The Beatles: Anthology 2

The Beatles: Anthology 2

1996

Apple Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: (This might take a while!)

Disc 1: 1. Real Love  2. Yes It Is  3. I'm Down  4. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away  5. If You've Got Trouble  6. That Means a Lot   7. Yesterday  8. It's Only Love  9. I Feel Fine (Mono)  10. Ticket to Ride (Mono) 11. Yesterday (Mono)  12. Help! (Mono)  13. Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby (Mono)   14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)  15. I'm Looking Through You  16. 12-Bar Original  17. Tomorrow Never Knows  18. Got to Get You into My Life  19. And Your Bird Can Sing  20. Taxman  21. Eleanor Rigby 22. I'm Only Sleeping   23. I'm Only Sleeping  24. Rock and Roll Music  25. She's a Woman

Disc 2:   1. Strawberry Fields Forever (Demo Sequence)  2. Strawberry Fields Forever  3. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 and Edit)  4. Penny Lane  5. A Day in the Life  6. Good Morning Good Morning  7. Only a Northern Song  8. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!  9.  Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!  10. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds  11. Within You Without You   12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)  13. You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)  14. I Am the Walrus  15. The Fool on the Hill  (Mono) 16. Your Mother Should Know  17. The Fool on the Hill  18. Hello Goodbye  19. Lady Madonna 20. Across the Universe

Hmmm....Apparently I don't own a  copy of "Anthology 1." Oh well...This is part two of the Anthology series that was released in 1996 to coincide with the awesome Beatles Anthology documentary. The documentary kicks my soul's ass by the way, 10 hours of Beatles history and videos...I can't recommend picking up the DVD set enough...

I'm a little more hesitant to recommend the Cd sets however...If you're not a complete Beatles scholar/obsessive, then I'd recommend you skip these completely. I doubt you'll find much value in hearing the Beatles giggling over the backing track of "And Your bird Can Sing"  or listening to three back-to-back takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever." However if you're as big a Beatlemaniac as I am, you're going to find a lot to like here...

First, there's the "new" Beatles track "Real Love." The first installment of the Anthology series featured "Free as a Bird" , where the three surviving Beatles fleshed out a John Lennon demo into a brand new track...I for one, really like these...Are they on the same level as "A Day in the Life"? Hell, no, but a simple pleasure nonetheless...



There's also three unreleased Beatles songs, which at the time was the big draw..."If You've Got Trouble" was supposed to be the Ringo vocal track on "Help!" but was cut from the final running order in favor of "Act Naturally"...I don't understand this at all! I know there's quite a few folks who don't care for this song, but I honestly think it's the best Ringo track...You can keep your "With a Little Help From My Friends"...This is fast, rocking and funny...It almost has an old punk-rocky feel, as Ringo sings in that lovable monotone of his:

"You think I'm soft in the head,
Well, try something softer, instead..."

I love it!  "That Means A Lot" is another outtake from "Help!" It's kind of surprising that this song is from "Help!"  since it feels like it should be older...I could totally see it on "With the Beatles." Perhaps that's why they didn't use it...All in all, a perfectly serviceable McCartney soft-pop...

The final unreleased track is "12 Bar Original," a funky instrumental outtake from "Rubber Soul." It kind of reminds me of  Booker T & the MG's, but it retains that Beatles stiffness...The Beatles weren't groovers, really...They were more like sonic architects, but it's fun to hear them try it out...It would have been very interesting if they had actually put this on Rubber Soul...I think for fun later, I might try and sequence a version of"Rubber Soul" that includes this song...And yes, that is my sad idea of "fun."

The remainder of the album is made up of demos, alternate takes and some very cool live recordings from the band's final proper live gigs...There's not a lot of good quality recordings of Beatles shows, and these ones are probably among the best, being clearly recorded and featuring exciting performances form the band...

The demos and alternate takes are interesting, if not particularly revelatory...The Beatles usually seem to go into a song knowing almost exactly what they wanted...In most cases the early take and the final take are 90% the same, but there are a few exceptions...There's the aforementioned takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" that chart of the evolution of the song, from a sweetly nostalgic acoustic-folk track to a psychedelic powerhouse...We even get to clearly hear John say "Cranberry Sauce" which finally gives us incontrovertible evidence that Paul really is still alive...Well, that and the fact that he's playing the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida tonight...

  If you're one of those people that just has a Beatles song or three on his/her ipod then skip this, however, if the idea of peicing together a bizarro world version of "Revolver" that features alternate versions excites you, then this thing is a treasure trove...

So let's dig in...