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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 20, 2023 20:44:06 GMT
Here it is, the one you've come for, the long awaited reunion of Paul, George and Ringo with the voice of John Lennon. For those who missed Beatlemania the first time around, this was a huge (YUGE) event. I watched the first episode of the Anthology on Sunday night, then waited Monday night for the midnight release of Anthology 1. I had a few of these recordings on bootlegs, but for the most part, it was new music to me.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 20, 2023 20:56:08 GMT
I was very excited for this, being very much in a Beatles-centric phase at the time. I remember my music theory professor, whom I suspect was in his mid-40s at the time, and so would have been culturally conscious certainly by the latter half of Beatlemania at least, saying that he was so moved by "Free as a Bird" that he wept.
Gotta be honest, it didn't move me like that. But it was great to have it released, not to mention a technical wonder for the time. But overall I always preferred the documentary to the Anthology albums. As with most rarities or odds and ends kinds of compilations, even with my favorite bands, I'm just not likely to get too excited about how Take 2 different from Take 1, or to hear the string overdubs on their own, or whatever.
My favorite song from the first one, no question, was the reunion single. It's far from the best song on that collection, which of course had a handful of early to mid period classics. But it was new!
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Post by kds on Feb 21, 2023 13:52:41 GMT
The Anthology series is a treasure trove for Beatles fans, even if much of the material had found its way onto the market in one way or another, it neatly packs it all together.
Best - Free As a Bird - The novelty of this track probably should've worn off about a quarter of a century ago, but I think it still holds up rather well.
Worst - Moonlight Bay - As a curio, it's not bad.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 21, 2023 21:08:52 GMT
I was very excited for this, being very much in a Beatles-centric phase at the time. I remember my music theory professor, whom I suspect was in his mid-40s at the time, and so would have been culturally conscious certainly by the latter half of Beatlemania at least, saying that he was so moved by "Free as a Bird" that he wept. Gotta be honest, it didn't move me like that. But it was great to have it released, not to mention a technical wonder for the time. But overall I always preferred the documentary to the Anthology albums. As with most rarities or odds and ends kinds of compilations, even with my favorite bands, I'm just not likely to get too excited about how Take 2 different from Take 1, or to hear the string overdubs on their own, or whatever. My favorite song from the first one, no question, was the reunion single. It's far from the best song on that collection, which of course had a handful of early to mid period classics. But it was new! I haven't bought any of the anniversary box sets, because I don't need to hear 5 versions of the same song over and over. I think the Fabs got it right with Anthology - present an alternate version of a variety of songs, along with some live stuff, and the few unreleased songs. Most fans seem to prefer the second volume, but I like this one the best. There are some cool variations on very familiar songs - And I Love Her, Eight Days a Week, I'll Be Back - along with some live stuff that shows them to have been a great live band before the screams started drowing them out. The version of Roll Over Beethoven included here wipes the floor with their studio version. There's some very, very early primitive recordings on disc one, but they go by quickly, and are interesting enough to bear repetition. But the crown jewel is Free As a Bird. To me, it sounds like an MMT or white album outtake updated for the 80's. Even the ghostly sound of John's voice kind of works in this context. I watched the Anthology videos so many times I should probably have every bit of dialogue memorized. I wish there was a series of this quality about the Beach Boys.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 21, 2023 21:10:35 GMT
I was so poor during the 90's I had to wait until these turned up in the used video section to buy the series. Attachments:
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 21, 2023 21:20:12 GMT
I was so poor during the 90's I had to wait until these turned up in the used video section to buy the series. I know the feeling, I was a poor student at the time! I got both the CDs and the VHS used. In fact I got a lot of my CDs used, as I was only switching from cassette to CDs in the mid-90s, while I was in college. It was a lot of used racks at Cheapo Records, Disc-Go-Round, and such. Of course now the VHS tapes are unusable, as I haven't had a VCR in probably 20 years. (I don't even have a real DVD player anymore, just a cheap little thing I got at Target that uses USB to connect to my Macbook and can play, rip or burn CDs and DVDs.)
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Post by kds on Feb 21, 2023 21:25:26 GMT
I was so poor during the 90's I had to wait until these turned up in the used video section to buy the series. I never had the VHS version. I actually didn't see Anthology in full until it was released on DVD in 2003. I was working at Circuit City, and the sale price the week of the release must've been pretty good because I bought myself a copy. I probably watched it in about a two week span, a feat I would never be able to repeat today (I still haven't finished Get Back).
