The Beatles albums discography
Worldwide, the English rock band the Beatles have released 12 studio albums, 5 live albums, 52 compilation albums, 36 extended plays, and 37 box sets. Their output also includes vault items, remixed mash-ups and anniversary box-sets. In their native United Kingdom, during their active existence as a band, they released 12 studio albums, 1 compilation album, and 13 EPs. The band's first eight albums were released on Parlophone, a subsidiary label of EMI. From 1968, in both the UK and the US, starting with the single "Hey Jude" and the album The Beatles, new releases appeared on the Beatles' own Apple label, although Parlophone and Capitol catalogue numbers continued to be used for contractual reasons. The Beatles' international discography is complicated due to different versions of their albums sometimes being released in other countries, particularly during their early years on Capitol in North America. Prior to 1967, it was common practice for British releases to be reconfigured for the American market. The first seven British Beatles albums were converted into ten LPs for the American market, adding material from singles and the UK EPs; the band were unhappy with these reconfigurations. With the exception of Magical Mystery Tour, studio releases from Sgt. Pepper's [Lonely Hearts Club Band] in 1967 forward were uniform in both the UK and the US. Magical Mystery Tour was expanded from an EP to an LP as there was no market for EPs in the US at the time.
With the first CD releases of their albums in 1987 and 1988, the Beatles' core catalogue was harmonised worldwide to encompass their 12 original UK studio albums, the US Magical Mystery Tour album, and the newly assembled Past Masters: Volumes One and Two compilation albums consisting of all the studio recordings released during 1962 to 1970 that are not present on the UK studio albums or Magical Mystery Tour. When the core catalogue was reissued in remastered editions in 2009, the two volumes of Past Masters were combined into one double album. This core catalogue contains all 217 tracks intended for commercial release, either as album tracks, EP tracks, or singles, that were put out by the Beatles from 1962 to 1970. Since the standardisation of the catalogue, there have been several significant, fully-authorised, additional releases, such as The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl, Live [at the BBC (The Beatles album)|Live at the BBC], the Anthology series, and greatest hits collections 1962–1966, 1967–1970 and 1. The catalogue is currently distributed by Universal Music Enterprises' Calderstone Productions. The Beatles are the biggest selling musical act of all time, selling over 500 million records.
The Beatles' discography was originally released on the vinyl format, with full-length long plays, shorter EPs and singles. Over the years, the collection has also been released on cassette, 8-track, compact disc, on a USB flash drive in MP3 and 24-bit FLAC format, and on digital media streaming services. The Beatles' UK discography was first released on CD in 1987 and 1988. Between 1962 and 1968, the Beatles released their songs in both mono and stereo versions. The band's catalogue was remastered in both mono and stereo in 2009.
Albums
Original UK studio albums
'''Notes'''Original US studio albums
'''Notes'''Standardised studio albums
Since the first release of their music on CD during 1987–1988, the Beatles' studio albums have been standardised worldwide to the following albums:- Please Please Me
- With the Beatles
- A [Hard Day's Night (album)|A Hard Day's Night]
- Beatles for Sale
- Help!
- Rubber Soul
- Revolver
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- Magical Mystery Tour
- The Beatles
- Yellow Submarine
- Abbey Road
- ''Let It Be''
Standardised compilation album
- ''Past Masters''