As a huge Beatles fan, I've been looking forward to their latest (and last) release. But unlike last time where only John's contribution was recorded (Free As A Bird and Real Love were constructed from John's demo recordings with the other members singing/playing over them), this time George is gone as well. But he had already recorded some work on it, so here we are..

There's a very interesting "making of" video that explains how this was even possible...

It's a nice track... but isn't really The Beatles. At least not to me. Half of the equation was missing, meaning the collaboration wasn't interactive. Still... better than nothing.

Today was kind of weird in that I found out The Beatles: Bootleg Recordings 1963 was released. It popped up in my news feed and was reported to have two previously unreleased demo tracks along with a wealth of alternate studio takes for classic songs, plus a bunch of live recordings from the BBC. For a Beatles fan like me, it was a joyous event.

Until I found out it's THIRTY-NINE DOLLARS AND NINETY-FIVE CENTS, that is.

I mean, yes, it's 59 tracks... and it's The frickin' Beatles... but $39.95 when I have a lot of the material in already-released or alternate versions? Crazy talk.

So I bought the two demo tracks, listened to samples of the 57 remainders, bought a few more I liked, then put my wallet back in my pocket and walked away relatively unscathed.

Out of everything, the demo for Bad to Me is the stand-out. It's peppy and fun with wonderful lyrics that bounce and sparkle throughout the minute-and-a-half track like only an early Beatles tune can. I knew of the song (written by Lennon), and knew it was recorded by Billy J. Kramer for release, but I had no idea this recording existed. So... yay.

A part of me continues to wonder if there are other tracks hidden away that are being saved for The Beatles 100th anniversary or something. Given the massive amount of material Lennon-McCartney created, it certainly seems possible. In the meanwhile, I suppose I'll have to be content that releases like this continue to find their way to Beatles fans.

Even if it costs THIRTY-NINE DOLLARS AND NINETY-FIVE CENTS!