Yahoo! Music Album Review

Released on 17/11/2003
Label: Parlophone

Will we ever tire of The Beatles? Even now, over thirty years since their ignominious demise - represented by this record - they appear on the front cover of certain monthly music magazines with alarming regularity. Small children probably think John and George are still alive. Do these people have shares in the Fab Four? Do they still matter to contemporary music that much?

Well...yes, is the answer, indirectly they do. Financially anyway. Ever since the halcyon days of The Beatles wig, the four lads from Liverpool have been able to flog virtually anything. They now fund a nostalgia industry all their own. Bung them on a front cover for no apparent reason and sales hit the roof. It's that simple.

With this in mind, the appearance of 'Let It Be...Naked' (and what a naff and dated title that already sounds) is of no surprise. Never mind the talk of this being the pure de-Spectorised deal or a valuable insight into The Beatles at work - the bottom line is that this was always guaranteed to shift serious units.

But, the million-dollar question: is it an improvement on the original album? This is probably not difficult since 'Let It Be...Clothed' was never the greatest LP in the first place. It had a few great songs, but the overall impression was of a rag bag collection cobbled together and then passed hot potato-style to Phil Spector in the hope he could construct some sort of 'Wall Of Sound' around it. The result was more like a rickety garden fence.

The naked version does offer some improvements, not least the inclusion of Lennon's 'Don't Let Me Down' and Harrison's 'For You Blue' at the omissions of 'Maggie Mae' and 'Dig It' while the likes of 'I've Got A Feeling' and 'Across The Universe' (by far the best tracks on the original) sound rawer and more immediate.

Unfortunately the more sentimental selections have not been replaced. Shorn of its strings 'The Long And Winding Road' is certainly more palatable than before but it's still a pretty crap song and favourite only of 'Pop Idol' goons. Billy Preston's keyboard organ is to the fore of the title track too - but does anybody really want to hear 'Let It Be' unless they're at a funeral?

In a nutshell this is The Beatles most average album with some of the fluff removed. It'll sell millions because of the name on the cover, but ultimately it feels we're being flogged something we didn't realise we needed in the first place.

    by Adam Webb