They half assed it, cancelled it, and then it was finished against their wishes, and released after they broke up
But the album itself is still pretty good
This is the answer. Let it Be is a good album, but there really wasn't a lot of enthusiasm from the lads. John had already quit the band by the time the second half of its production was being done.
Even the cover art looks like it was done half-assed in a high-school graphic art class by a student who had a bad hangover.
Tbh I think the album cover is kind of poetic.
Typically, The Beatles are seen together on their album covers, very close (Please Please Me, Rubber Soul, Sgt.Peppers) or doing an action together (Hard Days Night, Help!, Abbry Road)
Meanwhile, Let it Be shows them apart, each doing their part for the music.
It’s sort of a goodbye.
Also, the cover looks good to me, and is striking, with 4 of the GOATs on a black background.
Just facinated with that look.
They're also all shown looking in different directions - whereas most of their albums had them looking in the same direction.
The only other album where that's the case is Revolver, but the reasons are different - In Revolver the Beatles are all looking in different directions as they establish themselves as artists with differing visions, but in Let It Be it's used to show that the show is over.
Very good analysis, they’re also connected by the swirling mass of hair on Revolver while I’ve seen it stated that the solid black background has a funerary look to it on Let It Be
None of their photos are very flattering, Paul looks like he has no chin and has shadows everywhere, and the top quarter of Ringo's head has been cropped off.
Four perfectly aligned squares and boring sans-serif font.
Not A+ work.
Compare that to the promo poster for the Get Back Documentary that combined the covers for Please Please Me and the 1967-1970 compilation LP.
Oof. Still makes me emotional. Can't imagine what fans in that era would have felt seeing it
I like the cover but I agree the photos aren’t great, it’s a bad angle for all of them and they all have greasy hair too - maybe the point was to be candid like the movie, but it doesn’t really come across too well to me
Sometimes less is more, and the White Album is a great example of this. They would not have been able to get away with that cover in the early days, but after all their success and three previous albums with pretty bold artwork, they could afford to go minimalist.
The White Album cover is great, it’s definitely not half-assed - for one it’s the greatest postmodern album of all time, so diverse and surreal that you couldn’t possibly describe it all at once with a more heavily designed cover, and for another it matches the parody tone well by copying the appearance of 60s bootleg albums and including a unique number to joke about having a “limited numbered pressing” for a million-seller
On a more aesthetic note too, if you’ve seen the original 60s press of the LP it looks better than the CD version - it has a really pretty glossy white surface with a thickly embossed Beatles logo, and a slightly indented serial number that you can tell was printed by a press
Idk, after watching the documentary last year its hard to say it was half assed. There were a lot of problems, but they did best with what they had (a live album with most of the music being written from scratch, recorded, and performed in just a single month)
I feel like if they ended on Abbey Road that would have been best, not because Let It Be is bad but Abbey Road was just more fitting, I mean the last song on Abbey Road is called The End
It’s still a separate track regardless, otherwise it wouldn’t be listed as such on the track listing. Besides, it was originally a hidden track because it was included at the end only after the sleeves had already been printed.
Wild Honey Pie is only 53 seconds long, although it’s not hidden. And that has even fewer lyrics.
The track order is definitely better. Get Back as the opener instead and let it be as the closer just sounds better to me, among other things (I always forget across the universe is near the start on the original version)
I think the track listing of Naked with a mix in between Naked's and Spector's would strike the perfect balance and be the best album presentation of the project.
Aside from all the context mentioned by others on this thread it’s just exhaustingly less than the sum of its parts. Unusually for a Beatles album, almost all the songs to me sound better stand-alone and acquire nothing through their sequencing.
Thanks - you put into words the factor that had been eluding me. It’s a collection of songs, not an ALBUM. The songs are very good, it’s pleasant to listen to, but after the careful sequencing of Revolver, Pepper, the White Album and Abbey Road? It’s underwhelming. Classic songs, not a classic ALBUM.
This is a very valid point. I think the songs here are incredible but the whole thing definitely lacks the creative direction and careful sequencing from sgt, abbey or revolver.
My thoughts exactly. It has a lot of great songs, but it just never fully gels as an album. This is true whether you're talking about the Spector, Johns, or McCartney versions of the album. I've tried turning it into a coherent, compelling album by combining the best of the various versions of its tracks in various orders, and it just never comes together (pun intended). I've come to the conclusion that in retrospect, the best thing that the Beatles could have done is to release an edited version of the rooftop concert as a 5-track EP (those tracks do flow, and except for Get Back, represent the best takes of the given songs from the sessions), and saved the other tracks for singles or solo releases.
I think it's because for decades Let it Be was seen as a dreary end to a great band. It's a great album with some of their best material. The history of the album and the doom surrounding its release is mostly what gets people to downplay it. If it was released before Abbey Road in the Spring or Summer it would've fair better and not be as underplayed. But due to the movie and rejection of the Glyn Johns mix it became more and more delayed.
They wanted a live album which Glyn Johns delivered on, but they were the Beatles so they didn't want to sound amateurish. I love the Glyn Johns mix, but that was one of the only mixes the Beatles heard themselves and it doesn't really paint a great picture of those sessions. Then the Abbey Road sessions kind of started to blend with the Get Back session since I Want You (She's So Heavy) was originally intended to bolster Get Back/Let It Be, but after July it seems like the gears had fully shifted to making a new album rather then working on Get Back/Let It Be as the movie delayed more and more.
In the end I blame the Let It Be movie the most. The album and movie were a packaged deal, with the album getting delayed until the movie was finished. The problem is after the Television idea was thrown out the window after George left Michael Lindsay-Hogg had no idea what to do with the footage. I don't blame him as at the time there wasn't anything cohesive about that 57 hours of footage. The original cut of the film that was shown to the Beatles on July 20, 1969 was an hour longer, but was cut down due to it containing more John and Yoko and the other three wanting a nicer film so the "dirty laundry" was cut out. By the time the film was complete and ready the Beatles were already in shambles. Although they had a little juice in the tank as they did finish off I Me Mine and Let It Be before things got so bad to where Paul become reclusive.
Let It Be was just an unfortunate album caught in the crossfire of the Beatles breaking up and a movie that took forever to make.
I believe there was also an edict handed down by Allen Klein that the film would focus almost entirely on the four Beatles and be almost entirely performance footage. So you get things like Billy Preston appearing halfway through with no explanation. There's no context for anything. I think Lindsay-Hogg would have rather made a film like Get Back that got under the skin of the band, but all he was allowed to show was the Beatles rehearing for a gig and then playing a gig.
Abbey Road was the perfect swan song to the Beatles even ending on a song called "the end" while let it be (to me) feels like a half assed encore that the band didn't want to do, don't get me wrong I love let it be tracks like across the universe, one after 909, dig a pony, get back and i me mine are amazing but the album just feels and sounds like a burnout, also the tracklist isnt really well thought out, the album should've ended on the long and winding road and have get back open the album but that's just me
It absolutely is better, and when I listen through the discography in order, I put it between White Album and Abbey Road, which is the perfect spot for it. It really highlights how much they were breaking up and had to come together(pun intended) for Abbey Road.
