Love (The Beatles album)

Infobox Album
Name = Love
Type = Soundtrack album
Longtype = (remix)
Artist = The Beatles


Released = 20 November 2006
Recorded = Abbey Road Studios; 1963–1969, 2004–2006
Genre = Rock
Length = 78:37 (CD, vinyl) 80:34 (DVD-Audio)
Label = Apple, Capitol, EMI (0946 3 79810 2 3)
Producer = George and Giles Martin
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hc6ktr68kl3x link]
*"Blender" rating|5|5 [http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=4315 link]
*"Entertainment Weekly" (A) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,1560886_4_0_,00.html link]
*"The Guardian" Rating|4|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1949254,00.html link]
*"NME" (8/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/beatles/8078 link]
*"The Observer" Rating|5|5 [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/10bestcds/story/0,,1943178,00.html link]
*Okayplayer Rating|4|5 [http://www.okayplayer.com/reviews/index.php/weblog/more/love/ link]
*Pitchfork Media (8.5/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39860/The_Beatles_Love link]
*PopMatters (6/10) [http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/8835/the-beatles-love1/ link]
*"Q" Rating|4|5 #245, Dec. 2006, p133
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|3.5|5 #1014, nowrap|30 Nov. 2006, p112
*"Slant" Rating|5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=1021 link]
*"Uncut" Rating|4|5 [http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/the_beatles/reviews/9044 link]
Last album = "The Capitol Albums, Volume 2"
(2006)
This album = "Love"
(2006)
Next album =

"Love" is a Grammy Award-winning soundtrack compilation album of music recorded by The Beatles, released in November 2006. It features music compiled and remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. The album was produced by George Martin, who worked as the producer of almost all of The Beatles' records and even played piano on some Beatle tracks, and his son Giles Martin, who said, "What people will be hearing on the album is a new experience, a way of re-living the whole Beatles musical lifespan in a very condensed period."cite web|title=Beatles to release new album|date=2006-10-02|publisher=NME|accessdate=2006-10-03
url=http://www.nme.com/news/beatles/24534]

Release history

George Martin and his son Giles began work on "Love" after getting permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison (the latter two representing John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively). In discussing the project, Giles Martin noted that elements were utilized from recordings in The Beatles catalogue, "the original four tracks, eight tracks and two tracks and used this palette of sounds and music to create a soundbed." George Martin also promised a prize to those who could crack a "code" found in the album. [ [http://www.therockradio.com/2006/07/beatles-producers-says-love-soundtrack.html Beatles producers says "Love" soundtrack includes secret code] theclockradio.com. Retrieved on June 15, 2007.]

Giles Martin said in an interview that he was afraid they wouldn't get the green light to do the project, so he started by making digital back-ups of the original multi-track recordings just to get started on the project. He also said that he and his father mixed more music than was eventually released, including "She's Leaving Home" and a version of "Girl" that he was particularly fond of. [ [http://www.norwegianwood.org/beatles/disko/uklp/love2006.htm Norwegian Wood - The Beatles Fan Club] ]

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the two surviving members of The Beatles, have responded very positively to the album. McCartney noted that "This album puts The Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John and George with me and Ringo". Starr commended George and Giles Martin for the album and said that the album is "really powerful for me and I even heard things I'd forgotten we'd recorded."cite web|title="Love" Released in Stereo and 5.1 - on November 20th 2006|date=2006-10-16|publisher=The Beatles|accessdate=2006-10-17|url=http://www.beatles.com/newsletters/Issue_16/index.htm] cite web|title=The Beatles' new album: full details here|date=2006-10-17|publisher=NME|accessdate=2006-10-17|url=http://www.nme.com/news/beatles/24757]

The album was first played publicly on Virgin Radio's "The Geoff Show". Virgin Radio DJ Geoff Lloyd, a self-proclaimed fan of The Beatles, chose to play the entire album uninterrupted to allow younger fans to experience an album premiere.cite web|title=Amazing response to the Beatles album|date=2006-11-16|publisher=Virgin Radio|accessdate=2006-11-17|url=http://www.virginradio.co.uk/music/news/story/494/Amazing_response_to_the_Beatles_album.html]

