Tag Archives: box set

Lennon ‘Mind Games – Meditation Mixes’ Available for Pre-Order

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True to his word that there would be more Mind Games-related product released before the end of the year, Sean Ono Lennon has announced a 3 LP set called Mind Games – The Meditation Mixes. The tracks (out on October 11) will also be available to stream, but there’s no mention of a CD at the present time.

Watch the “unboxing” promo video:

These Mind Games – The Meditation Mixes were produced by Sean Lennon and came out as part of a consciousness-expanding app called Lumenate in the lead-up to the release of the Mind Games Ultimate Mixes box sets.

Sean Lennon: “You might say meditation is the ultimate mind game. These very abstract interpretations will hopefully assist you in exploring your ‘Innerverse’. I was both thrilled and surprised when UMG said they wanted to make a vinyl edition. This part of the Mind Games project evolved spontaneously and feels like it is sprinkled with just the right amount of good vibes and fairy dust. (Effects may vary).”

The meditation mixes will be released on vinyl as a limited edition 3LP set, pressed on 180-gram crystal clear vinyl and packaged in a triple gatefold mirrorboard sleeve. Side B on LP3 will feature nine unique 1.8 second mantras that will play continually in the vinyl’s run out grooves to create infinite loops.

Interestingly, and perhaps very frustrating for those who forked out the big bucks for the Super Deluxe Box Set, these albums are not included in that box. The Meditations set will have to be purchased separately if you want to have absolutely everything associated with this campaign.

Also, people who only collect CDs (and are not interested in vinyl at all) are also upset and already expressing their pain and dismay on some of the Beatle forums that this is vinyl-only in physical form…..

More on the release from the Universal Music Store site:

“Newly, radically re-imagined remixes, created from John Lennon’s classic song, Mind Games, these nine Meditation Mixes create their own space while maintaining firm, authentic roots in John Lennon’s original recording of the song. Each of them have been radically altered, slowed down and extended, ranging from 5 to 10 minutes to over 33 minutes, allowing for the musical soundtrack to wash over the listener and provide a relaxing, immersive, deep listening and meditative experience. Four of these tracks are presented as Binaural versions that each focus on different types of brain waves: Beta, Delta, Gamma and Theta. Named ‘Mind’, ‘Space’, ‘Spirit’ and ‘Love’, these tracks utilise the effect created when the ears hear left and right frequencies which combine to be perceived as a new frequency that can activate different brain patterns for scientifically proven therapeutic effects.

Of the original song, Mind Games, Yoko Ono Lennon said:  “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game?”

Produced by Sean Ono Lennon, mixed and engineered by Sam Gannon with additional recording engineered by Scott Holingsworth, the song will now bring a new positive impact in the realm of meditation and mindfulness.”

Here’s a sample:

And the track listing:

LP1 Side A

  1. Mind Games Meditation Mix – MIND (Binaural Gamma Waves 100Hz) (10:02)
  2. Mind Games Meditation Mix – MAGIC (10:58)

LP1 Side B

  1. Mind Games Meditation Mix – SPACE (8Hz Theta Binaural) (5:42)
  2. Mind Games Meditation Mix – SEED (5:59)
  3. Mind Games Meditation Mix – YES (6:03)

LP2 Side A

  1. Mind Games Meditation Mix – SPIRIT (15Hz Beta Binaural) (5:36)
  2. Mind Games Meditation Mix – LOVE ().5Hz Delta Binaural) (12:32)

LP2 Side B

  1. Mind Games Meditation Mix – SURRENDER (23:41)

LP3 Side A

  1. Mind Games Meditation Mix – PEACE (23:55)

LP3 Side B (ALL TRACKS INFINITE LOOPS)

         MANTRA 1 (∞)
         MANTRA 2 (∞)
         MANTRA 3 (∞)
         MANTRA 4 (∞)
         MANTRA 5 (∞)
         MANTRA 6 (∞)
         MANTRA 7 (∞)
         MANTRA 8 (∞)
         MANTRA 9 (∞)

Collector’s “Mind Games” Sampler – Uncut Magazine

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If you’re collecting everything to do with the forthcoming re-issue of John Lennon’s Mind Games, you’ll want to grab a copy of the latest Uncut magazine.

