Harrison's 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠 turns 50

[guitarfool2002]

Disclaimer: I have not heard the remix/remaster yet. But the reviews are starting to come out. And a review from someone who was actually involved in the recording of the album is one of the most bluntly honest, straight-shooting commentaries I've seen in a long time. Bobby Whitlock, via his YouTube channel. One thing about Bobby is that he's honest, upfront, and calls 'em as he sees 'em. And in this case Bobby is more upset than I've ever seen him, and from his perspective I can see why. Other reviewers have said the same things more or less - If you're a long-time fan and listeners of the original work, the new remix strips away a lot of the vibe and character that was present in those grooves. Some instrumental parts are buried entirely if not muted, and the hallmarks of the original mixes including effects like echo and reverb are gone, and the vocals do not sit into the mix the same way without them.

This was not the case with the previous remix/remaster. What I hear from others is the dreaded "boost the bass" and "compress the living sh*t out of it" marching orders seemed to win the day. Done, of course, to appeal to the "young listeners"...

So anyway, here's Bobby's reaction to the vinyl edition which was sent to him. It's worth watching too just to hear how many different ways a legendary musician can say "this sucks" using different phrases. My favorites are when he comes right out and says "It's fuckin' awful.", "I've heard some drunk stuff in nightclubs that sounds better than this.", "the worst sh*t I ever heard", and "It was so bad that it hurts."

And this is coming from a legendary and respected musician who was there and actively involved with the project. The A/B reference he used for comparing the new version to the old was an original vinyl copy of the set given to him by George Harrison himself, 50 years ago.

I'm sad to hear this, and Bobby is not the only one saying it, although some are less upfront in voicing their disappointment.

I'd get it if they had an outtakes and sessions only set, minus the remaster/remix at this point. I don't know how much of this rewriting history on a classic album such as this I could take, hearing the mixes reimagined and rejiggered to this degree.

Bobby and Coco's review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soM5B6q39Ls

The video has been marked Private. Not able to view.

I just got my box today.  Don’t care about the remix. Excited about the demos and alternate takes and songs that didn’t make the album.

SurfRider: All of Bobby's videos on his channel disappeared earlier today. Then they came back online, but with his recent ones focused on All Things Must Pass now unavailable. People are pissed, and offering theories on what could have happened. Obviously he didn't make the people with money at stake in this box set happy with his commentary. Prior to that, weeks ago, he was asked to take down a few because he had spoken about things on the box before the label wanted those things revealed at the release date, and they failed to tell him that, knowing he had a channel where he would talk about it. Then there was the review of the vinyl remixes which I mentioned above which I'm sure ruffled feathers, but he's not the only one saying those things about the new mixes. Fans are wondering if YouTube took them down after pressure from the label and other interests, wondering if it's censorship, etc.

Then, and who knows if this was the trigger, Bobby revealed in the last few days that he was contacted about doing an interview about the box. But, they would give him scripted answers to read during the interview instead of letting him answer freely. Anyone who has watched his videos can guess his reply..."Hell no!".

If they're scripting interviews to promote this set, something isn't right.

I'm waiting to see if any word comes up on his channel as to what happened. If there are interests trying to censor him, or if it's YouTube, or if it's the label or otherwise, that's not right. I wonder if other YouTube channels will be subject to that too, if that's the case.

[guitarfool2002]

And even though I have to be up in a few hours, I just spent quite a few hours listening to the tracks too. Just picking some here and there to get an overview, and listening to some of my favorites as they were remixed.

I was enjoying very much the "new" songs that didn't make it. Some better than others. I was enjoying the studio outtakes too, although there isn't much studio chatter or between-take talk on the ones I listened to, which is disappointing, but it's great to hear the various bands ripping in the studio. Some great grooves. I only got into a few of the jams so far, like "Get Back" which was a fun listen.

The demo material is cool, I had already heard whatever came out on the bootlegs before, but overall a good listen to hear the songs in raw form. But I don't know how many times I'd relisten.

Now to the bad: The remixes. These are just my opinions.

I have an original pressing of ATMP, that's the version I know, they're the mixes I know, and unlike people who have been saying it's overproduced or has too much "Spector" in the sound, or those who want to "de-Spectorize" this album as they did Let It Be and other stuff, I think the original is a masterpiece that should stand on its own as it was released. So that's my bias.

But I put my former studio ears back on and did some A/B listening tonight to a few favorites.

I will say, if someone is unfamiliar with the originals, the remixes will stand as what they are hopefully not replacing the originals, and those people unfamiliar should seek out the original.

