The Beatles and iTunes have today announced that the three, boxed set “Anthology” series will be available for electronic download exclusively on iTunes from June 14.
The “Anthology” Volumes 1 – 3 (each originally released in 1995 and 1996 as three double CD sets) will be available for download separately. There will be an iTunes-exclusive “Anthology Box Set” with all 155 tracks from the three volumes combined, and there will also be an exclusive new 23-track “Anthology Highlights” collection of standout tracks from all three albums.
“Anthology” songs will also be available for individual download.
All tracks have been digitally remastered by the team of engineers at EMI’s Abbey Road Studios who were responsible for the remastering of all the Beatles original UK studio albums in 2009. The result, says the publicity, is “…the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release”. Sadly for collectors though there will be no physical CD’s or vinyl released. EMI Music has confirmed this with Steve Marinucci at Beatles Examiner.
A special “Anthology” video introduction and a “Meet The Beatles” radio show are available for free streaming at iTunes.com/TheBeatles starting today.
The “Meet The Beatles” radio show on the iTunes page has a 2 minute teaser, then three separate parts totaling just over 50 minutes. This is actually a cut-down version of a much longer three-part radio special called “Here, There and Everywhere” which was made for the launch of the Beatles Remastered catalogue in December 2009. It’s narrated by Paul Gambaccini and written and produced by Beatles historian Kevin Howlett.
This entry was posted in Apple Records, Beatles, Beatles iTunes, Beatles Music, EMI Records and tagged Apple Records, Apple Reissues, Beatles, Beatles Anthology, Beatles Remastered, Music by beatlesblogger. Bookmark the permalink.
This will be released on remastered CD set ?
I reckon they should at least release the “Highlights” in physical form, don’t you?
iTunes has had exclusives in the past but after a period were released in the wild. I bet after a year of being exclusive on iTunes, the Anthology series will be released once again in their newly remastered digipack form factor. If they don’t, than it will be a misguided and inconsistent release pattern from Apple Corps. 256kbps track quality downloads isn’t acceptable for most fans of The Beatles.
Good point. We’ll just need patience…..
that’s a shame since a good chunk of the live performances all run into each other and there is no way to join them when you download them from Itunes..