By: Luke Parker, Staff Writer
When John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr first landed on American soil half a century ago, they launched a cultural movement so epic that there is now a word in the dictionary to describe the madness: Beatlemania. Led mostly by the writing talents of the prolific Lennon/McCartney duo, the group holds the record for the most number one singles by a band, and is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time.
Fifteen years ago, The Beatles 1 was released and featured all twenty seven of The Beatles’ number one singles, including hits such as “Love Me Do”, “I Want to Hold Your Hand”, “Yellow Submarine”, “Hey Jude”, “Let It Be”, and many more. The album was No. 1 in over 15 countries, and made The Beatles the first and only band to have the best-selling albums in two separate decades (the other being Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from 1967.
When it was announced earlier this year that a re-release of the album was to come out in early November, this time remixed by the son of Beatle’s Producer George Martin, Giles Martin, Beatles fans went hysteric. The re-release album, 1+, is the “perfect companion [to Beatles fans]” says Martin. The album includes not only the original 27 number one hits, but a 2 DVD (or Blu-Ray) disc set with 50 digitally-enhanced music videos of the 27 songs and various Beatles performances along with a book detailing the story of each hit.
The songs have been remixed to have surround sound 5.1 mixes “presented as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio”.
The album is available at most major stores and websites, including thebeatles.com. There are a variety of combinations to purchase 1+, including the original CD disc, the original CD and two DVDs, or the original CD and two Blu-ray discs.