Reviews

The original Anthology project, now 30 years ago, was a massive event for Beales fans. Six hours of unreleased music (not to mention the book and a multi-part documentary series) was received with much applause - and rightly so. Although the albums had some quirks, like a few mixes made by engineers in the 80s that had never even met the band, overall they were excellent. There were new surprises on every listen, and they were packaged to feel like they were the definitive collection of extras by The Beatles. For many years, until the 'super deluxe' reissues series started in 2017, they were. This new 30th anniversary repackaging contains the original three albums, plus a new fourth volume of outtakes. No one would disagree that the Anthology collection was long overdue for a remastering, and the sound has been greatly improved (and noticeably so) on some tracks. Tracks like The Quarrymen recordings from 1958 have been cleaned up wonderfully (with AI), with a clarity that is unbelievable. The music throughout the collection sounds clear and dynamic, and with minimal compression. The remastering itself is a masterclass in sound engineering. The issues with the albums are with the tracks that haven't been upgraded or changed. The small things fans have griped about for the 30 years, like a mono mix instead of a stereo (when one most certainly exists), or a speaking part overlapping a song intro - these are things that could easily have been fixed - and should have been. The reissue has been marketed as faithfully reproducing the original albums, hence the quirks still existing - but then other tracks have clearly had an upgrade. Perhaps these things will be fixed for the 60th anniversary reissues? The original volumes aside, the part of the collection most fans were really interested in was, of course, the new 'Anthology 4'. With 36 tracks, only 13 were unreleased, and the rest was previously available on 'super deluxe editions' of albums released in the last few years. No doubt into the future all the tracks presented here will also be covered in those releases, as there are still more to come. Overall the album is a good listen, and the sound quality is exceptional, but it is ultimately just a footnote on the Anthology era. Sure, these are new outtakes, but the original release was new and exciting, whereas Beatles outtakes are a dime a dozen now, so the charm just isn't there. Add to that the fact that these songs, out of sequence with the other three Anthology albums, just feel like a tacked on afterthought - which to fair, is what the new album is. I'm never one to say 'No more Beatles for me', but at the same time, the presentation of these materials is critical to how they are heard and understood. In this digital age, it is probably expected people will make their own playlists, and sequencing isn't important - but many fans are now back to collecting physical media like vinyl and CD - so it really does matter. The new volume opens with rowdy (but rough) early take of 'I Saw Her Standing There', and cycles through a number of early outtakes previously unheard. With so many outtakes previously released there are still some gems here, like the simpler version of George's 'I Need You' that hasn't had the swelling guitar pieces added yet or the brass-less (but very rocking) version of Paul's 'Got To Get You Into My Life'. The rest of the early takes though are rather unremarkable, more highlighting the Beatles studio process and banter than any takes of real value. It is fun to listen to, but there are rather few 'wow' moments. It should also have been peppered with some live tracks (maybe Shae Stadium from 1965 or the Japan tour of 1966) or even some left over 'live at the BBC' recordings. This would also give it more of the charm the original Anthologys had. The second half, heading into 1967 and beyond, has mostly been previously released. There are a handful of new tracks around the Magical Mystery Tour (1967) recordings, and these are probably the standouts of the new material. An early take of 'Baby, You're A Rich Man' before the song really found its identity is great, and the BBC recording of the rehearsal for the 'All You Need Is Love' satellite performance is a nice listen. Whether new material or previously released, one thing that stood out was how many songs are just instrumental backing tracks. Whilst these are interesting, it gets dull when there are too many in a row, and there are quite a few. The album also includes the three 'Threetles' singles - with 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' newly remixed by Jeff Lynne. Using Peter Jackson's AI technology John's vocals have been isolated and tidied up, which is great - but the songs have also had major elements changed or removed - and that just doesn't sit well with some people. At least the originals are still available on Anthology 1 and Anthology 2. In some ways, adding the new Anthology Volume 4 was actually more problematic than applauded. Maybe the album isn't actually the problem? Maybe the real issue is the expectation of fans?