Let It Be...Naked (2003)


1.Two of Us
2.Dig A Pony
3.Across the Universe
4.I Me Mine
5.Don't Let Me Down
6.Let It Be
7.I've Got A Feeling
8.One After 909
9.The Long and Winding Road
10.For You Blue
11.Get Back

 

If there was ever an entry in the Beatle's catalog that needed to be "redone" it was Let it Be. Although the album was considered a "success" when it was finally released, in hindsight it was a bit of mess - both during the recording and after the final product was released. It had gone through so many channels with so many hands in the pie, that the finished product was not only what the group didn't intend, but also had many of the band members themselves feeling cheated.

Originally, after the painful recording process of The White Album, the band decided to "Get Back" to their roots and record an album the same way they did in the early days. The album (tentatively called "Get Back") even featured an album cover of a duplicate pose of the band that was featured on Please Please Me, the only difference being the boys were a little older and a lot harrier (after this was scrapped, the cover was featured on the front cover of the compilation 1967-1970 (The "Blue" Album). However, when the band began the sessions, it was clear that they were just tired of being The Beatles. The magic was never rekindled and the group ended up shelving the sessions.

After the release of the "last" Beatle Album (Abbey Road), the decision was made to release the songs anyway, under a new title Let It Be and featured no less than 3 producers to make the sessions adequate and marketable. In some aspects the original album was too "rough", with nonsensical bits masquerading as songs, and in other aspects it was too "polished", such as Phil Spector (one of the three producers) adding a string session to McCartney's The Long and Winding Road.

What this album does is refine both of those issues, so the album sounds "more like a legitimate album", yet doesn't sound too fabricated. In addition, one song that was never featured on the first release, Don't Let Me Down is now finally here where it should have been the whole time.

In conclusion, the title "Naked" seems a little odd, since in many placed it feels "less" naked (where that nakedness was ugly, fortunately). Maybe a better title would have been "Let It Be...Fixed"? Regardless, it worked and does sound so much better than the original.


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