Before the official announcement, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr teased the release of a new set of anthologies.
There was a countdown of 1-4 which included portions of photos from the original Anthologies collection. Of course the big news is that there is a 4th collection to go with the original three. The first three anthologies are remastered (but not remixed), and the fourth one adds more songs and outtakes from throughout The Beatles time together. Owners of the original set are wondering if Anthology 4 will be sold separately, but it doesn’t look that way so far. (The track list for #4 is farther below in the article.)
The release date is November 21st.
Here’s how the sets look in The Beatles online store…the regular CD & Vinyl sets, and two slightly higher-priced sets with Photo Art Cards.
(The cards are underwhelming…$10 more with CDs, $25 with vinyl.)
As expected, the new Anthology 4 spans The Beatles career with tracks not on the previous three sets. 17 of the 36 tracks are taken from the box sets for Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, The White Album, Abbey Road, & Let It Be.
Apple’s description:
Here’s the audio for the 2025 Mix of “Free As A Bird”:
This is so much better! John sounds like he could be in the studio, the instruments are clearer, and George’s voice sounds so good on the second break…”Whatever happened to the love that we once knew?” If it had originally sounded this good, “Free As A Bird” might have made #1 in the U.S. the way it did in the U.K.
The video anthology, now with a new 9th episode, will be streaming on Disney+ starting November 26th, 2025. Looks like they’re releasing it three episodes at a time. The video has been restored, and the music remixed.
They’re even rereleasing the Anthology book. The only thing new is the cover, and that’s paperback. It lists for $50, and is available October 14th.
Now we still await the release of a Rubber Soul box set. Remixer Giles Martin originally mentioned that there were enough outtakes for the box set back in 2022. The 60th anniversary of the album’s release is December 3rd, 2025. But, it would take a Christmas miracle for them to release it that close to the Anthologies.
Update: A playlist of Anthology Highlights has been released on streaming.
Here are the tracks (click to enlarge & make clear).
Other than the great new mix of “Free As A Bird”, the tracks have been released previously on the original Anthology (although remastered now), and from the extra tracks that were in the 50th Anniversary box sets. Once the new mix of “Real Love” is released, it will probably take the place of the 1996 mix at the end of the playlist.
Extra: Click to enlarge tracks that are on Anthologies 1, 2 & 3
