The Beatles rejected the GET BACK album upon its completion in 1969 and again in 1970. The project (renamed LET IT BE) then got the Phil Spector treatment, with Paul being kept completely in the dark about it. Many have called the Spector album shoddy, but most Beatles fans bought it and enjoyed it despite the consensus that it was not top-notch.

At one time The Beatles were capable of producing much magic "live" in the studio--and they had done it often. But after they quit touring, the lack of playing together eventually took its toll, John admitting that "The Beatles musically weren't as together in the last few years." John also said that these sessions had "lousy feeling." But within the album notes to this new release, marketing mentality strikes once again and, rather typically, attempts to put a spin on these "raw and unadorned" sessions, saying that this is what the group wanted. "Raw and unadorned" shouldn't be confused with "careless and crude." The latter two are not what the group was shooting for, but a fair amount of that made it onto the tapes because of their lack of desire to focus on making music. (Just a few months later they did focus on making music and produced ABBEY ROAD!)

I still look at LET IT BE as a compilation of rehearsals; little of it sounds finished. Though the songs themselves are great, the performances are not, for the most part, of the highest Beatles standard. Sure, there are many magical moments throughout; but the magic is fleeting, and we are continually reminded of a great producer's absence--George Martin! These recordings are culled from sessions that, had the proper commitment been there, should have produced a remarkable Beatles album along the lines of what we were accustomed to. Each attempt at presenting these sessions only leaves me wondering what could have been if George Martin had been allowed to fully produce them. That said, here's what we get this time around:

"Get Back" is noticeably cleaner than the previous releases. But this version fades out quickly before Paul's "ooo-oo," leaving it sounding truncated--annoyingly unresolved. Overall, I still prefer the 1969-single version with its very satisfying ending, the version we fans thrilled to for a full year before the Spector LP appeared.

The electric piano in "Dig A Pony" is more prominent here; otherwise, there is not much difference between this account and Spector's. "For You Blue" reveals little difference as well.

"The Long And Winding Road" is a different take from Spector's, and, as another reviewer astutely points out, we get lots of rehearsal-like "plinky dink" playing, unworthy of a finished Beatles song. It is typical for musicians to play with this type of uncertainty when the arrangement is still in the building stage, and here the uncertain piano fills don't carry the song's emotion between Paul's vocal lines. The tempo surges at times, and this whole take is pretty much a rough run-through. Though the combination of orchestra and choir on Spector's version periodically strikes me as being unnatural, I never thought that it transported the song to the world of Mantovani. In fact, I never realized just how much I love the Spector account until I sat and compared these two versions at length.

"Two Of Us" reveals no significant variation except that it fades out before the guitars stop and before John's whistling goes charmingly out of tune, present on the Spector version.

We are given a different rendition of "I've Got A Feeling." It is not quite as hot, matching neither the emotion in the vocals nor the intensity and drive of the performance Spector chose for his album. I also like Preston's piano line better on the Spector track.

Top honors go to NAKED for the better mix of "One After 909." The song really comes alive here. One very consequential difference is that Ringo's bass drum has punch on NAKED; on the Spector it's pure mud. The added punch gives the song an infectious--even delirious--drive that it never had before. Unfortunately, the fade at the end is quick so as not to catch the live atmosphere.

This take of "Don't Let Me Down" is rehearsal quality all the way; it pales in every respect compared with the glorious single version released in 1969.

On Spector's "I Me Mine," the strings are heard where, on this new mix, the organ pops through more noticeably.

And here, "Across The Universe" is back to its original speed. Though the Spector treatment sounds neither preferable nor wrong (John certainly liked it), this NAKED one sounds, well, naked. I still prefer the original version found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO. That one sounds closer to the John of early 1968 who made bizarre requests of George Martin, wanting a song "to sound like an orange" and such.

Finally, this remix of the title track brings the organ up front more, we miss the electric piano on the first walk-down before the guitar solo, and the brass is gone. The new version also omits the third-verse edit found in the Spector version. But this mix bewilders me: Is it substantive and worthwhile? Or is it a run-of-the-mill account, one more from a potentially endless parade of remixes? George's guitar solo is different yet again. So what? If you ask me, the single version (found on PAST MASTERS VOLUME TWO and the SINGLES boxed set) still says it best.

Though I still prefer Spector's LET IT BE, I cannot recommend it over this cleaned-up version to all listeners. Each has strengths; neither is perfect.

