A decision between two slightly different albums has split fans of The Beatles.
Listeners are trying to decide whether Let It Be or Let It Be… Naked is the superior album. The latter was released by The Beatles in 2003, with Paul McCartney reworking the track listing and remastering certain songs. He did this as it is believed the Wings frontman was discontent with the final result of the original Let It Be. Fans of either album have taken to the r/Beatles subreddit and shared their thoughts on which version of the two is better. A listener took to the forum and asked: “Let It Be or Let It Be… Naked. Which one do you prefer?” Fans seem relatively split on which of the two is superior, with the McCartney remastering seen as some to be the true version of Let It Be.
One person wrote: “I usually put on Let It Be, but Naked is fantastic in its own way. I just have less of an attachment to it.” Another shared: “90% of Naked is superior, but I just can’t listen to its version of Let It Be itself. George’s solo in the Spector version is so incredible that there’s just no comparison.”
A third added: “Hot take, Let It Be… Naked sounds almost sterile to my ears. So you’ll find me listening to Let It Be most days.” The back and forth between fans had some criticise Let It Be… Naked for sounding far too stripped-back.
One listener wrote: “Same. It just sounds so dead and boring. I prefer literally every song on Let It Be. The Long and Winding Road is especially egregious. The Naked version is genuinely awful, but the Let It Be version is so fucking good.”
Another disagreed, writing: “Let It Be… Naked. Don’t Let Me Down is a top ten Beatles song for me, and I find the tracklist flows so much better. Plus The Long and Winding Road sounds a lot more stunning without Spector’s fancy orchestration.”
A third wrote: “Let It Be… Naked always for me. Especially for The Long and Winding Road. The orchestration Phil Spector did for that song is so over the top it makes me chuckle.” Some believe it comes down to The Long and Winding Road and the quality which comes from the remastering McCartney gives it.
One fan suggested the song’s original version “nearly ruined” the entire Let It Be album for them. They wrote: “I remember hearing The Long and Winding Road on the original and finding it so schmaltzy it nearly ruined the song for me. Then, when I heard the Naked version, I was blown away and got emotional hearing that stripped back arrangement.”
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