Here’s what Uncut has to say about it:

Next month sees the release of Mind Games: The Ultimate Edition – a deep dive into John Lennon’s 1973 album overseen by Sean Ono Lennon. We’re honoured to present an exclusive, ultra-collectable nine-track Mind Games CD, curated for us by the John Lennon Estate, full of new mixes that shine fresh light on Lennon’s working practices. We hope you agree, it’s a great way in to the marvelous work done by Sean and his team. “We’ve really tried to include everything we possibly can and we’re really looking forward to hearing people’s feedback,” Sean confides to us. “I’m very proud of the work we’ve done on an album that has always meant a lot to me personally.”

You’ll also find an in-depth exploration of all Lennon’s solo albums in our 32-page Ultimate Music Guide sampler, and a terrific cover story from Peter Watts.

The CD comes in a cool alternate collector’s cover:

The tracklist:

  1. Mind Games (Evolution Documentary)
  2. I’m The Greatest (Ultimate Mix)
  3. Aisumasen (I’m Sorry) (Ultimate Mix)
  4. You Are Here (Outtake, Take 5)
  5. Tight A$ (Raw Studio Mix)
  6. Bring On The Lucie (Elemental Mix)
  7. You Are Here (Elements Mix)
  8. Out The Blue (Elemental Mix)
  9. Meat City (Evolution Documentary)

Click here to pre-order the magazine, CD sampler and Lennon album guide.

Mind Games Being Played? The ‘Mind Games’ Launch

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The lead up to the release of John Lennon’s Mind Games, the next of his back-catalogue LPs to get the deluxe and super deluxe box set treatment, is proving that this time around they are having some fun with the “mind games” of the title.

There have been quite a few firsts in the marketing, and in what we can expect in the content of the Super Deluxe, Deluxe, 2LP and 2CD sets, released on July 12.

Probably the best summary of the known fun and games to date comes from well-known YouTuber Andrew Dixon. Here’s Andrew with a summary of where we’re at so far:

John Lennon ‘Mind Games Ultimate Collection’ Confirmed for June 2024

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And the hits just keep on coming….

Hot on the heels of a huge two weeks of Beatle announcements and expectation comes just a little bit more vital detail on the John Lennon Ultimate Collection box set of his 1973 album Mind Games.

This blurry image has now appeared on the official Lennon website:

Along with it are these words:

This builds on the scant detail in an October 9 Tweet (for John’s birthday) teasing that the Lennon estate would indeed be releasing “….a brand new, completely remixed Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) in the summer of 2024, featuring an incredible six albums worth of material, followed by even more surprises later in the year.”

Today’s news makes it very clear that the June 2024 box set follows in the format footsteps of Imagine and Plastic Ono Band, two highly acclaimed reissues already out there. Good news for Lennon fans and collectors!

We can also confirm that, as was done for Imagine and Plastic Ono Band, there will be a separate accompanying hardback book to go with Mind Games.

The Beatles ‘Revolver’ – Full Details Announced

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The Beatles, Apple and Universal Music have jumped a little earlier than expected. Overnight they officially announced all the details of the forthcoming Revolver re-mix and remaster project, due in stores on October 28.

The full story, complete with a full track-list for each edition is on the The Beatles official site, but suffice it to say that there will be a 4LP + 1EP vinyl super deluxe slipcase box set with a 100-page hard cover book:

There’s also a 4CD + 1EP CD super deluxe slipcase box, also with a 100-page hard cover book:

There’s a 2CD edition with the new stereo mix of the album plus a unique ‘Session Highlights’ disc:

A 1CD edition with the new stereo re-mix:

And a 1LP edition featuring the new stereo re-mix:

And, just as they did with the Sgt Pepper, the White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be re-issues, there’s to be a Revolver picture disc:

The rumoured Dolby Atmos Mixes will only be available as Downloads and on Streaming.

The original mono mix will be part of the super deluxe boxes and accompany never-before-released session recordings and demos, plus two singles from the era, ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Rain’ are on the four track EP that is in the vinyl and CD boxes (in 2022 re-mixed versions and in original mono too).

Each edition is available for pre-order now and all the the physical product hits stores on October 28.

The opening song on Revolver, ‘Taxman’, has been chosen as the teaser 2022 mix sample song and it is available now on streaming media and in Dolby Atmos where that is supported.

