Anthology 2 (1997)
Disc One
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 Troubles
6.That Means a Lot
7.Yesterday
8.It's Only Love
9.I Feel Fine
10.Ticket to Ride
11.Yesterday
12.Help!
13.Everybody's Trying 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 (Strings Only)
22.I'm Only Sleeping (Rehearsal)
23.I'm Only Sleeping (Take 1)
24.Rock & Roll Music
25.She's A Woman
Disc Two
1.Strawberry Fields Forever (Demo Sequence)
2.Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1)
3.Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7)
4.Penny Lane
5.A Day in the Life
6.Good Morning, Good Morning
7.Only a Northern Song
8.Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Takes 1 and 2)
9.Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Take 7)
10.Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds
11.Within You, Without You
12.Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13.You Know My Name (Look Up My Number)
14.I Am the Walrus
15.The Fool on the Hill (Demo Version)
16.Your Mother Should Know
17.The Fool on the Hill (Take 4)
18.Hello Goodbye
19.Lady Madonna
20.Across the Universe
The second installment of the Anthology series covers arguably the most fertile and creatively charged period of The Beatles’ career—beginning just after the sessions for Help! and continuing through the technicolor swirls of Magical Mystery Tour. If Anthology 1 was the sound of a band finding its footing, this is the portrait of artists at full gallop, experimenting wildly and redefining the limits of what popular music could be.
It opens, like its predecessor, with a “new” track—Real Love, another Lennon demo refurbished by Paul, George, and Ringo under the production guidance of Jeff Lynne. Unlike Free as a Bird, which bore the unmistakable smell of resurrection, Real Love feels more vibrant, more whole. There’s polish to the arrangement, a breezy, melodic simplicity that could sit comfortably beside Rubber Soul’s lighter moments. Lynne’s presence is once again felt—and as before, one’s feelings toward ELO will probably dictate whether that’s viewed as enhancement or heresy.
The first disc proper finds the group shaking off the pop polish of their early years and stepping boldly into the realms of invention. Among the revelations are a pair of shelved tracks—That Means a Lot and If You’ve Got Troubles—the latter a rare Ringo-led vocal that is surprisingly charismatic, even if not exactly essential. Perhaps there truly was room for only one Starr number per LP. Elsewhere, a ragged but exhilarating instrumental titled 12-Bar Original gives a rare glimpse of the group simply jamming—proof that beneath the careful studio craft lay a band that could play loose and bluesy when the mood struck.
Much of Anthology 2 consists of alternate takes and early versions, and unlike the rough demos that dominated its predecessor, these are generally studio-quality—and often surprisingly compelling. Harrison’s Taxman features an alternate backing vocal refrain, neither better nor worse than the final cut, simply different. Tomorrow Never Knows, one of Lennon’s most out-there compositions, appears here in an equally strange but sonically distinct arrangement—an alternate psychedelic endpoint. That said, not everything is gold. The alternate And Your Bird Can Sing is barely coherent, its take derailed by the band collapsing into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. A charming listen once, perhaps, but ultimately a novelty. Fortunately, disc two lifts the game considerably.
The "Pepper" sessions are, unsurprisingly, a highlight. The developmental arc of Strawberry Fields Forever is traced across three versions—each more intricate than the last—and the song’s evolution becomes an experience in itself. That Lennon mutters “cranberry sauce” at the end (not “I buried Paul”) is captured here in crystal clarity, finally putting to rest one of rock’s most persistent myths. Penny Lane too is present in a subtly altered incarnation, with a slightly different middle eight that invites comparison rather than judgment.
From there we are treated to an embryonic A Day in the Life, stripped of McCartney’s counterpoint, but compelling in its stark form. There’s also a delightfully chaotic version of You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), featuring a cameo from Brian Jones on saxophone—more of a surrealist skit than a song, but entirely in keeping with the mood of the time.
The final third of the disc takes us through the Magical Mystery Tour sessions, though this stretch feels weaker by comparison. By now the novelty of alternates is wearing thin. An uninspired Lady Madonna and a slightly altered Across the Universe close the proceedings—not unpleasant, but lacking the revelatory power of the earlier material.
Nevertheless, what makes Anthology 2 such a compelling volume is not the quality of every track, but the creative restlessness it captures. The Beatles of 1965–67 were chasing ideas at breakneck speed—discarding, rewriting, experimenting. This collection doesn’t merely reflect that process; it documents it. And for those seeking to understand how a band transformed pop music into art, that documentation is invaluable.