Kiwi!

The Beatles' "Love"

I've read many reviews that dismiss this album as sacrilegious or as no big deal -- just some beat matching and a few clever mashups.

But it's more like George Martin and his son were given permission to do a "Revolution 9" with the original multitracks. And the best parts are the really unexpected combinations, Like creating extra tension at the end of "Come Together" by grafting the end of "Dear Prudence" over it. Or hearing Ringo sing the opening of "Octopus's Garden" over the string arrangement from "Good Night." Or inserting the guitar solo from "Taxman" into "Drive My Car." Or the one that sold the surviving Beatles on the project: Adding the drums from "Tomorrow Never Knows" to "Within You Without You." And it all fits, like some great final puzzle that was waiting to be pieced together. I can't help feeling that the whole thing is a big love letter to John and George.

I recently heard Robyn Hitchcock describe The Beatles as an organism that could not survive without any one of its parts. I think this CD really shows how organic and interdependent that band really was.

Tracks added to the TMW library:

• I Want To Hold Your Hand
• Drive My Car/The Word/What You're Doing
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)
• Back In The U.S.S.R.
• Glass Onion
• Gnik Nus

The Beatles website