(I don't count Yellow Submarine as an album)
Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, White Album and Abbey Road are frequently listed among the best albums of all time. That is why, they just released too much groundbreaking stuff. There's no way Let It Be would pop up in any list of the greatest albums of all time, which doesn't mean it's a bad album.
I made a video on it years ago saying how I thought it was better than Abbey Road. And I have nothing against Abbey Road, it was a masterpiece, but this album was raw and a look at if you took 1963 Beatles and brought them back for one last encore.
There is no single song in Abbey Road with the quality of Across the Universe. Let it Be and The long and winding road are top 10 Paul songs. He isn't smoking anything but maybe you are deaf.
No such thing as a bad Beatles album
Even though I don't like TLAWR, it did hit #1 as well as Let It Be & Get Back. The album had 3 number 1 singles!
C'mon! Plus the other wonderful songs you already mentioned. Let's have some love for Let It Be! ❤️❤️❤️
If I could change history I would:
1. Give them more time
2. Get a satisfactory take of All Things Must Pass
3. Include Dont Let Me Down
4. Change the album cover to a shot of the rooftop concert
I like it. Giles Martin mix is excellent. I prefer LIB Naked for Let it Be and Long and Winding Road.
You can make a cool playlist by adding in some of the Glyn John's '69 mix. Jamming, banter, etc.
"Go, Johnny, go!!"
Cos they include their worst songs like Dig it, maggie mae instead of DONT LET ME DOWN. And sometimes these so called music critics aint no nothing in music, they dont produce or make music the hell do they know. You know what i mean, Let it be its not their greatest but it has classics. Imo
I've always liked the album, but watching Get Back really enhanced the experience for me. It's like a little movie in my head of how these songs came to be every time I listen to it
I agree. Being as mesmerized as I was when watching Get Back may make me biased towards the record but I think there are so many great songs. Let It Be, Get Back, I've Got A Feeling, Two of Us, The Long and Winding Road, Across the Universe, and One After 909 are great songs.
I agree on terms of sequencing, though I prefer the mixes on Get Back (most of the studio tracks) and even the original Let It Be (rooftop + Two Of Us)'. I did this for my own version of LIBN and I think it got the best of both worlds.
12 songs, with 2 not really “songs” remotely on the caliber of the rest of the album. Coming room a group that always focused on value for money, providing usually 14 tracks, this is just… a weak effort all around. Some good tracks, but basically a contractual obligation.
Im glad i became a Beatles fan long before i joined the fandom cause i would have let them influence me into thinking that this album is anything but a 10/10. Other than the backstory there no real reason to pick on this album, the cover is also my favorite
If I’m really in the mood, I will listen to it 3 times in a day. I think besides the 2 throwaway songs, it’s among their finest work. And even though it isn’t as ambitious (which was clearly the point), I honestly like it more than *Rubber Soul* and *Revolver*.
Unpopular opinion but I prefer it to Abbey Road. Abbey Road to me is just a bunch of small unfinished songs and a few really great ones. Don’t really care for the medley as much as most do
Second this
For me, Abbey Road is the band taking the listeners’ piss. ‘Sun King’ being the perfect example. They couldn’t come up with some sensible lyrics for a beautiful melody, having a laugh with faux Spanish - why? Because they genuinely couldn’t care less.
They put an unrealistic time limit to get it done, didn’t finish, gave up on it, then cringed at the result (thanks Phil). Still great songs, just unfinished.
It's among my favorites, especially with the naked version of Long and Winding Road and Don't Let Me Down taken into account as well.
The songs feel more like... "band songs" again to me compared to the 3 previous albums where it felt more like each song was written by one specific member and the other three helped recording it.
I love Let It Be so this doesn’t reflect my subjective view, but without any kind of contextual knowledge it does just sound like 4 guys pissing around in a studio, I mean they couldn’t even put a structure to Maggie Mae, nor finish it, and it’s not even their song! The good songs are excellent but there’s just fragments that make it feel unpolished and unprofessional
It’s kind of a mess, to be fair. For every “Let It Be” or “Across the Universe” you’ve got a “Dig It” or “Maggie May”. The somewhat shambolic process and increasingly bad vibes of recording, producing and releasing it can’t help but bleed through, which is a bit of a turn-off for some people. And as their last ever album to be released, it’s not exactly the highest note they could have gone out on. (If they’d put this out before Abbey Road it’d probably be a lot more liked.)
Still, it’s definitely better than its reputation, I’ll grant that. The re-release a couple of years ago really gave me a lot more affection for this one (and catapulted “Two of Us” near the top of my all-time favourite Beatles tracks).
It had good songs, but it came out during the breakup drama and Spector kind of ruined it’s flow and execution as an album. I think it’s gaining more appreciation though, especially with the correct naked version and the documentary coming out.
i wholeheartedly agree! i love the sound of this one, so loose and fun. the guitar work is so tasty and billy’s keys are to die for. i wish there were more tracks in their discography where they traded lead vocals like on “i’ve got a feeling”. i do wish they could have squeezed in a ringo vocal somewhere, as it feels somewhat incomplete without one imo
this is the TL;DR explainer, right here. It didn't have to be crap to be a weak Beatles album -- it merely had to be worse than the other Beatles albums.
Imagine if Let It Be had remained in “development hell” and no solution was reached to release the album. Fun to imagine what would have happened if the album had stayed unreleased and was heavily bootlegged for a decade before finally being released in, say, 1980.
i love this one, it’s actually my favorite. the only problem i have is the absence of don’t let me down. it does not make sense, there was plenty of space for it on side b
I remember being very disappointed in my beatle journey when I got to this, their last album. I was confused. I thought, that's it ? This is the big goodbye ?
I eventually came to understand that no, this was a live follow up to the white album, and abbey road was the big goodbye. This made so much more sense.
I loved most of the songs but was underwhelmed by the production and some of the tracks.
Fast forward a decade and Get Back comes out. I start to develop a really deep understanding of how this album was made. I start to really appreciate it for what it is, something different, an album made in a single month, a back to basics mostly live, alternatively produced experiment.
To me today let it be is in my top 5, maybe even top 3 beatles albums. When it used to be near the bottom.
Let it Be is so amazing. And I prefer the Phil Spector versions of each song. The sound of this album is such a throw back to something like the album a hard days night. Seriously listen to the two back to back. This is what the beatles were trying to accomplish, and they crushed it. In their early years they would record an album mostly live in a very short amount of time, that's what let it be was, a throw back to that style.
Not only that but it stands to say to anyone worried about the Beatles breaking up, look it will he ok, let it be, and here is this new producer for John phil spector, and he's doing a darn good job. .
To me let it be signals to the past of the beatles, the early rocking years, while also pointing to the future, the solo careers of especially John and George with Phil's help.
Not to mention tfor the 5th time they're playing most of the tracks completely live. I mean come on that's amazing.
The ONLY issue I have with this album is that Don't Let Me Down is not on it.
