Singer-Songwriters : Beatles: Anthology

Beatles: Anthology

CDN$ 55.99


Initially broadcast as a TV miniseries to go with the series of three Anthology double-CD albums, this set of eight documentary tapes has the heft and scope of one of Ken Burns s expansive projects. Still, unless you are either a historian or a truly committed fan, you ll find yourself with way more material--particularly about the Beatles early lives as lads in Liverpool--than you ll want to watch. The documentary material is copious, including early performance films and tapes, at the point before they found their true voices. The actual Beatlemania years--beginning in 1963 and concluding in 1970--feature extensive performance films, as well as home movies and archival material. The best parts, of course, are the interviews with the Beatles themselves, who produced the entire thing. Along with reworking two previously unreleased John Lennon tracks as new Beatles songs, the Anthology includes some unseen Lennon interview tapes so that his acerbic voice can be heard as well. This stands as a comprehensive document of that heady period, the second coming of rock & roll, as the Beatles took what Elvis had started and expanded upon it exponentially. The tapes give a solid sense of the historical context and the way these four musicians changed the world around them in the 1960s. --Marshall Fine

maddeningly thorough and that s not all - I think this anthology s main claim to existence - besides at many spots being well done - is that it is the digital age and all sorts of manipulations can be done skilfully. Thus they switch back and forth - within the same song, mind you, between clips from two different performances without missing a beat, only the boys have different uniforms on. Why couldn t they have kept it separate? As for the thoroughness, picture the following sequence (say, an interview in progress with Paul in his boat) ......and I thought that was really great. (cut to Ringo on some medterranean beach) ...and that was just really great, you know (cut to George under his gazebo) ..and that was just such a great idea (cut to the next subject) - I mean why do we need to have everybody piping in here, i m sure that Paul could have handled it just fine on his own, and Ringo could have handled the next one without everybody else then once again piping up with meaningless one-liners like that. they re doing this the whole way through. A minor complaint: It would have been nice if they had put the name of the person interviewed in a couple of times. maybe i m not much of a beatle-ophile, but I m through the third disk, and I still haven t a clue who the guy with the half-bald white hair is, who speaks a lot too. Epstein maybe.But hey, I m lying here recovering from surgery and I have to look at something.

EXCELLENT! - I don t know why it took me so long to watch this! It s incredibly detailed and contains footage I had never seen before. I also love the fact that Paul, George and Ringo were on-board to give their commentary and anecdotes. The whole project is tastefully and beautifully done. If you re a Beatles fan on any level, this anthology is not to be missed. BRAVO!

A MUST - this is a must for everyone who wants to know more about the best band ever... their music is just superbe and their history and pretty interesting... trust me you wont be dissapointed

A very unfair 1 star rating - It was very unfair of your other reviewer to give this superb compilation only 1 star just because it isn t yet available in his language or format. Everyone else has said it all and I agree with them 100% ... one of the very best documentaries in existence. It could be half as good as it is and still be a must-see for Beatles fans.

I wish it would be available in other formats - I wish that this precious collection would have subtitles in spanish and would be available in other dvd formats




Beatles: Anthology