All Things Must Pass (Boxed Edition)

by

George Harrison

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The original cd release of this album was marred by a muddy and hissy sound that took away from the great music. Finally after years of clamoring from fans, George Harrison has issued a remastered version of his classic All Things Must Pass. The results are outstanding as the songs sound clear and fresh. George Harrison was the Beatle who most immediately benefited from the band's breakup. Mr. Harrison was stifled by the domination of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership and was only allowed a song or two per album. The songs that did appear, like "Taxman", Here Comes The Sun" & "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", showed that he was an excellent songwriter in his own right. When it came time to record his first proper solo album, he released an album of electronic noise called Wonderwall in 1968, he had such a backlog of material it yielded a double album with a third bonus disk. The songs are deeply rooted in the Maharisi's teachings that have been a large part of his life for the past thirty years. Despite the religious musings, the songs have an upbeat, full sound lead by Wall of Sound producer Phil Spector. Although Mr. Spector does sometimes overproduce songs, he makes a song like "My Sweet Lord" that could have been plodding and ponderous into a soaring affirmation. Of course that song was a huge number one hit, but others standouts include the beautiful cover of Bob Dylan's "If Not For You", the nice tribute to fans who hung outside the Apple Records offices, "Apple Scruffs", the yin and yang of "I Dig Love" and "The Art Of Dying" and the rollicking "Wah-Wah". "What Is Life?" may well be the best song he has ever done with it's blaring horns, layered guitars and smooth vocals. The production is classic Wall of Sound harkening back to Mr. Spector's work on Ronettes and Crystals records. The last few songs are from a jam session that included Eric Clapton and made up the bonus disk on the original release. They loose song structures that the band just have fun with. The bonus tracks included on the re-release don't really add much and the "My Sweet Lord 2000" would have been better left unrecorded. The cd booklet is expansive and contains many insights from Mr. Harrison himself. All Things Must Pass was to many a surprise success as they thought that only Paul McCartney and John Lennon would be successful in their post Beatle days. Not only was "My Sweet Lord" the first solo Beatle song to hit number one, but the album also reached the top of the charts and thirty years later still sounds fresh and exciting.

Two observations: I'd forgotten just how terrific and multifaceted some of the songs are. "Beware of Darkness," "Isn't it a Pity,", "Let it Roll," and "Art of Dying" are far more musically complex than the average song out today, yet are still instantly memorable. And the album is much more in the vein of Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominoes, and the Yardbirds than I'd remembered--great guitar licks, fine rhythm section, etc.

What I had failed to remember is the incredible amount of reverb on the album. Harrison is right: The thing should've been remixed, especially songs like "Wah-Wah" and "Awaiting on You All," which suffer tremendously from the sonic sludge that Spector calls his "wall of sound." I can't help but wonder wistfully what the album would have sounded like in the hands of George Martin, since a lot of the songs on "Beatles I" actually sound much fresher (in a recording sense) than most of "ATMP," even those that were recorded years earlier.

Last point: The first three bonus tracks are great additions to the new album; however, "What is Life" doesn't add much, and "My Sweet Lord 2000" is just embarrassing. If the latter indicates the direction Harrison is pursuing for his new album, I'm afraid it is just one more thing that (I) must pass over.