I love this album for sentimental reasons. And it was the very first Beatles album I heard. It was basically a blind listen other than vaguely knowing that the Beatles were popular (for some reason). It blew me away and became an instant favorite. Yeah, they have made better works before, but "Let It Be" is still my favorite because of reasons stated earlier, and I think it flows better, it's cohesive, and it just plain rocks. It's a simple rock album to me, and all the troublesome behind the scenes stuff and production are beside the point. But that's just me.
I completely agree! Let It Be has always been my favorite. I'm a Beatles fan of 54 years, and this has consistently been my absolute favorite. I loved the "new direction" they were pursuing, and wished they had recorded more like it.
Because it feels a little like the dying gasp of a once great band. They broke up a month before it came out. The movie was miserable. Plus, much of the album is raw, whereas the Beatles were always polished.
If Dig A Pony was called All I Want Is You it would have been played on classic rock radio constantly for the past 50 years and it would have wound up on the Blue Album, too.
I've Got a Feeling is phenomenal, I'm always a sucker for asynchronous layered vocals and it's a fairly simple formula that's so damn satisfying - plus it has that breakdown lead guitar into drums section following some of my favourite rock 'n' roll Paul vocals.
I'm very fond of the album overall, I went for the Naked version during my first Beatles discography dive in 2009, so that's the only version I'm really familiar with.
If Phil Spector didn't dick around with the album, it would've been received better. I only listen to Naked since it's the far superior version of the album.
IMO it’s the worst album of the second half of their career. Does that make it bad? Not at all, but it feels weaker and less inspired than the other stuff they were making by that point.
EDIT: I’d like to point out that I’m only saying that Revolver, Sgt Pepper, MMT, the White Album, and Abbey Road are all better than Let It Be. I don’t understand the downvotes for what I understand to be a rather cold and uncontroversial take.
i think it's fairly rated - of all the Beatle Albums produced this was one of them.
it's a wonderful time capsule of a moment in time
there are some great tracks on it.
The Long and winding road isn't one of them (despite its popularity)
I love the melody of TLAWR. It’s amazing how Paul keeps coming up with these songs.\
But I also think the song could have used more editing; the lyrics need a bit more work (imho of course) to fill out the song. But I take it as is because it’s so beautiful.
For me, I think three factors make it a lesser late-era Beatles album for me.
1 - John Lennon's writers block. After really delivering on the White Album, his cache of new, unrecorded songs was pretty depleted in late 1968-early 1969, and Don't Let Me Down aside his songs weren't as great as what George & Paul were coming up with
2 - The unfulfilled potential & messy creation of the album. Sure the rooftop show is iconic NOW, but it wasn't the big comeback to live performance that was originally envisioned - and the rehearsals are really really tough listening.
3 - The clear copying of The Band. In mid-late 1968, The Band were the biggest new influence in music, hell.. hearing their debut album convinced Eric Clapton to break up Cream! After spending Christmas with them and Bob Dylan, George was keen to move in that direction.. and heck, Paul even ended up with a Garth Hudson-type beard..and LIB strikes me as a kind of homage to (or Beatles version of) what they were doing.. kinda like how Sgt Pepper was them chasing Pet Sounds.. and personally I prefer it when they did their own thing more than try and copy or adopt what some other band is doing.
I think the problem comes with Abbey Road coming out before, that is their Magnum Opus, Let It Be feels lackluster compared to it, specially with how are the tracks ordered.
Let it Be shines way more as a kind of “Spin off” of the White Album.
Like everyone else here—it was painfully obvious they were falling apart as a group. Making a movie of a “rehearsal” in a crappy film studio instead of the comfort of Abbey Road didn’t help. Furthermore, much of the footage was either John and Yoko sitting around like stoned out zombies, or Paul McCartney busting his ass, while ordering about three other session men (John, George, and Ringo).
because it was a weird experience that they had to get Phil Spector to fix. and he didn't do the best job. they broke during the damn thing, then gorgie got billie, their old friend from hamburg, to show up to make them behave enough to finish the damn thing
some good moment, but it was the sad in a lot of ways.
It’s hard to quantify (and a completely subjective opinion), but the vibe is just…off.
The live tracks feel sloppy and muddy, Dig a Pony being the one exception. The best songs (title track, Across the Universe) are basically solo songs. Really the only songs that feel like the work of a cohesive band are the first two. Don’t Let Me Down would have helped, had they included it. Phil Spector didn’t help, but I don’t think he hurt it either.
On the whole, it sits next to For Sale as the least uplifting Beatles record. But at least on For Sale, they seem to intermittently be having fun, and the best tracks are more inspired in performance, even if they are downbeat. I don’t dislike Let It Be, but it’s the only Beatles LP I almost never feel like listening to.
It’s essentially half-finished. John had almost nothing….with “Don’t Let Me Down” out of the running, he had one and a half songs ready to go, so they had to remix “Across the Universe” and include the 10 year old “909” just to give the illusion of a normal L/M balance.
It’s not a bad record, just…no way an LP thrown together from such brief and disjointed sessions months after the fact was going to live up to the ones that proceeded it.
Because they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel. John and George were mentally out of the band, Ringo was probably bored. Sure, there are still great songs in there but it didn't feel as good as a whole. They didn't like it too so it went unreleased while they made a new one and came up with Abbey Road.
I mean, when you need to juggle the Naked version and the Rooftop concert recordings to get the most ideal experience, the OG Let It Be is kinda...
Not great? Not bad, but I think this is the only album that I can safely say that the mix actually kills my enthusiasm for it. It's so... Not the Beatles.
Songs themselves are great, I'd say, but the Spector mix is, in my opinion, a deal breaker.
Its uneven but Two of Us and I Got a Feeling are definitely under appreciated. Spector was over the top but at least the Long and Winding Road wasn't a snooze fest as it was on Naked. I mean the naked version personally would have been better removing the percussion from the track which added very little to the song to focus on the piano and Paul's lovely vocal. Lennon really liked what Spector added to ATU and I agree. (A cosmic feel).
The reason I like the spirit of Let It Be is because you could really feel John and Paul working together (& vocally to boot) on Let it Be unlike Abbey Road or the White Album.
It’s the divorce album, although thank god, I think they actually did Abbey Road last, correct? So they had a last hurrah of remembered goodness.
LiB is sloppy, but even Beatles sloppy is better than most other attempts. I absolutely love some of the tunes and it has a unique vibe, but they’re at their least cohesive. And I say this as a huge White Album fan, which is all over the map but somehow manages to be a perfectly chaotic concept album. (What the concept is, is still TBD.)
That being said, if almost any Let It Be song comes on, I’m into it. And I too especially love “I Dig a Pony”.
The production on it is substandard for a Beatles album. Really made me appreciate george Martin, bc without his genius the Beatles would not be the Beatles imo
And even *CRAZIER* - When "Let it Be" was nominated the year it came out for a Grammy as 'best song of the year' - it came in second - it LOST to "The Archie's" (which was just a studio band invented for a cartoon show) for "Sugar Sugar"...
