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
Band on the Run any of the four musicians who were once called the Beatles". It was McCartney's last album issued on the Apple record label. By 1973, following the break-up of the Beatles three years before, Paul McCartney had yet to regain his artistic credibility or find favour with music critics for his post-Beatles work. After completing a successful UK tour with his band Wings, in July 1973, he planned their third album as a means to re-establish himself after the mixed reception given to "Wild Life" and "Red Rose Speedway". Keen to record outside the United Kingdom, McCartney asked EMI to send