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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Love
Universal acclaim
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 149 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Capitol
Release Date: 21 November 2006
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Pop
Summary
If the concept of "The Beatles, remixed" saddens you, know that original Beatles producer George Martin was at the helm for this project, which serves as the soundtrack to the Vegas-based Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. The 26 mashed-up tracks here were augmented with additional instrumentation and vocals performed by The Beatles themselves, culled from hours of original demo and master tapes, with pieces of 130 songs ultimately represented in some form.
Also By This Artist: Let It Be... Naked
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: George Harrison: Brainwashed Paul McCartney: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard Paul McCartney: Driving Rain Paul McCartney: Memory Almost Full
Also On The Web: Official Beatles Site Official Love Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Observer Music Monthly
Love vindicates the Beatles' status as master musicians and conceptualists.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
You could figure it as a sop to today's interactive mash-up culture. Or you could say it's just extending the medley-ish, segue-happy ethos of Abbey Road to the band's entire catalog. Really, it's both, and it's bliss.
Read Full Review >Blender
This is Love’s ultimate achievement. A band long broken up, and so majestic they’ve been relegated to history books, has been refashioned in a way that makes a fresh and startling presentation of songs as familiar as the Ten Commandments.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
It's a dazzling, expansive experience that ranks among the year's best.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Stimulating, entertaining and moving. You'll listen to it more than you have Anthology, I promise. [Dec 2006, p.100]
Q Magazine
Flabbergasting... a genuine revolution in the head. [Dec 2006, p.133]
Dot Music
The most genuinely interesting addition to The Beatles' canon in years, it actually makes you want to dig out the originals and fall in love with the music all over again.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Love is turning everyone into an audiophile, then, which means it's making younger people a little older. And it's also a mashup remix, which means it's making older people a little younger. They were just a pop band, yes, but if anyone can bring all these music fans together under one tent, it's the Beatles. Which is what Love is ultimately all about.
Read Full Review >Uncut
If the scale is almost beyond comprehension, Love also represents a sonic Da Vinci Code for Beatles trainspotters. [Dec 2006, p.104]
musicOMH.com
Love could only have been made by someone who knew this music inside out, who has nurtured, cherished and polished it since the day it was composed, who saw its potential in an era when pushing rock'n'roll past it boundaries was a new art form.
Read Full Review >Billboard
This mash-up, Beatles style, is cool stuff indeed, but is even more dazzling live onstage. [25 Nov 2006]
New Musical Express
The resulting remixes and medleys, as heard on equipment that probably costs more than your house at Abbey Road, could make you weep with joy. It may not sound as good on a common-or-garden stereo, but you'll still mist up a bit.
Read Full Review >The Guardian
The question of whether anybody would listen to Love more than once if the original Beatles albums were available in equivalent sound quality is a nice one. But it doesn't seem to matter much when you can almost feel the spit flying from John Lennon's mouth during Revolution, or when A Day in the Life's orchestral swell comes surging from the speakers. After all, it's hard to ask questions when your breath has been taken away.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Figuring out where each part is originally from will be fun for the fanatics, but isn’t necessary to enjoy the mix.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
It’s an album of connoisseurship, revealing the inspired details tucked into so many Beatles songs.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The loveliness comes at a predictable cost in breakaway energy. [30 Nov 2006, p.112]
NOW Magazine
Love may not be a full-on revolutionary take on the Beatles catalogue, but it does bring back some of the most awesome material ever to come out of a recording studio.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
The intricacies of the original Beatles recordings are easily overwhelmed by the cake-layer construction of Love‘s fantastical jigsaw.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Far from being a bold reinvention, a Beatles album for the 21st century, the Martins didn't go far enough in their mash-ups.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
'Love' is trying to be all things to all people and suffers for its lack of ruthlessness and direction.
Read Full Review >Drowned In Sound
You know those radio jingles in which they stick a bunch of current tunes into a big-beat mess? This has the same effect – a whizzbang confectionary, serving more to advertise the band’s back catalogue than to be any kind of durable document.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.2 (out of 10) based on 149 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Edwin B gave it a9:
If you are a Beatles fan (and who isn't?) who sits around some days thinking, "I would give my left arm if someone could discover a long-lost Beatles album of previously unreleased material - like a sequel to Sgt. Pepper or something... oh my god I'm getting excited just thinking about it!) I'm sorry, but that's never going to happen. This is the next best thing though. I would even take this over "Let It Be... Naked." It's for Beatles fans.
Frank H gave it a0:
I don't get it either. It sounds like a ripped up Vegas Beatles to me. Do yourself a favor and buy the original albums.
rik4536 s gave it a0:
you mean this was the same George Martin that helped produce the "White Album", Magical Mystery Tour", .... Why, in Gawds' name has so many tracks on this take been so brutally chopped into a SpeedTracks crash site. ?!!! Do NOT BUY this- although I must say the one saving grace was that It was on sale at Best Buy for 1/3rd off. -so now I know why. 'cause I didn't really listen to it before I bought it did I ? Sorry George, I know its not you, its the Bush's in the Music Industry today. -tears for fears here. -Can someone just package the real original Bealtes in a 30 CD set or whatever ? ya, ok maybe this isn't so bad but do the above and I will gladly pay for the whole and original skebang. -or, you're just going to force me to download them.
Ray B gave it a10:
The Beatles were truly the greatest band in the history of music, and their music is timeless. This album is a prime example of how great they really were. Other folks say you should'nt mess with the classic songs of the Beatles, so what are we to do? Look and listen but not never touch? Thats exactly the opposite of what the Beatles were all about. The White Album's "Revolution 9" shows my point completely. Anywho I think this album would have made John and George very happy, as it had Paul and Ringo. Peace.
Ken S. gave it a9:
I'm a huge Beatles fan and really appreciate most of their music but how many more variations of the same music can we be expected to buy? It may be time for us to move on.
Roy E. gave it a10:
This is a great Cd...Its fun hearing things that were pushed back a bit in the original mixes and less of the "stacked" sounds that covered up some great things proving that sometimes less is more. Now...to all you purest...This Cd is what it is...a new fresh way to listen to the fab four...You still have the original cds and I'm not in any way implying that this is better....just a new aproach!
JIm K gave it a10:
Beatlemania reigns in the 21st century. Another generation can ALMOST understand what we did when they first hit the shores.
