So, of course with me being the Beatles fan that I am, I ran out to buy a copy of Let It Be...Naked this morning. Well, truth be told I didn't "run out", I just stopped by Target on the way to work. Either way, it signifies doing something I wouldn't have normally done. So on with the show.

First, a little background history on this release. After The Beatles released "The Beatles" (aka the White Album), they then embarked on a project which eventually became Let It Be. The project, then called Get Back, was to be The Beatles' return to playing live, and started with the band jamming and recording all their sessions at Twickenham Film Studios for the creation of a movie. During this project, George actually quit the band at one point, but later returned. Billy Preston also helped out with these sessions by playing organ. The project was never finished, although much of the material was used in the infamous rooftop concert, which happened after the band moved back home to their Apple studios. After the release of "Abbey Road", George Martin, George Harrison and John Lennon commissioned Phil Spector to take all the material that was recorded for the Get Back sessions and turn it into an album. Spector, famous for his "Wall of Sound", changed the tempo of some tracks, and added string accompaniment to others. In 1970, "Let It Be" was released as the result of this remastering. Paul McCartney has always thought the original release to be a bit on the shady side, so with the blessing of Harrison & Starr, he had audio engineers work to remove the instrumentation and modifications that Spector put in. The result of which is "Let It Be...Naked".

Now, what to say about this release? Are the songs "better"? I think in some instances they are. For example, "For You Blue" and "I Me Mine" really benefit from having the stripped-down sound. "For You Blue" now plays a lot more like a Clapton song, which goes to show exactly how close Harrison & Clapton really were. I like the new guitar solo in "Let It Be". This marks three separate solos played in that space. The one from the blue album was pretty weak and lacking, whereas the one from the original release of "Let It Be" was too overpowering for the emotion of the song. This version gives a nice even middle.

Other things you may notice are the sharper sounds in this release. I mean, given that this is 35 year old tape they're working with, it's amazing what the sound engineers were able to do. The release comes with a second CD consisting of a single 21 minute track. This track is just a sampling of the chaos that went down in the studio. You also get to hear a sampling of George, John & Paul harmonizing on George's signature track from his 1970 solo album "All Things Must Pass". Just like the Anthology 3 release, it's sad to hear a band break up through it's music.

So, does this release have merit? Should it have been done? That's a hard question to answer. Since it's obvious there are people out there still clamoring for the Beatles, it will certainly cover the costs of production. But should a classic release be "touched up"? Much like Lucas's revisions to the classic Star Wars trilogy in 1997, there are people who will argue this to the day they die. I, for one, will enjoy one more little bit of the greatest band of all time.