LET IT BE - NAKED

This album basically came out of nowhere and ruined all my childhood memories for many years to come! Yes, I agree that the previous statement was a bit harsh, but now you're probably more inclined to read on to see how on earth I could still give this album such a high rating!

As I previously stated in my review of the original version of Let It Be, this album has been a huge favorite of mine ever since my early childhood and not once have I ever considered Phil Spector's orchestral overdubbs and other mixing with these original songs to be unfulfilling. The only reason why anyone would want to release this album after more than 30 years is because the naysayers who criticized the original release have now grown old and have become a liable market demographic group to pump more money out of. It's obvious that any new or improved studio release from the Beatles is likely to sell and once the CD-reissues have stopped selling in the quantities that they did in the '90s some new product had to be invented.

This is a truly genius scheme since the only two major differences that this album brings to the previous experience are the reworks of The Long And Winding Road and the newly added Don't Let Me Down. Looking at the rating difference it just doesn't make much sense to me why this experience is suppose to be this much better than the original. Still, since I'm into music reviewing and not the business surrounding it, I can't give this unnecessary album the rating it really deserves. Instead I can only see Let It Be... Naked as a slightly less interesting version of the album that I've loved ever since I heard it in the early '90s.

The music offered on this so-called improved version of the Let It Be album didn't really have a purpose other than to make the fans spill out even more of their hard earned cash. The fact that the record was released on 17 November, only a month before Christmas, says more about the whole scheme than I ever could put in words. Music-wise it's just a slightly inferior version of the original which is why I actually can't rate it lower than the excellent addition rating even though I really want to.

***** star songs: Two Of Us (3:21) I Me Mine (2:21) Across The Universe (3:38) Let It Be (3:55)

**** star songs: Get Back (2:34) Dig A Pony (3:28) For You Blue (2:27) The Long And Winding Road (3:34) I've Got A Feeling (3:30) One After 909 (2:44) Don't Let Me Down (3:18)