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Post by B.E. on Feb 22, 2023 1:45:05 GMT
"Leave My Kitten Alone" is in the running for my favorite track of the entire Anthology. I can't believe they didn't release it. It's practically the only finished track they held back!
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 22, 2023 7:13:27 GMT
"Leave My Kitten Alone" is in the running for my favorite track of the entire Anthology. I can't believe they didn't release it. It's practically the only finished track they held back! Yeah, that would have fit right in on Beatles '65 or Beatles IV or 98 or whatever it is. It could have bumped off Mr. Moonlight.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 23, 2023 4:26:58 GMT
After all the buildup for the Anthology tv series and the first Anthology album, Anthology 2 was a bit of a let down. Real Love is a good song, but lacked the magic of Free As a Bird. I thought the highlight of the second album was the segment showing the evolution of Strawberry Fields Forever. Most of the alternate versions were good, but not as good as the released versions. One exception was It's Only Love. The strumming acoustic guitar is much more prominent in this version, and John's vocal seems more committed. I liked the stripped down versions of I Am the Walrus and Good Morning, Good Morning. The live stuff on this album wasn't as good as the stuff on Anthology 1 or Live at the BBC. Sugar plum fairie, sugar plum fairie
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 23, 2023 12:48:57 GMT
I preferred "Real Love" to "Free as a Bird" at the time, and wondered how differently it might have been received if they'd swapped the order. Because regardless of quality, there is no doubt that the excitement over the first "new Beatles" song was huge. And second? That was ... second. As time has gone on, though, I am not sure which I prefer. They are pretty even in my mind these days.
The "Strawberry Fields" stuff was great, because while I recall having seen something about how they did it in a doc (was it in the Sgt. Pepper's 20th anniversary doc, since it was of that era? I don't recall where I'd seen it), and was interested. But that was just a snippet or two. It was cool hearing them in this fuller presentation.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 25, 2023 2:45:36 GMT
By the time Anthology 3 came out, a lot of the excitement about the series had waned. We got a full disc of white album demos and outtakes, some Let it Be stuff, and very little from Abbey Road. The one track that i still go back to is the acoustic While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
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Post by Kapitan on Feb 25, 2023 12:36:24 GMT
I actually enjoyed Anthology 3 quite a bit--maybe most of all, and definitely more than 1. But you're right that the excitement had worn off, and of course this one didn't have a new song. That was disappointing.
In addition to that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which I prefer to the original, by far!), I liked some of the Abbey Road demos, "Ob La Di," and some of those that were never Beatles songs, like "Not Guilty," "Junk," "Teddy Boy," "All Things Must Pass," and "Come And Get It."
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 26, 2023 2:34:54 GMT
I actually enjoyed Anthology 3 quite a bit--maybe most of all, and definitely more than 1. But you're right that the excitement had worn off, and of course this one didn't have a new song. That was disappointing. In addition to that version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (which I prefer to the original, by far!), I liked some of the Abbey Road demos, "Ob La Di," and some of those that were never Beatles songs, like "Not Guilty," "Junk," "Teddy Boy," "All Things Must Pass," and "Come And Get It." Gret version of Ob La Di - I prefer it to the originally released version. And it's interesting to compare the Beatles version of Not Guilty to the way George did it 10 years later. I wanted more Abbey Road stuff on this volume; had to wait for the anniversary edition for that. I enjoyed the anniversary edition of Abbey Road more than the others, simply because there was a lot more stuff there I hadn't heard already. A lot of the stuff on the anniversary editions of Pepper, white album and more recently, Revolver, was familiar to me because it had been used in the Anthology series.
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Post by lonelysummer on Feb 26, 2023 21:07:24 GMT
So after the Anthologies, we got Yellow Submarine Songtrack. I waited a couple years to get that one. I didn't see it as essential, but it was interesting to hear the new mixes. And then of course we got 1. I see that cd in the thrift stores now - it was one of those that everybody had to get. At some point, though, I stopped buying the same old material for the 2nd 3rd 4th time. When the deluxe editions come out now, I just get them from our library. Hmm, what was the last Beatles release I bought? Oh, I bought the mono Pepper when it came out on vinyl in 2014. That was probably the last one.
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