Holy Pepperland!

I've been so remiss on posting Beatles news lately-- just swamped, kids, you know, work and so forth, what with being gone for two weeks pretty soon-- but WOW, two news items today demand comment.

The first one comes courtesy of Troy. This year I had actually planned to attend the Fest for Beatles Fans in Chicago, which was last weekend-- I was going to live blog it and all such stuff-- but my plans fell through for a few different reasons (I really hope to go next year), so I had to read about the presentation by Bruce Spizer and Matt Hurwitz on the 9/9/09 remasters on BeatlesNews.com, Dave Haber's fine website. This article deserves a leisurely read with your cool refreshing beverage of choice. It sums everything up-- why the world needs remastered editions of the Beatles albums, why having the catalog in both mono and stereo matters, how the whole project came together, and why you should pick up your mono set pretty quickly. Check it out immediately.

And also-- this courtesy of the Beatles Rock Band page on Facebook. They have announced that they are selling whole albums for download on Beatles Rock Band!! RRRRRGH. (That's the sound of me biting off my own hand.) Here's the story on the Rock Band forum page. As I think a lot of us know, "All You Need Is Love" will be available for download for $1.99 (I believe for XBox users only) on 9/9/09 proper, which is the release date. But they have just announced, I think today, that XBox users will also be able to buy Abbey Road (in October), Sgt. Pepper (in November), and Rubber Soul (in December). The pricing for the entire Abbey Road album is $16.98, while individual tracks are $1.99. Pricing for the other two albums hasn't been announced, but will presumably be similar. So I thought to myself: the Rock Band game comes loaded, we know, with at least 5 Abbey Road songs ("Come Together," "Something," "Octopus's Garden," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," and "Here Comes the Sun.") Is it really a bargain to buy the whole album? Mathematically, yes. PLUS, anyone who buys the whole album will have the option of playing the entire side B medley as one track, in its glorious entirety.

These people are going to take my money for the rest of my life. And I won't be able to resist. Ever. And that's why I feel okay about asking Harmonix: Whither With the Beatles, the album you woefully overlooked on the Rock Band track list? I'll assume Christmas 2010. But don't disappoint me!