It's September 9, 2009 or 9-9-09. Suddenly The Beatles are new again with their entire music catalog of original albums reissued in a remastered series featuring new packaging and a video extra on each disc.
I captured the above image of The Beatles display at the Honolulu WalMart today. The CDs are handsomely packaged in cardboard eco-packs with all the graphics of the original albums apparent on the covers of each album. The WalMart prices for the single CD albums are $13.88. The White Album is $19.99 and contains two discs.
The Beatles "Past Masters" Vol. 1 & 2 have been combined into one double CD set that sells for $19.99. The album cover I saw was the white on black one used for the first volume of "Past Masters" when they were originally issued as single CDs, the second volume having a black type on white background cover.
The Beatles #1's, the red 1962-66 and blue 1967-70 compilations as well as the blue "Yellow Submarine" albums are not part of this series. Ditto for the multi-disc sets "Live at the BBC", "Anthologies 1, 2 & 3" and the "Love" albums.
WalMart Honolulu had this Beatles display sandwiched between the ongoing Michael Jackson sales racks... but then again, isn't the Michael Jackson estate still making money off the music from The Beatles?
I'm not buying The Beatles remasters. At least not now. But I ask, is this new set worth the price? I mean I have all of these albums on the original issue CDs and then some. Plus LPs, 45s, CD singles, cassette tapes with all of them ripped to MP3. Buying the same music all over again... is it worth the price?
Tell me!
The big news for gamers, Beatles fans and wanna-be's is the release of The Beatles "Rock Band" video console game to Sony Playstation, Microsoft X-Box, and Nintendo Wii today. The gaming industry which is in an economic downturn this year, is hoping this is a huge hit. The Beatles "Rock Band" certainly has gotten a lot of press and buzz. Time will tell if all the hype turn into sales.
I know I won't be getting the game anytime soon since I don't own any of the major consoles. The promotional videos for the game are quite impressive. Too bad those per song game videos can't be released on an individual DVD. It would be nice to just listen and watch. The game publishers have a whole new music video market just for The Beatles. Come on, why not?
Posted below are some clips from the games. The songs are all familiar, the videos are new.
THE BEATLES ROCK BAND COMMERCIAL
THE BEATLES ROCK BAND REVIEW
THE BEATLES ROCK BAND GAMEPLAY MONTAGE
Embedded videos from YouTube.com may be removed without notice by their respective publishers or the YouTube.com service itself.
