Many of the Beatles best songs were never officially released on an album but were instead released only as singles. They did this because they felt that by releasing their singles again on the albums they would be "cheating their fans." If you want to have all of the Beatles official originally releases on CD then you must purchase the Past Masters sets Volumes 1 and 2 which collect all of the Beatles singles that were never released on an official Beatles album.

By buying the Beatles 13 original albums available on CD and the two Past Masters discs you will have collected all of the Beatles original releases. These 13 original albums are including Magical Mystery Tour which is presented as an album now but was originally an EP. I'm not including releases like the Blue and Red greatest hits collections, 1, or the Yellow Submarine "Songtrack." The songs included in these collections can all be found elsewhere although there may be differences in mixing and mastering that are enough for a Beatles fanatic to want to get these as well.

Live At The BBC, Love, and the Anthologies are all suitable purchases to extend your Beatles fandom. I suggest buying these additional albums which offer previously unreleased songs, alternate versions, and mixes after you've already bought all 13 original albums and the Past masters Volumes 1 and 2.

While both Past Masters Volumes 1 and 2 are essential for a real Beatles fanatic it's Volume 2 that really stands out with truly exceptional songs. This is an overview and review of this outstanding collection of some of the Beatles best songs.

The CD starts off with Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out which if you can believe it or not were both included on the same single. These are absolutely essential Beatle songs that were never released on any Beatles album. Can you imagine a band today having a song as good as these and not releasing them as part of their album? It's unthinkable.

Paperback Writer and Rain came out prior to Revolver but were not included on the album. I feel this single is the real kick start of the Beatles psychedelic era. These songs still sound incredibly fresh and exciting today. Because of the significance of these songs and also just because they are extremely good this single is often pointed out as one of the greatest singles in rock's history. Rain is one of the very best reasons to get Past Masters 2 as this is actually the only place as of time to purchase this song.

Lady Madonna and Inner Light are two more great Beatles songs included on this collection. Lady Madonna is included in greatest hits collections and on the Anthology but this is the only place that George Harrison's Indian excursion "Inner Light" can be found.

Hey Jude and Revolution. This double A-side single came out in 1968. These songs were originally intended to be on the outstanding Beatles White Album but were left off. A vastly different version of Revolution titled Revolution 1 is included on the White Album but this is the version that's more familiar from the radio. Hey Jude of course is one of The Beatles most famous songs and amazingly was never included on any Beatles album. Other than greatest hits collections the Past Masters II is the only place to get this song.

Get Back and Don't Let Me Down are included on the Blue Greatest Hits collection but you are better off bypassing the Red and Blue Greatest Hits discs and buying all of the singles with the Past Masters collections and buying all of the original albums. This is also true of the next two songs Let It Be and Across The Universe.

The albums Let It Be and Let It Be… Naked also include these songs but they are all different versions.

Past Masters 2 ends with a mono version of You Know My Name which is a strange sort of "joke" song that is also featured in the Anthology 2 release. The version in Anthology 2 is actually far better in my opinion but if you are true fan it's nice to have this version as well as it was the one originally released as the b-side to Let It Be. You Know My Name features The Rolling Stones Brian Jones on sax. There's also a rumor that Mick Jagger may be heard as one of the backing vocals but it's unknown if this is true.

I'm a long time Beatles fan who loves to read about, listen to, and write about, the greatest band of all time. I contribute to the great music history blog MusicByDay.com which includes information on Beatles iPod Downloads

Source: www.isnare.com