God bless the King County Library System. While most people have to rent DVDs from Blockbuster or Netflix and actually have to pay, I get all mine for a week for free by ordering them online through the library systems's website.
So when I checked to see whether the library bought the new Beatles Anthology DVD set, I was happy to see that several copies were purchased. I was also happy to see that there were seperate listings for each of the five DVDs, meaning I could stagger the orders so they'd all come in at different dates and I'd have plenty of time to watch them all.
Then I completely forgot all about it. A couple weeks later, I received an e-mail stating that my DVDs were in. Yes, all five of them. Woops. I thought. No way I'll be able to watch all eight episodes plus the bonus disc in a week.
Well, I'm happy to say I was wrong - it was that good. I managed to cram them all in over the week, and never once out of a sense of obligation. Each episode was thoroughly compelling and contained a hook at the end to get you to watch the next one. The Beatles conquer America? Fine, I'll watch the next one too. Concert at Shea Stadium. Oh boy, time for another. When I sat down to just watch just one episode before bed, I twice ended up watching three. Which is how I got through the entire Anthology in only four days.
If you're a Beatles fan, this is great stuff. If you're a huge fan, like me, there may not be a whole lot of new information to you - I already knew almost everything about the Beatles; the Anthology didn't really teach me anything new. It was still great though, as you kind of think feel like an insider - How are they going to approach the Magical Mystery Tour debacle? How much will they dwell on their use of drugs? How much will Yoko be seen? In a way, it's almost better if you know what happens next - you save yourself the trouble of having to rewatch it to get a new perspective. Not that rewatching it is a bad thing, heh.
One thing that disappointed me a little bit was the comparatively little coverage of the Beatles' later years. While I understand that the forming of the band was more complex and eventful than their breaking up, I really find their post-Rubber Soul period to be much more interesting (and filled with better music). Instead, we get a ton of performance clips - the Cavern Club, the Ed Sullivan Show, Albert Hall, Shea Stadium, Hong Kong, Candlestick Park, and many more. This is good and bad - good, obviously, because it's great to see the young, starry-eyed band in concert and hear the live versions of their songs rather than the album versions. However, it seemed as though there was a little too much at one or two points. I was always anxious for the plot to move along, to see the next event, to move on to the next album or location, but there'd be another performance, and another, and another, before finally moving on with the storyline. While most Beatlemaniacs won't have a problem with that, it may bore some less rabid-fans.
Remarkably, however, those one or two instances are the only times when the Anthology seems to drag. A 10+ hour documentary having only a couple slow spots lasting 2 to 3 minutes each? Amazing.
But what of a non-Beatles fan? Won't they find it a bit dull? Not necessarily. My sister, who knows next to nothing about the Beatles, plopped down intending to watch just a minute or two and ended up watching two entire episodes. She can name maybe five songs by the Beatles, yet still thought the Anthology was fascinating. (Admittedly, though, she said there were too many clips of their live performances).
Also, there are full-length music videos here, too, such as Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Paperback Writer, Rain, Hey Jude, Hello Goodbye, I Am The Walrus, etc. Whereas the Beatles fan in me views them as lost treasures and great to see, someone only interested the storyline might find themselves fast-forwarding. While it would be a shame to skip over the music - the music is the Beatles (and the Beatles are the music) - it is certainly understandable.
Another great aspect of the Anthology is that there is no narration whatsoever - all dialogue comes from interviews. Rather than a faceless narrator, we get to see and hear Paul, George, Ringo, George Martin, Neil Aspinal, Derek Taylor, (and even John himself in a few cases). We see history by those who made it - not from an outsider.
And then there's the bonus disc, containing some of the best moments of all. We get Paul, George, and Ringo sitting around a table, just talking. Sitting on a blanket outside, singing together. Jamming together in a studio. It's powerful, seeing these three together again (even moreso now, with George's passing). Then there are some music videos for their new songs, neither which I'm big on. While it's amazing to think they're actually new Beatles songs, I wasn't impressed with either.
But the best part of the bonus disc? At Abbey Road with George Martin, talking and playing around with the mixer. Seeing them chat about John's Tomorrow Never Knows and fooling around with the mixer was great. They all seemed so excited about it; they were in their element - the studio. This is the best footage of the entire Anthology. But it makes me wonder -
How great would it have been if there were more of this sort of thing in the Anthology itself? Discussion of their songs, their albums, their recording process and techniques, studio work. Why didn't they mention the splicing of two tracks together to create Strawberry Fields Forever? Or the creation of the circus sounds in Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite? Or the banging four pianos simultaneously for the final chord on A Day in the Life? The list goes on. It is absolutely fascinating to hear how the Beatles achieved the sounds heard on their records, yet the Anthology is mostly devoid of this sort of discussion, save for a bit on A Day in the Life and Tomorrow Never Knows. Rather than having so much concert footage from their beginning, it would have better to have more about their studio magic at their end.
That's my main complaint - it's only about the Beatles and not the Beatles' music. There's a lot of Beatles music in it, but it's mainly there for background or transitions. While the main focus obviously has to be on the band, the music should have had a larger role. Without their amazing music, we wouldn't care about the men who made it, would we? We only care because of their music. Sadly, we only get to hear it, we don't see how they made it.
Still, despite these drawbacks, the Anthology is still an amazingly piece of work. Any fan will find hours of captivating video, while non-fans will still be at least interested. Invest yourself in viewing all 10+ hours; the payoff is well worth the investment.
The Beatles Anthology project (ultimately comprising audio, video, and book aspects) initially reached the public during the week of Thanksgiving 1995...More at Barnes and Noble
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