George Harrison All Things Must Pass 50th Anniversary Edition - contents, outtakes & sound quality

Considering the 5LP version is $90...I actually expected it to be more. I seriously doubt I'll need five albums' worth of ATMP outtakes, at over twice the price.

I can understand the head-scratching over the price of the SDE CD/BluRay version. The White Album SDE wasn't much more expensive, and from the looks of it, is far more substantial.

Packaging and price-wise, not much consistency over all these super-deluxe boxes, but I think that's a good thing. Makes it easy to decide what's essential and what's not.

 

I agree, Dhani seems to be coming out strong (in the nicest way possible) against the original mix of ATMP. George wasn't a fan of the original mix at the time of his passing, and Dhani's view seems to be that he's carrying out his Dad's desire to cut out some of the reverb and wall of sound for a cleaner, clearer sound.

So then it makes sense why Dhani and Hicks did two whole rounds of remixing (starting over after the first try was too bass-heavy), and also why the original mix is nowhere to be found in this set.

Though the Beatles don't include original mixes of masters in their deluxe sets either, this public stance of Dhani's is a striking difference from the Beatles remixes, in which the parties don't ever seem to say a negative word about the original mixes, only that the remixes are offering something new in terms of clarity.

 

Good for you! Unlike others here, I will not call you names for buying it. I hope you get lots of enjoyment out of that set and you find it to be a proud addition to your collection.

Edit: Oh, @Clark V Kauffman I see you said it much more eloquently than I. I'm always days behind on these mega threads!

 

I might have missed it blasting through these 40 pages but is it confirmed that the bonus tracks on the 2001 version have indeed been abandoned to that release?

 

Not so sure.
I’m 47 and I know many people of my age who like to get good, even expensive physical product.
We’re a niche, maybe a rather wealthy one as well.

And we don’t collect social security

 

I have found that the remixes of Plastic Ono Band and Imagine offer a welcome improvement in clarity over the originals.

By contrast, I think the remix of “All Things Must Pass” that has been on Spotify for several months is actually worse than the often maligned original mix. Pushing George’s vocal up to the front doesn’t do it the same favor that pushing Lennon’s vocals to the front on his albums has done. I think the original All Things Must Pass was mixed the way it was for a reason. Burying George’s vocals in the mix somewhat was for the best.

 

Everything is relative. I bought the 5 CD set in a flash.
Same musical content, perfect sound, half the price.

 

What people seem to forget about these outrageous Uber SDEs is that apart from making them for the extreme collectors, they are also aiming for the packaging Grammy which Paul has won on a few occasions and everyone seems to now want to outdo each other to win

 

I just looked up an unboxing for the Collaborations box on YouTube* and that looks very nice. A hardcover book (interestingly that was also 56 pages) and the various CD’s in vinyl replica sleeves (same size as the box).

The 5CD/Blu box seems to be close in size to that (based on revised information on Amazon) but we still don’t know if the kind of book (hardcover or not) or how the CD sleeves are being stored in there. Hopefully an unboxing video should answer all these questions soon.

*link to the YouTube video:

 

Imagine an alternate universe where the Harrison estate did not make the Uber set.

Would the "cash grab" complaining people be happier? Those that are not going to buy the big box...still won't have the big box. Nothing changes for them.

 

It sounds to me like all they did was brighten the vocals. Now they sound edgy.

 

I agree.

After a conversation a couple of weeks ago in the old thread, I said I'd give the ATMP 2020 remix another go. I still don't like it. Whereas the original mix always draws me in, I find the remix sounds worse with every listen. As I said earlier in this thread, I'm really hoping that last year's release is not what's ending up on the album proper (and is one of the 'too bassy' initial attempts).

The 2001 mastering of the original mix is my preferred mastering of this song. It's a bit too bright overall, but those acoustic guitars really shine on the intro, sounding like the sun coming out (apt since the first lyric is 'sunrise...'). The new remix loses that, with most of the instruments (especially the acoustic guitars) pushed back, and the brass sounding really poor rather than majestic. I hate to be a complainer, but I just can't understand how any mixing team would think this is an improvement for the ages.

