The Anthology Project

Some feel that they might be squeezing the lemon a little too much these days, with barely 13 new tracks on Anthology 4, and the exorbitant price of the box sets is enough to cool down even the most devoted disciples. But it remains that this was an excellent project, one that arrived at exactly the right moment in 1995.

The botched release of Sessions in 1985 paved the way for a much more ambitious project, one that finally allowed them to tell their story, in their own way, through their own words and archives. Bootlegs of their recording sessions were beginning to circulate everywhere, with astonishing quality, and people wanted more (myself included).

Anthology was, above all, a 10-hour film. An event prepared in the utmost secrecy: the information, details, and material were guarded like a state secret to prevent any possible leak. The TV and theatrical versions were announced in three stages, creating maximum anticipation. The following VHS box promised even more material, and the DVD box (released a few years later) even more still.

Anthology was also a series of albums that were far from being simple compilations: they traced the group’s complete and intimate history. For the very first time. For me, it felt a bit like living through a Beatlemania I had missed (being born eight years after the group’s breakup). I remember hearing that a Canadian Tire in Québec City had started selling the CDs the night before, and that Musique d’Auteuil on Saint-Jean Street had too… Naturally, I rushed there by bus before closing time and, indeed, I got my copy “before everyone else.” Back home, I borrowed my sister’s CD player (I didn’t have one yet…) to hear the band talking in the studio, messing up, starting over… Pure magic. It was unimaginable (at the time) that the doors of the vault were finally open, that they were sharing this usually hidden side of their history.

Anthology also brought two new songs for the first time in 25 years. Of course, they’re not on the level of their great hits: John’s voice is flat and not very engaged (the source is a lo-fi demo from the ’70s…). But it was a new opportunity to have “new Beatles material” and WITH John, no less. Still incredible.

More recently, we also got the completed version of the third song abandoned during recording and originally intended for vol. 3 (Now and Then). It finally appears on the set, in volume 4, as it was supposed to be 30 years ago (already). The new 2025 set also offers two remixes of the “new songs,” where John’s voice is cleaned from the artifacts of the old demo. I’m not convinced yet. There was a charm in the process and the technical challenges of the original versions. The new mix cleans, clarifies, and opens it up nicely, but I’m probably just too used to the first versions. I need to listen to the remixes more carefully.

I devoured those low-quality recordings at least a thousand times; the discoveries, the spontaneous moments, the abandoned ideas, the evolving versions of songs we know so well. I still devour them today. I love this project, and yes, the obsession clearly takes over, but I always welcome anything new they give us, especially this volume 4 which, although not “necessary,” adds yet another nuance to this fabulous story.

Serge.

In the photo (because passion is contagious):

• The VHS series
• The DVD series
• The Laserdisc set
• Promo flyers for the two new songs
• The original book
• The promotional CDs
• The Free as a Bird and Real Love CD singles
• The slipcase given in stores in 1996
• The 3 CD volumes from 1995–96
• The “secret” 2018–2025 Universal CD reissue
• The 1995–96 cassettes
• The Free as a Bird and Real Love cassingles
• The UK 45s of Free As A Bird and Real Love
• The UK jukebox 45s of Free As A Bird and Real Love
• The US 45s of Free As A Bird and Real Love
• The 1995–96 LPs (UK)
• The US LPs for volumes 2–3 (they never made volume 1)
• The volume 2 college promo EP sampler (1996)
• The 2017–2020 DeAgostini reissues
• The 2018 “secret” Universal LP reissue
• Volume 4 on CD
• The 2025 remastered CD box set
• Volume 4 on LP
• The 2025 remastered LP box set
• All formats of Now and Then

Anthology Poster. 1996.

Anthology Posters (assembly). 1996.

Anthology Laserdisc. 1996.

Anthology Promo set. 1996.

Anthology Sclip Case for vol. 1-3. 1996.

Anthology 4 CD. 2025.