The album notes assert that this edition reveals how the album was meant to be. Didn't the Spector album make the same assertion? So much for promises.

By taking out the dialogue, this has been made into an antiseptic, somewhat ordinary work. The point was to strip away Spector's figerprints, but they removed the charm as well. Far from being "Naked," it actually sounds well-produced. These versions are for the most part ones we've heard before, so there's no great revelation. Many note that "Anthology Disc 3" provided better insights, and I agree; a good fifty percent of the "Let It Be" songs are on that disc! But the most egregious thing those in charge (and, contrary to many claims I've read in these reviews, I think Paul had less to do with this than many claim) did was to change the running order of the songs. Sorry -- once you're used to it, it doesn't pay to change the formula; you can't act as if the original never existed.

SO -- if you really want a cool, alternate "Let It Be," get the ORIGINAL "Let It Be," the ANTHOLOGY 3 disc, and "Let it Be NAKED," and then burn the following songs onto a CD in this order:

1. Two Of Us (Anthology 3)

Try it... it's very cool, and you won't feel as disappointed!

The original "Let it Be" was always dismissed as a haphazard collection of uneven songs, either over or under-produced. Although I liked Phil Spector's work with George's album, I never realized what a hatchet job he did with the songs on "Let it Be" until I heard this clean, crisp and strikingly intimate re-issue. The studio versions of the "rooftop" songs are tighter and better recorded. The songs cleared of the Spector over-production have a pulse and showcase the group's intrumental abilities (especially Billy Preston). John's "Across the Universe" is hauntingly touching and Paul's "Long and Winding Road" conveys the spirit of gentle longing that it was meant to originally. I wish they could have included some other tracks on the bonus CD, but this is well worth having.

Everyone here is arguing petty points about the story of McCartney, Spector, and Lennon, but what they are ignoring is the music on this. This cd offers a different take on Let It Be. The old Let It Be is still in the stores everyone. It's not like this Let It Be is replacing the other one. We have gained another album. We are not losing an album. That said, This album is basically offering "The Long and Winding Road" as something new, and a faster version of "Don't Let Me Down". That is what's new. Both of them sound amazing. The Long and Winding Road sounds better without all the orchestration, in my opinion. Other songs, like stripped versions of "Let it Be" and "Across the Universe" can be heard on Past Masters II and the Anthology, but the quality of the songs on the album here is better. In fact, the quality in sound of all the songs on this Let It Be is better. The Bass is a little Deeper, and you can hear things a little more clearly. The levels of the vocals are a little higher. I, Me, Mine is stripped of orchestration too. All in all, there is enough here to justify it's existence. Don't make it into something it's not. This album does not replace your "Let It Be", it's merely a different take on the same thing. We have only gained.

I love the Beatles and have been listening to them for over 25 years. I loved it when finally(!) "new" material was released with the BBC and Anthology albums. I rushed out to get them right away. I even thought the Yellow Submarine remix was a good idea and great sound improvement. But this release . . . there's just something about it that leaves me cold. This IS NOT "Let it Be" the way the Beatles wanted it. The fact is, they never recorded it the way they wanted in the first place. (The original concept was for the album to be recorded live in concert). Basically, they never got beyond demos and rehearsals and the original LIB was salvaged from that - and that's all LIBN is as well. Secondly, and my biggest complaint, is that this IS NOT the first time that the songs have been released without the Spector production. There really is nothing new here. However, it is being marketed as if it is. Thirdly, material has been removed, in particular, John Lennon material. Even though Maggie Mae, Dig It and the various bits of spoken commentary are just snippets of foolishness, I always loved them as what they were - Lennon cheekiness that added fun and character to the album. If anything, longer versions of MM and DI (which exist on bootleg) should have been included. Lastly, I find it both sad and laughable that this is being put across as having the stamp of approval of all four Beatles. Let's face it, poor John and George are not here. Everyone knows darn well John would not have been in favor of this. And George, dying of cancer for the last several years, probably had other things on his mind and likely would have gone along with anything. Some people have tried to say Paul had nothing to do with this. If you believe that, I have a nice bridge to sell you. This is a McCartney vanity project, pure and simple. Aside from that, the title and cover art are shockingly bad. All together - the packaging, the title, the marketing, the revisionism - is all way beneath the standards I have come to expect from product associated with the Beatles. I just don't like being sold a bill of goods and, unlike BBC, the Anthologies and the YS reissue, that's just what this feels like.