The Capitol Albums, Volume 2

The Capitol Albums, Volume 2
Box set by
Released11 April 2006
Recorded1962–1965, Abbey Road Studios, London, United Kingdom
GenreRock, rock and roll
Length226:56
LabelApple, Capitol
ProducerGeorge Martin
The Beatles chronology
The Capitol Albums, Volume 1
(2004)
The Capitol Albums, Volume 2
(2006)
Love
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Pitchfork7.5/10[3]

The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 is a box set compilation composed of the Beatles' 1965 American Capitol Records releases. The set, which contains stereo and mono versions of all 92 tracks (with all of the tracks on The Early Beatles and many of the tracks on Beatles VI being released in stereo on compact disc for the first time), was announced on 22 March 2006.

Differences between the stereo and mono mixes are one of the main draws for collectors.[citation needed] There are also a few significant musical differences to other versions of these recordings, such as a false start on the stereo version of "I'm Looking Through You".

As with The Capitol Albums, Volume 1, the CDs did not contain the original George Martin mixes released in Britain in the 1960s. Instead, the CDs were mastered from tapes prepared by Capitol A&R executive Dave Dexter Jr., who, in 1965 took sub-master tapes from Capitol Records' vaults and added reverb to several tracks and simulated stereo on some mono tracks.

The official release date of 11 April 2006 was the 42nd anniversary of the Beatles holding a record 14 positions in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. This was one week after the Beatles monopolized the top 5 positions in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The UK release was slightly earlier than the official date. Some advance copies were circulated and pre-orders were also shipped early.

The box set debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart on 29 April 2006, at number 46, with approximate sales of 27,000 copies. It was awarded a gold record by the RIAA on 19 May 2006.

  1. ^ The Capitol Albums, Volume 2 at AllMusic
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ "The Beatles: The Capitol Albums, Vol. 2". Pitchfork.