On Nov. 21, 2025, the fourth album in The Beatles Anthology was released. For Beatles fans, this was a cause for much excitement. In this day and age, where the members of the band still alive are in their 80s, many fans feel extremely lucky to experience new, mostly unreleased versions of songs that had up until that point only been heard by a select few.
This album offers a raw and vulnerable insight into the band and the intricate happenings behind the scenes. Listeners get a closer look at the process of collaboration that The Beatles accomplished so well.
Throughout this album, takes of songs with pacing different to their final versions are included. Sometimes the differences are stark, while in others the timing changes are more subtle, but it is very interesting to hear what the songs could have sounded like. For example, take 26 of “Strawberry Fields Forever” is recorded at a much quicker pace than the final version, evoking emotions different to the final version released on “Sargent Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
This album depicts the inner workings of The Beatles. In “Tell Me Why,” takes four and five, John helps George figure out the correct notes for a low harmony, and through the process of trial and error, listeners gain a sense of how their trademark three part harmonies came to be in other songs. The musical collaboration between the members is highlighted, but the friendship between them is also put into focus. It is evident that although they are in the midst of changing music forever, they are having a good time while doing so.
Additionally, included in the album are multiple purely instrumental versions of songs. There is take one of “She’s Leaving Home,” take five of “The Fool on the Hill,” take four of “Hey Bulldog,” and take 39 of “Something,” with only strings. These instrumental versions allow the listener to truly hear all of the musical intricacies that at times get lost or blurred beneath the vocals. Hearing them gives a better perspective of the sheer amount of effort, layers, and perfection that went into every single song.
However, there are a couple things about the album that leave listeners dissatisfied. First of all, not all of the songs on the album are new releases. Some of these takes have been available to listen to for years, and many fans have expressed that they would much rather listen to unheard vault releases.
The album does at times feel a bit random. There isn’t really any rhyme or reason to the songs included, and they span across the entire timeline of The Beatles, unlike the first three Beatles anthology releases. Some people are frustrated by this, arguing that this album is just a random compilation of songs to evoke excitement for the new edition to the anthology released on Disney plus, and for the upcoming Beatles biopic, under the guise of phenomenal new discoveries deepening the layers of Beatle history.
Yet the charm of the Beatles is in many ways found in the mundane, everyday recordings found on this album. Yes, The Beatles changed the world, but they weren’t necessarily doing it every second of every day throughout their time as a band. They were colleagues, but also friends, and that is evident in these songs. To some this assortment of songs may feel pointless, because they aren’t necessarily groundbreaking new takes, but in listening to them insight into who The Beatles were as a collaborative group is definitely gained.