Yes, George's vocals were a bit under-mixed on the original and it would be nice for the lyrics to have a bit more clarity. But not way out front like they are now. The alternate (but similar) take of I'd Have You Anytime on Early Takes got the balance perfect (a bit drier, vocal a bit more upfront and clear). The new mix of ATMP by comparison sounds like a quick 'monitor mix' or something.

 

Are there any unknown songs included on this, either demos with a band or outtake songs like the I live for you, on the previous anniversary edition.

 

Regarding all of the comments about the package sizes of the various reissue configurations, especially the 5CD/1BR version: I've looked at the pictures on the official website and it seems to me like a lot of the individual components in them are out of proportion. For example, in the 8LP version, it looks like the book and maybe even the LPs can't possibly fit into the box pictured. And I don't think it's a matter of perspective, rather, just that the picture is a composite of the individual components which were not properly sized with respect to one another. Unlike most other people here, I was actually hoping that the 5CD/1BR version was basically of normal CD size, so it would fit in my CD bookcase with my other CDs, but I think it's probably going to be larger. So, take a good look at the various configurations on the official website, the 8LP, 5LP, and 3CD, especially.

George Harrison | Official Merchandise

By the way, I think the Harrison estate has done a great job in creating enough package variations to suit everyone. The uber box suits the "got to have everything" fans, the 5CD/1BR is for us that just want the music, the 8LP is for the strictly vinyl people, the splatter version is for the colored vinyl aficionados, and various "budget" versions are available too.

 

FYI it is often Amazon's custom to list music items at full retail price until release day, then to discount them (sometimes a little, sometimes a lot).

 

Dark Horse comes with an actual black horse.

 

I just take Dhani at his word that the goal here is to create a new mix that can be played on Spotify and earbuds and sound “contemporary” next to newer music. That accusation has been hurled at Giles Martin’s Beatles remixes, and perhaps rightly so, but I think the new White Album remix on vinyl and Blu-Ray works pretty well as an “audiophile” listening experience. This campaign seems more overtly geared toward “we must make this ‘dated’ recording sound modern.”

 

I was kind of hoping for land rights to a Caribbean Island. There goes my sale!

 

And there you have it. Dollars to donuts the CD release will sound just as limited/compressed as if it were recorded yesterday. Dhani is 42 with a famous muscian father. He should know better. One only need to point to the recent CSN&Y Deja Vu release as the only proper way to handle a legacy recording in 2021.

I would love to be wrong and I would love for the BD audio to shine, but either way, somebody's getting left out, like Hendrix's Electric Ladyland 50th set. Here we sit in an audiophile forum, yet more people seem concerned with the color of the boxes or how the discs will sit in their spindles. Meanwhile, in the real world, anyone who dynamically slams a recording in 2021 are out of touch with the industry, even as they live in the middle of it.

It sucks that I'm forced to spend way too much time in a recording/mastering studio teaching younger musicians about artistic integrity. And I'm only 47.

 

Probably so. But I would prefer the remixes to purely serve the songs, rather than going after some hypothetical ideal.

I thought the Lennon POB Ultimate Mixes did this very well (with one or two minor caveats).

Still, I'm hoping that I like some of the other ATMP remixes more.

 

They appear to be missing here, yes.

 

On top of that, you'll probably get the next bad surround mix from Paul Hicks.

 

But we do need to place to discuss, given the sound quality, contents and outtakes if the purchase is worth making.

That is the main point in having a thread like this and a huge part of what this forum is about.

The reason why we have had price/shipping threads is to keep off the main thread a thousand people talking about where to find the best sale price. And to avoid a multitude of people letting you know when their set has shipped.

But we do need to be able to say whether in general it the content justifies the price. I hope that can be this thread

 

Personally, I’d lay odds at 40% that your last paragraph is the correct answer; 55% that they have the exact same content but they’ve counted the front, back, and inside covers as “pages” for the vinyl version but not the CD version; and 5% that there are bigger differences.