THE BEATLES BOX SET
Parlophone BBX1
Released 19 December 1988
Original recommended retail price: $229.00
Released in December 1988, The Beatles Box Set marked the first Australian vinyl issue of the standardised digitally remastered catalogue, locally cut from CD sources using Direct Metal Mastering.
Labels & Related Material
Overview
The Beatles Box Set marked a decisive change in the Australian catalogue. The familiar locally maintained analogue LPs gave way to the internationally standardised, digitally remastered programme developed for compact disc.

EMI UK began digitally remastering the British catalogue in 1986 for CD and subsequent vinyl and cassette release. The resulting worldwide canon comprised the twelve original British studio albums and the American album version of Magical Mystery Tour. Recordings outside those albums were collected on the two-volume Past Masters.

For the new Australian vinyl set, EMI (Australia) remastered the albums from CD copies already held in its library. Over the weekend of 12–13 November 1988, Paul Bryant and Allan Parsons cut the records at EMI’s Homebush factory on a Neumann VMS-82 lathe using Direct Metal Mastering. Paul handled the albums through Rubber Soul, together with Magical Mystery Tour and Past Masters; Allan handled Revolver through Let It Be.

The collection appeared on 19 December 1988 in three formats: CD, CDBBX 1, at $329; LP, BBX 1, at $229; and cassette, TCBBX 1, also at $229. It was presented in a British-imported “Designer Black Ash Connoisseur’s Cabinet” and included a soft-cover booklet with song commentary by Beatles recording historian Mark Lewisohn.

EMI (Australia) had already issued the digitally remastered albums individually on CD and cassette, with the cassettes released together on 11 April 1988. The box therefore marked the first Australian vinyl release of this new mastering programme. The discography and individual album pages provide further release details.

The set spent four weeks on the Australian charts, reaching No. 82.