So why is The Beatles’ Anthology 2 on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
OnOne of the most amazing things relating to music is when you hear a song and it makes you completely change your mind about something or reassess a prior conviction that you might have had.
I’m not talking so much about hearing a jingle that makes you say, “You know what, I will order up some chicken wings tonight!” or “Oh, I’m definitely switching over to AT&T now,” though those things are certainly possible (and probably more so than most of us would like to admit).
I’m a huge Beatles fan, which will become abundantly clear when we get to the very tippy top of the best 1,000 albums ever, and I can’t think of a single song of theirs that I actively dislike*.
* Well, that “Birthday” song off the White Album I could maybe do without, come to think of it, simply from overexposure over the years!
That being said, there’s a bucket of Beatles’ songs that I consider to be “pretty good,” but wouldn’t consider myself to be missing out on all that much if I don’t hear them very often and if ever.
“Good Morning Good Morning,” a relative deep cut near the end of the overall iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is a great example of such a song.
I like it well enough, but the repetitions of good morning good morning and the Broadway musical-ish use of horns is simply don’t quite hit my musical sweet spot. And then the slightly trippy vibe overall never quite worked for me.
Now, cut to the version of “Good Morning Good Morning” on Anthology 2 (which roughly covers The Beatles’ “middle years”), a track that’s easy to miss among the collection’s 45 songs. And in a not super descriptive addition, it’s simply labeled as “Take 8.”
However, this is one of the greatest bits of buried musical treasure that I’ve stumbled across in my life.
This version of “Good Morning Good Morning” is the same song, except it’s a completely different song. It’s stripped down: no good morning good morning repetitions, and no horns at all. What’s left is a trippy vibe but everything’s enhanced, louder and more raw. More garage.
What it turns into one of the best garage rock songs with a sprinkling of psychedelic vibes that I’ve heard in my entire life. Every part is crisp: John Lennon’s vocals, George Harrison’s jangling and fantastic guitar work, Paul McCartney’s bass, and especially Ringo Starr on drums – which is out of control good.
If you’re a fan of The Beatles and haven’t heard this version of “Good Morning Good Morning,” I envy the pleasure you will get in checking it out.
And that’s just one of the 45 treats you get on Anthology 2!
While it’s not quite as mind melting a difference or revelation, I far prefer the stripped down and gorgeous version of “Only A Northern Song” on Anthology 2 versus the one on Yellow Submarine (#292 of best 1,000 albums ever).
As a massive fan of “mid-career” Beatles albums like Revolver and Rubber Soul, it’s pure delight to hear alternative takes of songs like “And This Bird Can Sing.” With this one, it’s a clearly “silly” take on it*, replete with giggling, and yet it’s still pure gorgeous music-making.
* I’ll get on my soap box again here for the Get Back documentary, which I found riveting in multiple respects. One of which was the way that The Beatles work through new material – poking at it, even making fun of it, exploring all of its parameters – all in an effort to find the best version, but also to get past the fear of performing new songs live.
And then there are some vintage live cuts, such as the slightly slowed down (with “back of the rafters” impact) “Ticket to Ride,” live from the ABC Theatre in Blackpool from 1965.
Some stats & info about The Beatles – Anthology 2
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Album Rock, British Invasion, Rock Music, Garage Rock, British Bands, Psychedelic Rock
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Anthology 2 released? 1996
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #183 out of 1,000
The Beatles’ Anthology 2 on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from The Beatles’ Anthology 2 that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
After a while you start to smile, now you feel cool. Then you decide to take a walk by the old school.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.