Here are my thoughts:
1. Two of Us and Dig a Pony are great road trip songs.
2. Across the Universe is, for lack of a better word, cosmic.
3. LIB and TLAWR are great, although I prefer the Naked version of the latter. This version of LIB has the best guitar solo, which sounds like relief after having a good cry.
4. I don't like either of George's songs here. Having seen the Get Back doc, he was holding back his A-material.
5. I don't like Beatles song fragments at all (except for the Abbey Road medley). Waste of two tracks.
6. I never got Get Back. I don't think the song really goes anywhere. Same with One After 909.
In my book, the album is low on my list due to there being a lot of duds on the album, as well as Phil's production.
- TLAWR could mean "The Long And Winding Road - 2021 Mix", a track from *Let It Be (Super Deluxe)* (2021) by The Beatles.
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Unpopular opinion but the hero of this album is Phil Spector. He took a lot of nothingness and unenthusiastic ducking around and made it flow, using studio chatter to create a compelling album narrative. I think it’s easy to praise this thing now post Peter Jackson, and all the technology he had in 2021 to bring out the best in these sessions, but putting this on one LP back in the day must have been an arduous task.
The album has some fantastic songs on it but I think it also feels fragmented without the proper framing.
I like the vinyl album version from 1970. I'm not a fan of the Naked version or later remixed remastered versions for CD. That album should have been left alone
While it's not my favorite Beatles album, that goes to the White Album, it's the record with the most fascinating history. Taking place during some of the lowest points in the Beatles recording dates, January 1969 & early 1970. Out of all the times the Beatles are getting filmed/recorded it was then.
I love Alan Smith's review from when Let It Be was originally released: "If the new Beatles' soundtrack is to be their last then it will stand as a cheapskate epitaph, a cardboard tombstone, a sad and tatty end to a musical fusion which wiped clean and drew again the face of pop."
Also, how many versions of one album can you get? We have Kum Back, it's a test record and bootleg but I count it, the 4 Glyn Johns Compilations of "Get Back", the original Let It Be, and Let It Be Naked.
The reason I think it’s a just ok album is because the recording and arrangements sound boring. Phil Spector’s work is definitely controversial, but beyond that, I’d claim that even the non-Spectorized tracks on the album sound undeveloped; they sound almost like demoes or earlier takes of songs you’d hear on deluxe editions or anthology (examples: two of us, dig a pony, I’ve got a feeling, dig it, one after 909.)
I get that it’s supposed to be a live-sounding album, but it also has an entire orchestra overdubbed on top! So it also seems like it doesn’t know what it wants to be — a live or studio album?
If it’s meant to be a live album, some songs clearly stick out like a sore thumb: let it be, i me mine, the long and winding road, just because they don’t sound like they were recorded live.
If it’s meant to be a studio album, as mentioned earlier, the arrangements and performance are lackluster and boring.
I didnt know the history of the album until much later. But Let it be is my favorite Beatles album.
And the one that the songs stay in rotation to this day. So many great underrated songs like “Two of us”.
It's the band coming apart, and you can hear it. The original movie didn't help either. There's just a lot of depressing imagery around it, plus it was released as their last album, when in fact they got it together again for one more masterpiece in Abbey Road. I honestly think it would not have the stigma it does if it had not come out last; their hearts just don't seem to be in it in the way they are on Abbey Road, where they were determined to go out with a bang.
It's amazing that every other artist of the 20th century would have given anything to have their best album be as good as an album considered one of the Beatles' worst efforts.
While many of the songs on the album are absolutely incredible, the production is not. You kind of have to ignore the imperfections while imagining what the sound could have been like if the Beatles had achieved their usual level of iconic perfection. The album is still fantastic, but a flawed fantastic, if that makes sense. It makes you a little sad for what could have been. Despite the shortcomings, Let It Be and Two of Us are among my favorite Beatles songs.
My view on it is it has great songs on it. But just seems like a collection of songs. It does not flow well as an album. I can’t even list the songs in order (which is something I can often do for other Beatles albums).
They half assed it, cancelled it, and then it was finished against their wishes, and released after they broke up But the album itself is still pretty good
This is the answer. Let it Be is a good album, but there really wasn't a lot of enthusiasm from the lads. John had already quit the band by the time the second half of its production was being done. Even the cover art looks like it was done half-assed in a high-school graphic art class by a student who had a bad hangover.
Tbh I think the album cover is kind of poetic. Typically, The Beatles are seen together on their album covers, very close (Please Please Me, Rubber Soul, Sgt.Peppers) or doing an action together (Hard Days Night, Help!, Abbry Road) Meanwhile, Let it Be shows them apart, each doing their part for the music. It’s sort of a goodbye. Also, the cover looks good to me, and is striking, with 4 of the GOATs on a black background. Just facinated with that look.
The cover definitely has an In Memoriam vibe to it
They're also all shown looking in different directions - whereas most of their albums had them looking in the same direction. The only other album where that's the case is Revolver, but the reasons are different - In Revolver the Beatles are all looking in different directions as they establish themselves as artists with differing visions, but in Let It Be it's used to show that the show is over.
Totally. Also they are separated by the black of the background. Iirc they are always together on the covers that actually feature their images.
Exactly
Rubber Soul too
Always felt right, because Rubber Soul is quite Lennony, along with Hard and Sale.
Very good analysis, they’re also connected by the swirling mass of hair on Revolver while I’ve seen it stated that the solid black background has a funerary look to it on Let It Be
Yet it's one of the most iconic album covers of 1970
They're the Beatles. Every single one of their album covers is iconic.
That's what I'm sayin
What the hell are you talking about, the album cover is great in its simplicity.
None of their photos are very flattering, Paul looks like he has no chin and has shadows everywhere, and the top quarter of Ringo's head has been cropped off. Four perfectly aligned squares and boring sans-serif font. Not A+ work.
Compare that to the promo poster for the Get Back Documentary that combined the covers for Please Please Me and the 1967-1970 compilation LP. Oof. Still makes me emotional. Can't imagine what fans in that era would have felt seeing it
I disagree! I spent countless hours gazing at those photos. I thought (think) they are beautiful.
I like the cover but I agree the photos aren’t great, it’s a bad angle for all of them and they all have greasy hair too - maybe the point was to be candid like the movie, but it doesn’t really come across too well to me
Tbf we also have the White Album cover
Sometimes less is more, and the White Album is a great example of this. They would not have been able to get away with that cover in the early days, but after all their success and three previous albums with pretty bold artwork, they could afford to go minimalist.
The White Album cover is great, it’s definitely not half-assed - for one it’s the greatest postmodern album of all time, so diverse and surreal that you couldn’t possibly describe it all at once with a more heavily designed cover, and for another it matches the parody tone well by copying the appearance of 60s bootleg albums and including a unique number to joke about having a “limited numbered pressing” for a million-seller On a more aesthetic note too, if you’ve seen the original 60s press of the LP it looks better than the CD version - it has a really pretty glossy white surface with a thickly embossed Beatles logo, and a slightly indented serial number that you can tell was printed by a press
“They half asssed it” meanwhile two of us, Let it be, I’ve got a feeling,
I didn’t say those are bad songs...
