Charles Shaar Murray's original review in Mojo in 2000 was spot on about '1'.
It went along the lines of 'thought it was impossible to cock up a Beatles compilation?....well here it is!'
Not sure how it could have been sold internationally, though it wouldn't take too long to think of a reasonable solution, but a UK 22 As and 22 Bs collection, like the Dusty Springfield one on Eclipse, would be a much more enjoyable, and edgy, collection than '1', the Red album, and the Blue album put together and, certainly unlike '1', would completely hold together as a concept.