BEATLES REVEAL THIS YEAR’S CHRISTMAS MERCHANDISE: ‘The Beatles Anthology’ returns for 2025 with new book, album release, documentary and ‘Free As A Bird’ video.

The original series, ‘Anthology 1’ arrived in November 1995, around the same time as an eight-part documentary, and some of the first new music from the band since the death of John Lennon, with McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr working with Jeff Lynne on ‘Real Love’ and ‘Free as a Bird’.

It was followed up by two more albums, aptly named ‘Anthology 2’ and ‘Anthology 3’, which both arrived in 1996.

Now, it’s been confirmed that a new installment is arriving this year, with the documentary series restored, remastered and set to include a brand new Episode Nine.

And not surprisingly, the Beatles (Paul, Ringo, and their engineering and production boffins) used the latest AI technology to bring John’s ghostly vocal from his 1970s demo on “Free as a Bird” to the front of a new and much clearer sounding mix, which sounds dynamite on headphones:

All of the caveats from the 2023 release of “Now and Then” apply: this is the three surviving Beatles playing in the mid-‘90s on top of a demo tape John Lennon originally recorded in the mid-‘70s on a pair of “ghetto blaster” cassette recorders in Lennon’s Dakota building apartment. Likely a real studio performance would have both much more energy to it, and better shaped lyrics. But it’s still great to hear all four Beatles on the same recording.