The Beatles - Rubber Soul (Special Edition)

The Beatles — Rubber Soul (Special Edition)

Single LP edition includes new remix by Giles Martin and engineer Sam Okell

Sourced directly from the original 4-track master tapes

Half-speed mastered on 180-gram vinyl 

Spined jacket housed in a poly-lined bag

In the fall of 1965, The Beatles went into the studio as the world's favorite moptops — but they emerged as bold, uninhibited artists ready to reshape culture itself. Now, the Special Edition of the classic album Rubber Soul, remixed and expanded, brings unprecedented clarity to the album that revolutionized modern music. 

Rubber Soul shocked the world as soon as it arrived in December 1965. But it's never sounded better than it does now, on the long-awaited Special Edition. Rubber Soul, released on December 3, 1965, has been newly mixed by producer Giles Martin and Sam Okell. Sourced directly from the original four-track master tapes, the audio is brought forth in stunning clarity with the help of cutting-edge technology developed by the award-winning sound team at Peter Jackson's WingNut Films Productions Ltd.

The 1LP edition includes the new stereo mix, half-speed mastered on 180g heavyweight black vinyl, housed in a poly-lined bag with spined sleeve.

Martin, son of the band's visionary producer George Martin, gives Rolling Stone an exclusive preview of the secrets of the new edition. "It's an album born out of frustration of not wanting to be little boys anymore," he says. "It has so much depth to it. This is the first album where they weren't trying to write a bunch of singles and deciding what should be the single."

You can hear the Beatles at their most playful and inventive, trying out their wildest whims. They explore fresh sounds like the sitar on "Norwegian Wood," or the harmonium on "The Word." "It was a license to experiment," Giles Martin says. "I remember asking my dad on his deathbed, did he ever think he was bad at music? And he said, ‘Well, I always thought I was brilliant.' And that's the thing about the Beatles. No matter what anyone says about them, my dad said, ‘They didn't change a bit.'"

Martin and engineer Sam Okell used the "de-mixing" audio technology for this Special Edition developed for Peter Jackson's historic documentary Get Back, by the team led by Emile de la Rey at Jackson's WingNut Films. It follows the previous Special Editions that have redefined the Beatles' legacy over the past decade — Sgt. Pepper in 2017, followed by the White Album in 2018, Abbey Road in 2019, Let It Be in 2021, Revolver in 2022, and Anthology in 2025. 

 

Side A

1. Drive My Car

2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

3. You Won't See Me

4. Nowhere Man

5. Think For Yourself

6. The Word

7. Michelle

Side B

1. What Goes On

2. Girl

3. I'm Looking Through You

4. In My Life

5. Wait

6. If I Needed Someone

7. Run For Your Life

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