For my review of the original release, see here: Album Spotlight: The Beatles–Rubber Soul

My initial thought about a Super Deluxe Edition of Rubber Soul was: “What are they going to include?” Because, quite honestly, most of the noteworthy outtakes from that album were included on Anthology 2. (I’ve reviewed that on the Avocado, also.) So I felt there would be a lot of repeat outtakes on this set.

Good News: There aren’t a lot of repeats. Bad News: There’s not much here.

The Beatles had just begun multitracking with Rubber Soul, which meant that they’d do most of their recording via overdubs onto the best rhythm track. As a result, because they hadn’t yet started “bouncing down” tracks to the extent that they would on later albums, there aren’t many completed outtakes. The two most notable, the first take of Norwegian Wood and the first of I’m Looking Through You, were both already released. This set does include slightly longer versions, with better sound quality. In fact, the initial take of Norwegian Wood is somewhat different from the Anthology take.

What is included are a lot of instrumentals. Which sound great, but aren’t that exciting. For complete songs, there is a wonderful early run-through of Michelle, and a couple of alternates of Norwegian Wood. There’s also Take 1 of In My Life, which was already released on Anthology 4. And there’s a couple of early vocals for I’m Looking Through You. But everything else–with a few exceptions I’ll discuss below–is instrumentals.

We have truly reached the bottom of the barrel for this album, at least. There might be some nice outtakes from the earlier LPs. But I suspect Apple is done with Super Deluxe sets.

So why buy this set? There are some good things. Best of all is the MAL-assisted remix of the album. It sounds marvelous; yes, better in most ways than the original mix, which put all the vocals on the right speaker. Giles Martin (George’s son) managed to do this without noticeably messing up any of the sounds present in the original. Well done, sir. Finally, a decent stereo Rubber Soul!

Next, there are some gems in the outtakes section. There’s an early demo of Day Tripper by John and Paul before the famous guitar riff was even imagined. We have the original George Martin organ solo for In My Life. Then comes Paul’s demo of We Can Work It Out, sadly partially taped over by John. There’s the famous session of overdubs for Think For Yourself, which George Martin recorded secretly for possible use for a Christmas record. It’s cut down to 7:42 from 20 minutes, but it’s still fascinating listening. Finally, there’s a composite acoustic demo for the unknown and previously unreleased song by John, Little Girl. An earth shaker it’s not, but it’s interesting. And the 2023 mixes of Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out are also included, which have mixed results. I feel Giles turned down the organ WAY too much in the latter. By the way, for those curious, the instrumental jam entitled 12-Bar Original is NOT present, in either its edited Anthology 2 take or as a complete number. No huge loss.

Disc 3 is the mono version of the original album, well worth hearing; and Disc 4 is the US album in stereo, with the extra guitar riffs on I’m Looking Through You. As I discussed in my original review, the track listing for the US is different, and equally valid as a folk-rock album. That said, both of these were previously released in various boxed sets, although perhaps the sound is a bit better here.

So there you have it. Rubber Soul is not the revelation as a Super Deluxe Set that Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles or even Abbey Road were. Casual fans should stick to just the remix or go with the two-disc set of the best of the outtakes. Hard-core fans will be happy enough, if not overly thrilled.

Oh, there is a book with the physical set. I don’t know much about it since I haven’t purchased it. It does have lots of great photos and recording session details, I know. Is it worth $150? Not yet. Maybe if it goes on sale.

Rubber Soul is one of the Beatles’ best albums. If you’d like the box as part of your collection, it’s a worthy investment.