All Things Must Pass - Will we ever get a remixed/unSpectorized version?

I'd love a remix that kept all the elements of the original, but had more clarity. Like, not really interested in a "stripped down" mix, but I definitely think it could be done in a way that allows all the sonic layers to breathe a bit more. (Particularly in a surround mix)

If this ever happened, I doubt it'd be Giles, so don't sweat it, people. Dhani and Olivia would probably have their own person.

 

Dunno about preferring one vs another, indeed I listened to 1970 Let It Be today and enjoyed it immensely. That said, the naked version is quite enjoyable.

The 2001 ATMP is awful, mostly on account of the noise reduction and over-limitimg. If Dhani had ATMP redid as a multi-cd box that included a pristine remaster of the original and a new remixed stripped down version.... That would be ok by me!

 

If noone has mentioned it previously, there is a 5 disc "import" of stripped ATMP tracks called "The Art Of Dying".....very interesting to listen to....like all the mud and reverb has been lifted from the songs......

 

Clearly, based on how you worded this, you're talking about Steven Wilson remixing it, right? I'd be down for that in a heartbeat, Beatles purists (and Wall-of-Sound fans) be damned.

 

UnSpectorized is always the way to go, for me.

Go be Naked!

 

I'm a huge fan of SW remixes, but I don't think he's the only person on earth who could do a good job with it. I'm sure I'll get some crap for this, but I could see Dhani and Jeff Lynne sitting down and doing something interesting with it...if Lynne kept the integrity of the original sounds and just tried to achieve a better instrumental balance, I think it'd be an interesting experiment. I think about how much is going on on some of Lynne's ELO albums and other productions, and how every recorded part is still wonderfully clear and present. It could be blasphemy, but blasphemy is also a lot of fun sometimes.

 

Which is so true.

 

ELO always sounded great though. If I was to find fault with Lynne, it's his drum sounds and the way he had his drummers play, very clinical, almost machine-like, even on non-ELO productions like Cloud Nine. But just as part of a remixing project, with everything already recorded, I think he'd be an interesting person to have involved. Certainly ATMP needs someone with a lot of practice trying to bring order to sonic chaos, which was sort of ELO's thing.

 

I dearly love Jeff, I believe he is a genius. I don't think he should come near the Beatles catalog though. He has a very distinct sound which should stay with ELO.

BTW this is completely contradicting a comment I made in this thread a few months ago

 

So would people be against a release of a Naked... version of this album? Just like Let It Be? Let It Be Naked... is normally considered a completely different album from Let It Be.

 

I agree, but if he's just mixing already-existing recordings, it wouldn't really be "his sound." I just think he'd be a good candidate to make sense out of all the layers on those recordings.

Another possibility would be the team responsible for the modern Beach Boys remixes....doesn't seem like a huge leap conceptually going from mixing Today and Summer Days to mixing an actual Phil Spector production.

 

Not against, but so much of what I love about ATMP is the Spector-isms...the strings, the big drums, the layers of guitars...the recordings are wonderful, just the mix is lacking.

I know I'm not the only one who preferred several of the John Lennon remixes (particularly Mind Games), and think a similar revelation would be possible with ATMP, while keeping the vibe of the original. But I don't know why I'd want to hear it 'unspectorized' from a musical standpoint. Hell, put that ridiculous trumpet fanfare back on to "What Is Life" while we're at it, because why not?

 

I just really enjoy the raw demos and would love to hear the album like that.

 

I would definitely buy a remixed version. Preferably a stripped down version like Lennon’s Double Fantasy Stripped Down.

 

Just 2 years till the 50th Anniversary...

 

As it relates to The Beatles/Lennon/Harrison I feel like Spector only made things worse. Listening to both legit and booted session material from the respective sessions I often prefer versions before they were Spectorized. Not saying he wasn't good at what he did with other artists but he was not the right guy for this group of musicians. Strictly my opinion.

 

I'd be open for it. It's not as if the original version would disappear after the remix. More often than not, as seen with Let it Be... Naked, it's the remix that disappears!

 

I put on the Scorcesse documentary the other day and couldn't get over how incredibly good the remixed All Things Must Pass track sounded...not incredibly different in terms of instrumental balance or anything like that...just MUCH cleaner and more direct, more presence given to the very laid back sounding drums on the original. I don't think removing the Spectorization aspect completely is necessarily what needs to be done to make this a better sounding album. I'm sure there are ways to clean it up and give it more presence while retaining most of its' majestic, reverb "grandness".

 

I hope the raw multis can be stripped of the 'wall of sound' to reveal a clear, honest mix. However, I have quite a lot of doubt about this.

 

Exactly my thought...he was terrific at what he did, but it wasn’t my preference for the Beatles sound.

 

They should give it the "Imagine" treatment: new stereo/5.1 album mix with Spector's production by Paul Hicks, and raw "unSpectorized" mix in stereo/5.1 by Rob Stevens. Best of both worlds, practically creates and sells itself.

 

I could do with a remix. Be kind of fun to listen to.

 

I don't know if it can be done for ALL the tracks, but raw, pre-Spector takes of many of the songs on ATMP have been booted. Check out this YouTube video and go to 25:50 for "Let It Down" -- if you've never heard this before, you will be shocked:



Also, if you have Early Takes, Vol. 1 -- listen again to "Awaiting On You All." With the day 1 band rehearsal takes (where a lot of the Early Takes tracks come from), and the "Beware of ABKCO" studio demo session, and the pre-Spector raw takes, there's no doubt that ATMP can get the Imagine box treatment -- and be even better, imo...

 

Basically with a full remix we would be asking to fundamentally change the sound of the album, since the idea would be to use Spector’s overdubs but not his mixing techniques. Hopefully if they do go this route they have the tapes available to go back to first generation.

But I think the best thing here would be to do a similar treatment that Village Green and, as mentioned above, Imagine.

Have a new mastering of All Things Must Pass, and then release new stereo mixes as “alternate takes”.

Perfect 50th Anniversary material!

Remastered album, Steve ya know you wanna take another crack at it!

Demos, outtakes, and then the entire album with alternate mixes.

We’ll see what they come up with.

 

While I understand that a Despectorized version of ATMP would be interesting, Im not sure that anything could be done to make it sound very commercial. Thats one of the things Phil was good at bunching the whole thing together to have it sound big. At the same time hiding or covering up enough of the supporting parts that you didnt notice what part they played. You rip all that apart and you see too much of what is suppose to support the whole.

Not saying that it shouldnt be attempted as a remix. Remixes, it seems to me at this juncture, are never found out to be viable until attempted. And I agree it should be attempted but it may not turn out like we imagine.