Sunday 18 August 2019

All Things Must Pass - GEORGE HARRISON*****

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/Beware Of Darkness/Apple Scruffs/Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp/Awaiting On You All/All Things Must Pass/I Dig Love/Art Of Dying/Isn't It A Pity/Hear Me Lord/Out Of The Blue/Its Johnny's Birthday/Plug Me In/I Remember Jeep/Thanks For The Pepperoni

The first serious album release from George Harrison was the boxed three discs set All Things Must Pass. During the lifetime of The Beatles his compositions were clearly secondary to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. Thus he already had plenty of songs available for release when the group folded. The third disc is a jam session and can be ignored. Includes the US and UK No. 1 My Sweet Lord and US No. 10 What Is Life. (US:1 UK:1)

"All Things Must Pass may have a lot of music to wade through, but it is worth it. You can cut the Apple Jam after the first listen. What usually hurt long albums are the filler tracks that aren’t that good. There is nothing of the sort here."

"The songs are great on their own but as a whole they're actually better, which is impressive considering the album's length. He finds the beauty and the darkness in life and combines them in a way that is far more realistic than Paul's outlook that everything is lovely and John's outlook that everything is a downer."

"No one was kept in the shadows more during The Beatles heyday than George Harrison. It seems only fitting that with the collapse of the Fab Four, he exploded with the lengthy and spiritual All Things Must Pass, showing that he was just as much of a genius as John and Paul were. Isn't It A Pity, My Sweet Lord, and Beware Of Darkness are some of the sweetest post-Beatles ballads available.”

"One wonders if perhaps Harrison should have offered two separate albums of material, and better cemented his post-Beatles legacy. I would have bought both of them. The only down note in this review is the Apple Jam, which is fairly pedestrian fare that can be heard in any basement or garage. Nevertheless, All Things Must Pass is essential to any collection."

"All Things Must Pass exudes a warmth and kind-heartedness that spans spirituality, fellowship, empathy, love, and simple enjoyment. Phil Spector's production does the right thing in wrapping George's voice in swathes of instrumentation. There's reverb, country slide guitar (Behind That Locked Door), psychedelic swirling guitar, orchestral arrangements and trumpet fanfares (Let It Down). The Apple Jam at the end is unnecessary, but George just had a straightforward love for making music."

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