So as I was saying yesterday, 2009-2010 was my Beatles year. And because of my sudden interest in the group, I got “The Beatles Rock Band” as a present early in the first month of the new decade. Now I was able to play along with George, Ringo, John and Paul on 45 of their signature tracks (and three albums extra as DLC). Undeniable fun was had. Though once all the songs were there and I’d played them all that fun faded away. Hope that every Beatles song would be added to game was dashed as days passed.

But  buying the game led me to joining its official forum where I chatted to some cool people. They owned the game, and liked The Beatles as much as I did. What could go wrong? That’s when you expect the heel-turn. But nothing did go wrong. It was a good few months on there.

The best thing I did on there, was contribute to a ‘community mash-up’ album conceived by another member. It was meant to be in the style of the ‘LOVE’ album of 2006 made for the Cirque du Soleil show. Obviously, ours weren’t as professional or on the same level as those tracks. But the process of making it was one of the most exciting things, and the ending product was pretty well done. The album’s title? “Melodies of Memories”. Very nice.

You can follow the album’s making by clicking here. You can also watch each song’s video on YouTube via clicking on this whole sentence. I am the member named ‘JAMZFTW’. I have reasons behind the name, but I won’t tell them. I also made some extra songs that didn’t make it on there, either because they didn’t fit or because it was too late. That ended up being an “EP” which I appropriately named “PEACE”. ‘Cause ‘Peace and Love’, get it? Click on here to download it.

I got so hyped up over the ‘mash-up’ idea that I ended up making many more. A sequel to “Melodies of Memories” was initiated by another forum member literally days after the first. That member then disappeared, and didn’t log in for a long time. How did it end? Well, the sequel was released eventually entitled “All Things Must Return”. That album and the songs from “Peace” would be on YouTube had the company not terminated my account, which I’m still sad about to this day.

I was even determined to start a part 2 to *that* incorporating the use of Beatles solo material to do the mash-ups. That album died. No one cared. And to be honest, I didn’t either. Songs were made though. Those are all in my Mediafire account. I will share those below. A Green Day Mash-Up album was also started. That died too. As did a Pink Floyd/Beatles mash-up album.

But a huge shout-out goes to the members on those forums. Glad I got the chance to participate in something that was so fun, creative and very productive.

IN SUMMARY, CLICK ON THESE LINKS:

Melodies of Memories (April 2010 – May 2010): The Beatles Community Mash-Up Album and the aftermath of its ‘release’.

PEACE (May 2010): The above’s accompanying “EP”.

Echoes of Love (Started July 2010 – died): The Beatles/Pink Floyd Mash-up album that didn’t quite happen. Though here are two tracks I did for it. Download here and here.

Green Day Community Mash-Up Album (Started August 2010 – finished never): Started in dedication to the then new release of “Green Day: Rock Band”. Wasn’t finished. Good songs were made for it though. All download links are on that forum.

The Beatles Acoustic Medley Pt. 3 (October 2010): A little something something requested by a forum member which I was happy to do.

All Things Must Return (May 2010 – January 2011): The sequel to “Melodies of Memories”. The Beatles Community Mash-Up Album II and the aftermath of its ‘release’. As I already said it’s not on YouTube anymore. You can still download the album here though.

All Things Must Return II (Started 2010 – Never finished): I actually did the first song for the album in 2010, combining “How Do You Sleep” by Lennon, “Too Many People” by McCartney and “Wah-Wah” by Harrison to make the song “Thinking of You” – a phrase taken from the latter song. Fitting because all three songs were written with the other Beatles in mind. However, actual work on the album didn’t start until February 2011, when the first “All Things Must Return” was done. As you can see, nothing really came of it. The mash-up era was over.

Enjoy listening to whatever you can though. Hope you have as much fun listening as I did making them.