"Love" placed at #3 in the UK Albums Chart during its first week of release, trailing Westlife's "The Love Album" and Oasis' "Stop the Clocks" compilation.cite web|title=Westlife beat Oasis, U2 and The Beatles in UK album battle|date=2006-11-26|publisher=NME|accessdate=2006-11-26|url=http://www.nme.com/news/oasis/25205] It was also successful in the United States, debuting at #4 in the Billboard 200, where it was certified Platinum in late 2006.cite web|title=Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - The Beatles|work=Billboard 200|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/retrieve_chart_history.do?model.chartFormatGroupName=Albums&model.vnuArtistId=4057&model.vnuAlbumId=2258
accessdate=2006-12-03]

"Love" debuted at #1 in the United World Chart selling 721,000 copies in its first week and knocked off the top spot six new big releases that occupied other positions of the Top 10. With a leap of 26,000 copies, Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come" debuted at #2 and with 300,000 copies less than "Love", U2's "U218 Singles" placed at #3. The following week, the album continued occupying the top spot, this time with a respectable 436,000 copies sold. Despite a sales increase of 467,000 copies in its third week, "Love" slipped down to #2 knocked by Il Divo's "Siempre", which only sold 5,000 more. However, the following week "Love" returned to #1 and the same time reached Platinum certification in the United World Chart for 2 million copies sold.

Sales increased again during the next week due to the Christmas period and spent a total of six weeks at the top. It was finally displaced by U2 in late January 2007. After that, "Love" fell quickly in the chart and only achieved 15 weeks inside the Top 40. With only four weeks out in stores during 2006, "Love" became the fifteenth best-selling album of the year worldwide with 2,849,000 copies sold. During the following six months the album continued to sell steadily, at an average rate of 25,000 copies sold worldwide per week. It did so particularly in the United States, where it is still in the charts after 60 weeks.

At the 50th annual Grammy awards on February 10th, 2008, the album won Grammys in two categories - Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album.

Release details

The album was released in three versions — a standard CD version, a two-disc CD and DVD-Audio package and a two-disc vinyl package. The DVD-Audio disc contains a 5.1-channel surround sound mix (96 kHz 24-bit MLP), downmixable to 2-channel. For backwards compatibility it also contains separate audio-only DVD-Video content with 2-channel stereo (48 kHz 16-bit PCM) and 5.1-channel surround (448 kbit/s Dolby Digital and 754 kbit/s DTS).

Track listing

The DVD has longer versions of "Revolution" and "Back in the USSR", increasing the total running time by nearly two minutes. The track listing for both discs is as follows:

All tracks written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, except where noted (see also: Lennon/McCartney).
# "Because" – 2:44
# "Get Back" – 2:05
# "Glass Onion" – 1:20
# "Eleanor Rigby"
"Julia (transition)" – 3:05
# "I Am the Walrus" – 4:28
# "I Want to Hold Your Hand" – 1:26
# "Drive My Car / The Word / What You're Doing" – 1:54
# "Gnik Nus" – 0:55
# "Something" (Harrison)
"Blue Jay Way (Harrison) (transition)" – 3:29
# "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! / I Want You (She's So Heavy) / Helter Skelter" – 3:22
# "Help!" – 2:18
# "Blackbird / Yesterday" – 2:31
# "Strawberry Fields Forever" – 4:31
# "Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows" (Harrison, Lennon/McCartney) – 3:07
# "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" – 4:10
# "Octopus's Garden" (Starkey) – 3:18
# "Lady Madonna" – 2:56
# "Here Comes the Sun" (Harrison)
"The Inner Light (transition)" (Harrison) – 4:18
# "Come Together / Dear Prudence"
"Cry Baby Cry (transition)" – 4:45
# "Revolution" – 2:14 (CD version) / 3:23 (DVD version)
# "Back in the U.S.S.R." – 1:54 (CD version) / 2:34 (DVD version)
# "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (Harrison) – 3:46
# "A Day in the Life" – 5:08
# "Hey Jude" – 3:58
# "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" – 1:22
# "All You Need Is Love" – 3:38

