If there’s one thing you can count on during the holidays, other than a family member deciding to talk politics at the most inopportune time, it’s the release of shiny new box sets from the most beloved musicians. I’ve already hyped up the new Rolling Stones box set here in What’s Going On, and now I’m back with one from the Fab Four. The Beatles’ newly expanded Anthology set is a winner. And trust me, I say that as someone who recently got to slip into an advance screening of the freshly restored Anthology documentary series. When you’ve spent an evening swimming in John Lennon quips, George Harrison’s dry wit, Ringo Starr being the dude, and Paul McCartney’s melodic wizardry in Dolby-blessed clarity, recommending the matching gift set suddenly feels less like journalism and more like doing my civic duty.
Rolling out as part of the band’s global Anthology 2025 campaign, Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe have officially dropped the new Anthology Collection and the standalone Anthology 4 music compendium. Available in a variety of formats, including a sprawling 12LP and 8CD sets. Whether you’re shopping for a diehard Beatles obsessive, a budding vinyl romantic, or that uncle who insists music peaked in 1966 (he’s wrong, but that’s a conversation for another day), this release hits the sweet spot.
Let’s start with the Anthology Collection. The beautifully remastered treasure chest packs 191 tracks across Anthology 1, 2, 3, and the brand-new Anthology 4. If that number doesn’t impress you, the previously unreleased demos will. Anthology 4 features 13 never-before-heard session recordings, rare cuts polished to studio-sheen, and new 2025 Jeff Lynne mixes of “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” Yes, “Now And Then” is here too, ready to break your heart all over again. And for the visual collector in your life, the restored “Real Love” music video arrives just in time to join the already-released “Free As A Bird” restoration from this past summer.
Originally curated by the late Beatles producer George Martin, these collections have been newly remastered by his son Giles Martin, who continues to prove that respectful modernization is absolutely possible when you’re working with sacred texts. The result is a vivid, intimate sonic time machine. These remasters don’t just tell stories, they breathe.
Speaking of breathing, The Beatles Anthology documentary series has finally returned to streaming, exclusively on Disney+. The once-eight-part doc has been given new life, expanded to nine episodes, and buffed up with enough archival footage to make even jaded music critics (hey, that’s me!) feel the magic. First released nearly 30 years ago, the series remains a landmark because it lets the band tell their own sprawling, contradictory, magical story. No outside narrators, no talking-heads who show up in every music doc, just the boys themselves being brilliant, petty, hilarious, and human.
And if your favourite Beatles fan prefers something tactile and artsy? The 25th Anniversary Edition of The Beatles Anthology book is freshly back in print. With over 1,300 photos, documents, illustrations, and candid reflections from John, Paul, George, and Ringo. If nothing else, it looks great on a coffee table.
The Beatles built their empire on evolution. This new Anthology wave reminds us that their legacy isn’t just nostalgia, it’s a living, breathing part of the present. Stuff one of these under the Christmas tree and you’re not just giving a gift; you’re giving someone the keys to music history.
You can pick up The Beatles’ Anthology Collection and Anthology 4 here.
