The Beatles - Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999) LP

To the horror of their most obsessive fans, the surviving Beatles have proven more than willing to tamper with their pop legacy, as witnessed by the various facets of their massive, occasionally myopic mid-1990s Anthology projects (and the suspect notion of its faux techno-marvel "reunions"). In boldly revamping the soundtrack to their 1968 Heinz Edelmann-designed animated fable Yellow Submarine, the Fabs have shown they're not immune to the irony of the age either: their original involvement in the project was both tentative and minimal. This new version completely excises Beatles-producer Sir George Martin's charming, if sometimes maudlin, orchestral score, offering instead a new "songtrack" containing all the Beatles songs (standout cuts from Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in addition to the four originals unique to the project) featured in the film. The pre-announced "unreleased song" on the set turns out to be the original album's rollicking "Hey Bulldog", one of the last true Lennon-McCartney collaborations. "Hey Bulldog" was also the subject of both a previously excised sequence in the film and a newly edited in-studio video cobbled together from footage shot in early 1968 and previously used in vintage promos for "Lady Madonna". Though it may further upset purists, the band has allowed these tracks to be digitally remixed and remastered into 5.1 surround sound, imparting both a stunning clarity and a new perspective (as well as restoring a "missing" verse and the original six-minute plus playing time to "It's All Too Much") on some of the greatest--if obviously overexposed--songs and recordings in the history of rock. --Jerry McCulley