Anthology 3

if anthology: 2 was a study of how a beatles songs came together, anthology: 3 is a study of how the beatles themselves came apart. in the band's final phase, paul mccartney was an unabashed pop balladeer, john lennon a sneering pop humorist and experimenter, and harrison a separate songwriting force waiting to be unleashed. but the demos, rehearsals and outtakes that make up anthology: 3 are brilliant anyway. lennon's early run-through of 'happiness is a warm gun' is literally bits and pieces - three melodic ideas crammed together, not yet including what would become the song's chorus. there are acoustic demos of two mccartney songs; the gorgeous 'junk', which eventually showed up on his first solo album, and 'the long and winding road' - the same performance that appeared on 'let it be', but without the strings that were added against his will. the real discoveries are harrison's solo demos, including electric-guitar-and-vocal performances of 'something' and 'all things must pass'. they nearly ache with beauty, and harrison sings them as if discovering his voice for the first time. the finished versions pale next to these demos, which are among the highlights of the entire anthology series.