The Beatles - Anthology 3
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Free Music Notes for Anthology 3
Free Music Review: Overall, sort of an unenthusiastic effort
Hit: 3 Stars
In my opinion, THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY 3 comes in 3rd place out of the three albums. It seems sort of drab. It seems to me that by the third album, Paul, George and Ringo were getting bored and tired of making Anthology albums, and (I absolutely HATE to say this about a Beatles album) it's sort of boring. One of the low spots is the never-before-released "What's the New Mary Jane." Ugh. Well, the whole track is about 6 minutes long, but, the actual song itself is contained in the first 1:30. The last 4:30 of the tracks reminded me very, very much of "Revolution 9." Weird, annoying sounds, stupid shouts, and basically horrible noise, this is one very disappointing track. One of the other let downs is "Junk." Instead of being a hard, rock-n-roll piece, as is suggested by the title, it is a soft song with a ballad-like quality. It sounds very much like "I Will," but significantly slower. I also couldn't stand the slow, bluesy "Helter Skelter." That song is meant to be LOUD and FAST! What's going on, here? I did like the acoustic demo-like "Mean Mr. Mustard" and the jam session of two songs, "Step Inside Love/Los Paranoias." Most of the album is alright, but not the best. Overall, this album is sort of an unenthusiastic effort on The Beatles' part. It's pretty good, but Anthology 1 and 2 are better.
Free Music Review: Cool album!
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great Beatles album. "A Beginning" is a song that George Martin wrote. The funky mix of "Ob-la-di,Ob-la-da" is realy good. "Junk" a song that Paul wrote is also good and its even on his solo album "McCartney". Also "Teddy Boy" another song from "McCartney" is realy funny."What's the new Mary Jane" is an unrelesed song that is also good. "Not Guilty" is a song that George wrote. Its on his 1979 album "George Harrison" which is out of print. "Come and get it" is a song that Paul wrote. It was a hit by Badfinger. But this album and you will love it!Free Music Review: A Dream for Fans of "The Late Beatles"
Hit: 5 Stars
This CD is an absolute treat for fans of the Beatles. And for all those who particularly adore the material from the tail end of their career, this is a dream come true.There are countless alternate versions and demos of songs which landed on the "White Album," and there are even a few previously unreleased songs from the sessions as well. Some of the alternate versions are better than the album versions, but in most cases it's just a revelation to hear earlier acoustic versions of songs like 'Piggies,' 'Glass Onion,' and many others.
The second disc begins with material from the "Get Back Sessions," which evolved into the overproduced album "Let it Be." This is where the real treat of this volume of the anthology lies because the early versions presented here are far superior to the polished "Let it Be" versions. 'The Long and Winding Road,' 'Two of Us,' and 'Dig a Pony' are just a few of these stellar treats. The second disc finishes up with material from 'Abbey Road.' Again there are many interesting alternate versions present here as well.
Overall "Anthology 3" really shines. There are a few wonderful George Harrison songs that the Beatles chose not to release. These songs will undoubtedly mean more to fans since his death. There are a few previously unreleased Lennon/Mccartney compositions to speak of as well, but they are nothing to salivate over. Nevertheless, of the three volumes of the anthology this is the most consistent in quality.
Free Music Review: A Privilege
Hit: 5 Stars
When my friends ask me what we're listening too, I tell them that these are the "outtakes". I've always loved a good "outtake". They're cute and humorous and different. We've heard the Beatles songs over and over and over again for so many years. So to get to hear a different version of them is so much fun. You get to hear them mess up, or add in some commentary, or just jam and get crazy! These anthologies are a must have for a Beatles fan who knows all the original songs by heart.
Free Music Review: A Great Coda on the Legacy of the Beatles
Hit: 4 Stars
Far from "scraping the bottom of the barrel," as some would have it, this third and final installment of the ANTHOLOGY CDs is clearly the most essential. Anthology 3 fills in the more gaping holes in Beatle lore. Not only should it be required listening for Beatle fans, there is plenty that will appeal to casual listeners too -- in contrast to the first two Anthologies.
There appears to be some confusion regarding this album's purpose. This is NOT a greatest hits collection. Rather, these are two CDs of outtakes from the WHITE ALBUM, GET BACK/LET IT BE and ABBEY ROAD sessions. Most of these recordings were much discussed but seldom heard over the years. A few had been unofficially released in the late 1980s and early '90s as part of the ULTRA RARE TRAX bootleg series. In 1995 and 1996 Capitol finally got around to officially releasing them to coincide with a prime time TV documentary about the Beatles.
Everyone is referring to Disc 1 as the Unplugged White Album and there is truth in that description. Seven songs are homemade recordings from May 1968; it's great fun to hear "Glass Onion," "Honey Pie," "Piggies," and "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" in such intimate acoustic form. Later, in the summer and early autumn of '68, the Beatles went into the studio to make the WHITE ALBUM. In those sessions they recorded fascinating alternate takes of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" and a calypso version of "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (with acoustic guitars and conga drums) which sound nothing like the White Album versions. Other highlights include a slower, bluesier rehearsal of "Helter Skelter." There is a terrific demo of "Hey Jude," in which McCartney delivers an even more impassioned lead vocal than he does on the "official" version of the song. "Not Guilty" is a previously unreleased George Harrison tune that was left off of the White Album; in my unbiased opinion, it is better than "Savoy Truffle," which did make it onto the White Album. John Lennon's previously unreleased "What's the New Mary Jane" might be described as "Imagine" meets "Revolution 9." It's a strangely surreal piece that improves with repeated listening.
Moving on to Disc 2, its versions of "I've Got a Feeling" and "Dig a Pony" are considerably better than the ragged performances of those songs that appear on the forlorn Let It Be album. "The Long and Winding Road," presented here without Phil Spector's controversial overdubs, is another high point. [Update: The other non-Spector take of "The Long and Winding Road," released on LET IT BE: NAKED in 2003, is even better.]
Lennon had one foot out the door during the Let It Be sessions and it shows. Indeed, George Harrison is a more conspicuous presence on Disc 2 than Lennon is. The demo that George made of "Something," alone with his electric guitar, is beautiful. His demo of "Old Brown Shoe" is more compelling than the more elaborate version that was released as a B-side in 1969. The more keyboard-based version of "For You Blue" is charming. Most poignant of all is the demo of "All Things Must Pass," which became the title song of his epic debut solo album in 1970.
ANTHOLOGY 3 also offers a retrospective sneak peak at McCartney's solo career. "Junk" and "Teddy Boy" both went on to grace his first solo album. Even better is "Come and Get It," a song that McCartney gave to Badfinger (it was Badfinger's first hit).
This is not to say that everything on this album is a masterpiece. The rehearsals of "Octopus Garden," "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," and "Let It Be" are dispensable and add little; the same may be said of some of the White Album outtakes. Also, with a combined running time of almost two and one-half hours, there may be too much music here for casual listeners to digest all at once. Still, Anthology 3 has plenty of great music to behold and every Beatle fan owes it to him or herself to hear it.