Review #1 - George Harrison

All Things Must Pass - 9.0

For my first review I've decided to take on the slightly large task of reviewing George Harrison's triple LP All Things Must Pass. This seemingly monumental album came out in 1970, the same year that The Beatles released Let It Be, their final full length. Harrison used his back catalog from the Beatles era in combination with new material to fill up the three discs. Phil Spector shares production credit with Harrison.

Side 1 starts out rather slow with "I'd Have You Anytime," surprisingly a collaboration with Bob Dylan. However, after that start it picks up with the next three songs all qualifying as incredible, and also working together quite well. "My Sweet Lord" is the big hit from this album, a great single, but "Wah-Wah" and "Isn't It a Pity" are just as good. The lyrics manage to be sensitive and meaningful without crossing the dangerous border into cheesy. I'm not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination, but listening to this album (in particular Side 1), you can really feel Harrison's spirituality come through. If this album were just one side, I'd have a hard time not giving it a 10.

However, there are five more sides to this sprawling collection. Side 2 completely switches gears with "What Is Life," an upbeat number from Harrison. It feels a little out of place after listening to Side 1, but is undoubtedly a very good single. Dylan contributes the second song, "If Not For You," which feels more in place with the album's overall feel. Harrison's slide guitar is perfect on this and just about every other song here. "Let It Down" is another gem here, allowing Harrison to showcase a mellow melody for the verse paired with a rocking chorus.

Side 3 and 4 are full of great songs as well, although you can see that Harrison maybe ran out of material a bit towards the end. Side 3 is very good, although the title track "All Things Must Pass," despite being great lyrically, drags along at a slow clip. Side 4 features the wanktastic "I Dig Love," probably the album's weakest song along with a reprise of "Isn't It A Pity." "The Art of Dying" is one of the album's more rocking tracks however, and becomes the centerpiece of the 4th side.

This is really where the album ends, but included here is one more vinyl, which contains a seemingly separate album, Apple Jam. In the liner notes it says that Apple Jam was "recorded during sides 1, 2, 3, & 4." It really just sounds like a bunch of musicians getting high together and just feeling the music and making up jams on the spot. Although not necessarily something you'd want to listen to over and over, it's still a very interesting look into what these incredible musicians did for fun while waiting for the next take. Eric Clapton plays guitar along with Harrison on these jams.

All in all, the album is very solid and a great listen. The reason it doesn't score higher is that it seems to drift into cheese territory a few times and some songs made me really want to move on to the next as soon as possible. Cough "I Dig Love" Cough. I also think the album is a little top heavy. Side 1 is so great that Side 2 can't possibly live up to it, although it's still very good. Side 3 drops off a little more, and Side 4 continues the trend, before Apple Jam closes out the set on a relatively strong note.