The Beatles – Real Love (2025) Review

Some may question the need for remastering songs barely thirty years old. But Jeff Lynne has done a fantastic job in overhauling the likes of Free as a Bird and Real Love. The latter song will feature on Anthology 4, as much a celebration of The Beatles’ archives as it is a chance to hear new efforts on old songs. The repeat material must convince fans it is worth their time and money because if it is not, the Anthology project ends on a dud. There will likely be no more to come. It feels as if those in charge of The Beatles’ archives are scraping the barrel, and yet we know there are songs of interest not yet released. Carnival of Light is now the song of interest, though its lack of release does not bode well. Instead, we must be satisfied with sharper remastering of Real Love and Free as a Bird. The latter sounds crisp, the former sounds solid, too.  

That strength of the mix comes from the technology used. Thirty years is an acceptable waiting period for a new remastering. Take a note, Pink Floyd. Irrespective of the writing or the meaning of the song, the quality is remarkable for this remaster. Lennon’s voice sounds a little too manipulated by the tech of the times, but the cleanness of it, the removal of what some fans called the ghost in the machine, is mesmerising. There is no denying how fantastic it sounds when paired with the refreshed instrumentals. Part of the problem for Real Love, Free as a Bird, and Now and Then is the tape quality. That origin source was never meant for a wider release. It’s Lennon putting down ideas which could have served him in future. They never would, but it goes to show what he had on his hands. Real Love sounds magnificent all the same, a song which feels as fleshed out as it was likely to get.  

Detractors would suggest these tapes are for the scrap bin rather than listeners, and while that may be truest of all for Real Love, the occasion overwhelms those feelings. Real Love is arguably the simplest of the three post-breakup Beatles songs. A song of love and not much else, but a song of honest love, the real love the title hints at. It’s harder to find than other forms of embrace, and that proves to be all the rest of The Beatles need for the instrumental theme taken on. Light and bright efforts with a bit of bass and percussion from Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to bring out a deeper range from the meaning of this Lennon demo. It’d fit rather nicely on one of their earlier works.  

Both this mix and the original release have that lighter touch to it, that feeling of floating on the highs of a life filled with love. That’s an admirable style for Lennon and the band to produce, but it feels as though it’s the only way this song can develop. A lesser song from Lennon, though overhauled tremendously by the three Beatles in the studio. Lynne’s production is solid work, too. He manages to keep this from falling into the same problems as his recent Electric Light Orchestra efforts. Simple love, dedicated love, that’s Real Love. Spots for improvement, certainly, and not as affecting as Free as a Bird, but a nice piece of work. What keeps it together is Lennon’s quality vocal work and the drifting sensation created by the instrumentals. The rest of it feels somewhat lacklustre, a tad disengaged from that true potential. That’s not a problem of the mix, but of The Beatles.