WARNING! Beatles' purists do not buy this CD. I had to give this CD 1 star because the Amazon rating system would not accept a zero star rating. By looking at the album cover I thought I was buying a new release of Beatles music like the "One" CD. This CD is some pretentious idiots' idea of art, to mess up the Beatle's music. In fact the insert contains boastings of these self proclaimed artists. Don't waste your money.
Great remix of Beatles music. I'm a huge Beatles fan (as my screen name suggests!), and I refused to listen to this CD until now. I'm a purist when it comes to the Beatles -- no covers, no remixes, no muzak arrangements, no alt-rock interpretations, thankyouverymuch. Just the originals. But my curiosity finally got the best of me, so I ordered a copy (truth be told, I just wanted to bring my order amount up to the free shipping minimum), and now I regret I didn't buy this sooner. George and Giles Martin have done a fantastic job remixing these Beatles classics. There are some really interesting pairings -- pieces of "Drive My Car" coupled with "The Word?" And it works -- beautifully. It will never take the place of the originals for me -- I don't think George Martin intended it to -- but for me, it was almost like hearing the music again -- for the first time. I love this CD.
"This is Johnny Rhythm saying goodnight and God bless ya!" When this first came out, it got a similar reaction to Let It Be... Naked. Many "purists" condemned it while some fans loved it. I don't consider this so much a "new Beatles album" as much as a tribute and for a tribute, it's an enjoyable one.
The main disappointment was that the DVD was only another audio version. The 2nd one is that "Blackbird" was only the introduction, where the entire song would've been both appropriate and appreciated. I probably wouldn't have been disappointed if another reviwer hadn't pointed that out. The version of "Because" is not too different from that on Anthology 3, except that there's more of a pause between each line.
Ok, that takes care of what I didn't like or thought was so-so. Now I'll share with you what I did like. The version of "Strawberry Fields Forever" features sections of the different takes on Anthology 2, starting with the original demo and the earlier takes seguing into the more familiar version, with George Martin's sped up piano solo from "In My Life." "Lady Madonna" features some interesting percussion, not unlike the "...Do It In The Road" introduction. "Gnik Nus" sounds like a mantra. Actually, it's really an a capella excerpt from "Sun King." "A Day In The Life" mixes versions of the Sgt Pepper original release and the outtake on Anthology 2. The medley of "Mr. Kite/ I Want You/ Helter Skelter" is pretty interesting and I was amazed at how well "Drive My Car" and "What You're Doing" blended, considering they're in the same beat (listen for the "Taxman" guitar riff. One of the highlights is George Martin's orchestral inclusion on George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Martin took creative liberties and they worked!). The orchestral intro of "Good Night" also works well on Ringo Starr's "Octopus' Garden." Tabla drums from "The Inner Light" are featured on George's "Here Comes The Sun." "Tomorrow Never Knows" blends well with "Within You Without You." Hearing Paul McCartney sing "Can you take me back?" from the closing of "Cry Baby Cry" nearly brought chills when added to "Dear Prudence." John Lennon's guitar work blends well with "Eleanor Rigby" (you'll have to hear it for yourself to believe it). "All You Need Is Love" is a great finale to Love, with a snippet from one of the Beatles' Christmas records- "This is Johnny Rhythm saying goodnight and God bless ya!"
Doesn't have all songs from the show. I mainly bought this album because I saw the live show and loved the version of the Blackbird song they played in FULL during the show. However, the CD only contains a few brief seconds of this song. All the other songs are great (different from the originals), but I really bought the album for the Blackbird song and felt a bit cheated.
A cool reinvention of some classics The thought of anyone monkeying around with the Beatles catalog should start the warning lights flashing, but the effort of George and Giles Martin (George the Dad was the Beatles' producer) have produced a most interesting re-examination and reformation of some classic works. The Indian percussion added to the opening of Here Comes the Sun gives it a new perspective, and the mixing of rhythmically and sonically diverse elements (all from Beatle songs to Beatle songs) reawakens one's ears to the innovations as you attempt to identify which elements were combined for new effect. Weak moments are the cheer-enhanced Wanna Hold Your Hand, and the slowed down Octopus' Garden (using the orchestral arrangement for Good Night) sounds a tad forced. That said, there are oodles of sonic surprises and meshings that make this a worthwhile investment for hard core Beatle fans as well as the novice.
The concept traces back to an inspiration of George Harrison while watching the Cirque du Soleil, and it carries the blessings of the surviving Fabs and their families. A potential follow-up would be to releace a Cirque performance synched to the tunes - a cursory vieewing of some of the clips on youTube hold the promise that this could be a terrific multimedia experience with the sight and sound combined for those not going to Vegas any time soon - enjoy!
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