ALBUM GRADE: 8
Anthology 2 is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of The Beatles Anthology series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for Help! to the sessions just prior to their trip to India in February 1968. It is the second in a trilogy of albums with Anthology 1 and Anthology 3, all of which tie in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is “Real Love”, the second of the two recordings that reunited the Beatles for the first time since the band’s break-up. Like its predecessor, the album topped the Billboard 200 album chart and has been certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA.
SONG GRADES:
1. Real Love – 7
2. Yes It Is – 6
3. I’m Down – 7
4. You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away – 6
5. If You’ve Got Trouble – 5
6. That Means a Lot
7. Yesterday – 8
8. It’s Only Love – 7
9. I Feel Fine – 7
10. Ticket to Ride – 7
11. Yesterday – 8
12. Help! – 7
13. Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby – 7
14. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) – 6
15. I’m Looking Through You – 9
16. 12-Bar Original – 6
17. Tomorrow Never Knows – 4
18. Got to Get You Into My Life – 6
19. And Your Bird Can Sing – 8
20. Taxman – 5
21. Eleanor Rigby – 8
22. I’m Only Sleeping (rehearsal) – 6
23. I’m Only Sleeping – 7
24. Rock and Roll Music – 6
25. She’s a Woman – 7
26. Strawberry Fields Forever (demo) – 7
27. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 1) – 8
28. Strawberry Fields Forever (Take 7 and Edit) – 8
29. Penny Lane – 7
30. A Day in the Life – 8
31. Good Morning, Good Morning – 8
32. Only a Northern Song – 7
33. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (Take 1 and 2) – 6
34. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (Take 7) – 7
35. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds – 5
36. Within You, Without You (instrumental) – 8
37. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (Take 5) – 6
38. You Know My Name (Look Up the Number) – 8
39. I Am the Walrus (Take 16) – 7
40. The Fool on the Hill (demo) – 8
41. Your Mother Should Know – 8
42. The Fool on the Hill (Take 4) – 8
43. Hello, Goodbye (Take 16) – 7
44. Lady Madonna (Takes 3 and 4) – 7
45. Across the Universe (Take 2) 8
Produced by George Martin, Jeff Lynne, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.