Anthology 2 is a compilation album by The Beatles, released by Apple Records in March 1996. It is the second of the three-volume Anthology collection, all of which tie-in with the televised special The Beatles Anthology. The opening track is "Real Love", the second of the two recordings that reunited the Beatles by means of magnetic tape. Like its predecessor, the album topped the Billboard 200 album chart, and has been certified 4× Platinum by the RIAA. The Anthology albums were made available on the iTunes Store on 14 June 2011.
With alternate versions, studio outtakes, live cuts, and demo versions of material from 1965 up until 1968, <i>Anthology 2</i> shows the band crafting some of the best-loved music of their career. This collection explores how strong the band’s material was at its core (listen to the largely acoustic “I’m Only Sleeping”) or just how inventive they could be without those telltale harmonies (try one of the alternate versions of “Strawberry Fields Forever”). Also included in <i>Anthology 2</i> is “Real Love,” one of John Lennon’s last demos, given life thanks to a reworking by Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr.