Rubber Soul Special Edition puts the 1965 US album next to the UK original
The Beatles' Rubber Soul Special Edition, released October 2, 2026, includes the original 1965 Capitol US album in its 4CD/5LP box. The US version had 12 songs to the UK album's 14, and only 10 songs appear on both.
By Riffiter
The Beatles' Rubber Soul Special Edition came out on October 2, 2026. Its biggest box, the 4CD/5LP Super Deluxe, puts the original 1965 Capitol US album on its own disc, next to the UK album it was cut from. For many American fans, that is the Rubber Soul they grew up with, and it is a different record.
Two albums, three days apart
Rubber Soul came out on Parlophone in the UK on December 3, 1965, with 14 songs. Capitol released its US version on December 6 with 12. The front cover uses the same Robert Freeman photo. The UK title is orange, the US title brown, and each carries its own label's logo. Neither front prints the band's name.
Only 10 songs are on both albums:
| UK (Parlophone) | US (Capitol) | |
|---|---|---|
| Songs | 14 | 12 |
| Only on this version | Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, What Goes On, If I Needed Someone | I've Just Seen a Face, It's Only Love |
| Opening song | Drive My Car | I've Just Seen a Face |
The two songs Capitol added had been left off its US version of Help! earlier in 1965. The four songs it removed came out in the US in 1966: Nowhere Man and What Goes On as a single in February, then all four on Yesterday and Today in June. With I've Just Seen a Face first and the harder songs gone, the US album reads as a folk-rock record. Writers such as Kenneth Womack describe it as having "a decidedly folk-ish orientation."
Even the mixes differ
The Capitol stereo album is not only a different running order. Its I'm Looking Through You has two false guitar starts, and The Word has extra vocals and different panning. The new box carries that stereo album as Capitol issued it, mastered by Kevin Reeves. The US mono version is not included.
What else is in the box
The Special Edition comes in three sizes: 1CD/1LP, 2CD/2LP and the 4CD/5LP Super Deluxe with 68 tracks and an 88-page book with an introduction by Paul McCartney. The Super Deluxe has a new stereo and Dolby Atmos mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, the original mono album, the Capitol album, and 24 session recordings: 20 unreleased takes, three home demos, and an unheard Lennon outline called Little Girl. Early versions of Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out are there too. Only the Super Deluxe is confirmed to include the Capitol album.
Far Out gave the set 3.5 out of 5 and called it "constructed for the most devoted of Beatles fans." The Second Disc called it "a worthy reappraisal."