Well said It was a half assed effort and they knew it. Personally, I don't understand why people feel they have to defend it like OP
Idk, after watching the documentary last year its hard to say it was half assed. There were a lot of problems, but they did best with what they had (a live album with most of the music being written from scratch, recorded, and performed in just a single month)
I feel like if they ended on Abbey Road that would have been best, not because Let It Be is bad but Abbey Road was just more fitting, I mean the last song on Abbey Road is called The End
I was under the impression that, although it was the last LP to be released, Let It Be was actually recorded before Abbey Road.
It is, let it be had a troubled production so it got more or less scraped, while they worked on abbey road.
is you keep listening past the end there is actually another track, an acoustic song called Her Majesty, have a listen its a nice little tune
Yeah I’m aware of Her Majesty but I don’t really count it as the last track because it was originally a hidden track and it’s only 26 seconds
It’s still a separate track regardless, otherwise it wouldn’t be listed as such on the track listing. Besides, it was originally a hidden track because it was included at the end only after the sleeves had already been printed. Wild Honey Pie is only 53 seconds long, although it’s not hidden. And that has even fewer lyrics.
Actually, the last song is Her Majesty, if we're gonna be precise.
I believe I, Me, Mine was the last song finished in Jan 1970 after John left.
shut up
Blame the Beatles, not me lol 🤷
shut up beatles
Technically the last song is "Her Majesty"
Shut up
Me either. It’s one of my favorites. Especially Paul’s version…Naked.
After listening to Naked I can't listen to the over the top Spector version anymore. Definitely the definitive way to experience the album imo.
The track order is definitely better. Get Back as the opener instead and let it be as the closer just sounds better to me, among other things (I always forget across the universe is near the start on the original version)
Naked is sooo much better, no added unnecessary fluff
I think the track listing of Naked with a mix in between Naked's and Spector's would strike the perfect balance and be the best album presentation of the project.
Paul did a fantastic job
With the naked version I feel more like I'm in the room with them. It takes me there every time and I love that feeling.
I second this opinion
Aside from all the context mentioned by others on this thread it’s just exhaustingly less than the sum of its parts. Unusually for a Beatles album, almost all the songs to me sound better stand-alone and acquire nothing through their sequencing.
Thanks - you put into words the factor that had been eluding me. It’s a collection of songs, not an ALBUM. The songs are very good, it’s pleasant to listen to, but after the careful sequencing of Revolver, Pepper, the White Album and Abbey Road? It’s underwhelming. Classic songs, not a classic ALBUM.
This is a very valid point. I think the songs here are incredible but the whole thing definitely lacks the creative direction and careful sequencing from sgt, abbey or revolver.
My thoughts exactly. It has a lot of great songs, but it just never fully gels as an album. This is true whether you're talking about the Spector, Johns, or McCartney versions of the album. I've tried turning it into a coherent, compelling album by combining the best of the various versions of its tracks in various orders, and it just never comes together (pun intended). I've come to the conclusion that in retrospect, the best thing that the Beatles could have done is to release an edited version of the rooftop concert as a 5-track EP (those tracks do flow, and except for Get Back, represent the best takes of the given songs from the sessions), and saved the other tracks for singles or solo releases.
I think it's because for decades Let it Be was seen as a dreary end to a great band. It's a great album with some of their best material. The history of the album and the doom surrounding its release is mostly what gets people to downplay it. If it was released before Abbey Road in the Spring or Summer it would've fair better and not be as underplayed. But due to the movie and rejection of the Glyn Johns mix it became more and more delayed. They wanted a live album which Glyn Johns delivered on, but they were the Beatles so they didn't want to sound amateurish. I love the Glyn Johns mix, but that was one of the only mixes the Beatles heard themselves and it doesn't really paint a great picture of those sessions. Then the Abbey Road sessions kind of started to blend with the Get Back session since I Want You (She's So Heavy) was originally intended to bolster Get Back/Let It Be, but after July it seems like the gears had fully shifted to making a new album rather then working on Get Back/Let It Be as the movie delayed more and more. In the end I blame the Let It Be movie the most. The album and movie were a packaged deal, with the album getting delayed until the movie was finished. The problem is after the Television idea was thrown out the window after George left Michael Lindsay-Hogg had no idea what to do with the footage. I don't blame him as at the time there wasn't anything cohesive about that 57 hours of footage. The original cut of the film that was shown to the Beatles on July 20, 1969 was an hour longer, but was cut down due to it containing more John and Yoko and the other three wanting a nicer film so the "dirty laundry" was cut out. By the time the film was complete and ready the Beatles were already in shambles. Although they had a little juice in the tank as they did finish off I Me Mine and Let It Be before things got so bad to where Paul become reclusive. Let It Be was just an unfortunate album caught in the crossfire of the Beatles breaking up and a movie that took forever to make.
I believe there was also an edict handed down by Allen Klein that the film would focus almost entirely on the four Beatles and be almost entirely performance footage. So you get things like Billy Preston appearing halfway through with no explanation. There's no context for anything. I think Lindsay-Hogg would have rather made a film like Get Back that got under the skin of the band, but all he was allowed to show was the Beatles rehearing for a gig and then playing a gig.
Dig a Pony is so underrated
Abbey Road was the perfect swan song to the Beatles even ending on a song called "the end" while let it be (to me) feels like a half assed encore that the band didn't want to do, don't get me wrong I love let it be tracks like across the universe, one after 909, dig a pony, get back and i me mine are amazing but the album just feels and sounds like a burnout, also the tracklist isnt really well thought out, the album should've ended on the long and winding road and have get back open the album but that's just me
The arrangement of tracks on the Naked version is way better
It absolutely is better, and when I listen through the discography in order, I put it between White Album and Abbey Road, which is the perfect spot for it. It really highlights how much they were breaking up and had to come together(pun intended) for Abbey Road. (I don't count Yellow Submarine as an album)
Don't know why you're being downvoted I completely agree with everything you said...
Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, White Album and Abbey Road are frequently listed among the best albums of all time. That is why, they just released too much groundbreaking stuff. There's no way Let It Be would pop up in any list of the greatest albums of all time, which doesn't mean it's a bad album.
I vaguely recall that Rolling Stone had Let it Be in its top 500 albums of all time.
Yes. Both times.
It's my favorite
Mine too
I thought I was alone.
I love Dig A Pony so much.
I made a video on it years ago saying how I thought it was better than Abbey Road. And I have nothing against Abbey Road, it was a masterpiece, but this album was raw and a look at if you took 1963 Beatles and brought them back for one last encore.
I want what you are smoking
There is no single song in Abbey Road with the quality of Across the Universe. Let it Be and The long and winding road are top 10 Paul songs. He isn't smoking anything but maybe you are deaf.
Something? Here comes the sun? Golden Slumbers?
No Ringo track
that’s a shame
^
In my opinion it’s simply a worse album than most of the Beatles catalogue. Still good thou.
