Album Reviews
View This notion, of course, is ridiculous. The unfortunate truth is that John Lennon and George Harrison are dead, and, whatever its merits, Naked exists essentially as an excuse for Paul McCartney, after decades of complaining, to finally remove Phil Spector's production effects from "The Long and Winding Road." As a result, the song -- a technologically souped-up version of the take in the Let It Be film -- now sounds like a vaguely interesting demo, rather than the lavish (and frankly emotional) epitaph for the Beatles that Spector turned it into.
Does an artist of McCartney's stature deserve to have his songs sound exactly as he wants them to? Absolutely. But here, on the other hand, is Lennon's assessment of Spector's work on Let It Be: "He was given the shittiest load of badly recorded shit with a lousy feeling to it ever, and he made something out of it. He did a great job." Both Lennon and Harrison went on to work closely with Spector, who produced Plastic Ono Band, Imagine and All Things Must Pass -- arguably the three best albums of the Beatles' solo years.
So, put simply, Naked is McCartney getting his own back. That said, it's nice to have the sparer rendition of "Across the Universe" that Lennon recorded, and the sonic improvements to the album as a whole are undeniable. Casual fans, however, will wonder what all the fuss was about; novices should still get the original. And Beatles fanatics will likely be disappointed that Naked has little to do with the early bootlegged versions of Get Back -- which, for better or worse, really are naked -- and is just as much an interpretation of what the album was supposed to be as Spector's effort was. Let it be? Not a chance.
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Review 1 of 5
dennis23 writes:
I think both versions of Let it Be are worthwhile. I think they complement each other very nicely.
I hope the film gets out on DVD and also the "Glyn Johns" version.
(What are you thinking,EMI,by withholding the DVD release of LIB?????)
I have a bootleg copy and would love to see a version of the film on DVD with all the bells and whistles-which is only what the Beatles deserve.
Jan 16, 2008 14:23:55
Review 2 of 5
Tashtago writes:
I prefer the Spector version. That's what I grew up with. Sure this sounds better, but I loved all the in-between song chatter and joking, "I dig a pygmy.." etc. Also why change the song order? Two of Us is such a great opener, one of the best opening cuts on any album . Better off left alone.
Oct 23, 2007 22:44:21
Review 3 of 5
admank writes:
Before I knew any of the backstory to the Let it Be album, "Across the Universe" always stood out as a garish and (what I assumed to be) experimental pre-post-Beatles track that signaled the demise of the band due to declining creative faculties, or, as it turned out, creative differences. The Let it Be... Naked version confirms what I always hoped, which was some adulteration of the original vision of the song, and the album as a whole. I like this version of Across the Universe. And I fail to see how Spector's "original" could have been more emotionally frank, if it was the producer's emotions imbued in the song. It is clear that it wasn't McCartney's, who intiated the project, originally themed "Get Back" (let's add another ellipsis and "to our roots" to complete the thought.) Also note the total lack of full orchestra on the rooftop concert.
To be sure, Spector did the best with what he had, but only with the oversight of a single Beatle, and the one with the biggest axe to grind with the rest of the band, George Harrison.
I like to think that in an alternate universe, where the Beatles managed to keep enough momentum to oversee the completion of the album, that this would have been it. It is thematically more cohesive, and it is not undercut by artificially dramatic moments - perhaps Sprector's intentions were to mirror the actual drama the recording of the album produced.
Let it Be in any manifestation, is underrated, especially when you consider the mutual acrimony they all had to suffer to make anything as complete as a pre-White Album (which is overrated) album. It stands on its own in the Beatles oeuvre, but sadly, it is overshadowed by the circumstances of its release. I listen to it, and enjoy the moments of alchemy they created, now a bit more pure, while they crafted the demise of the band.
Aug 25, 2007 00:27:31
Review 4 of 5
LennonWalrus writes:
Let It Be....Naked is better the the original Let It . Let It Be, Across the Universe, and Dont Let Me down are great but the album is ok and not The Beatles best it was the beginning of the end when they made the original album for the Beatles
Jul 2, 2006 14:19:48
Review 5 of 5
Milb78 writes:
It is a classic album which the Phil Spector
production has been stripped-down.But it is the same album with track listing changed
May 7, 2006 00:32:08
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