ALBUM REVIEW: George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

    By the time John Lennon told The Beatles he was quitting in September of 1969, George Harrison had steadily become the member with the single most to gain from the split. Since Revolver all the way back in 1966, Harrison was quickly becoming a songwriting force on par with that of bandmates Lennon and Paul McCartney, but was beginning to be left in the shadow of the duo. In the years that would follow, Harrison would form friendships with artists that, unlike the domineering energy of Lennon/McCartney, encouraged and nurtured his talent for songwriting; Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, and The Band all rewarded Harrison with a creative equality and respect that he didn't have with The Beatles. By Abbey Road in 1969, people were finally acknowledging Harrison as a writer on par with the iconic duo, and Harrison seriously began considering a solo album - when McCartney went public with the band breakup in April of 1970, Harrison finally got in the studio. By that time, he had stockpiled more than 30 songs for a solo career, which was trimmed down to just 17 under the eye of producer Phil Spector. The result is an expectedly monumental album at 100 minuets, three discs, walls of sound, and not a single minute wasted.

    You would think that, at 18 proper songs across two discs (not to mention the bonus Apple Jam), the end product is overblown or meandering - stretched to the limits, in a sense. The most remarkable thing is that it isn't. While around half of the songs climb over that 4-minute mark, they manage to fill that space well, and the result is a cross between some sort of laid-back folk record and a jam band record, all with the pop sheen and hooky power that George had become more than accustomed to. Part of the album's filling nature is undoubtedly in Phil Spector's work with his trademark "Wall of Sound". I'm someone who is pretty critical of Spector and his bombastic style - it's an incredibly hit or miss style to me, and when it misses, you get overly sappy or melodramatic material like his work on Let It Be. When it does work, though, you get something like All Things Must Pass, which I'm very tempted to call some of his best production work ever - here, the cinematic highs of a song like "Isn't It a Pity" or the driving hard rock of "Wah-Wah" showcase the best of the Wall of Sound with its thick instrumentation and climatic moments. Of course, the album is far more varied than this, and we have plenty of softer moments like the leading track "I'd Have You Anytime" or the Dylan cover "If Not For You" to balance out the hectic nature of moments like "Art of Dying". This balance also pairs nicely with the variety of genres and sounds on the album - from heavy rockers like "Let It Down" to the folk of "Apple Scruffs"; from "What Is Life" with its power pop riff and hook to the country of "Behind That Locked Door", Harrison covers plenty with the album, and that's before even mentioning the dense Apple Jam disc with four blazing and expansive rock instrumentals.

    Then there's Harrison's performances and writing itself, where he yet again shows to us what The Beatles were missing - if  he's not singing it, he's shouting it. Songs like the frustration of "Wah-Wah" or the somewhat somber "Run of the Mill" were born directly out of The Beatles' fallout, and yet they mange to remain accessible pop songs, with the former being boosted by a killer riff; there's the Dylanesque "Apple Scruffs", a love letter to dedicated Beatles fans who would loiter outside of the group's Apple headquarters whom George became friendly with; the country rock of "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)" was inspired by the previous owner of his Friar Park home. Harrison's writing ranges across many themes and ideas here, but the most dominant is religion. "My Sweet Lord", outside of being Harrison's first Number 1, is a great gospel-influenced number that keeps the momentum up after the slower opening track of "I'd Have You Anytime". Other moments like the reincarnation anthem of "Art of Dying" or the call of forgiveness on "Hear Me Lord" are much more openly attributed to Harrison's faith in the Hare Krishna movement (the Hare Krishna mantra is recited in the chorus of "My Sweet Lord", as an aside). Even less religious anthems like the warning against illusion and negativity on the beautiful and emotional "Beware of Darkness" are tinged in his beliefs - beware of Maya. It's a very holistic theme for the album, even in the title track, and these songs and their themes all come together in what is some of the best post-Beatles material from any member - even a seemingly simple song like "I Dig Love" has a charm to it.

    In comparison to the mixed reaction to other solo albums that released the same year, All Things Must Pass was immediately hailed as a masterwork. Indeed, many critics were right in what they saw - the emergence of Harrison out of the shadow of his domineering Beatles bandmates and flourishing into a creative powerhouse in his own right. Even all these years later, there's still an heir of fantastical energy to this album taken as a whole. Such range and diversity throughout its entire runtime, immaculately crafted in both scope and lyricism, and filled with enough hooks and riffs to keep any pop fan happy. It's a bona fide triumph in many senses, and one that's deserving of your attention again and again. Hare Krishna.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to All Things Must Pass.