"Love" is a soundtrack remix album of music recorded by The Beatles, released in November 2006. The album features music compiled and remixed as a mashup for the Cirque du Soleil show Love. It was produced by George Martin and his son, Giles Martin, who described the album as a new way for listeners to experience the entire Beatles musical timeline in a condensed form.
The album marked George Martin's final project as a producer before his death in 2016.
George Martin and Giles Martin began working on Love after receiving approval from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and Olivia Harrison, who represented the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison, respectively. The idea of using The Beatles' music in a Cirque du Soleil show was originally suggested by George Harrison, who passed away in 2001, through his friendship with the show's founder, Guy Laliberté.
In an interview, Giles Martin recalled how he first combined "Within You Without You" with "Tomorrow Never Knows" to create a demo, which he nervously presented to McCartney and Starr. Both members loved the idea, with McCartney expressing that it was exactly the type of work they should be doing more of. Giles Martin also explained that he used a variety of Beatles recordings, from the early four-track to eight-track and even two-track recordings, to create a "soundbed" for the project. He backed up the original multi-track recordings to ensure he had access to the material needed for the project. While the Martins mixed more music than was eventually released, including "She's Leaving Home" and an alternate version of "Girl", only a few tracks made it to the final album. The "Girl" remix was later released as a bonus track on iTunes in 2011.
McCartney and Starr both responded positively to the album, with McCartney stating that it "puts The Beatles back together again" by bringing together all four members' contributions, while Starr praised the Martins' work, calling the project "really powerful."
Love features elements from 130 individual Beatles tracks, blending them together in a complex mashup or polymix. The album draws from a broad spectrum of songs, including both commercially released tracks and demos. Mashups were a popular trend in the 2000s, with The Beatles being frequently used as source material. A notable example of this was The Grey Album by Danger Mouse (2004), which combined Jay-Z's rapping with the music from The Beatles' White Album. McCartney was a fan of the mash-up culture, even collaborating with Freelance Hellraiser in 2005 for Twin Freaks, which helped influence Love.
Described as a "sound collage" by critics, the album features 26 tracks that are set in a flowing, ambient arrangement, creating a cohesive listening experience. The result is a collection of mashups and megamixes that place The Beatles' music in a modern, sampladelic context, presenting their familiar tracks in a completely new light.
