Let It Be [Enhanced, Limited Edition, Original recording remastered, Soundtrack]

Few rock albums have a history as convoluted and controversial as that of Let It Be. Beatles fans know the story well: McCartney, unlike the rest of the band, wanted to go back to live performances; a bunch of songs were worked up, and a rooftop concert was proposed in which the songs would be played and recorded. The overriding theme of the sessions was "back to basics": little or no overdubs and a lot of live-in-the-studio playing. The working up of these songs, the Get Back sessions, never materialized as an album in the 60's and the band abandoned them to work on what would become Abbey Road. Legendary producer Phil Spector was handed a copy of the Get Back sessions out of which -- after doing some post-production work, adding in some trademark strings, giving a couple of songs his trademark "wall of sound" treatment, and having the band add in a couple of overdubs -- he assembled this album. This album can be seen, in a way, as Spector's interpretations of the sessions -- dialogue, fragments, his own touches, and all. After much pressure by the public and subsequent label hyping, some of these sessions were finally released in 1970. The album has been riddled by controversy and varying interpretations ever since: some loved it; others hated it and called it the worst Beatles album ever. Among the Beatles themselves, Lennon admired Spector's presentation of what he saw as a very poor set of songs, while McCartney has complained for years about Spector's heavy-handed overdubs -- a situation which he has recently seen rectified with the release of the alternate album, Let It Be... Naked.

The album itself has a kind of jagged, raw quality. It is often quite clear that the band is playing live and laying off of the overdubs: little polish is present. In contrast to the very refined and polished Sgt. Pepper, which the band took over a year and hundreds of hours to make, Let It Be was clearly approached with a looser frame of mind; at some points, they are clearly just letting loose and jamming. All of this, combined with the abundance of spoken dialogue from the band members (mostly Lennon), both between and during songs, would lead the uninitiated to believe that the band had a lot of fun recording this album. As anyone familiar with the story behind it knows, however, it was exactly the opposite. Some of the band members subsequently described the sessions as "absolute madness", hellish atmosphere of constant arguing among the members about everything from arrangements to their girlfriends. McCartney was clearly the leader of the sessions -- accused by Harrison, who actually left the band briefly, of domination. All of this makes it hard to view and judge the album objectively, but it is worthwhile to do so in order to get the record straight, so to speak and pardon the pun, thereby removing the album from its historical context and judging it on its own merits.

Several of the songs, as few would argue, are uniformly excellent. These include Across The Universe, a great track that features Lennon combining elements of his distinctive Dylan-esque lyricism, psychedelia, and pop. Two Of Us is a nice folksy number that features Lennon and McCartney singing together in a very charming manner. Harrison's I Me Mine is a nice, hard-rocking ditty. But the heart of the album lies with the three very strong McCartney tracks (Get Back, the title track, and The Long and Winding Road), the latter two of which rank among the best songs the band ever recorded. Get Back is a pleasant and very catchy country-esque rocker. Let It Be is am amazing quasi-gospel track that features some of McCartney's best lyrics. The Long and Winding Road is an incredibly beautiful and emotional track, one of the most pathos-inducing in the entire rock world. Contrary to the opinion of McCartney and many Beatles fans, Phil Spector's strings add a touch of grandeur and ethereal beauty to the track that would not otherwise be there. The song is the great track that it is partly because of the strings; it certainly would not be the same without it.

Of course, the album is also uneven -- featuring, as it does, several weak and/or mediocre tracks. All of the songs not thus far mentioned are either lightweight or pure filler -- though a couple of them are somewhat fun and enjoyable, their informal, jamming nature exuding a mood that is sometimes infectious. The frequently-appearing dialogue is also unnecessary and intrusive (unless one just happens to love Lennon's uber-British sense of humor); removing it is one thing that Let It Be... Naked got right. However, these weaknesses should not stigmatize the album as strongly as many critics have been wont to do; after all, every single Beatles studio album -- and especially the White Album, as good as it is -- has fat on it that should have been trimmed off. This might have a little more than some of the others, but it is still a viable, enjoyable album that contains some absolutely classic and essential Beatles songs. For fans, it is a must, though they should not start here.

Listening to this I thought one of two things, is this bad in comparison to albums like Abbey Road and Revolver, or is it just different? I think I'm leaning towards diffrenent. I have to stand up for Spector, his production gives the album a unique sound to the Beatles catalogue. And what's wrong with him trying to be experimental as a producer on Across the Universe? It's an unusual song. I'll have to see if I can hear the other version and tell you which one I like better. While I wont tell you this is the best Beatles album, there is still moments of greatness. I me mine is a tongue in cheek look at either egotism and/or introspection. The way George sings it give it drama. Get Back and For you blue are excellent, chugging rhythm and blues numbers that are fun, and then there's two McCartney Staples, Let it be and The long and winding road. I personally like Spectors production, and as I said it's unique for a Beatles album to have such a production. Across the universe is an intereseting song and the other songs are fun, if anything. It's interesting to hear the Beatles trying to just have a bit of fun without trying to make a masterpiece. It was a wonderful idea to make a 'live' album, minus the polish and endless takes of their usual album. There's only one song I don't like, all the others are a great listen.

Let It Be may have been an experiment that didn't work, but the result is still interesting. Even Phil Spector's 'overproduction' is okay. The songs are, for the most part, average, and that takes away from the album in a big way. Even the live-in-the-studio take of Let It Be (not the same as the single, which was a polished version) nor the rooftop performance of Get Back (again, different from the single) can really elevate this album beyond what it is: a cleaned-up jam session. This is the only album where the cracks in the armour are so evident.
But some of the songs are good: besides the two mentioned, Two Of Us is a great moment, and Across the Universe, which seems out of place here, is a dreamy Lennon track that works despite the fact that Spector essentially took the original version (found on Past Masters, Vol. II) and slowed it down, making Lennon's vocals sound somewhat croaky. I Me Mine works too, although it isn't one of Harrison's best by any means.
This album is unique in that its the most rootsy and bluesy of any Beatles' disc, but after hearing the outtakes on the Anthology, and learning from various sources the other material that the band had also been working on at the time (some of which cropped up on Abbey Road) you have to wonder how much better this could have been. Still, it is the Beatles. That alone makes it worthy for me.