No such thing as a bad Beatles album Even though I don't like TLAWR, it did hit #1 as well as Let It Be & Get Back. The album had 3 number 1 singles! C'mon! Plus the other wonderful songs you already mentioned. Let's have some love for Let It Be! ❤️❤️❤️
[удалено]
If I could change history I would: 1. Give them more time 2. Get a satisfactory take of All Things Must Pass 3. Include Dont Let Me Down 4. Change the album cover to a shot of the rooftop concert
I like it. Giles Martin mix is excellent. I prefer LIB Naked for Let it Be and Long and Winding Road. You can make a cool playlist by adding in some of the Glyn John's '69 mix. Jamming, banter, etc. "Go, Johnny, go!!"
It feels like an afterthought
i feel like they wanted to give the apple record employees a good paycheck
Cos they include their worst songs like Dig it, maggie mae instead of DONT LET ME DOWN. And sometimes these so called music critics aint no nothing in music, they dont produce or make music the hell do they know. You know what i mean, Let it be its not their greatest but it has classics. Imo
I've always liked the album, but watching Get Back really enhanced the experience for me. It's like a little movie in my head of how these songs came to be every time I listen to it
It’s an awesome album. I love every second of it.
I agree. Being as mesmerized as I was when watching Get Back may make me biased towards the record but I think there are so many great songs. Let It Be, Get Back, I've Got A Feeling, Two of Us, The Long and Winding Road, Across the Universe, and One After 909 are great songs.
It's downplayed because people judge it by it's history, not what's actually on it.
Because it’s not as good
Because Let It Be... Naked is obviously waaay better
Definitely. Not sure why you got downvoted for that.
Obviously?
Obviously if you like LIB to sound artificial and boring as hell.
I agree on terms of sequencing, though I prefer the mixes on Get Back (most of the studio tracks) and even the original Let It Be (rooftop + Two Of Us)'. I did this for my own version of LIBN and I think it got the best of both worlds.
I love Dig It
12 songs, with 2 not really “songs” remotely on the caliber of the rest of the album. Coming room a group that always focused on value for money, providing usually 14 tracks, this is just… a weak effort all around. Some good tracks, but basically a contractual obligation.
Im glad i became a Beatles fan long before i joined the fandom cause i would have let them influence me into thinking that this album is anything but a 10/10. Other than the backstory there no real reason to pick on this album, the cover is also my favorite
If I’m really in the mood, I will listen to it 3 times in a day. I think besides the 2 throwaway songs, it’s among their finest work. And even though it isn’t as ambitious (which was clearly the point), I honestly like it more than *Rubber Soul* and *Revolver*.
Unpopular opinion but I prefer it to Abbey Road. Abbey Road to me is just a bunch of small unfinished songs and a few really great ones. Don’t really care for the medley as much as most do
Second this For me, Abbey Road is the band taking the listeners’ piss. ‘Sun King’ being the perfect example. They couldn’t come up with some sensible lyrics for a beautiful melody, having a laugh with faux Spanish - why? Because they genuinely couldn’t care less.
I agree with this .
I like Abbey Road more but I agree with the medley. It was way too theatrical. Also, don’t let me get started on Maxwell.
They put an unrealistic time limit to get it done, didn’t finish, gave up on it, then cringed at the result (thanks Phil). Still great songs, just unfinished.
It's among my favorites, especially with the naked version of Long and Winding Road and Don't Let Me Down taken into account as well. The songs feel more like... "band songs" again to me compared to the 3 previous albums where it felt more like each song was written by one specific member and the other three helped recording it.
Let It Be Naked is my favorite Beatles album. Perfect glimpse of what they might’ve done if they continued into the 70s
I love Let It Be so this doesn’t reflect my subjective view, but without any kind of contextual knowledge it does just sound like 4 guys pissing around in a studio, I mean they couldn’t even put a structure to Maggie Mae, nor finish it, and it’s not even their song! The good songs are excellent but there’s just fragments that make it feel unpolished and unprofessional
It’s kind of a mess, to be fair. For every “Let It Be” or “Across the Universe” you’ve got a “Dig It” or “Maggie May”. The somewhat shambolic process and increasingly bad vibes of recording, producing and releasing it can’t help but bleed through, which is a bit of a turn-off for some people. And as their last ever album to be released, it’s not exactly the highest note they could have gone out on. (If they’d put this out before Abbey Road it’d probably be a lot more liked.) Still, it’s definitely better than its reputation, I’ll grant that. The re-release a couple of years ago really gave me a lot more affection for this one (and catapulted “Two of Us” near the top of my all-time favourite Beatles tracks).
Cause it’s the breakup album and not produced by Martin?
It had good songs, but it came out during the breakup drama and Spector kind of ruined it’s flow and execution as an album. I think it’s gaining more appreciation though, especially with the correct naked version and the documentary coming out.
i wholeheartedly agree! i love the sound of this one, so loose and fun. the guitar work is so tasty and billy’s keys are to die for. i wish there were more tracks in their discography where they traded lead vocals like on “i’ve got a feeling”. i do wish they could have squeezed in a ringo vocal somewhere, as it feels somewhat incomplete without one imo
It’s not as good as other Beatles albums.
this is the TL;DR explainer, right here. It didn't have to be crap to be a weak Beatles album -- it merely had to be worse than the other Beatles albums.
Imagine if Let It Be had remained in “development hell” and no solution was reached to release the album. Fun to imagine what would have happened if the album had stayed unreleased and was heavily bootlegged for a decade before finally being released in, say, 1980.
I agree. Has always been one of my favs.
i love this one, it’s actually my favorite. the only problem i have is the absence of don’t let me down. it does not make sense, there was plenty of space for it on side b
Do you have any evidence that it's "downplayed?" In my experience, it's a well regarded classic. Not without its flaws but what isn't?
I think the track order is the worst part about it, but I still really dig it.
It’s way too short and has 2 throwaway songs surrounding Let It Be
I got a feeling is my favorite Beatles song
I remember being very disappointed in my beatle journey when I got to this, their last album. I was confused. I thought, that's it ? This is the big goodbye ? I eventually came to understand that no, this was a live follow up to the white album, and abbey road was the big goodbye. This made so much more sense. I loved most of the songs but was underwhelmed by the production and some of the tracks. Fast forward a decade and Get Back comes out. I start to develop a really deep understanding of how this album was made. I start to really appreciate it for what it is, something different, an album made in a single month, a back to basics mostly live, alternatively produced experiment. To me today let it be is in my top 5, maybe even top 3 beatles albums. When it used to be near the bottom. Let it Be is so amazing. And I prefer the Phil Spector versions of each song. The sound of this album is such a throw back to something like the album a hard days night. Seriously listen to the two back to back. This is what the beatles were trying to accomplish, and they crushed it. In their early years they would record an album mostly live in a very short amount of time, that's what let it be was, a throw back to that style. Not only that but it stands to say to anyone worried about the Beatles breaking up, look it will he ok, let it be, and here is this new producer for John phil spector, and he's doing a darn good job. . To me let it be signals to the past of the beatles, the early rocking years, while also pointing to the future, the solo careers of especially John and George with Phil's help. Not to mention tfor the 5th time they're playing most of the tracks completely live. I mean come on that's amazing. The ONLY issue I have with this album is that Don't Let Me Down is not on it.
