Without a doubt, the sixties belonged to the Beatles. They shaped its span of years, followed and maneuvered its trends, thrived and ultimately fell apart becoming the decade�s chief set of musical spokesmen. Like no others could before or after, they caught the spirit of the time at the height of every directional change, working with a versatility and pop intuition that never failed to give them the last (or more usually, the first) word; a unique collection of individuals, as you�ve surely heard many times before, perfectly suited to the role they had been chosen to fulfill, their shadow dominating all that we were and will become.

The four (two plus two) records that comprise The Beatles 1962-1966 and The Beatles 1967-1970 are, at long last, the group�s Greatest Hits, and despite prior misgivings generated by the speed at which these albums were gathered (thanks to some offthe-cuff bootlegging in the midwest), I must say that I�m pleasantly pleased by the efficiency and general good sense of the production. Far from the overblown graphic packaging that might have been expected, Apple has opted for the simple approach — clean, symmetrical layouts, as suitable for a Woolworth�s as an undercover record store; concise and readable lists of the included songs; lyrics tastefully hidden on the recording�s inner sleeves. It might�ve been nice to have a souvenir booklet included, replete with photographic momentos and other career memorabilia, but the Beatles were probably the most documented rock and roll band to walk the face of this globe and maybe it was thought here that enough was too much, save for a deluxe boxed set around Christmas . . .