By Joyce Kryszak
Amherst, NY – Western New Yorkers joined in Beatles mania Wednesday as crowds rushed to the stores for the long-awaited Beatles remastered catalog. But many would-be collectors looking for the boxed set were disappointed.
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For about 20 years Beatles fans have limped along on worn out vinyls of their favorite Beatles albums. Or, they made due with lame imitations when vinyl was replaced with cds.
So, the release of the digitally remastered original studio albums was much-anticipated - to say the least. But many fans looking to take away the big prize - the boxed set - came away empty handed.
College student Mike Raymond raced over to Best Buy in Amherst as soon as he could. But he was too late.
Stores reported selling out in within just a few minutes after opening their doors. By noon there were still some individual CDs remaining on the shelves for sale. Collections of singles and all twelve original studio albums were painstakingly remastered, bringing back the harmonies and dynamics lost from vinyl recordings.
Gray-haired Joe Readl said he has been a devoted fan for more than three decades. He says it's the quality of the music that got him hooked.
"It's the best there ever was. It's the good stuff...I'm getting all misty-eyed," said Readl.
And it's not just older generation fans who get misty-eyed talking about the Beatles. 18 year-old Ally Balcerzak smiled sweetly remembering how she grew up listening to her mom's Beatles albums.
But Balcerzak isn't against moving history forward. She was also shopping for the new Beatles version of the Rockband video game. It also was released Wednesday. The pricetag for the game and the boxed sets - if you could find them - ran upwards of $300. Individual cds could be had for as little as twelve dollars.