This was the first single released from the Beatles Anthology. The CD contains three bonus tracks that were not featured in the Anthology. "Free As a Bird" is a "new" Beatles song, on which the three living Beatles overdubbed vocals and instruments onto a John Lennon demo. It is pretty good, although not up to the standards of the Beatles legendary classics. "I Saw Her Standing There" is an alternate take which mainly differs from the master take by some faulty harmonies. "This Boy" is a false start and an almost complete take, where a minor mistake is made and the recording breaks down in laughter. "Christmas Time (Is Here Again)" is an edited version of an unreleased Beatles song. The complete version is about twice as long as what is included here, although you are not missing much by not hearing the complete version. It gets pretty repetetive, with the song's one verse being repeated over and over again. Diehard Beatles fans will want to get this CD for the three otherwise unavailable tracks.

Highly recommended for the great track CHRISTMAS TIME IS HERE AGAIN. Christmas never rocked that way before. It was a song recorded for fan clubs and sent to the fans around Christmas time. It's very rare to hear the Fab Four sing about Christmas.
A little joke by John at the end of the song!!!!

You just have to hear these recordings done by The Beatles as a few are done a little differently and sound great. "THIS BOY" is hilarious, as our boy Lennon was always apt to miss his lines and here's the proof, a little humour not heard on other "straight" recordings.

The cover is interesting and worth having, as it was said to have been a drawing by John for his best friend and original QUARREYMEN member, Pete Shotten. The Quarreymen was John's first band, and, as of February 2007, still plays today.

The real nice piece is a number originally recorded, probably 1/2 dinking around, by John and later given to the remaining Beatles at the time, George,Ringo, and Paul, who recorded it in 1994 and placed it on The Beatles Anthology series #1.

This record is a 5 star item, diehard FAB fans will love it for the nostalgia feeling it brings back.If you're a real FAB fan you may not appreciate the techno tricks which mix up John's taped vocals and the other Beatles' freshly sung ones, you may not appreciate the song itself but you'll shiver and tremble as soon as you hear John and then Paul and then again George singing "together" on the very same record for the first time after all those years! And the magic gets back for a few minutes more....

This is a great Beatles CD. Possibly the best ever. Don't miss it.