I'm listening to the CD for the first time as I'm typing this. I have mixed feelings about it, personally. Since I first heard of the project, I've thought of two things:
1) That this is Paul's "Ego" project, and since John and George are both dead, now Paul can go back and re-write history.
and 2) This is one more way for Capitol to "milk" the Beatles catalogue for another big seller, and since Spector has been in the news a lot lately, what better way to make him look like the bad guy? (I have often felt that Phil took a lot of unfair criticism for his work on this album)
I'm probably wrong on both counts. Of course, I thought those things before I'd actually HEARD it, and as I'm hearing this, I'm able to hear parts that were totally burried in the mix for years. And for the first time, I'm able to make out some of the lyrics (such as what George says during the solo in "For You Blue"). And "The Long and Winding Road", a song I've never really liked, actually sounds good here!
I realize that some of the takes were completely different from the ones Spector used, but to me, the bottom line is this: If the album WAS in the "Naked" state before Spector got his hands on the tapes, why did they need Phil Spector to begin with? Because obviously, he did more than layer strings and choirs on the songs. John himself said (and I quote) "He took the sh!ttiest load of sh!t ever, and he made something of it".
It seems to me that if they were REALLY releasing this album as originally intended, it would have been called "Get Back", and would have had the stairwell cover, which it was originally supposed to have. But they didn't, because it is NOT the "Get Back" album, it is what Spector assembled, before he added the overdubs.
I have heard countless bootlegs of Get Back sessions from early 1969, and NONE of them were put together as well as the songs on this CD (some of them were downright awful, and if anyone here has ever heard a bootleg called "As Nature Intended", you'd know what I mean!) So obviously a LOT was done after the tapes were shelved.
With all that said, I like the new version! I think it's better in places than the Spector version, especially "The Long And Winding Road". I can see now why Paul was so p!ssed. but I also feel like some of these songs aren't really THAT much different from the originals or the versions on Anthology 3, just better sounding. I see it as being similar to the stereo version of "Pet Sounds" that came out in the late 90's: it's just a new take on a classic, it doesn't ruin the credibility of the original in any way, shape or form.
I just wish that it didn't seem like such a bust on Spector, He wasn't the bad guy! He was given a job to do, and he did it. Of COURSE he's going to give it the Wall Of Sound treatment! That was his trademark! John and George obviously liked it enough to work with him on their solo albums (and of course they're the ones who aren't around anymore to defend his work).
So there's my two cents. I like the new version, and I like the old version. I only have one question: Will the original fast version of "Two Of Us" EVER see official release?
