Songs:
CD I: I´d Have You Anytime,
My Sweet Lord, Wah-Wah, Isn´t
It A Pity, What Is Life, If Not For You, Behind That Locked Door, Let It Down, Run Of The Mill.
CD II: Beware of Darkness,
Apple Scruffs, Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let
It Roll), Awaiting On You All, All Things Must
Pass, I Dig Love, Art Of Dying, Isn´t It A Pity
(Version Two), Hear Me Lord.
Type of Music:
Pop/Rock/Folk/Country/Gospel.
Comments:
This is certainly not an easy Album to review. Because there are people who love it and consider it the best Solo Album of any of the Beatles and there are a lot of people who, while acknowledging it as a truly artful personal musical statement, consider it overproduced and a bit boring. Well Music is an art and art is a very personal thing. My opinion is that the release is certainly not bad but that it could have been better.
In his time with the Beatles, George Harrison
usually only got one or two of his songs on the albums. As a result he had lot
of good songs on the shelf when the group broke up. Well, All Things Must
Pass, said George to himself and started working on his solo project.
The result some say is one of the greatest double albums (triple if you count
the original jams) ever made in pop history. I say it just might have been if
not for the fact that on a rainy and foggy London morning, George picked up the
phone, called Phil Spector and asked him to produce his first solo album. Why
oh Why didn´t George stay at home for his first record just like John and
Paul!!
Now I know that some people, even some of my
friends, adore the Wall of Sound that Mr.Spector produces. I`m not one of them.
In my opinion, this guy has the doubtful capability of transforming the most
delicate ballad into an agonising pool of muddy echoes.
Even George himself wrote in the liner notes that
he had to restrain himself not to re-mix every single song on the album during
the Re-Mastering in 2000. Personally I think that attitude is not overly correct because it was after all George who called Phil back in 1970. But it does reinforce my point here.
If you want to know how the Album could have
sounded, listen carefully to the acoustic version of Beware of Darkness,
one of the bonus tracks on CD I or to the verses of Isn´t It A Pity (
Version Two). And compare those to some terribly over-produced songs like Wah-Wah,
Let it Down or Awaiting On You All .
Isn´t It A Pity? Indeed
because George´s song-writing was immaculate around this time. In fact he would
never again come close to this level. George wrote all the songs except If Not
For You (Bob Dylan) and I´d Have You Anytime, a song co-written by
Bob Dylan and George.
All Things Must Pass
is not an easy listen by all means. This is serious stuff! It is an
overwhelming spiritual event about Love, Happiness,Peace, Hope, Death and God.
Only Apple Scruffs, a song about
Beatles fans hanging around the Apple studios on Abbey Road is a less
serious and more than welcome moment of simple musical fun.
Apart from the production I also feel that All
Things Must Pass, like the White Album, would have been better if released as a single album. It could have looked
like this:
Songs: I´d Have You Anytime, My Sweet Lord, Isn´t
It A Pity, What Is Life, If Not For You, Behind That Locked Door, Beware of
Darkness, Apple Scruffs, All Things Must Pass, Hear Me Lord.
Producer: I would like to suggest George Martin who
did such a great job on Abbey Road.
Now I tell you, that could have been one
hell of an Album. As it was, the original Long Play Album consisted of three
records. The Third Record consisted of a series of Rock & Roll/ Blues Jams
recorded during the All Things Must Pass Sessions. And there were a
bunch of good players hanging around at that time. In fact, as a result of
these jams, Eric Clapton and the members from the Delaney & Bonnie band
formed Derek & the Dominos.
The digital Re-Mastering did a lot of good to these
jams and they are now perfectly listenable.
Also during the Re-Mastering, five bonus tracks
were added. They can be found on CD number I. There are acoustic versions of Beware
of Darkness and Let it Down and a not very interesting instrumental
version of What is Life. But two songs called my special attention: I
Live for You is a song that never made it to the original album but
should have. Good Song! And, unfortunately, George decided to include My
Sweet Lord in a modern 2000 light version, backed up by singer Sam Brown.
Unfortunately, George´s voice had lost most of his magic by 2000 and I find it
simply painful to listen to this version.
Let´s sum it up. Yes, this is definitively George´s
best solo Album. But it does suffer immensely from Phil Spector´s production
and it would have worked better with half of the songs.
Rating: ******** (8 out of 10)
Black = Good Songs
Green = Great Songs
Red = Could Be Better
*Bonus Tracks
CD I: I Live For You, Beware
of Darkness, Let It Down, What Is Life, My Sweet Lord (2000).
*Bonus Tracks
CD II (The Original Jams): It´s Johnny`s Birthday,
Plug Me In, I Remember Jeep, Thanks For The Pepperoni, Out Of The Blue.
Who should
buy this Record: This is an Essential record for
George Harrison Fans. It´s simply too long and
too serious for the occasional listener unless
you program it as a single album only containing your favorites.
