LOVE

Love is a far cry from the "Beatles Movie Medley." What we have here is mash-ups of well-known and not-so-well-known Beatles songs. And even among the most familiar tunes, some of the source material evidently comes from alternate takes, I assume from the same font from which the Anthology albums were drawn.

I expected more outcry when this came out: messing with history, etc. Maybe George Martin's presence softened the blow. At any rate, I've never been able to see how products like this 'destroy' the original works - - assuming that the originals are still easily available (this is very different from what George Lucas tried to do with the first Star Wars movie: replace the original with an altered version, and restrict access to the original). But you know what? If the Beatles were at their height today (i.e., during the mashup/remix era), they'd probably release something like this themselves.

Of course, that doesn't mean it would be great.

And Love isn't great. While some projects like this are intended as dance-remix albums, Love apparently exists because part of the Apple Corps contract with Cirque du Soleil required the delivery of a unique soundtrack for the show. As long as the work was being created, why not put it on sale? (Indeed, in the US alone, it has sold more than two million units and hit #4 on the album chart.)

Maybe the music is incomplete without the Cirque du Soleil visuals, but for whatever reason, it strikes me as no more than a pleasant curiosity. I would recommend it for fans only - - and probably remix fans as much as Beatles fans.