London - Forty-five years after Beatlemania the Fab Four hope to get back to where they once belonged - with the release Wednesday of 14 CD albums, revamped for the digital age. On what has been dubbed "Beatles Day", retailers in Britain said they were confident that fans would snap up the repolished recordings and propel The Beatles back to the top of the charts.
Record company EMI has shipped 5 million of the recordings to stores in what it said promised to be "the biggest reissue ever conducted in the history of the music business."
The Beatles are also expected to top the video game charts with the newly-released The Beatles: Rock Band.
In Britain, bookmakers are predicting that John, Paul, George and Ringo will top the album charts once again - with Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band favourite to be the biggest seller.
The next most favoured albums were tipped to be Revolver and Abbey Road.
Online retailer Amazon.co.uk said a box set version of the band's stereo albums - priced at 170 pounds (280 dollars) - topped its bestseller list on pre-orders alone.
Experts have polished the sound and enhanced the quality of the original recordings which have been processed digitally.
In an age of digital downloads the remasters were designed primarily to appeal to those who wanted to upgrade their collections, reports said.
But it was hoped that potential younger fans whose interest had been sparked by their parents or grandparents could be won over.
"The combined release of The Beatles Rock Band game and the fully remastered Beatles catalogue on CD is likely to prove one of the cultural highlights of the year," said Gennaro Castaldo, of retailer HMV.
Only two of the original four Beatles survive - Sir Paul McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr. John Lennon was murdered by a deranged fan in 1980, whilst George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.
