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| The Beatles - Anthology |
 Released: 2003 Label: EMI Cat. No.: 07243 4 92969 9 2 Total Time: More than 11 hours | |
Reviewed by: John "BoBo" Bollenberg, December 2003
I don’t think it’s necessary to describe in detail the contents of the first 4 DVDs as they do indeed contain the material from all 8 VHS tapes. Shown for the very first time in 1995, those ten hours of Beatles film were part of a succesful campaign in order to promote the chart topping Anthology series plus the release of "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love," the first brand new Beatles recordings in 25 years! DVD this time around enables all ten hours to be spread over four DVDs, whilst a further 81 minutes of so far unseen material has been reserved for that all important fifth DVD. No doubt the most important part of this bonus disc is the last jam session of Paul, George and Ringo playing non-Beatles material, filmed over a period of twelve months when the three remaining Beatles either met in private or at Abbey Road Studios. Before I tackle this most important fifth disc, let us recapitulate what you can find on the first four DVDs: Volume one VHS = DVD Disc 1 = 1940 – March 1963 And then that most important fifth disc. In a nutshell here’s what you can expect: Recollections – June 1994: Paul, George and Ringo get together and talk about old times. Together they play "Baby What You Want Me To Do," "Raunchy," "Thinking Of Linking," "Blue Moon Of Kentucky"’ and "Ain’t She Sweet." Compiling the Anthology albums: together with George Martin our three friends talk in detail as to how they choose the tracks for the three Anthology sets Back at Abbey Road – May 1995: in famous Studio 2, Paul, Ringo, and the two Georges reflect on recording "Golden Slumbers," "I’m Only Sleeping" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" and talk about the inventive recording techniques they used. Recording "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love": intimate footage filmed during the recording of these two unique tracks are an important find here. The three remaining Beatles are joined by Jeff Lynne. Production team: key members of the Beatles entourage explain how the Beatles Anthology series was created. Making the "Free As A Bird" video: when you have seen this Grammy winning video you most certainly had questions as to how they did it. Director Joe Pytka lets you into some secrets. The "Real Love" video now remixed in surround 5.1 as is all the rest of the material. In fact you get 1760 minutes of "new" audio material on this box set! It’s really amazing to see Paul, Ringo and George sit at Abbey Road studios together with George Martin sifting through the original tapes as recorded so many years ago. They are able to "play" with the different tracks in order to come up with some interesting alternative takes. How I envy Jeff Lynne, who had the opportunity to step into the shoes of John Lennon and become the fourth Beatle. But above all what a pleasure to see all of them in such a good mood contributing to what normally would have been called “The Long And Winding Road," yet which is now known throughout the world as Anthology, a wonderful insight into the lives and minds of four individuals who changed the face of music forever. In exactly the same way like you’ll find a bible in every single hotel room, every house in the world should have a copy of this Beatles DVD box set because everyone in the world should know every single detail about these 4 guys who most definitely changed the world … 4 ever! More about Anthology: Musicians: Contact: Website: www.thebeatles.com Discography
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When Apple / EME released a lavish 8-tape VHS box set in 1996, their marketing strategy also employed that some of that footage, if not all, was shown on subsequent TV-stations all around the globe. We were all unanimous: this was the best package any Beatles fan could ever dream of. The sales of many millions of copies went on to prove just that. Only a couple of years later and technology has once again delivered a new phenomenon with the arrival of the DVD. In the case of the Beatles video footage, not only does the new format enable the record company to combine two VHS tapes onto one single DVD, it also gives them the opportunity to add a fifth DVD including previously unreleased material. On top of that, this box retails at a very interesting price the world over, so that Beatles fans who already own the lavish VHS set will undoubtedly buy this DVD set with their eyes closed. However do open those eyes in time so you can enjoy every single second on offer here.