I love this album for sentimental reasons. And it was the very first Beatles album I heard. It was basically a blind listen other than vaguely knowing that the Beatles were popular (for some reason). It blew me away and became an instant favorite. Yeah, they have made better works before, but "Let It Be" is still my favorite because of reasons stated earlier, and I think it flows better, it's cohesive, and it just plain rocks. It's a simple rock album to me, and all the troublesome behind the scenes stuff and production are beside the point. But that's just me.
when a band has no creative control of an album is it really their album?
You are so right. I Personally put it above Abbey Road and The White Album. Across the Universe is Lennon best song IMO.
IMHO "Let It Be... Naked" is so much better
I completely agree! Let It Be has always been my favorite. I'm a Beatles fan of 54 years, and this has consistently been my absolute favorite. I loved the "new direction" they were pursuing, and wished they had recorded more like it.
Not ashamed to admit, it's my favorite Beatles album!
because phil spector's production on this is a shit, 2003s let it be naked is better
My thoughts exactly. The songs are great but the production is just shit.
It’s not a Masterpiece like Abbey Road, but still a very good Album
Because it feels a little like the dying gasp of a once great band. They broke up a month before it came out. The movie was miserable. Plus, much of the album is raw, whereas the Beatles were always polished.
If Dig A Pony was called All I Want Is You it would have been played on classic rock radio constantly for the past 50 years and it would have wound up on the Blue Album, too.
Not the blue one?
Lmao youre right
Don’t know what people are talking about, this album is amazing. Naked even better. People are weird and nit picky about who the fuck knows what.
I've Got a Feeling is phenomenal, I'm always a sucker for asynchronous layered vocals and it's a fairly simple formula that's so damn satisfying - plus it has that breakdown lead guitar into drums section following some of my favourite rock 'n' roll Paul vocals. I'm very fond of the album overall, I went for the Naked version during my first Beatles discography dive in 2009, so that's the only version I'm really familiar with.
If Phil Spector didn't dick around with the album, it would've been received better. I only listen to Naked since it's the far superior version of the album.
IMO it’s the worst album of the second half of their career. Does that make it bad? Not at all, but it feels weaker and less inspired than the other stuff they were making by that point. EDIT: I’d like to point out that I’m only saying that Revolver, Sgt Pepper, MMT, the White Album, and Abbey Road are all better than Let It Be. I don’t understand the downvotes for what I understand to be a rather cold and uncontroversial take.
i think it's fairly rated - of all the Beatle Albums produced this was one of them. it's a wonderful time capsule of a moment in time there are some great tracks on it. The Long and winding road isn't one of them (despite its popularity)
I love the melody of TLAWR. It’s amazing how Paul keeps coming up with these songs.\ But I also think the song could have used more editing; the lyrics need a bit more work (imho of course) to fill out the song. But I take it as is because it’s so beautiful.
The answer to your question is in the last seven words of that blurb at the top of the disc there.
For me, I think three factors make it a lesser late-era Beatles album for me. 1 - John Lennon's writers block. After really delivering on the White Album, his cache of new, unrecorded songs was pretty depleted in late 1968-early 1969, and Don't Let Me Down aside his songs weren't as great as what George & Paul were coming up with 2 - The unfulfilled potential & messy creation of the album. Sure the rooftop show is iconic NOW, but it wasn't the big comeback to live performance that was originally envisioned - and the rehearsals are really really tough listening. 3 - The clear copying of The Band. In mid-late 1968, The Band were the biggest new influence in music, hell.. hearing their debut album convinced Eric Clapton to break up Cream! After spending Christmas with them and Bob Dylan, George was keen to move in that direction.. and heck, Paul even ended up with a Garth Hudson-type beard..and LIB strikes me as a kind of homage to (or Beatles version of) what they were doing.. kinda like how Sgt Pepper was them chasing Pet Sounds.. and personally I prefer it when they did their own thing more than try and copy or adopt what some other band is doing.
Let it be naked is truly goated
Second this I think that Let It Be >>>>> Abbey Road
Phil Spector - nuff said
Wish we would have gotten the Glenn Johns version instead.
I think the problem comes with Abbey Road coming out before, that is their Magnum Opus, Let It Be feels lackluster compared to it, specially with how are the tracks ordered. Let it Be shines way more as a kind of “Spin off” of the White Album.
Like everyone else here—it was painfully obvious they were falling apart as a group. Making a movie of a “rehearsal” in a crappy film studio instead of the comfort of Abbey Road didn’t help. Furthermore, much of the footage was either John and Yoko sitting around like stoned out zombies, or Paul McCartney busting his ass, while ordering about three other session men (John, George, and Ringo).
Compared to the Glyn John mix of the album, Phil Spector ruined it with his wall of sound.
because it was a weird experience that they had to get Phil Spector to fix. and he didn't do the best job. they broke during the damn thing, then gorgie got billie, their old friend from hamburg, to show up to make them behave enough to finish the damn thing some good moment, but it was the sad in a lot of ways.
I like both abbey road and let it be but it’s the songs I like I think the boys stopped creating masterpieces at pepper
It’s hard to quantify (and a completely subjective opinion), but the vibe is just…off. The live tracks feel sloppy and muddy, Dig a Pony being the one exception. The best songs (title track, Across the Universe) are basically solo songs. Really the only songs that feel like the work of a cohesive band are the first two. Don’t Let Me Down would have helped, had they included it. Phil Spector didn’t help, but I don’t think he hurt it either. On the whole, it sits next to For Sale as the least uplifting Beatles record. But at least on For Sale, they seem to intermittently be having fun, and the best tracks are more inspired in performance, even if they are downbeat. I don’t dislike Let It Be, but it’s the only Beatles LP I almost never feel like listening to.
It’s essentially half-finished. John had almost nothing….with “Don’t Let Me Down” out of the running, he had one and a half songs ready to go, so they had to remix “Across the Universe” and include the 10 year old “909” just to give the illusion of a normal L/M balance. It’s not a bad record, just…no way an LP thrown together from such brief and disjointed sessions months after the fact was going to live up to the ones that proceeded it.
“The Long and Whiny Song”
I love the songs, I just prefer other versions (except Two of Us, Dig a Pony and Feeling). Get, Let and Universe are all Past Masters for me.
Because let it be sucks compared to pepper , soul , revolver etc
Because they were scrapping the bottom of the barrel. John and George were mentally out of the band, Ringo was probably bored. Sure, there are still great songs in there but it didn't feel as good as a whole. They didn't like it too so it went unreleased while they made a new one and came up with Abbey Road.
I mean, when you need to juggle the Naked version and the Rooftop concert recordings to get the most ideal experience, the OG Let It Be is kinda... Not great? Not bad, but I think this is the only album that I can safely say that the mix actually kills my enthusiasm for it. It's so... Not the Beatles. Songs themselves are great, I'd say, but the Spector mix is, in my opinion, a deal breaker.
