Journalists get sneak preview of Beatles remasters at Abbey Road

Last night, journalists got a chance to hear tracks from the remastered Beatles albums (out Sept. 9, as I keep saying). Here's info from the London Times' Daniel Finkelstein.

We were treated to a range of songs - Can't Buy Me Love, Yesterday, In My Life, Come Together, Here Comes the Sun among them - played first from the current CD and then from the remastered version.

Apple seemed nervous that some wouldn't be able to tell the difference. So I was surprised by how much difference there was.

We were told that the process was a little like removing the lint and allowing the performances to shine more clearly. And that was a good description.

The tracks are clearer and cleaner. In the case of Can't Buy Me Love, in particular, a very distracting fuzziness to the intro has disappeared.

The new versions are clearly superior. And the remastering was overdue

Is it a sufficient difference to make it worth replacing your old CDs? Well, I will. It isn't necessary, but if you listen to the Beatles a good deal, then it is worth it.