Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you have a very revealing system, and if you are familiar with this music and how well-recorded music is supposed to sound, then I would recommend skipping this set. Sure, it's beautifully packaged; but the previous reviewer who indicated that the levels have all been topped off, with compression applied, got it dead on. I had not read any of the negative reviews when I started listening, but I could tell immediately that something was not right. It is louder, and some material is a little clearer than in previous releases, but in so doing, the hacks who re-mastered this, the greatest music catalogue of the 20th Century, have completely eliminated the "live" sound to nearly every track I have heard. "Louder" is not always "better". If you have a merely decent system, and are not attuned (no pun intended) to what fine recordings are supposed to sound like, then you will probably not notice to what I am referring. I envy you, because I just plunked down $200 for some nifty packaging. I might rip this and put it on my iPod; it will probably sound good hooked up to my car stereo. I doubt if it will receive much play in my home system, because it is just too obnoxious for higher-end gear. I hate to have to review this so negatively; again, I consider The Beatles to be the greatest band in the history of recorded music; Lennon and McCartney were two of the most prolific, profound, and downright brilliant songwriters whose music I will ever enjoy. It is a shame that this was done to their music, and it was thrust upon the masses as being an improvement.