The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper 50th anniversary album reissue details announced

The Beatles will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band with several reissue packages this summer - and it's sure to please any Beatles mega fan. 

Arriving on May 26th, a new stereo mix of the album (in 5.1 surround audio) will be released on CD and will feature on every other package available.

An expanded deluxe edition will be released digitally, as well a two-CD set or two-LP vinyl package. A super deluxe six-disc box set will also be available. All three deluxe editions of Sgt. Pepper will boast previously unreleased complete demos of all 13 album tracks.

The deluxe CD and digital versions will also include new stereo mixes: a previously unreleased instrumental take of Penny Lane and two unreleased versions of Strawberry Fields Forever.

As if that wasn't enough, the super deluxe box set comes with everything mentioned above, plus 33 more recordings from the Sgt. Pepper's sessions, most of which have never been released and were newly mixed from the four-track session tapes.

A fourth disc includes unreleased mono mixes of several songs and a direct transfer of the album's original mono mix, while discs five and six will boast 5.1 surround audio mixes of the album on Blu-ray and DVD, as well as 4K restored original promotional films for Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, and A Day In The Life plus a restored version of the rare 1992 documentary, called The Making of Sgt. Pepper.

The super deluxe package also comes with a 144-page hardcover book featuring a new introduction from Paul McCartney and producer Giles Martin, who newly mixed the reissue with Sam Okell. Phew!

Watch the trailer for all this Beatles goodness below: 

"It’s crazy to think that 50 years later we are looking back on this project with such fondness and a little bit of amazement at how four guys, a great producer and his engineers could make such a lasting piece of art," Paul McCartney says in his newly-penned introduction for the Sgt. Pepper Anniversary Edition.

MORE: The Beatles' Official Top 50 biggest selling singles revealed
 
Ringo Starr adds: “Sgt. Pepper seemed to capture the mood of that year, and it also allowed a lot of other people to kick off from there and to really go for it." 

Upon its release on June 1, 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band initially spent 148 weeks on the Official Albums Chart, including a total of 27 weeks at number one. During its first US chart run, the album held the Number 1 spot for 15 of the 88 weeks it appeared in the Top 200.

Sgt. Pepper also won four Grammys, including Album of the Year, and it remains one of the most influential and best-selling albums of all time. 

Look back at The Beatles' complete Official UK Chart history here, including the week-by-week chart run for Sgt. Pepper as well as all their other albums and singles. 

Check out the all the various track listings and packages for the Sgt. Pepper's 50th anniversary releases here.

Article image: Rex