2025 marked the anniversary of a major Beatles project. It is the 30th anniversary of the Anthology ABC television series and its related projects, which included a three-volume audio companion set and a book.
While it began in 1995, the entire Anthology project was rolled out over several years. Neil Aspinal, erstwhile group insider since their scuffling Liverpool days and eventual long-time head of their Apple empire, launched a project during the first incarnation of Apple to collect all the visual material on the group
To be called The Long and Winding Road, it was to be a documentary-style film about the group’s history. The Complete Beatles, released on VHS in 1982, would beat the Beatles to the punch on releasing a documentary on the band. That documentary is out of print, and Paul McCartney owns the rights to it.
By 1994, with the fractious business and personal bitterness behind them, Apple was transformed into more than just a holding company for the group’s ongoing business enterprise, and the Live at the BBC double-volume set was released. It featured audio recordings of the group performing on various BBC radio and television programs. This was the most fulsome release of archival music from the group since the 1978 and 1980 single-disc Rarities releases.
While the Rarities albums offered a few choice, previously unreleased recordings, for die-hard fans of The Beatles, the Anthology project was more of what they were looking for, and would initially yield three double-CD and vinyl releases of previously unreleased radio, television, live, and, most anticipated, studio recordings.
As much as fans were thrilled by the three-part Anthology documentary, it was the abundance of previously unreleased studio material that they were looking forward to most. Many fans had spent most of the years after the group broke up discovering, collecting, and scrutinizing the avalanche of bootleg material released of the music of The Beatles.
It’s safe to say that bootleg material from Bob Dylan and The Beatles helped launch the bootleg industry in the late 1960s. This mainly consisted of material from Dylan’s electric concerts in England and the Basement Tapes, both with The Band, as well as the endless hours of audio recorded during the making of the Let It Be album and film by The Beatles.
To top it off, for fans of The Beatles, the Anthology project offered two “new” tracks—“Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” These two recordings were cassette demos of John Lennon songs, which were later developed into full-fledged tracks by the surviving Beatles and producer Jeff Lynne. In many respects, the Live at the BBC and Anthology projects became the springboard for the flood of archival releases to come. Those recordings, which were part of the vast vault of recordings held at Abbey Road or by Apple, were what fans had been clamoring for for years.
Other fine archival releases have come out since the Anthology, including a second BBC Live release, the Ron Howard Eight Days A Week film and accompanying audio, and other projects. The release of such material hit a high note in 2017 with the 50th anniversary of the release of the massive Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band box and continued through related releases of the White Album, Abbey Road, Let It Be, and Revolver.
In 2023, Apple changed direction and released an anniversary edition of the Red and Blue compilation albums, which included another “new” track, based on a Lennon demo cassette of a song called “Now and Then,” that the surviving Beatles started work on and were considering releasing as part of the third volume of the Anthology CD set. Paul and Ringo assembled the track, and a team comprising Jeff Lynne and Giles Martin, which also featured additional guitar work and contributions from the late George Harrison.
In 2024, Apple released The Beatles: 1964 US Albums in Mono, a box set comprising seven mono albums from Capitol Records. These two reissue projects were met with a variety of positive and negative reactions. What fans were hoping would be released in 2025 was a 60th anniversary release of Rubber Soul in a similar manner to the anniversary releases of Sgt. Pepper through Revolver.
Instead, what we have is the 30th anniversary of the Anthology project. The centerpiece of the project is the Disney+, nine-episode series of the Anthology. A key to the remaking of the project was Peter Jackson, who worked on the Get Back project, a reimagining of the Let It Be film. While Jackson was involved in cleaning up the video and to some degree the audio, he seems less involved in the Anthology project than he was in the Get Back project.
While the Anthology television series appears visually appealing, it is a shorter, truncated version of both the original series and the VHS and DVD releases. A Blu-ray release, if there is one, will include an extended version of the previous releases. For this review, we will primarily examine the reissue of the Anthology audio releases and the accompanying book.
The audio for the Anthology project has been released in various formats. We will focus on the Anthology Collection 12-LP box set. It has also been released as an 8-CD set. The 12-LP box includes reissues of the first three triple-album vinyl sets from the Anthology, as well as a new triple-album set featuring a fourth volume of the series.
The four triple-album sets are housed in a sturdy slipcase box that comes with a paper cardstock belly band with a photo that rebrands the look of the series. While the initial announcement and pre-order information on this box indicated that the fourth volume was not available for purchase, it was eventually announced, as a separate volume, that it would be available on vinyl and CD, which it now is.
The other options are the Anthology Collection Limited, Numbered Photo Art Card Set: 12-LP and 8-CD box set, only available through The Beatles store, and a limited-edition double A-side translucent, milk white 7-inch featuring the new mixes of the Anthology-singles: “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love” as a double A-side and a 2-CD set.
The triple-album sets are faithful reproductions of the originals. Added in the first volume are captions for the photos inside the tri-fold spread, indicating where the photos were taken. Another nice touch is that, unlike the paper sleeves that came with the original albums, all 12 vinyl albums come in poly-lined sleeves. All of the records were pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal in Germany and sound exceptional.
The big news is that Peter Jackson assisted in improving the audio over the original 1995 and 2016 remixes through the use of his MAL technology, which was first used on the Get Back project. This has dramatically improved the overall sound of the material on the previously released first three volumes. This is especially true of the earliest recordings on Volume One, such as the Liverpool recordings at Percy Phillips’ studio, the Bert Kaempfert recordings in Hamburg, the Decca audition recordings, and the live Stockholm recordings.
