Sourced from the original master tapes and cut at Abbey Road Studios

Pressed on 180-gram vinyl; album's North American LP debut in stereo

Optimum audiophile-quality sound from a first-rate team of producers and engineers

The BEATLES ON VINYL - DONE RIGHT!

For years the most anticipated vinyl reissues have been from the one, the only Beatles catalog. Finally, after a delay due to the meticulousness of the remastering process and assorted other hurdles, that day has come.

Rolling Stone declares: "A Hard Day's Night opens with the most famous chord in all of rock 'n' roll: A radiant burst of 12-string guitar evoking the chaos and euphoria of Beatlemania at its height." The Richard Lester film of the same title showed the Beatles' charm. The soundtrack deepened listeners' sense of their musical genius in the off-kilter beauty of John Lennon's "If I Fell," the rockabilly bounce of Paul McCartney's "Can't Buy Me Love," and the great leap forward of George Harrison's guitar work on the 12-string Rickenbacker.

The first Beatles album to feature all-original material, A Hard Day's Night affirmed the band's "top-of-the-world-ma" status. Galvanized by the arrival of new gear and methods in the recording studio, the Beatles captured a new magic, and this superb LP pressing showcases their success in a way never experienced before.

For its Beatles' Stereo Albums series on LP, Capitol/Apple turned to a crack team of engineers to remaster A Hard Day's Night from the original sources. The team, including Guy Massey, Steve Rooke and Sam Okell with Paul Hicks and Sean Magee undertook a four-year restoration process for the LP versions, combining state-of-the-art equipment, vintage studio gear and rigorous testing to meet the highest fidelity standards and produce authentic unsurpassed sound rivaling the original LPs. There is no longer any need to pay hundreds of dollars for Japanese pressings!

With the addition of a REDD.51 mixing console at their disposal at Abbey Road, a device that increased the level of communication between producer, engineer, and band, the Beatles upped the ante not only in memorable songwriting and joyous emotion, but definitive sonics. And so now you can almost feel the repeat echo on the title track, a cue that regenerates delay and adds to the tune's spaciousness. Similarly, the harmonica shiver on "I Should've Known Better" rings out with amazing purity and expansive reach.

Most significantly, the LP frames the fairly crisp top-end sound of Ringo's drums. Throughout, his strict orders to hit the snare solidly in the middle (and not on the rims) unfold in the form of involving rhythmic beats that now seem as if they're happening right in front of you. As for the unique 12-string jangle created by George Harrison's Rickenbacker 360-12 12-string guitar, employed for the first time on this 1964 effort, it positively sweeps over the soundstage, preceding the likes of the Byrds. And those voices. Mesmerizing.

Track Listing
Side 1
A Hard Day's Night
I Should Have Known Better
If I Fell
I'm Happy Just to Dance With You
And I Love Her
Tell Me Why
Can't Buy Me Love

Side 2
Any Time at All
I'll Cry Instead
Things We Said Today
When I Get Home
You Can't Do That
I'll Be Back