There’s also a second promo YouTube clip too:

It’s Confirmed: ‘Revolver’ is the next Box Set Re-Issue

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A lot of people jumped on the Variety article published last week stating that The Beatles’ Revolver is to be the next album to get the full box set re-issue/remix treatment.

One key sentence in that article made us hang back: “An official announcement of the project is not expected to come until some time in September….”, meaning that while it was interesting (and probably true), the Variety article was still just speculation. There was no independent confirmation from someone within the Beatles/Apple Records circle.

But, over the weekend we got that confirmation – and from the horses mouth so to speak.

On Sunday none other than Giles Martin Tweeted:

We think you can take that as proof-positive a re-mixed, remastered Revolver will definitely be on the shelves sometime in October or early November.

Of course details of exactly what we’ll be getting are still scarce, so we await the official announcement with great interest.

A subsequent Giles Martin Tweet indicates that a 5.1 surround mix is definitely on the cards:

So, it’s happening!

McCartney 1, 2, 3.

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We all knew it was going to happen some time. And now it has been officially announced.

There will be a box set that gathers together the albums McCartney, McCartney II, and McCartney III. It is to be released on August 5.

The McCartney I II III  box set will be available in three different formats: a Limited Edition colour vinyl, a black vinyl edition, and on CD. Each will include three special photo prints with notes from Paul McCartney about each album. The newly created box set cover art and typography for the slipcase are by Ed Ruscha the US artist who created the design for all of the myriad McCartney III and McCartney III Imagined releases.

The slipcase style box comes in three variations:

Limited Edition Colour Vinyl ⁠(see above): Three-disc 180g audiophile vinyl set (McCartney – clear, McCartney II –white, and McCartney III – creamy white vinyl), ⁠three 8 x 10” photo prints with introductions from Paul.

Limited Edition Black Vinyl Edition (see below): ⁠Three-disc 180g audiophile vinyl set (McCartney, McCartney II and McCartney III), three 8 x 10” photo prints with introductions from Paul.

And there’ll be a CD. Again, described as a Limited Edition, three-disc set ⁠with the three photo prints with introductions from Paul. Looks like they’re in card sleeves and that McCartney II and McCartney III come with booklets.

Interestingly, the promo images and the YouTube unboxing video below show that McCartney II is on the original black and silver Parlophone labels. Previous reissues have been on the plain black label used for the McCartney Archive Series releases. Nice too to see McCartney back on the Apple label once again.

The Beatles – Let It Be Special Edition Releases

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Finally, after months (or is it years?), the official announcement for the 50th anniversary editions of The Beatles Let It Be has been made public.

And in physical form this is what we’ll be getting – on October 15:

It begins with a 180-gram, half-speed mastered vinyl 4LP set that also includes a 45rpm 12-inch vinyl EP, with a 105-page hardbound book in a special die-cut slipcase.

There’ll also be a special edition of the same content on a 5CD + 1Blu-ray (containing the album’s new stereo mix in hi-res 96kHz/24-bit; new 5.1 surround DTS and Dolby Atmos album mixes), also with a 105-page hardbound book in a die-cut slipcase.

Both these total 57 tracks in all: the original Let It Be LP in a new stereo mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, two discs of previously unreleased outtakes, studio jams and rehearsals, and the previously unreleased 1969 Get Back LP mix by Glyn Johns, newly remastered. Then there’s that Let It Be EP (in both the vinyl and CD boxes) as a separate disc containing 4 tracks:
o Glyn Johns’ unreleased 1970 mixes of ‘Across The Universe’ and ‘I Me Mine’.
o Giles Martin & Sam Okell’s new stereo mixes of the ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ and ‘Let It Be’ singles.

The hardback book this time will be available in both boxes – something that hasn’t happened before with Beatle re-mix re-issues. It features a foreword by Paul McCartney, an introduction by Giles Martin; a remembrance by Glyn Johns; chapters and detailed track notes by Beatles historian, author, and radio producer Kevin Howlett; and an essay by journalist and author John Harris exploring the sessions’ myths vs. reality. The book is illustrated, scrapbook style, with rare and previously unpublished photos by Ethan Russell and Linda McCartney, as well as never before published images of handwritten lyrics, session notes, sketches, Beatles correspondence, tape boxes, film frames, and more.