But one listen of "My Sweet Lord" told me that may not have been the best way to approach remixing this album. I don't like it at all. It was originally a grand production of an iconic song that became a massive hit single too. And hearing the remix, they stripped away all the grand-ness of the original. The texture sounds nothing like the original, to a fault. George's vocal is way up front, and it sounds too weak as such. George's voice was not the strongest in certain ranges, but he made it work, and when mixed properly, it sat in well with dense, layered instrumentation. When they pushed it up and out of that sonic bed, it doesn't carry the song in the same way. It's too exposed, and too dry. The instrumentation minus the reverb and echo lacks the depth and "size" of the original. Some key parts are lost in this mix. I didn't like it.

"What Is Life". Again, an absolute favorite track of mine, with some amazing performances including Jim Gordon on drums (and all the other Dominoes too). The remix doesn't have the same power coming from the overall sound. Again, the depth of the original is gone, it's almost too dry. Yet, Gordon's drums don't benefit at all, in fact they sound less up front and with less "sizzle" in the EQ than could have been in a remix. It seems like the bass got pushed up, which is fine, but it seems to mask other instruments in that sonic range. Again George's voice is way up and dry. The strings got pushed up quite a bit too, and they're almost too loud when they're answering and embellishing the lead guitar lines. It just doesn't have the sonic glue that the original has.

And another favorite: "Wah Wah". This one specifically stood out in the A/B comparison. After hearing both back-to-back, I must have played this track 6 times or more in a row, both versions. The remix, compared to the original, sounds like someone threw a towel over the speaker. I don't know what happened to the high end frequencies, and that "sizzle", whether they lopped it off purposely or whether the bass boosting and boosting of the guitars is masking it somehow. But it does sound like a towel over the speakers.

This track also has one of the coolest, most grooving parts Bobby Whitlock played on these sessions. He's on electric piano. He comes in just before the verses start, with a fill that sounds like Ray Charles, then his electric piano is the only instrument playing on the offbeats in the groove. That's how it stands out among such a thick background of instruments, and it creates that awesome forward groove with his "dit-dit, dot" rhythms between the beats.

On the original you hear Bobby's part cut through loud and clear. On the remix, it at first sounds like it's turned down way too low and has no highs or high-mid EQ to allow it to slice through. Again, it sounds like they laid a towel over the speaker on that specific part. At times in the track, it is so low and so masked it all but disappears, and this was one of the most driving rhythm parts of the entire song. As soon as you play the original mix, Bobby's part is right there, sitting perfectly in the mix, with plenty of high and high-mid EQ and creating that unique push-and-pull drive with the other instruments that pushes the track. It's still subtle too, but it slices through exactly when it needs to. On the remix, it's almost inconsequential.

And that's ridiculous.

Other tracks are more palatable, as remixes, but no way should these be the definitive versions. There is too much modern mastering at play, I think. Boost the bass frequencies, push everything up at hot levels and compress before distortion, and place George's vocals too high and too dry atop everything to where it almost sounds like when he's singing the demo versions. He's not part of the ensemble anymore. I felt the same about the string arrangements. They were subtle on the original, but on the remixes it's like extra effort was made to highlight them, when they were not for that purpose originally. The horns sounded a bit too compressed for my liking, again the group sound was more squashed together in the midrange where on the originals you could hear more high end and more "sizzle".

Some of the slower tracks work in the remixes, and I haven't gotten through all of them yet. But hearing those favorites didn't inspire me to hear them again. When certain textures or instruments are lost, or masked in favor of others, and those that are lost are key elements of those songs to some fans who know the originals, it doesn't seem like a successful venture or presenting "the way George would have wanted it", and becomes more like a novelty, too reminiscent of the "Let It Be Naked" album that pretty much sank like a stone after the initial PR hype.

I know that's a bit harsh, but that's my first impression on what I've heard so far tonight. I think the demos are worth it for people who haven't heard a lot of them on previous releases, I think the studio outtakes are indeed the keeper of the whole thing and worth hearing for people who know the album and who want to hear the tracks developing in stages, I think fans of George's music overall will love to hear the unreleased songs that didn't make the cut, but I'm not feeling this remix, and that seems to be the centerpiece of this whole thing.

[Lonely Summer]

And even though I have to be up in a few hours, I just spent quite a few hours listening to the tracks too. Just picking some here and there to get an overview, and listening to some of my favorites as they were remixed.

I was enjoying very much the "new" songs that didn't make it. Some better than others. I was enjoying the studio outtakes too, although there isn't much studio chatter or between-take talk on the ones I listened to, which is disappointing, but it's great to hear the various bands ripping in the studio. Some great grooves. I only got into a few of the jams so far, like "Get Back" which was a fun listen.

The demo material is cool, I had already heard whatever came out on the bootlegs before, but overall a good listen to hear the songs in raw form. But I don't know how many times I'd relisten.

Now to the bad: The remixes. These are just my opinions.

