ANTHOLOGY 1

The success of this "Anthology" CDs series opened the door for other bands to try to release for the first time on CD their previously auto-rejected tracks, tracks recorded in rehearsals, live tracks, unknown songs, etc. For some bands, like The Beatles, it worked very well, particularly with their fans. For other bands, it was to re-issue again old albums to add to them previously unreleased tracks to bring the attention of old fans again to sell them the same albums again. In the case of The Beatles, some of those tracks are of really historical importance, others not, but The Beatles is one of those bands who are almost loved everywhere (I think so), so there was some justification to release this "Anthology" series.

This "Anthology 1" 2 CD set is mostly of historical interest for the long time fans. It starts with the first "new song" recorded by Harrison, McCartney and Starr, who in 1994 added their parts to a incomplete Lennon`s song which was originally recorded in a cassette in the late 70s. With co-production credits to Jeff Lynne, they did a very good job with this song called "Free as a Bird".

The next songs, most of them recorded in Monophonic, are really historical pieces, like the first two songs that Harrison, Lennon and McCartney recorded with The Quarrymen in 1958 ("That`ll Be the Day" and "In Spite of All the Danger", the last song credited to McCartney and Harrison as composers). There are some songs recorded in Paul`s home in 1960, the only recordings on which their late bassist Stuart Sutcliffe appeared ("Hallelujah, I Love Her So", "You`ll Be Mine", "Cayenne"), some songs recorded with drummer Pete Best (tracks 10-12, 15-19, 21-22 on Disc 1), live tracks recorded for TV shows, an old demo of a forgotten song which wasn`t never recorded properly (Harrison`s "You Know What to Do"), studio takes of songs played with different arrangements to the finally released versions, one finished track which wasn`t released in any album or single ("Leave My Kitten Alone"), etc. There are also some commentaries to some tracks, which add interest to this historical recordings.

This "Anthology" series are very interesting for many fans. Some other people criticize these albums as nothing more than "more money for the musicians and for EMI". IMO, they are important in the history of The Beatles, one of the most important Rock bands of the world (if not the most important).

Each one of the packages of the "Anthology" CD series include very good explanation notes, track by track, written by Mark Lewisohn.