The second in a three part series in which EMI allegedly emptied its vaults of remaining Beatles recordings, Anthology 2 features another "new" Beatles song, alternate takes, rarities, and a few live tracks from the years 1965-1968. Aside from hearing the new song, it's fun to hear acoustic run-throughs and demos, but you should really stick to the original albums (alternate takes usually have a good reason for not being released). This all seems academic to me, which probably explains why I've never ripped any of these tracks to my computer or bought Anthology 3. This is interesting, but...
Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #1 (one week, April 6, 1996)
Tracks: 45 tracks across 2 discs. Highlights include That Means A Lot, a song the Beatles wrote but didn't release, a take of Paul singing Yesterday accompanying himself on guitar without the string quartet, an acoustic version of Strawberry Fields Forever, and slightly different versions of Penny Lane and Lady Madonna.
The new track, Real Love, was described by a critic as sounding like "Julian Lennon backed by the Traveling Wilburys," but was actually a 1979 John Lennon demo given to Paul by Yoko. The three surviving Beatles then added guitars, bass, drums, percussion, and backing vocals, but unlike the song Free As A Bird on Anthology 1, they did not re-work either lyric or music. So, the song became the only Beatles song to have Lennon by himself in the writing credit.
Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. After listening to Anthology 1 back in October 2011, I re-watched DVDs of the accompanying television miniseries. It was worth watching again, but just so. Good, not great. The highlight of the series:
Previously revisited for the blog:
Love (2006)
Anthology 1 (1995)
1967-1970 (1973)
Abbey Road (1969)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
Rubber Soul (1965)
Help! (1965)
Please Please Me (1963)
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