George Martin – In My Life Review

Cynicism is all too easy when approaching a project like this. George Martin casts his eye over the defining moments of The Beatles and has a collection of actors and performers offer new interpretations. It would not be the first time the veteran producer did this, with Love mashing up the best of their works just a few years later. The effort and results heard on In My Life are fascinating. Everyone is on board to give it their all, and Martin, who should hold the same pride in his producing as the Fab Four does in their recording, navigates around those moments which could prey on nostalgia. Instead, he enlists monumental names like Phil Collins, Jeff Beck, and Céline Dion, as well as actors like Jim Carrey and Sean Connery, to bring The Beatles’ best works to life. It’s a project which shouldn’t work, and yet, it does. 

In My Life takes a little getting into, but Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin do a solid job of opening. Come Together cannot be changed all too much, though you can hear Martin’s love for the symphonic, the orchestral occasion, come through. Strings overwhelm the song and change it from being just a mere cover. Martin has these renditions play to the strength of the performer and not the song. Most important of all is his symphonies are given more than their fair share of time. A few songs stand out without those violins springing into action, but if there is a moment of nuance to be had on In My Life, it is lost to those orchestral spots. Even then, In My Life is erratic enough to offer some attempts at sultry songs with Goldie Hawn’s A Hard Day’s Night. It doesn’t quite work, but it does offer a fresh, sincere interpretation of a classic.  

Back to the orchestral moments, though, for an instrumental version of A Day in the Life. Nice enough, but Beck’s guitar struggles against the Martin-shaped tide. Many of these versions depend on how much you care for the vocalist. Dion does a fine enough job on Here, There, and Everywhere, though once more, the strings are in place. Martin has earned the right to adapt these songs, though it feels as though he may have felt Phil Spector had too light a touch on Let It Be. Dion turns this into a straightforward pop song without the magic. Carrey goes for the other extreme, a performance which drives the song into his style, rather than meeting the track in the middle and keeping some of The Beatles’ influence alive. It’s a novelty which highlights his strengths as an animated performer. 

Inevitably soppy instrumental work for Here Comes the Sun highlights the main problem for In My Life. It’s an album wanting to pay tribute to Martin’s contributions but play to his strengths on songs which shied away from them. John Williams’ work here fails to stand out, given that half the songs are paired with an overwhelming instrumental force. The Pepperland Suite is a tad ridiculous, its movie soundtrack desires as clear as can be, though the Collins-led Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, and The End are nice enough. It’s a collection of moments where Martin, as is his right, revisits some of the biggest songs he has overseen. He can add nothing to them, no matter the musicians he chooses, but that was a given. Sadly unremarkable, but worth a listen for those dedicated Beatles fans.