The second volume also benefits from having upgraded sound. The volume is representative of the group’s rapid and dramatic shift from their waning Beatlemania pop stardom period to the makers of serious and artistic albums with songs of tremendous growth and startling studio experimentation, which combined to create albums of richly drawn conceptualization.
One of the real highlights from strictly a sound perspective is “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby” from their 1965 Shea Stadium appearance. This is the first time a recording from the notorious concert has been this faithful to the actual live sound. The live material, particularly rehearsals and demos, really shines here with the new MAL cleaned-up mix.
The third volume was the first time any substantial amount of material appeared on an official release from the oft-bootlegged final recording years of the group, from Abbey Road, but most significantly Let It Be. This would be the beginning of a continuing release of material from Let It Be, with future projects such as Let It Be… Naked from 2003 and the Let It Be box from 2021, making it one of the only albums from The Beatles that would see several reincarnations or re-imaginings, not to mention music heard in the Get Back television series.
The volume also includes some of the Esher Demos. These were the demo recordings The Beatles made after they returned from India at George Harrison’s bungalow, Kinfauns, in Esher, in May 1968, of songs they had written primarily in India that would appear on the White Album.
Giles Martin put together the fourth volume. There are 37 tracks. Twenty-six of them have never been available on vinyl before, and 13 have never been released before. There has been some debate over this new fourth set. Some have lamented that many of these tracks have previously been released as bonus material on anniversary box sets. Others have also questioned having the tracks on a separate set, rather than programming them chronologically, creating an entirely new Anthology audio series that is more consistentstent with the original concept of the Anthology.
And, hardcore collectors, those Giles Martin jokingly refers to as the “socks and sandals crowd,” are still pining for such elusive, still unreleased rarities as the long, unedited version of “Helter Skelter” and especially “Carnival of Light.” It’s not difficult to argue that re-sequencing all of the volumes would have raised a new set of outcries from many fans and would have forced everyone into the only option of buying the entire package—something some won’t or simply can’t afford to do.
One area that has unfortunately been met with the most criticism is the new mixes of “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” While “Free As A Bird” has both improvements and some odd new mixing choices over the previous two mixes, the real problem track is “Real Love.” While it’s debatable whether Lennon’s voice should have been cleaned up and made so much more prominent in the mix, the real crime is the way that Harrison’s iconic guitar parts have been either buried more in the mix or seemingly omitted completely.
Given the ambition of this new box and the relatively short production period (one year) one would guess these kinds of misses are going to happen. While this new fourth volume doesn’t add anything revelatory for fans seeking out previously unreleased material, it’s more than worthy of being added to what should be the final word on the Anthology project.
Some of the carping about this project seems to be a bit shrill and overwrought. It’s great that these albums have come out with updated sound, especially in light of the availability of Peter Jackson’s MAL technology. The sound quality of these discs is a revelation, something that must have been particularly challenging to accomplish given the fact that the recordings here are mostly not from finished masters and are from various time periods and several sources. It can’t be overstated just how truly amazing these albums sound.
The vinyl albums have been out of print, and while they are not all that hard or overly expensive to find, being able to obtain brand new ones with sound as good as these discs makes getting this box set make more sense. Also, given all the different formats and configurations, the project should appeal to a wide variety of fans, from the new or casual to the hardcore. The box is truly a beautiful product, affording hours of listening enjoyment, and the track annotations, although for the most part not new, except in the fourth set, provide a rich background and history of the recordings.
It might have been nice if Apple had commissioned a new album design for the fourth set, especially since they could have probably had Klaus Voormann do it, but the choice of repeating images of the first three all together may signify that is the last word on the Anthology.
As for what’s next from Apple, it’s hard to say. Apple has a new CEO, Tom Greene, as of July. It would appear his focus will be more on film, with the four Sam Mendez films coming out in 2028. The next big project is anyone’s guess. The Rubber Soul box is the one fans want the most, but given how much Rubber Soul material is on this fourth and previous volumes of the Anthology it’s hard to say if one will be forthcoming.
Peter Jackson is in possession of the Star Club tapes, another project fans would love to see, as these recordings have never been released by The Beatles or Apple. It would seem that 2027 would be more likely to mark the 50th anniversary of the original release. But, that year could see a 60th anniversary release of Magical Mystery Tour. Will there be a volume two of the The Beatles: 1964 Albums In Mono box?
The BBC recordings might benefit from some of Peter Jackson’s magic, and maybe more BBC recordings could be added to it. Any live concerts that have yet to be released in audio or video would be welcome. The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963, released by Apple in 2013 for download only, would be welcome if expanded and released on vinyl and CD. The Beatles concert at Budokan would also be nice. And what about A Hard Day’s Night and Help! packaged together? We will have to wait and see, because tomorrow never knows.
Another aspect of this project that complements the music and the Disney+ series is a reissue of the Anthology book The Beatles Anthology (25th Anniversary Reissue) from Chronicle Books. The book is being reissued in paperback and does not include any new material, but it has a wraparound belly-band that duplicates the picture on the belly-band of the new Anthology box. This new soft-cover edition certainly makes for an easier reading experience, especially for people who like to read in bed, as the hardcover book is a weighty object.
Given that the Anthology book is primarily an oral history, it works as the perfect companion to the Anthology music box. The book also just works as something to dip into at any time and is a striking visual document of the history of The Beatles. This paperback, affordable edition is a great choice for anyone who might have yet to add the book to their collection. While an authorized release, it is a deep dive into the group’s history, as told mostly by The Beatles themselves and remains an invaluable tome.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
