LET IT BE or RUBBER SOUL??? You Be The Judge And Jury

[Lord Reith]

So I guess the big question is whether we're gonna get the Let It Be bluray or the Rubber Soul SDE this year. Both are highly desired by fans. So let's have a look at the pros and cons of each...

In favour of Let It Be

The work has all been completed and signed off, according to Jacko.
The content is semi-familiar to people through Get Back.
It has more well known songs.
It is more Atmos-friendly.
It is Late Beatles, which Apple adore.
It is 30 years overdue.

In favour of Rubber Soul

It has better songs.
It allows for more marketing variation and more profit (can't release a bluray on coloured vinyl)
Vinyl is "in" while bluray is "out"
Everybody expected it last year (me included) and got the shits when we got Red And Blue Re-release #475 instead.

Weighing against Let It Be

It's a depressing film that paints a different narrative to the cheery Get Back.
Bluray is a dying format.
It duplicates a large chunk of Get Back.
Maybe people are sick of the Hairy Beatles for now.
It has Yoko in it (joke)

Weighing against Rubber Soul

There aren't many outtakes.
The cover makes them look like Martians.
Half of it came out last year.
It isn't very Atmos-friendly.
It doesn't have many videos.

So what do you think? I say Let It Be, just because there's probably little left to do on it and those involved can take a holiday this year. But then, there's a long and proud Beatles tradition of doing elaborate restorations using up lots of time, energy and money and then leaving them to rot on a shelf for decades. So maybe it will be Rubber Soul.

Or more likely it will be something totally random, like a cassette release of A Collection Of Oldies and Hey Jude.

[mitchellmichael]

Well….you’re right on most points. Saying Rubber Soul has better songs…apples and oranges. They were in 2 different places. Let’s just agree that both are awesome and I’ll be happy with either.

MM

[steepien]

I can't see Let It Be ever being the sole Beatles release for a given year tbh. If/when it comes out I'm sure there will be a Super Deluxe set the same year.

[Nine-0-Nine]

"Rubber Soul" without any doubt. "Let It Be" is quite an anti-Beatles event.

[Rickenbacker325]

I say Rubber Soul…and for RSD they should release A Collection of Oldies” it’d be a big hit for sure. Let it Be will(in my non professional opinion) not see the light of day any time soon as it kills the all new narrative that has been established(not that the old was was really that bad anyway)

[Rave O Lucien]

This year marks the 60th anniversary of A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, Ed Sullivan and the Hollywood Bowl. Any of these would enthuse me more than Let It Be. I have it on VHS, and a working VCR to play it on -- but I don't. It's a well-known drag. Rubber Soul then?

[miggynav]

Rubber Soul SDE box sets for me, always like the album and I look forward to hearing new outtakes.Maybe the Red and Blue set housed in slip case is an intro to the new twofer releases like RS and Help, PPM and WTB, AHDN and BFS, MMT and YS.

[dascottjr]

Peter Jackson specifically edited "Get Back" so that it wouldn't overlap too much footage with "Let It Be", so having one without the other seems outright stupid, especially since "Let It Be" was originally supposed to be included with "Get Back" in the first place! And unless the "Let It Be" movie is getting a giant box to go with it (not likely, given how bare bones the "Get Back" discs were), there's no reason not to put that out in the first half of the year, and then a "Rubber Soul" box near Christmas, right?

[tulirepo]

I believe in a Rubber Soul/Help! SDE. As LR states, there is not a vast pool of outtakes from Rubber Soul, but together with the Help! outtakes they should suffice for a CD or even two (considering they never used the full playing time of a silver so far). Besides, the album sessions share one song (Wait) together, in the US Ruber Soul was a mesh-up of RS and Help! material.

So in my view, a double release/two-fer seems like the logical way to go. But, what is logical in the Beatles commercial strategy headquarters nowadays?

[Lord Reith]

There's no reason not to put that out in the first half of the year, and then a "Rubber Soul" box near Christmas, right?

To quote a man, "that's too obvious".

I can't see Let It Be ever being the sole Beatles release for a given year tbh. If/when it comes out I'm sure there will be a Super Deluxe set the same year.

YOU WANT IT ALL!