Love

Properly speaking, Love is not a Beatles album, but rather a modern mash-up comprised of fragments of Beatles songs. Sir George Martin and Giles Martin (his son) produced the record for Apple Records and Cirque du Soleil. Cirque du Soleil is a French Canadian performance company, established in 1984, which presents live shows, each characterized by amazing dance movements, acrobatics, lavish costumes and astounding visual and sound effects. Each of the company's several different shows is centered on a different theme.

Cirque du Soleil founder and CEO, Guy Laliberté, was a friend of George Harrison's. In 2000, the two had a conversation about a possible Cirque homage to the Beatles and their era. Though Harrison did not live to see the show's premiere in June of 2006, he supported Laliberté's idea. McCartney, Starr, Yoko Ono and Harrison's widow, Olivia Harrison, cooperated with the project, and a venture was established between Apple Records and Cirque du Soleil for the production of the sound track album. The result was the release of Love in November of 2006 into the UK, Japan and US/Canada.

The subtitle of the show describes its content well: "Cirque du Soleil celebrates the musical legacy of the Beatles." The show is performed continuously and permanently in a special theater built at the Mirage in Las Vegas, Nevada. The cast includes approximately 60 youthful performers, who display the high-energy vibe that has been synonymous with Cirque du Soleil productions over the last 25 years and more.

The CD provides 26 tracks of music, each designed to accompany a particular scene in the show, Love. Each track has its own unifying "feel," though several different Beatles songs might appear as samples or segments in each one. Overall, 130 Beatles' tracks were used. Martin, who more than anyone else knew the entire Beatles catalogue, drew upon finished recordings, archival tracks and demos to achieve the effects he desired. Each track is a "mashup" or polymix of the segments, which were newly mixed from original tapes whenever possible.

The surviving Beatles reacted positively to Love. McCartney said that the record "puts The Beatles back together again, because suddenly there's John and George with me and Ringo." Ringo called the album "really powerful." He said, "I even heard things I'd forgotten we'd recorded." The public was equally enthusiastic, sending the release to number 3 in the US in the first week and to number 4 in the US. By year's end, it was certified platinum. On February 10, 2008, Love was awarded two Grammies: one for best compilation soundtrack and one for best surround sound.

Love was distributed in three formats: CD, a two-disc CD and DVD issue, and a two-disc vinyl edition (in the UK). The DVD contains the latest in audio technology for surround sound plus extended versions of Revolution and Back in the U.S.S.R.