The Beatles by Martin. Because of the paucity of new Beatles music, AllMusic's Unterberger and Bruce Eder suggest the album might be "inessential" but for Harrison's "It's All Too Much": "the jewel of the new songs ... resplendent in swirling Mellotron, larger-than-life percussion, and tidal waves of feedback guitar ... a virtuoso excursion into otherwise hazy psychedelia". Although "Let It Be" was the Beatles' final album release, it was largely recorded before "Abbey Road". The project's impetus came from an idea Martin attributes to McCartney, who suggested they "record an album of new material and rehearse it, then perform it before a
The Beatles (album) in 1980. In 2012 the original artwork was put up for auction. During 1978 and 1979, for the album's tenth anniversary, EMI reissued the album pressed on limited edition white vinyl in several countries. In 1981, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) issued a unique half-speed master variation of the album using the sound from the original master recording. The discs were pressed on high-quality virgin vinyl. The album was reissued, along with the rest of the Beatles catalogue, on compact disc in 1987. It was the only CD in the Beatles' catalogue to be issued in white jewel cases (as