After the two ‘Super Deluxe’ boxes there’s a 2CD set that comes in a digipak with a 40-page booklet. This set contains on one disc the original Let It Be album (in it’s new stereo mix), plus a disc unique to this set with 13 tracks of highlights from the previously unreleased outtakes, studio jams, rehearsals, and the previously unreleased Glyn Johns 1970 mix of ‘Across The Universe’. That makes it an interesting purchase for those completists among us!

Of course, there’s the stand-alone 1 LP which is also half-speed mastered and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, along with a single CD of the of the original album in re-mixed form too.

And there’s to be a picture disc as well.

As to track listings, here are images of the rear covers of the 4LP/EP box set:

 And the 5CD/Blu-ray:

And the rear cover of the single LP:

Click on any of the images above to see larger versions.

We liked the artwork on the offical Bealtes page depicting some masking tape with the words Let It Be roughly stuck over what was the original title of this project: Get Back.

Really looking forward to hearing this re-mix. It is a favourite LP for us, up there with Pepper, Abbey Road and The White Album for sure.

At Last – A Blue Box for The Beatles Singles Collection

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For quite a few years now we’ve had in the collection a complete set of all the Beatles UK singles that go inside the 1982 box set, The Beatles Singles Collection.

Only thing is, we didn’t have the lovey blue box with gold embossed writing to hold them.

Until now.

We’ve been searching on eBay and other places for quite some time to find an empty box in excellent condition. Have even bid on a couple over the years, but have never been successful.

Then, a few weeks back, a very nice example came up for sale, and here it is:

This box has the catalogue number BSCP1:

That BSCP1 marking means that the box should contain all 22 singles The Beatles released between 1962-1970, plus 4 singles that were issued following the break-up (‘Yesterday’ from March, 1976; ‘Back In The USSR’ from June, 1976; ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends’ from September, 1978; and ‘The Beatles Movie Medley’ from May, 1982). Each should also be housed in unique paper picture sleeves, plus (and this is what delineates this release from the earlier BSC1 Singles box), a picture disc of ‘Love Me Do’ should also be included.

So, that’s 27 discs in all.

It should also have a blue paper insert detailing the complete list of singles with recording dates, release dates and chart positions.

Each single has labels reproduced just as they would have been in the UK at the time of original release too. That means the first two singles, ‘Love Me Do’ and ‘Please Please Me’, are on the red Parlophone label:

From the singles ‘From Me To You’ through to ‘Lady Madonna’, the labels are the black and silver Parlophone/EMI:

Then, from ‘Hey Jude’ through to ‘Let It Be’, we get the green Apple label:

Here are the covers and labels for the four additional singles, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Back In The USSR’, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help From My Friends’, and ‘The Beatles Movie Medley’:

The final single in this set is a ‘Love Me Do’ picture disc, housed in its original clear plastic sleeve:

Here’s the picture disc image on the flipside:

So, at last a blue box for The Beatles Singles Collection (BSCP1). See also our posts on the 1978 edition of 25 singles called The Beatles Collection; the Australian edition blue box containing all the LPs – also called The Beatles Collection. And the CD Singles Collection (two versions), and The Compact Disc EP Collection.

As usual, click on the images above to see larger versions.

The Wait Is Over – Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Finally Announced

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The dream wait is over, what can I say? The dream wait is over, yesterday….

It’s taken a while (there’s even been an official countdown clock ticking down just for the announcement) but Yoko Ono and Sean Ono Lennon have at last revealed the release date (16 April), and the contents of the 50th anniversary box set of John Lennon’s legendary Plastic Ono Band solo album.

And it looks really good. The wait appears to have been worth it:

Rather than detail it all here it’s best to click through to the official John Lennon website which has all the information – and more – about what this 6 CD, 2 Blu-Ray Audio Disc Plastic Ono Band Ultimate Collection deluxe box set will contain. They’ve created a fantastic site with masses of information, images and memorabilia.

There is of course also a 2LP Half Speed Master release, a two CD edition, and a single CD release as well. Accurate track listings for each for each of these are also included on the Lennon site.

Also, for a great summary article, you can’t go past the great Super Deluxe Edition site.

The Lennon camp has embarked on a social media blitz to publicise the release, and there will be no doubt be more to come.

Given the tempo of the times, we particularly liked this image which appeared on Twitter and on Insta:

The caption reads: “What’s the meming of this?” 🙂