George Harrison: All things Must Pass Album Review

While most people know George Harrison as the former guitarist for The Beatles, his post-Beatle music showed his true musicianship and defined him as a musician. “All Things Must Pass” was the first solo album from Harrison and was released on Oct. 25, 1970 under Apple Records according to allmusic.com. For being the first solo album from a former Beatle, Harrison had a few challenges to overcome — considering the Beatles were seen as the greatest band of their time. These challenges did not seem to be much for Harrison, for “All Things Must Pass” is a three disc, 32 track album produced by Phil Spector and featuring many of Harrison's friends.

Accompanying Harrison on the vocals is former bandmate Ringo Starr on drums, multi grammy winning keyboardist Billy Preston, and three time rock and roll hall of fame acceptee Eric Clapton. The musical talents of these musicians not only make the album interesting and fun to listen to, but help at bringing back feelings from the Beatle days. Starr played with The Beatles from 1962 to their official breakup in April of 1970. Continuing, Preston has played the piano on many well-known Beatle tracks such as “Get Back,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Something.” Finally, Clapton played on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” on The Beatles's “White Album.”

“Isn’t it a Pity” plays part way through the album and shows Harrison’s skills as a lyricist and musician. The song begins with a piano and an acoustic guitar. The instrumentation is simple — using basic piano chords and simple guitar strumming — however the simple performances help the listener focus on Harrison’s lyrics about the breakup of The Beatles. Halfway through the song Harrison plays a melodic slide guitar solo in his own distinct style. The lyrics are about the fading relationship of The Beatles bandmates and the problems their disagreements led to, according to genius.com.

“Isn't it a pity/ Now, isn't it a shame/ How we break each other's hearts/ And cause each other pain/ How we take each other's love/ Without thinking anymore/ Forgetting to give back/ Isn't it a pity,” Harrison sings.

The song has two versions on the album. The second version comes later in the album and features Clapton playing the electric guitar. This version is shorter than the other one and has more active instrumentation and group backing vocals which brings back feelings from the Beatle days. Finally, Clapton gets a guitar solo at the end of the song.

Next comes “What Is Life,” a song that picks up the album’s mood by featuring lyrics about love and comfortness with thick instrumentation and emotional vocals. Rather than the slow tempo of 70 beats per minutes in “Isn't It a Pity,” “What Is Life” is at 135 beats per minute and in a key of E major. Despite having fabulous performances from musicians and terrific production from Spector, the song does not come without its downsides. Mainly, the song repeats itself halfway through with little if not any change. The complaint doesn’t come with how the song is being performed or how well the lyrics are written, but it in the lack of musical change in the repeat.

“What I feel, I can't say/ But my love is there for you, any time of day/ But if it's not love that you need/ Then I'll try my best to make everything succeed,” Harrison sings.

The title track brings back the emotional side of Harrison. Like the title says, the lyrics are about everything coming to an end someday. Senior editor of Pitchfork music, Jayson Greene, describes the song as “a monument to impermanence that has never once left us.”

“Sunset doesn't last all evening/ A mind can blow those clouds away/ After all this, my love is up and must be leaving/ It's not always going to be this grey,” Harrison sings.

Since the album’s release, it has been critically acclaimed. As of March 7, 2001 “All Things Must Pass” has been holding a six time multi-platinum certification, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) says. Furthermore, the album is placed at 79th on “The 100 Best Albums Of All Time List,” according to Time Magazine in 1993.