Track elements

"Love" contains elements from 130 individual recordings of The Beatles.cite web|title=The Beatles - Love|publisher=about.com|accessdate=2007-01-06
url=http://classicrock.about.com/od/reviews/fr/beatles_love.htm] While a complete list has not been disclosed, highlights of how the elements were mixed have been noted by the press.
*"Because" – An interview in "Entertainment Weekly" revealed that the opening track includes the bird sounds used in the World Wildlife Fund version of "Across the Universe".cite web|title=Labor of "LOVE" |author=Chris Willman|publisher=Entertainment Weekly|date=2006-11-29|accessdate=2006-11-29|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1562172_4_0_,00.html] In addition, a new recording of a Wood Pigeon was implemented "to make it more British," according to George Martin.
*"Get Back" – As reported, the track utilizes the opening guitar from "A Hard Day's Night", the drum and guitar solos from "The End", percussion from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", and the orchestral swell from "A Day in the Life".cite web|title=It's hard not to LOVE the new Beatles album|author=Howard Cohen|publisher=Miami Herald|date=2006-11-21|accessdate=2006-11-23|url=http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/music/16063294.htm]
*"I Want to Hold Your Hand" – An interview with George and Giles Martin stated that elements from both the studio recording and the Hollywood Bowl live performance were mixed to create this version.
*"Drive My Car / The Word / What You're Doing" – As reported, the medley features the guitar solo from "Taxman" and the horns section from "Savoy Truffle".cite web|title=The Beatles: Love - PopMatters Music Review|publisher=PopMatters|date=2006-12-15|accessdate=2006-12-27|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/8835/the-beatles-love1/]
*"Gnik Nus" – As suggested in its title, the track contains the vocal arrangement of "Sun King" played in reverse.
*"Something / Blue Jay Way (transition)" – The track contains vocal elements from "Nowhere Man".cite web|title=Beatles smash hits now a mashup|publisher=CTVNews|date=2006-11-21|accessdate=2006-11-23|url=http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061121/beatles_mashup_061121/]
*"Strawberry Fields Forever" – A review of the album noted that this version builds from an acoustic demo.cite web|title=Love unveils new angle on Beatles|date=2006-11-17|author= Greig Watson |publisher=BBC|accessdate=2006-11-17|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6159426.stm] It includes the orchestral section from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", the solo piano from "In My Life", the brass included in "Penny Lane", the cello and harpsicord arrangement from "Piggies" and the coda of "Hello, Goodbye".
*"Within You Without You / Tomorrow Never Knows" – This track combines the vocals from "Within You Without You" with the bass and drums from "Tomorrow Never Knows."cite web|title= A likely lament: 'You can't do that to The Beatles |publisher=USA Today|date=2006-11-13|accessdate=2007-01-16|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2006-11-13-beatles-cover_x.htm]
*"Octopus's Garden" – According to "USA Today" and "PopMatters", this track contains the string arrangement from "Good Night", sound effects used in "Yellow Submarine" and elements from "Lovely Rita" and "Helter Skelter".
*"Lady Madonna" – The song includes the guitar riff from "Hey Bulldog", Eric Clapton's guitar solo from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Billy Preston's organ solo from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". [http://www.norwegianwood.org/beatles/disko/uklp/love2006.htm] Retrieved on August 16, 2008.]
*"Here Comes the Sun / The Inner Light (transition)" – As mentioned by Giles Martin, the track includes backing vocals from "Oh! Darling" and a bass line from "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". [http://www.beatles.com/hub/love/site/ The Beatles "Love" website] (video section). beatles.com. Retrieved on May 8, 2008.]
*"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" – A BBC article reported that George Martin chose to use an early version of the recording for the album and wrote a new orchestral backing for the track. This was also stated in the fifth chapter of "The Beatles 'LOVE' Podcast".cite web|title=The Beatles 'LOVE' Podcast |publisher=The Beatles|date=2007-01-11|accessdate=2007-01-22|url=http://www.thebeatles.com/hub/love/podcast/love_podcast.xml]

Chart performance

Reception

At the 50th Grammy Awards, "Love" won for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album.

ee also

*All Together Now (DVD)

Notes

External links

*Discogs release|name=Love|id=842126
* [http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/beatles/love Reviews] at Metacritic
* [http://www.highfidelityreview.com/reviews/review.asp?reviewnumber=11051798 DVD-Audio specific review] at HFR