Before the Beatles broke up John suggested their next album should be made up of 4 songs each by John, Paul and George, with two from Ringo. The author of this book speculates what that album would’ve been like and using only songs that were written before the end of the Beatles. The first half of the book details the history of the end of the band and goes through much of the events in the last three years. The second half goes through the tracks that would make up a double album of 6 tracks from each member.
I enjoyed reading this book. It’s interesting to speculate what those songs that we know as solo tracks would’ve sounded like as Beatles tracks. (I admit I only knew all the John songs, just a few of the others). Theres a lot of detail, (probably more than I needed!), and it’s well researched. A fun ‘what if’ read.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of The Beatles, but I found the concept behind this book intriguing. The Beatles split up in slow motion but also abruptly, they had multiple fractures in the final years, but when they were over, they were over. Throw into the mix the death of John Lennon adding a finality to what otherwise I am sure would have been some sort of reunion, not to mention the Anthology project and recent AI plus The Remaining Beatles takes on old tracks and it is undeniable that there is enough interest in the "what-ifs" of the Beatles continuation. I'm not sure this book, however meticulous, actual scratches that itch however, particularly when fifty percent of the book is a forensic examination of the split itself.

It's a fair written account of the split, not blaming Yoko, but partially the John that he became with Yoko (and the Paul that was with Linda), plus George's increasing frustration at not being taken seriously. And Daniel Rachel talks about the plans for the next album been pushed around in the Abbey Road and Let It Be sessions. But by the time you get to the nominally fun bit of the book (what tracks would have been on this hypothetical album) you've spent over an hour with a bunch of grown men acting childishly and frankly the fact the split up seemed the right decision. Rachel also builds a raft of rules for himself for the album "Four Sides Of The Beatles", giving each Beatle a six-song side each and only allowing him songs written before the split or up until when he thought it would be released (late 1970). Luckily the archive is deep so even songs that turn up a lot later in their solo careers might exist in a protoplasmic form (Instant Karma being a good example). So what follows is a discussion of twenty-four tracks that already exist with some suggestions about how they might be different and probably better if workshopped and recorded by The Beatles. The problem is that I was already in such a bad mood by the truth be told depressingly detailed split, that I no longer really wanted them to stay together. And not to lambast a book for being what it isn't, I think I might have been more interested in a version that cast a wider net, the Lost Album Of The Beatles that came out after their triumphant Live Aid performance perhaps. As a book which posits a spectacular feat of imagination, there is surprisingly little invention and fantasy here.

Are you a fan of the 'what if' genre of books? Are you into the Beatles music, or even music in general? Then this is the book for you. How many times has someone speculated what would the Beatles have come, and what songs would they release? Daniel Rachel makes a stab at what could have been on a new Beatles album.

This book is meticulously researched and is in itself a fascinating account of the last days of the world's first supergroup. It pulls from many sources to investigate which songs may have been on the 'next' album. Daniel gives a side each to the four members and speculates which songs from their early solo catalogue would appear on that album.

I always thought that there were some solo songs that would have been better with a touch of 'criticism' from the other Beatles. The early MacCartney era would have benefited from Lennons input especially. It's good to look at some of the songs that the author has picked out. I always thought Cold Turkey would have been a brilliant band song.

In all it's a great book that made me pull out my albums and listen again to these songs. As a memoir it works well chronicling the break up years. What might have been in store for the Beatles if they had stuck together? I guess we'll never know but books like this help us piece together the path forward.

An entertaining and thought provoking read.

The conceit is weak; as other reviewers have said, it’s basically one fan’s theory put up for debate. But as an oral history of the Beatles’ breakup and their attitudes towards themselves and one another in the immediate aftermath, it’s much stronger. There’s plenty of the detail, insight and trivia you’d want, and Rachel is ultimately a lot more convincing in his arguments about why the Beatles broke up than he is in what might have happened if they hadn’t.

The ultimate 'what-if' question for Beatles fans - what if the band had not split up and they made one more album? What songs would have been included? This is an extremely in-depth look at the later years of The Beatles, the split and their early solo careers. I found it quite an absorbing read and it was meticulously researched too. The author must've spent many hours listening to recording sessions, albums and demos, in addition to reading books and articles.

This is a book of two halves. First, the main narrative. Second, the hypothetical tracklist. The lost album is titled The Four Sides of The Beatles and is inspired by John Lennon's idea that they each have an equal number of songs, separately. The author gives convincing arguments for the inclusion of each track. I don't have strong feelings about this, but others might. It made me feel quite sad that the album doesn't exist, because the book makes it seem real.

If you're a Beatles nerd, this is a must-read. If you're not, there's probably way too much detail for you.

[Review will be on my blog, 7th August]