The Beatles - 1962-1966 (Red Album) & The Beatles - 1967-1970 (Blue Album), 2010 Remaster (Apple, EMI)

Assembling a compilation of the Beatles is a difficult task, not only because they had an enormous number of hits, but also because singles didn't tell the full story; many of their album tracks were as important as the singles, if not more so.

The double-album 1962-1966, commonly called The Red Album, does the job surprisingly well, hitting most of the group's major early hits and adding important album tracks like "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away,"

"Drive My Car," "Norwegian Wood," and "In My Life." Naturally, there are many great songs missing from the 26-track 1962-1966, and perhaps it would have made more sense to include the Revolver cuts on its companion volume, 1967-1970, yet The Red Album captures the essence of the Beatles' pre-Sgt. Pepper records. (S.T. Erlewine, allmusic.com)

Picking up where 1962-1966 left off, the double-album compilation 1967-1970, commonly called The Blue Album, covers the Beatles' later records, from Sgt. Pepper's through Let It Be. Like The Red Album, The Blue Album was released in the wake of a pair of widely advertised quadruple-LP bootlegs, Alpha Omega, Vols. 1-2:

The Story of the Beatles, which had appeared early in 1973. And like its companion volume, this set contains a mixture of hits, including singles like "Lady Madonna," "Hey Jude," and "Revolution" -- which had originally appeared only as 45s -- plus important album tracks like "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," "A Day in the Life," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Come Together,"

as well as orphaned tracks such as the single versions of "Let It Be" and "Get Back," which had never been on any LP before. The first two sides of the original double-LP edition carry listeners through the highlights of the psychedelic era, starting with "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" and up through "Magical Mystery Tour,"

before returning to rock & roll territory on "Lady Madonna," "Hey Jude," and "Revolution." The second LP skims three of the more popular tracks off of the sprawling White Album (aka The Beatles) and moves into the late singles ("The Ballad of John and Yoko," "Old Brown Shoe," "Let It Be"),

plus single and album highlights from Abbey Road and Let It Be. As a précis of the group's final 36 months, it's all mightily impressive, even if 1967-1970 misses several great songs. But like its predecessor, this set does capture the essence (if not the full range) of the Beatles' later recordings. (Bruce Eder, allmusic.com)

Writing something about perhaps the two most famous compilations in the history of pop music is probably quite unnecessary, as you've all certainly heard the ''red album'' and the ''blue album'' before. So I just want to point out that both albums are with complete artwork (32 pages booklet). The remasters sound pretty good to my ears, but I have to say that my ears are pretty old, lol. Oh yes, the first four tracks on the red album are mono. So that's it. Enjoy (Frank)

Red Album Flac 
Blue Album Flac 
Red Album mp3@320 


Blue Album mp3@320