left out are "Tomorrow Never Knows," "And Your Bird Can Sing," "Here, There and Everywhere," and even the relatively popular "Good Day Sunshine." And The Beatles: 1967-1970 picks up with Sgt. Pepper, so they're not covered there either. Of course, there are also other omissions beyond those from Revolver: "If I Fell," "I'll Be Back," "No Reply," "The Night Before," "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You," "I Don't Want to Spoil The Party," etc......so much great music missing.

My advice: pay the extra money and buy the original albums. There are so many great Beatles songs in the early period that I doubt that any compilation could cover them adequately. On the other hand, the songs that are included ARE great, and if you only care about the Beatles' biggest hits, this might be a good investment. Just read the song list and make sure you know what you're getting.

In 1973 Apple/Capitol released the RED and the Blue albums,to chronicle the Beatles career. When released on vinyl the Red album was a two record set. However in the age of the compact disc,Apple/Capitol decided that they should release a 60 minute album(80 minutes of music can fit on a single CD)in a two CD set and sale it for about $32.00, when in all reality it should sale for $10-$14. All the hits you would expect are present, but the price of the CD is poor, and the sound quality could be better. I recommend purchasing The Beatles 1 instead.

In 1973, three years after the Beatles called it quits, two double albums of Beatle hits were released on vinyl. This compilation, quickly nicknamed the Red Album, covers their early years. But this digs deeper than the ONE greatest hits collection (released in 2000) because it also includes some B sides and essential album tracks.

As with any compilation, the song selection can be second-guessed. None of the Beatles' great cover songs are to be found -- no "Twist and Shout," no "You Really Got a Hold on Me," no "Rock and Roll Music," no "Kansas City." But these oversights are almost forgiveable because licensing restrictions may have gotten in the way. Less forgiveable are the omissions of Beatle originals such as "I Saw Her Standing There," "Taxman," and "Got to Get You into My Life." Another oddity is that there are six songs from RUBBER SOUL (nothing wrong with that) but only two from REVOLVER. A curious imbalance, considering that the consensus among fans and critics is that REVOLVER is the (slightly) better album.

When this album was finally issued on CD in 1993 there were a couple of improvements. The remastered sound is noticeably better than on most Beatle albums. The liner notes contain complete lyrics as well as rare photographs not included in the vinyl release. The bad news is that this was put on two CDs when there was no need to do so. Each CD runs barely 31 minutes. The songs could have easily fit on one CD, and there still would have been plenty of room to include the great songs that were left out. Can you spell R-I-P-O-F-F? Yet you have to wonder what kind of a windfall Capitol/EMI is really getting, considering how manufacturing a double CD also drives up their production costs.

Listening to this album should make anyone appreciate how great the Beatles really were. One hit is stacked on top of another and they just keep coming at you. But the key to their success was that they did not just milk the same formula over and over. The band that made "Love Me Do" and "Please Please Me" sounds almost nothing like the band that made "Norwegian Wood" and "Eleanor Rigby" -- and even that evolution only hinted at what was to come.