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Harrison's "All Things Must Pass" non-Spector Tracks?

Gang-Twanger

Gang-Twanger

Resident Wharfedaliophool
I'm sitting here listening to a great-sounding vinyl-rip of the red-wax Japanese Toshiba "All Things Must Pass" LP (First time through current setup, and it sounds sweet), and I've noticed that certain songs have a better sound to them, as in a better mix than most of the grainy, harsh-sounding tracks on the album (the "Apple Jam" tracks sound especially-different), and it's got me wondering, did Phil Spector take a few days off somewhere? I mean, certain songs clearly DO NOT have the "Phil Spector Sound", and I'm curious if someone else was ever manning the board?
:scratch2:

BTW, LOVE this album. Totally-changed the way I look at music. At one time, I literally-listened to it every single day for two months straight. I like as much as I like any Beatle album (and that's saying a lot).
 
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this is F'n CRAZY! I was just listening to this record tonight and was thinking a few of the songs sounded absolutely awful. then the next would sound great. it was very curious. not sure what pressing I have but its not Japanese. I had the the cd repress of The Beatles let it be album with all the spector stuff removed , I think it was called let it be "naked" or something like that , it was great! sounds so much better without the Phil Spector craziness.

what are the chances that two of us are listening to the same record on the same night and notice the same thing! guess great minds think alike!:scratch2:
 
jeremyjustic said:
this is F'n CRAZY! I was just listening to this record tonight and was thinking a few of the songs sounded absolutely awful. then the next would sound great. it was very curious. not sure what pressing I have but its not Japanese. I had the the cd repress of The Beatles let it be album with all the spector stuff removed , I think it was called let it be "naked" or something like that , it was great! sounds so much better without the Phil Spector craziness.

what are the chances that two of us are listening to the same record on the same night and notice the same thing! guess great minds think alike!:scratch2:
Click to expand...

What is it you've got? A vinyl-rip or a store-bought CD? There was apparently a new vinyl release (2010) along with a 24-bit digital download version (which I will hopefully-be listening to tomorrow). The 2001 remaster took a lot of heat for being 'overcooked', but there are several much-better-sounding vinyl-rips out there online. I'm curious how these new remasters will sound.

Dang, ..... Nice Mac gear ya' got there.
 
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IMHO George H. was underrated as a force with the Beatles. He did have the first #1 hit following the breakup of the gang. ATMP is a must have 10 LP, for me, on a deserted island. I particularly like the Jam Sessions.
 
I love Paul sing All Things Must Pass on Concert For George. That alone deserves a sepatate thread, how f'ing fantastic is that documented event?
 
ATMP is well known for its shady sound.

And, yes, the sound quality varies track by track. Phil Spector could overload the sound with analog compression with the best of them.

Ken Scott (Bowie, Devo) was one of the recording engineers. If a song sounds good, I'd blame him.

I have an original UK pressing that remained unopened until I got my hands on it two years ago. It was a neglected part of a jazz LP collection I picked up. If there's a better sounding version, I have not heard it.

I know lots of folks that are happy with the original US pressing, too. The original CD and later remaster are not very good. I'm interested in what folks think about the 2010 remasters.
 
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Boy, isn't this ironic?

Listening to the 2010 24-bit remaster download for the first time right now. It's not quite as detailed or spacious as the best-sounding vinyl-rip I have, but they didn't seem to brickwall it like the 2001 remaster, and that's a very-good thing. I don't know if they NR'd it or not (I would imagine there's some, but the 2001 set is NR'd to death, and it doesn't seem to be the case here, but it does lack some of that high-end detail of the Japanese Toshiba 3LP rip I have). I'll most-likely go back to the vinyl-rips, but for the majority of music fans, I'd say this will be a welcome improvement over the '01 disc. Besides, I think a lot of people would prefer a more-rolled-off-sounding version without so-much of that abrasive top-end. Nothing beats that vinyl though. The UK LP ripped on a Scoutmaster Signature Plus is a thing of beauty with the incredible separation that turntable provides. Plus, I have a 24-bit rip of the Japanese Toshiba 3LP (which many consider the holy grail) that was ripped on a Technics SL-1900 into an E-Mu 1212M, and that's equally-awesome. Because of that damn Spector mix, I'm constantly on the hunt for the "perfect" version of this album, and I'm never gonna' find it because it just doesn't exist. All in all, for digital-listeners who don't have any of the vinyl-rips, I'd say this is an excellent remaster, due in big part to the lack of mastering-compression (This one is just a hair louder than my vinyl-rips, and that's incredible considering the state of CD-mastering today). Not the best I've heard, but it's certainly-now the best commercially-available digital version. It's a HUGE improvement over the '01 remastered CD. Better than the recent "Exile On Main Street" remaster, which, despite not being brickwalled, sounds a tad veiled compared to some other versions I have.

Edit: I seem to like it better and better with some volume. It's way-better than I had expected. The low-volume is a nice diversion from the usual ear-bleeding, massively-distorted mess I'm used to these days. I'd say it could use a hint of bass, but I'm comparing to vinyl-rips from the best vinyl-rippers.

"All Things Must Pass" sounds nice on this. This reminds me of the '08 Universal remaster of Skynyrd's "Street Survivors" (REALLY-low volume). No mastering compression.

Christ, this damn Spector mix makes it nearly-impossible to tell the difference between distortion from the recording-stage and distortion that appeared at the mastering stage. This is one of those albums that gets me checking speaker-connections and listening for bad drivers.
 
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There is a difference in sound between the albums for sure!

I would have thought that the album must have been recorded under a number of sessions at different studios over a period of time? That alone could be the reason for the differences?

Sorry, I can't comment on Spector. Wasn't even aware he was involved!

I must say, in vinyl, the box is so much easier to use than the triple gatefold. The later packaging requires a blood alcohol limit of "0.00" if you want to protect the cover. Triple gatefold packaging can sometimes be like a Mesa Puzzle, and the dining table is needed to take out records #2 or 3 without buckling the spine.


RIP George
 
Phil Spector co-produced it with George. Here's a quote from Wikipedia regarding the recording sessions:

QUOTE / Recorded from May to August 1970 at Abbey Road Studios, and then further recording and mixing at Trident Studios from August to September 1970, Harrison enlisted the aid of Phil Spector to co-produce the album, giving All Things Must Pass a heavy and reverb-oriented sound, typical for a 1960s/1970s Spector production — but a sound Harrison would subsequently regret with the passage of time. In the electronic press kit that accompanies the 30th Anniversary reissue George is asked what he thinks of the album now thirty years later and he says, "...too much echo." / QUOTE

I totally-agree about triple-gatefolds - a complete catastrophe. "Europe '72" comes to mind. And the third LP is always a bear to get to (or to put back).
 
When I "discovered" ATMP a few years ago, it was through a used US pressing I got at a tag sale. It's actually in decent enough shape, but the recording quality noted in many of the above posts sent me on a quest for a "good" version. I read about a lot of the different pressings and remasterings, and concluded that there just isn't a "good" version out there. It really needs to remixed a la the Let It Be... Naked method.

I did buy one other copy of ATMP, at a used record store. It's near mint, which is why I keep it despite one side (3 or 4, don't recall) that's pressed from a defective stamper. There's a major speed stability issue on that side. About 1/3 of the way through the music starts randomly varying in pitch, perhaps as much as a half-step, for the rest of the side. Really strange, obviously the first time I heard it I ran to see what was wrong with my turntable. It's amazing that it got through QC. I wonder how many more shipped before they realized the problem with the stamper. I did some googling and searched on the Hoffman site but couldn't find any other references to this.
 
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