On Air - Live at the BBC Volume 2
| On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 | ||||
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| Live album / compilation album by the Beatles | ||||
| Released | 11 November 2013 | |||
| Recorded | 22 January 1963 - 2 May 1966, London | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 130:34 | |||
| Label | Apple, Capitol, UMe | |||
| Producer | Jeff Jones, Mike Heatley, Kevin Howlett | |||
| The Beatles chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 82/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| The Daily Mail | |
| MOJO | |
| Rolling Stone | |
On Air – Live at the BBC Volume 2 is a 2013 live/compilation album featuring 40 previously unreleased tracks from the Beatles' 1963–1964 BBC Radio broadcasts (accompanied by 23 interview tracks from the associated broadcasts). It was released on 11 November 2013, along with a remastered and repackaged Live at the BBC Volume 1, which was originally released in 1994. The album is available as a two-CD set and a three-LP set. An exclusive limited edition lithographic print is also available from the Beatles online store.
Most of the songs performed on the album are taken from the Beatles' first four LPs Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale. Many of the other songs performed are the band's covers of early rock and roll classics by American artists such as Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, many of which were never recorded in a studio or released on a Beatles album. "I'm Talking About You" and "Beautiful Dreamer" were the two songs on the album that had never been on a previous Beatles release, leaving only "Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)" and "A Picture of You", both low fidelity recordings with Pete Best from 1962, as the only songs from the Beatles' BBC performances that have never been issued in any version.
There are several witty and irreverent moments among the 23 speech tracks of in-studio conversation and banter with the late Brian Matthews presenter of radio's 'Saturday Club' and 'Easy Beat'. "A Hard Job Writing Them", for example, includes the moment where Ringo describes the trouble he had writing songs for A Hard Day's Night and Paul launches the ship "Top Gear" in an unusual voice.
The album received very positive reviews upon release. The Daily Mail reviewer Adrian Thrills gave this compilation a rating of 5 stars. He points to the version of Chuck Berry's "I'm Talking About You" as being a highlight as it "reiterates John Lennon's credentials as a rock 'n' roller". Thrills also stated, "Other highlights include a fresh take on Arthur Alexander's 'Anna', a heartfelt 'Please Mr Postman' and a countrified stroll through the Carl Perkins hit 'Lend Me Your Comb'."
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