Japan Box

Editor: Kunihiko Fujimoto.Early in 2014, Universal released The U.S. Albums, a long-awaited box set of CD replicas of the Beatles' original American LPs from the '60s. This set fulfilled the wishes of many hardcore Beatles fans by putting these albums -- which, with the notable exception of a pair of mid-2000s box sets, had been out of print since the group's catalog was standardized to the U.K. editions upon the initial CD reissue campaign -- back in circulation and that is also the idea behind 2014's The Japan Box. Appealing to a far smaller segment of collectors than its American cousin, the Japan Box nevertheless follows the blueprint of The U.S. Albums by housing CD replicas of the first five Beatles albums released in Japan on Odeon Records: Meet the Beatles, The Beatles No. 2, A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles No. 5, and Help! Fab fanatics will note slight variations between these titles and their American counterparts -- The Beatles Second Album is The Beatles No. 2, Beatles '65