Let It Be (Super Deluxe)

* Well, there is a song called 'One After 909'.The penultimate album they recorded, ‘Let It Be’ was the last the group released and, despite being delayed for 18 months, has now been given the 50th Anniversary treatment. Available in six configurations, this is the six disc super deluxe edition.CD1:The remixing of the original LP makes everything clearer and allows you to discover things previously difficult to hear. ‘Across The Universe’ comes over as softer and really does sound heavenly but ‘Dig It’ and the sea shanty of ‘Maggie Mae’ are still throwaway ditties. It’s worth noting that parts (or all) of some performances here were issued on the ‘Let It Be...Naked’ CD.CD2:Looking like an Apple acetate, the casual listener might not notice anything different in these takes but the die-hard fan will. And that’s at whom the deluxe set is aimed. I don’t think speech tracks mix well with musical ones but there are a couple here. To counter those is take 3 of ‘One After 909’*, with a rock ‘n’ roll piano from Billy Preston right up in the mix.CD3:The most interesting of all the discs here simply because ten of the songs never appeared on the album and three didn’t find a release on anything, like CD2, this replicates an Apple acetate. Unfortunately, the most enticing songs are no more than 90 seconds or so of a few lines because, as Ringo states after the single verse of ‘Octopus’ Garden’, “That’s all I have”. Despite being just rehearsals, they’re all still a tempting listen, nonetheless. And it does make you wonder what might have been had they taken these further at the time. The best thing on this disc is Billy Preston's blues vocal on 'Without A Song'.CD4:Called ‘Get Back’, this is what the album was going to be had it not been rejected by the group at the time, but I think some versions here are better than what we’re familiar with. ‘For You Blue’ being one, which has a different, and I believe, better vocal, and the McCartney ballads sound more intimate. This has an appeal of its own, sounding more human than the polished versions. It’s also a truer reflection of the original aim; raw with no overdubs or corrections Others, however, might get the overall feeling of unhappy musicians generally not that interested in what they’re doing. You decide. What is nice about this CD is that the sleeve copies the ‘Please Please Me’ LP, but the text on the reverse is a bit hard to readCD5:Strangely, this is just a four track EP. An unreleased January 1970 mix of ‘Across The Universe’ (and this is the seventh time this song has been issued in various mixes and versions and is by far the best of them all, lowering the backing vocals and making more of the tamboura) is joined by the original sub two minute version of ‘I Me Mine’, also from January1970 and featuring three real Beatles, and new mixes of both the single of ‘Let It Be’, as it was a different version to that on the LP, and ‘Don’t Let Me Down’. The latter with an amusing chat beforehand.CD6:A Blu-ray disc that contains a Dolby Atmos mix of the original album, alongside a 5.1 Surround Sound mix and a High-res stereo mix. It’s also on the red Apple label.BOOK:As with the other anniversary reissues, the 105 page hard back book contains a plethora of unseen photos, tape boxes, etc. alongside extensive recording information that makes all other books on the subject somewhat redundant.BOX:The white book and CD folder slide out from the black box from the left and if you have the latter on the top, you can have yourself a completely different cover.VERDICT:Certainly not their finest work, and probably not too high in the list of favourite albums of any fan, it would still be the pinnacle of most other artists career. The alternate versions and takes aren’t too dissimilar and whilst I don't think there’s enough variety here to excite as many as the other Anniversary sets did, it’s still worthwhile. Anything the Beatles release generates column inches most other artists can only dream of and with the film due late November, maybe it will encourage a new generation of fans.

I have to admit to being a total Beatles freak , and like many other fans this is the fourth time that I have bought "Let It Be" (LP,1987 CD, 2009 CD and this box) . And like many others this has never been my favourite Beatles album .Firstly , the packaging is excellent , the book informative and well illustrated , in contrast to Apple's last effort "All Things Must Pass" with it's tiddly box and uninspiring book . The remaster of the "Let It Be" LP at least goes part way to rehabilitating Phil Spector's mix - leaving aside the horrors that are "Long And Winding Road" and "Across The Universe" (it has to be considered that the other two orchestrated tracks are not that bad) when the live tracks and particularly "Two Of Us" are compared to the Glyn Johns mixes on CD4 they sparkle and shine with an energy that Johns' failed to catch . The "Get Back" album on CD4 is interesting listening for fans like me but thank god they chose not to put that version out , it's just too messy .The book explains about the hours of rehersals so how come only 32 minutes of those feature on CD3 and 47 minutes on CD2 ? Barely one CD's worth in total . Apple know that hard core fans buy these sets who would not be put off by multiple takes so why the brevity ? I've heard a lot of the bootlegs of these sessions and am fully aware that a lot of it , particularly the rock and roll oldies , are a bit rough , but if a more little care and effort was taken there's plenty that could have been added to this set . And what's with CD5 and four tracks ? Interesting as they are couldn't they have been added to one of the other CDs ? The total running time of all 5 CDs wouldn't take up the running time of two discs .The rot has set in with deluxe CD box sets , and The Beatles started their decline in standards with "Abbey Road" - brilliant book and packaging , two short running bonus CDs (I know all their sets include a bluray disc but how many of these have been played by purchasers ?) . The Stones "Goatshead Soup" followed on - what was basically a weirdly recorded LP made no better with remastering and short-changing on bonus tracks .The "Sgt Pepper" and "White Album" boxsets set a standard that Apple decided not to follow (though at the risk of contradicting myself there were rather too many sub-standard outtakes on the latter!) with two exceptions of John Lennon's "Imagine" and "Plastic Ono Band" sets which were tremendous value . The music content on "All Things Must Pass" was magnificent but the packing shoddy .Maybe we've now come to the end of the remastered boxsets from The Beatles - Giles Martin has said that there is not much he can do to improve earlier LPs sonically over his father's work . But "Let It Be" itself had huge potential to be more than Apple have offered . The irony of it is that though I feel short changed , I find little to complain about the quality of the scraps we've been offered and hugely enjoyed listening to it !

The presentation of this super deluxe box set is beautiful. The sound is superb. And it's The Beatles!!! BUT...The Phil Spector arrangements and productions are still (and always were) horrendous. They could have been left on the back catalogue somewhere as a separate CD, and I am surprised Paul didn’t take this chance to get rid.It would have been possible to put together a final once and for all Let It Be / Get Back album, using the STUDIO recordings of Two of Us, Long Winding Road, etc., and a LIVE album containing the ENTIRE roof top concert. That would have still been an honest, “warts and all” record of the Beatles at work, which was their original concept. Instead, the patchwork quilt approach from ’69 persists, and is less convincing today.There is a lot of repetition of songs in order to fill the required CDs, which I understand is unavoidable, but do we need the Apple EP? I look forward to the videos of these sessions. Certainly, I think, that would be the way to really enjoy these recordings the most.