Release History
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Blender | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A |
| The Guardian | |
| NME | 8/10 |
| The Observer | |
| Okayplayer | |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.5/10 |
| PopMatters | 6/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant | |
| Uncut | |
George Martin and his son Giles began work on Love after getting permission from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison (the latter two representing the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively). In discussing the project, Giles Martin noted that elements were used from recordings in The Beatles catalogue, "the original four tracks, eight tracks and two tracks and used this palette of sounds and music to create a soundbed."
Giles Martin said in an interview that he was afraid they would not get the green light to do the project, so he started by making digital back-ups of the original multi-track recordings just to get started on the project. He also said that he and his father mixed more music than was eventually released, including "She's Leaving Home" and a version of "Girl" that he was particularly fond of which was eventually released in 2011 as a bonus track on the album on iTunes.
McCartney and Starr, the surviving members of The Beatles, responded very positively to the album. McCartney noted that "This album puts The Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John and George with me and Ringo". Starr commended George and Giles Martin for the album and said that the album is "really powerful for me and I even heard things I'd forgotten we'd recorded."
The album was first played publicly on Virgin Radio's The Geoff Show. Virgin Radio DJ Geoff Lloyd, a Beatles fan, chose to play the entire album uninterrupted to allow younger fans to experience an album premiere.
Love placed at #3 in the UK Albums Chart during its first week of release, trailing Westlife's The Love Album and Oasis' Stop the Clocks compilation. It was also successful in the United States, debuting at #4 in the Billboard 200, where it was certified Platinum in late 2006. At the 50th annual Grammy awards on 10 February 2008, the album won Grammys in two categories—Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album.
Love was released as a digital download in the iTunes Store on 8 February 2011. It includes two exclusive bonus tracks.
Read more about this topic: Love (The Beatles Album)
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