What Critics Really Think About 'Final' Beatles Song, Now and Then

2023-11-02 18:05:41

Critics Share Their Thoughts On 'Final' Beatles Song Now And Then

Music history was made on Thursday when the remaining members of The Beatles released what’s been billed as the “final Beatles record”, Now And Then.

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Based around a demo recorded by John Lennon in the late 1970s, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the late George Harrison first tried to bring the song to life in the mid-1990s, though these plans were eventually abandoned due to the quality of Lennon’s original recording.

However, thanks to the “magical mysteries” of AI technology, McCartney and Starr have now managed to unveil a completed version of the song with all four members present on the recording – without the need for session musicians.

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Early Reception

Reception to Now And Then was initially somewhat mixed, with some critics dismissing the new tune as “a dreary ballad”, while others have hailed it as “glorious”.

Critic Reviews

Seamless Additions and Orchestration

“The additions to a song that was obviously incomplete are seamless… unlike Free As A Bird [another Beatles track released posthumously], where McCartney’s new middle eight jarred slightly against Lennon’s original song – the arrangement is sumptuously tricked out with orchestration, but never stoops to deploying obviously Beatles-y signifiers.”

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A Tribute to Lennon

“The song’s beginning will be breathtaking for fans: It opens with a familiar Beatles count-in, following by classic Lennon-esque piano chords and a strummed acoustic guitar, and then – that voice, pristine, singing ‘I know it’s true, it’s all because of you’, and following an unmistakably Lennon melody [...] Later in the song, McCartney pays tribute to Harrison by playing a brief slide guitar solo, and bolsters Lennon’s lead vocal in a couple of spots where it presumably faltered or was obscured on the demo.

A Pop Odyssey

“Though made with the assistance of AI, the punch it packs is entirely human. It’s a 2023 pop odyssey sure to warm the cockles of Beatles fans young, old and in-between. A sad, fab farewell from a group who did so much to redefine rock music in their image and continue to thrill us all these decades later.”

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Glorious Harmonies

“We can all breathe a sigh of relief that the results are glorious, both as a tribute to Lennon and a song in its own right. A wistful ballad looking back about missing a past relationship, in typical Beatles style, it begins stripped back and then builds to bright, earthy choruses of piano, guitar, strings and harmonized vocals.”

The Beginning of the End

“Because it is the Beatles, the bar is high, and expectations are higher. That Now and Then will now be included on the reissued 1967-1970, otherwise known as The Blue Album, makes my point. A passable song is simply not good enough when you’re sharing vinyl with Strawberry Fields Forever, A Day in the Life or Let It Be.”

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“In the end, Now And Then — which, in a nice twist, is backed by Love Me Do on the single release — is not a Beatles classic that will trump I Want To Hold Your Hand, Let It Be or Hey Jude. The lyrics are underdeveloped — it was a demo for a reason — and the tune is nowhere near as ambitious as the music that the Fab Four were producing in their later years.

“But really, who cares when those harmonies swell to the heavens?”

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