I have an original pressing of ATMP, that's the version I know, they're the mixes I know, and unlike people who have been saying it's overproduced or has too much "Spector" in the sound, or those who want to "de-Spectorize" this album as they did Let It Be and other stuff, I think the original is a masterpiece that should stand on its own as it was released. So that's my bias.

But I put my former studio ears back on and did some A/B listening tonight to a few favorites.

I will say, if someone is unfamiliar with the originals, the remixes will stand as what they are hopefully not replacing the originals, and those people unfamiliar should seek out the original.

But one listen of "My Sweet Lord" told me that may not have been the best way to approach remixing this album. I don't like it at all. It was originally a grand production of an iconic song that became a massive hit single too. And hearing the remix, they stripped away all the grand-ness of the original. The texture sounds nothing like the original, to a fault. George's vocal is way up front, and it sounds too weak as such. George's voice was not the strongest in certain ranges, but he made it work, and when mixed properly, it sat in well with dense, layered instrumentation. When they pushed it up and out of that sonic bed, it doesn't carry the song in the same way. It's too exposed, and too dry. The instrumentation minus the reverb and echo lacks the depth and "size" of the original. Some key parts are lost in this mix. I didn't like it.

"What Is Life". Again, an absolute favorite track of mine, with some amazing performances including Jim Gordon on drums (and all the other Dominoes too). The remix doesn't have the same power coming from the overall sound. Again, the depth of the original is gone, it's almost too dry. Yet, Gordon's drums don't benefit at all, in fact they sound less up front and with less "sizzle" in the EQ than could have been in a remix. It seems like the bass got pushed up, which is fine, but it seems to mask other instruments in that sonic range. Again George's voice is way up and dry. The strings got pushed up quite a bit too, and they're almost too loud when they're answering and embellishing the lead guitar lines. It just doesn't have the sonic glue that the original has.

And another favorite: "Wah Wah". This one specifically stood out in the A/B comparison. After hearing both back-to-back, I must have played this track 6 times or more in a row, both versions. The remix, compared to the original, sounds like someone threw a towel over the speaker. I don't know what happened to the high end frequencies, and that "sizzle", whether they lopped it off purposely or whether the bass boosting and boosting of the guitars is masking it somehow. But it does sound like a towel over the speakers.

This track also has one of the coolest, most grooving parts Bobby Whitlock played on these sessions. He's on electric piano. He comes in just before the verses start, with a fill that sounds like Ray Charles, then his electric piano is the only instrument playing on the offbeats in the groove. That's how it stands out among such a thick background of instruments, and it creates that awesome forward groove with his "dit-dit, dot" rhythms between the beats.

On the original you hear Bobby's part cut through loud and clear. On the remix, it at first sounds like it's turned down way too low and has no highs or high-mid EQ to allow it to slice through. Again, it sounds like they laid a towel over the speaker on that specific part. At times in the track, it is so low and so masked it all but disappears, and this was one of the most driving rhythm parts of the entire song. As soon as you play the original mix, Bobby's part is right there, sitting perfectly in the mix, with plenty of high and high-mid EQ and creating that unique push-and-pull drive with the other instruments that pushes the track. It's still subtle too, but it slices through exactly when it needs to. On the remix, it's almost inconsequential.

And that's ridiculous.

Other tracks are more palatable, as remixes, but no way should these be the definitive versions. There is too much modern mastering at play, I think. Boost the bass frequencies, push everything up at hot levels and compress before distortion, and place George's vocals too high and too dry atop everything to where it almost sounds like when he's singing the demo versions. He's not part of the ensemble anymore. I felt the same about the string arrangements. They were subtle on the original, but on the remixes it's like extra effort was made to highlight them, when they were not for that purpose originally. The horns sounded a bit too compressed for my liking, again the group sound was more squashed together in the midrange where on the originals you could hear more high end and more "sizzle".

Some of the slower tracks work in the remixes, and I haven't gotten through all of them yet. But hearing those favorites didn't inspire me to hear them again. When certain textures or instruments are lost, or masked in favor of others, and those that are lost are key elements of those songs to some fans who know the originals, it doesn't seem like a successful venture or presenting "the way George would have wanted it", and becomes more like a novelty, too reminiscent of the "Let It Be Naked" album that pretty much sank like a stone after the initial PR hype.

I know that's a bit harsh, but that's my first impression on what I've heard so far tonight. I think the demos are worth it for people who haven't heard a lot of them on previous releases, I think the studio outtakes are indeed the keeper of the whole thing and worth hearing for people who know the album and who want to hear the tracks developing in stages, I think fans of George's music overall will love to hear the unreleased songs that didn't make the cut, but I'm not feeling this remix, and that seems to be the centerpiece of this whole thing.

Thanks for an honest review. I suspect I will have a similar reaction when I sit down with the album.