Harrison's Material World CD

[John Carsell]

Was listening to George Harrison's Living In The Material World the other night and the sound quality was so disgusting I had to put it away and listen to something else. (using headphones at the time)

The opening track Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) sounded cloudy and even distorted for example. Some of the other tracks weren't much better.

The original vinyl never sounded that great to me either.

According to authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter of the terrific Beatles solo book Eight Arms To Hold You they say "audiophiles may wish to check out the Japanese CD reissue' as it features less noise reduction".

Anyone out there heard this Japanese CD? Is it worth the extra bucks? Or should I just wait for a remaster someday?

[Chip Stylus]

Have not heard the japanese cd myself, what do you have to lose but $30?? You can resell it on EBay if you don't like it.

The best luck I have ever had with EMI-Apple material for George is german vinyl. Even when the tapes are not all that bright (and George mixed everything according to his Altecs), the low noise floor of the german vinyl and the clean cutting typical to that brianch of EMI-Odeon gives you a chance at turning up the treble so that you hear what George was hearing without adding undue noise in the process.

My german ATMP 3-lp's blew away the US and UK cd's, I don't really compare the set to the curent cd (colour cover) as George so drastically remixed it.

He was in process of redoing all his cd's, but who knows what will happen now?

In our house, the bootlegs on Harrison get more play than the legal stuff (laughing). You should hear the one called "Beware of ABCKO", it is the demos for ATMP, split stereo no NR, no compression.

- - - -

p.s. - you should check out the "George Harrison Meets His New Bandmates" flash animation on the National Lampoon site, it is a side splitter (features ADULT CONTENT though).

[John Carsell]

Thanks Thom. I know $30 isn't much of a risk, but just tryin' to track one down hasn't been as easy as I thought. Passed up on one last year before I knew any better and have been kicking my self royally ever since!

If we ever see a remaster it would shure be nice to include Deep Blue and Miss O'Dell as bonus tracks.

[Chip Stylus]

George made it well known to his family and assistants - or so I have read - exactly which bonus tracks belonged on each disk (that he intended to put out). So, when the Harrisons recover from their loss and get back to business, you'll see those bonus tracks.

If you don't want to wait that long, someone advertising in ICE Magazine, Jake at American CD or a similar vendor, can set you up with all kinds of obscure Harrison material.

[Vivaldinization]

Wasn't Give Me Love "remastered" on that ridiculously-hard-to-find Capitol SINGLE SERVINGS discs from a while back.

-D

[Steve Hoffman]

Originally posted by John Carsell


According to authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter of the terrific Beatles solo book Eight Arms To Hold You they say "audiophiles may wish to check out the Japanese CD reissue' as it features less noise reduction".



Why should a remaster of this album need ANY noise-reduction?

Grrrrr. :mad:

[Patrick M]

Originally posted by thomoz
My german ATMP 3-lp's blew away the US and UK cd's, I don't really compare the set to the curent cd (colour cover) as George so drastically remixed it.

That's reassuring, as my only copy of this set is German vinyl (NM all the way with poster). If memory serves, I only gave about $10 for it. Looks practically unplayed. A nice find.

[feinstein]

I have the Capitol remaster of 1995 or so of "My Sweet Lord" and "Give Me Love". It sounds excellent. I've never heard the "Living In the Material World" CD. I have the Japanese original issue of "All Things Must Pass" on LP and it is really fabulous.

[Vivaldinization]

IMO, when I want to listen to ATMP, I always listen to a comp I made from "The Making Of" and bootlegs...ahh, well.

The new ATMP isn't remixed, but DOES sound awful...I wish it HAD been remixed.

-D

[TommyTunes]

I have the Japanese issues of Living in.., Dark Horse and Extra Texture. They came out before the US versions and I picked them right up. When the US came out my friend bought them so at the time we compared them. They are different sounding although not radically. The Japanese are more open sounding. After hearing them my friend went and bought Extra Texture because that was his favorite.

[AKA]

I, for one, would love to hear the remixed All Things Must Pass George was hinting at in the liners of the 30th Anniversary Edition.

How great it would be to hear this stuff without the Wall Of Sound. And UnSpectorized Wah-Wah alone would be worth the price of admission.

While it's a great album, the distortion bothers me.