The tempo throughout is slow and deliberate, giving the album a slightly wistful feel. “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” and “Living in the Material World” provide deceptive notes of brightness at first, and “Don't Me Let Me Wait Too Long” and “Try Some, Buy Some” camouflage the theirs. tempo with elaborate arrangements. But for the most part, Living in the Material World it relies on ballads and catchy pop performed so slowly they can be mistaken for laudatory.
The suppleness of Harrison's production helps temper the album's air of resigned introspection. Originally, he had planned to reunite with Phil Spector, who was in charge All things must passbut Spector had left the house for a hotel, sipping cherry brandy to the point of impotence. Harrison eventually decided to take the reins himself, nominally leading the sessions at Apple's newly christened Savile Row studios, but doing most of the tracking at FPSHOT, his home studio in Friar Park. He gathered a tight-knit group of fellow travelers. Klaus Voorman, an old friend of the Beatles from their Hamburg days, joined a band that included keyboardists Nicky Hopkins and Gary Wright, as well as drummer Jim Keltner and, occasionally, Ringo Starr. Together, they retreat from his attack All things must passdelivering an album with an intimate feel, no matter how expansive the sound.
This 50th anniversary edition of Living in the Material World highlights this intimacy with a stripped-down remix by Paul Hicks, who previously performed similar work on All things must pass; a bonus disc with alternate takes of every song on the album. plus the B-sides “Miss O'Dell” and “Sunshine Life for Me (Sail Away Raymond),” a collaboration with most of the band that Harrison gave Starr for Ringo album. Generally, the alternate tracks offer little more than subtle differences, such as the lack of Indian instruments during the middle section of “Living in the Material World,” but the pair of non-LP tracks add a dose of good humor that's conspicuously missing from the original. album.
However, Harrison's sad swing can be quite tempting. And even in the record's quieter moments—”Be Here Now” is so slow it might seem like it's standing still—Harrison's bandmates bring warmth and even a subtle sway that softens his tendency to drift into sourness. This musical empathy gives the album its uplifting feel, offering the sense that there is a light flickering somewhere in the darkness. Seeking the spiritual, Harrison finds communion with his partners in the here and now.
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