Within half an hour of Tweeting the fact that I finally got my paws on the new stereo Beatles remasters this week, my email inbox was clogged with the same question repeated practically ad infinitum: “So... don’t leave me hanging. How do they sound?” The ellipses were often stretched to the point of abuse, and the question marks ranged from solitary to the obscene, but I read that exactly question so many times I almost started to have Tweet remorse

Honestly, though, who doesn’t want to know how these discs sound? So I’ll cut to the chase and tell you all what I told them:

On Music and Filters

Did rock die in 1972? Are "old people" just glamorizing classic rock and ignoring modern music?

In our most opinionated, animated and heated podcast yet, Brent, Geoff, Kevin and Steve get into a debate on the state of music.

Download link after the jump.

Put your system (and your foundation) to the test with these spectacular subwoofer Show-Offs

Sure we all enjoy a carefully crafted surround sound mix that oozes ambience and paints a pretty phonic picture in the air, but what we all really love is head-slamming, rump-shaking, rafter-rattling bass.

With that in mind, this installment of Show-Off is all about giving you the lowdown on the lowest of the low—Blu-ray subwoofer demos certain to pin you to your seat, part your hair (assuming you have any) and rattle anything that isn’t nailed, bolted or Gorilla-glued to the walls or floor.

I still remember the first time I bought this album. I was going on fourteen years old, on a school trip to New York City. I found the tape in a little store off the beaten path. Nevermind had just come out, but no one could foresee the impact on music Nirvana was going to have.

Fast forward to 2009 and I sit here admiring a gorgeous 180-gram white vinyl 2 LP set. Album #1 is a remastered pressing of the original Bleach LP. The other is a February 9th, 1990 show at the Pine Street Theatre in Portland, Oregon.

These spectacularly spooky Show-Offs will ensure your sub isn't the only thing going bump in the night.

Ah, Halloween: the weirdest of all holidays. The night when all the world turns into a Key West street parade and yard decorations run the gamut from tacky carved vegetables to toilet paper. Who could blame you if you decided to stay inside with the door shut tight and wait for the craziness to pass?

Holing up for the night doesn’t preclude you from celebrating All Hallows’ Eve entirely, though.

I know what's about to happen. I'm about to sit here and type a thousand words or so, waxing left and right about The Beatles: Rock Band, how it fits into the current glut of music/rhythm games, whether it does justice to the band and their legacy, blah blah blah...

When really, what it all boils down to is this: if you like The Beatles, go buy this game. Now. If you like the Beatles and don't own a PS3 or Xbox 360 (or Wii, I guess), go buy one of those. Now. And then buy this game. Right after that.

Our 10 Best Software Award winners.

Nothing less than our picks for the best demo material of the past year.

Own it

Covers are tough. Sounds too much like the original, and everyone will wonder why you wasted their time. Sound too different, and you risk not doing the original justice.

But strike that Goldilocks balance, taking the song and making it your own but still showing the original reverence, there's the potential of being as good (if not better) than the original. That's what these covers do in spades.