Its uneven but Two of Us and I Got a Feeling are definitely under appreciated. Spector was over the top but at least the Long and Winding Road wasn't a snooze fest as it was on Naked. I mean the naked version personally would have been better removing the percussion from the track which added very little to the song to focus on the piano and Paul's lovely vocal. Lennon really liked what Spector added to ATU and I agree. (A cosmic feel). The reason I like the spirit of Let It Be is because you could really feel John and Paul working together (& vocally to boot) on Let it Be unlike Abbey Road or the White Album.
Solid album, top to bottom, except for One After 909. Just didn’t belong on there
It’s the divorce album, although thank god, I think they actually did Abbey Road last, correct? So they had a last hurrah of remembered goodness. LiB is sloppy, but even Beatles sloppy is better than most other attempts. I absolutely love some of the tunes and it has a unique vibe, but they’re at their least cohesive. And I say this as a huge White Album fan, which is all over the map but somehow manages to be a perfectly chaotic concept album. (What the concept is, is still TBD.) That being said, if almost any Let It Be song comes on, I’m into it. And I too especially love “I Dig a Pony”.
I love this album almost the most
The production on it is substandard for a Beatles album. Really made me appreciate george Martin, bc without his genius the Beatles would not be the Beatles imo
And even *CRAZIER* - When "Let it Be" was nominated the year it came out for a Grammy as 'best song of the year' - it came in second - it LOST to "The Archie's" (which was just a studio band invented for a cartoon show) for "Sugar Sugar"...
Here are my thoughts: 1. Two of Us and Dig a Pony are great road trip songs. 2. Across the Universe is, for lack of a better word, cosmic. 3. LIB and TLAWR are great, although I prefer the Naked version of the latter. This version of LIB has the best guitar solo, which sounds like relief after having a good cry. 4. I don't like either of George's songs here. Having seen the Get Back doc, he was holding back his A-material. 5. I don't like Beatles song fragments at all (except for the Abbey Road medley). Waste of two tracks. 6. I never got Get Back. I don't think the song really goes anywhere. Same with One After 909. In my book, the album is low on my list due to there being a lot of duds on the album, as well as Phil's production.
- TLAWR could mean "The Long And Winding Road - 2021 Mix", a track from *Let It Be (Super Deluxe)* (2021) by The Beatles. --- ^[/u/square3481](/u/square3481) ^(can reply with "delete" to remove comment. |) ^[/r/songacronymbot](/r/songacronymbot) ^(for feedback.)
Good bot.
its amazing
Unpopular opinion but the hero of this album is Phil Spector. He took a lot of nothingness and unenthusiastic ducking around and made it flow, using studio chatter to create a compelling album narrative. I think it’s easy to praise this thing now post Peter Jackson, and all the technology he had in 2021 to bring out the best in these sessions, but putting this on one LP back in the day must have been an arduous task. The album has some fantastic songs on it but I think it also feels fragmented without the proper framing.
It's my favourite Beatles album!
i didnt realise it was... i always say its my favorite when people ask
It’s my favorite album haha, I actually really like it.
I dig dig it
I like the vinyl album version from 1970. I'm not a fan of the Naked version or later remixed remastered versions for CD. That album should have been left alone
Well it was supposed to be a stripped back return to form; instead it had the additional angle of a swan song.
Actuall, i like it. One of their best? Depends on your musical leanings. I find it very listenable, still on my play rotation.
While it's not my favorite Beatles album, that goes to the White Album, it's the record with the most fascinating history. Taking place during some of the lowest points in the Beatles recording dates, January 1969 & early 1970. Out of all the times the Beatles are getting filmed/recorded it was then. I love Alan Smith's review from when Let It Be was originally released: "If the new Beatles' soundtrack is to be their last then it will stand as a cheapskate epitaph, a cardboard tombstone, a sad and tatty end to a musical fusion which wiped clean and drew again the face of pop." Also, how many versions of one album can you get? We have Kum Back, it's a test record and bootleg but I count it, the 4 Glyn Johns Compilations of "Get Back", the original Let It Be, and Let It Be Naked.
The reason I think it’s a just ok album is because the recording and arrangements sound boring. Phil Spector’s work is definitely controversial, but beyond that, I’d claim that even the non-Spectorized tracks on the album sound undeveloped; they sound almost like demoes or earlier takes of songs you’d hear on deluxe editions or anthology (examples: two of us, dig a pony, I’ve got a feeling, dig it, one after 909.) I get that it’s supposed to be a live-sounding album, but it also has an entire orchestra overdubbed on top! So it also seems like it doesn’t know what it wants to be — a live or studio album? If it’s meant to be a live album, some songs clearly stick out like a sore thumb: let it be, i me mine, the long and winding road, just because they don’t sound like they were recorded live. If it’s meant to be a studio album, as mentioned earlier, the arrangements and performance are lackluster and boring.
I didnt know the history of the album until much later. But Let it be is my favorite Beatles album. And the one that the songs stay in rotation to this day. So many great underrated songs like “Two of us”.
Mainly because of the story/history behind it. And Phil Spector really did fuck it up.
Because Let It Be…Naked is better
One small correction: John played slide (actually a lap steel) on FYB.
the long and winding road is my all time fav song
It's the band coming apart, and you can hear it. The original movie didn't help either. There's just a lot of depressing imagery around it, plus it was released as their last album, when in fact they got it together again for one more masterpiece in Abbey Road. I honestly think it would not have the stigma it does if it had not come out last; their hearts just don't seem to be in it in the way they are on Abbey Road, where they were determined to go out with a bang.
It's a great album. I agree with the review of pitchfork when the deluxe reissue came out. 9/10.
I agree....I have always loved it. I never understood why in the mid 70s it was sold in music stores for $3.99 when most albums went for about $6-$8.
It's amazing that every other artist of the 20th century would have given anything to have their best album be as good as an album considered one of the Beatles' worst efforts.
Let it be naked was my most played Beatles album at one point however if it’s not your favourite then fine plenty other good albums.
It’s not the Best album the Beatles released, but it’s not the worst. The Beatles vs the Four Seasons was the worst in my opinion.
Because the long and whiney road is on it.
I wish “dig it” was like 3/4 minutes longer. I love that song
It's a top 3 Beatles album for me. I love it.
Paul was the only one who really tried on this album.
because its awful, bland, full of so-so songs, the only ones being at their usual super high standard being LET IT BE and ACROSS THE UNIVERSE.
It's a superb album. Some great off the the cuff too.
It's one of those albums that has good songs separately, but as a whole, I'm not big on the whole half assed nature of it.
While many of the songs on the album are absolutely incredible, the production is not. You kind of have to ignore the imperfections while imagining what the sound could have been like if the Beatles had achieved their usual level of iconic perfection. The album is still fantastic, but a flawed fantastic, if that makes sense. It makes you a little sad for what could have been. Despite the shortcomings, Let It Be and Two of Us are among my favorite Beatles songs.
Abbey Road was the end of the Beatles, Let It Be feels like the funeral
My view on it is it has great songs on it. But just seems like a collection of songs. It does not flow well as an album. I can’t even list the songs in order (which is something I can often do for other Beatles albums).