Track Listing

1. Real Love
2. Yes It Is
3. I'm Down
4. You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
5. If You've Got Trouble
6. That Means A Lot
7. Yesterday
8. It's Only Love
9. I Feel Fine
10. Ticket To Ride
11. Yesterday (2)
12. Help
13. Everybody's Tryin' To Be My Baby
14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
15. I'm Looking Through You
16. 12 Bar Original
17. Tomorrow Never Knows
18. Got To Get You Into My Life
19. And Your Bird Can Sing
20. Taxman
21. Eleanor Rigby
22. I'm Only Sleeping (1)
23. I'm Only Sleeping
24. Rock 'n' Roll Music
25. She's A Woman
26. Strawberry Fields Forever (1)
27. Strawberry Fields Forever (2)
28. Strawberry Fields Forever
29. Penny Lane
30. Day In The Life
31. Good Morning Good Morning
32. Only A Northern Song
33. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite
34. Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite (2)
35. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
36. Within You Without You
37. Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
38. You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
39. I Am The Walrus
40. Fool On The Hill
41. Your Mother Should Know
42. Fool On The Hill (1)
43. Hello Goodbye
44. Lady Madonna
45. Across The Universe

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9403 in Music
• Released on: 1996-03-18
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .46 pounds

CD Description
ANTHOLOGY: 2 features the Beatles' working tapes from theirmost fertile period--the years in which they abandoned touring, retreated into the studio, and recorded some of their most enduring music. This isn't a survey of Beatles hits, buta treasure trove of rough drafts and near misses. An early take of "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away" finds John Lennon still working out his vocal phrasing; a run-through of "Got To Get You Into My Life", recorded before the brass section was brought in, has the band trying all sorts of harmoniesand an alternate bridge. "Your Mother Should Know", with a marching snare-drum beat, is nearly unrecognisable from the released version, and "Good Morning Good Morning", stripped of the heavy SGT. PEPPER psychedelic makeup, rocks with Stones-like ferocity.
There is also lots of clowning around on ANTHOLOGY: 2--most prominently, John and Paul giggling their way through an early vocal take of "And Your Bird Can Sing". But the bulk of ANTHOLOGY: 2 isn't genius at play; it's genius at work. There are three takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" that see this rock classic evolving from Lennon demo to bare-bones practice arrangement to full-blown production. Also featured are McCartney's solo demos for two of the Beatles' best. To hear him showing the band the chords to "Yesterday", and sitting alone at his piano, still fooling withthe words to "Fool On The Hill", is to hear pop history quite literally in the making.

Customer Reviews

The first moment I heard this...
...pre-release a few years ago, I couldn't believe it.

The strains of John desperately trying to sing 'Strawberry Fields' in C instead of the published A, alone in his bedroom with a manky tape recorder, looped with three successive versions sets the tone for the whole album.

Paul's clarity of voice on 'Your Mother Should Know' and the first demo of 'Fool on the Hill' are brilliant. The fluffs (Paul screwing up and swearing), the quirks (John's 1-2-3 'Sugar-Plum-Fairy, Sugar-Plum-Fairy' on Day in the Life), Paul breaking a glass and John ribbing him for it and the omniscience of Sir George Martin, overseeing all.

As Paul says in a silly voice prior to launching into a military-drum-beat-backed 'Your mother Should Know':

'You want us to do it again George?...OK this time, with ciggie in mouth..

Frankly Paul you could do it with a tuba up your a** and it would still sound magnificent!!!

If you're a Beatles fan, buy volume two of anthology first: and turn up the volume.

A tresure trove for a Beatles fan
Although most of the 45 tracks are largely interesting works in progress there are also 4 self written tracks that can not be found anyehere else ....enough reason alone for a fan to buy this! Better than "Anthology 1" due to the higher quality songs exposed and better recordings of them but not as good as "Anthology 3".

Overall this is an interesting and enjoyable experience of the craft that went into the Beatles late Summer-Autumn period from the 1965 album "Help" to late 1967 "The Magical Mystery Tour".

priceless stuff
packed with rare takes and live performances, this is essential listening for the beatles fan. no greatest hits collection, this album feels more like being a voyeur to some of the most historic recordings done by the beatles. standout tracks include the instrumentals 'eleanor rigby' and 'within you without you' (have to be heard to appreciated), early versions of 'fool on the hill' and 'i'm looking through you' and the incedible 'strawberry fields forever' john lennon recorded in his house.