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I've listened to all three Beatles Anthologies repeatedly: this is the only one I got my wallet out for, and it's been worth every cent. It's on Anthology 3, more than on the two earlier discs, that you'll hear discarded studio takes that were patently better than their counterparts which made it onto vinyl in the 1960's. Side One alone is almost worth the price of admission. After the nice but irrelevant orchestral intro 'A Beginning', engineer Geoff Emrick's 'Take Two' introduces a thunderous, menacing drum/bass with a sparse guitar scrawling lines above it. It's only when Paul McCartney's anguished, psychotic vocals kick in that you realise you're listening to 'Helter Skelter' - and how I wish they'd maintained the stripped, slow-burning feel of this take over the White Album's frantic but thin-sounding version. The gems continue with an acoustic sequence that has superlative readings of 'Mean Mr Mustard', 'Glass Onion', 'Polythene Pam', (with John's amusing ad-libs adding to the charm of these songs) 'Piggies' and Paul's 'Junk'. Other album highlights are a mellow 'Oh! Darling' with warm harmonies between John and Paul, a slower, bluesier 'She Came In Through The Bathroom Window', 'I Dig a Pony' and 'Two of Us' (both of these similar to yet subtly better than the 'Let It Be' versions), a mumbled Lennon rendition of 'Ain't She Sweet', and the soaring harmonies of 'Because' stripped of all instrumentation. Of course, George Martin and the Beatles got it right a lot of the time when they selected which takes to release. Anthology 3 features mediocre, inferior versions of 'Old Brown Shoe', 'Come Together', 'Octopus's Garden' and 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' which make the first half of Side Four a little tedious (and frankly, I've always been of the opinion that you CAN'T do a good version of 'The Long and Winding Road' - it's a TERRIBLE song!) 'Not Guilty' is a Harrison dud that's redeemed by his melancholy, acoustic 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'.So, not great all the way through. But the feeling you get from this record is that the Beatles, near The End, were still having fun - and still making undeniably great music.
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Anthology 3
Beatles
Genre:
Beatles
Release date:
1996
Duration:
57:20
Label:
Apple
Catalog Number:
C1 7243 8 34451 1 0
Condition:
Mint
Comments:
, LP, Original, U.S.A.
| Tracks:
She Loves You [Take]
(2:50)
Till There Was You
(2:54)
Twist And Shout
(3:05)
This Boy
(2:22)
I Want To Hold Your Hand
(2:36)
Boys, What I Was Thinking
(2:05)
Moonlight Bay
(0:49)
Can't Buy Me Love
(2:10)
All My Loving
(2:19)
You Can't Do That
(2:42)
And I Love Her
(1:52)
Hard Day's Night
(2:43)
I Wanna Be Your Man
(1:47)
Long Tall Sally
(1:45)
Boys
(1:49)
Shout
(1:31)
I'll Be Back [Take 2]
(1:12)
I'll Be Back [Take 3]
(1:57)
You Know What To Do
(1:58)
No Reply [Demo Version]
(1:46)
Mr. Moonlight
(2:47)
Leave My Kitten Alone
(2:56)
No Reply
(2:29)
Eight Days A Week [Sequence]
(1:25)
Eight Days A Week [Complete]
(2:47)
Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey-Hey!
(2:44)
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