George Harrison - Brainwashed
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Free Music Notes for Brainwashed
Free Music Review: An Excellent Album (Yes, I said Album)
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a great album! I think it is easily George's second best album and maybe even his very best. It is hard to compare it to All Things Must Pass because it was a "classic" album of a different time period. ATMP is great, but I don't listen to it repeatedly as I do "Brainwashed". If you love George or The Beatles, you should already own this album (CD). George was great and he left a wonderful gift for everyone.Free Music Review: excellent last effort with a little help from his friends
Hit: 4 Stars
This is my 4th favorite George effort. I rate Cloud 9 #1; All things must pass #2; George Harrison #3. I so wish George was still with us. He was at his prime when he did Cloud 9 and was part of the Traveling Wilbury's. Love you George and miss youFree Music Review: I liked it
Hit: 4 Stars
Releasaed after his death it has a familiar Harrison sound. An enjoyable album to cap the career of a great musician.Free Music Review: A Fond Farewell to George Harrison
Hit: 4 Stars
While not as prolific as MacCartney, George made solid, thoughtful albums. Many of his songs featured distinctive near-celestial chords and rhythmical passages. This posthumous album was obviously not quite finished. However, it has some wonderful highlights even though one can detect the strain in the voice at times, which is sad.
George was no people-pleaser when he wrote his own songs as a solo artist. His cutting political and social commentaries were also present on this recording, including his dig at the corrupution of the papacy ("P2 Vatican Blues") and key aspects of the establishment ("Brainwashed").
Favourite tracks include "Any Road", "Looking for my Life", "Rising Sun", "Stuck inside a Cloud" and "Never get over You".
Objectively, a boderline 4 stars rating from me.
See you in the 851st dimension, George.
Free Music Review: Just okay
Hit: 3 Stars
(3.5 stars)
While it's always hard to fairly judge a posthumous album, I personally felt kind of disappointed by this one. Like most albums, it did seem a bit better after multiple listens, but it's not an album that has grown on me so much I'd consider it a favorite. We all know that George never made any album that topped ATMP, but even apart from that unique masterpiece in a class all by itself, this still isn't what I would consider one of his best strongest solo albums. All of his other solo albums that I've heard so far (as of the date of this writing, I still have yet to hear 'Gone Troppo' and 'Thirty-Three & 1/3') have made me feel something, stirred up emotions and feelings. Even the awful 'Extra Texture' made me feel horror and embarrassment at how bad it is. But this album, by and large, just doesn't move me. It's what I'd consider just okay, not awful and not fantastic. Although perhaps if Jeff Lynne hadn't fouled up the production so much, I would like it more.
The main reason I just don't feel any strong feelings towards this album is because so many of the songs are at a rather boring mid-tempo pace. A couple of mid-tempo numbers might have been okay, but on an entire album full of them, they can start to sound all the same after awhile, though if they came up separately on the radio or a play list I don't think most of them would feel so uninspired and unoriginal. A lot of them sound like they'd be better-suited to an entirely different artist, though again, this may in large part be due to Jeff Lynne's overproduction. This man should stick to what he knows and stop trying to be a record producer. While he did do a good job producing 'Cloud Nine,' that production style just fit with the songs, and it was after all the Eighties. Even the songs that do have some really nice lyrics, like 'Pisces Fish' (which I wish I could like more given the lovely lyrics), are compromised by this boring mid-tempo pace. Very few of these songs actually go somewhere and have hooks and catchy lyrics.
However, I do like some of the songs on the album. "Any Road" is easily the best track, and is the perfect opener. It's got a catchy chorus, great lyrics, great hooks, an upbeat mood, and actually goes somewhere. "Marwa Blues," the instrumental, is another of my favorite tracks. It's really beautiful and atmospheric. Others I really like are "Looking for My Life" (one of the few songs that has a catchy chorus and hooks), "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" (a really fun upbeat cover song), and the title track. Since I'm a very spiritual person myself, I love the song's lyrics about our search for and relationship with the Divine. The Hindu chanting at the end is also very moving and powerful. I sort of like "Pisces Fish," but I just can't like it as much as I'd like to given the mid-tempo pace and the absence of any real hooks. Unfortunately, the rest of the album is cluttered with the abovementioned mid-tempo songs that just never go anywhere musically or lyrically, like "Stuck Inside a Cloud," "Rising Sun," and "Run So Far." My least-favorite song is probably "Last Saturday Night." I'm kind of disappointed to learn a bunch of these songs were leftovers from years ago instead of more recent ones from the late Nineties and early Aughts. The liner notes also left a bit to be desired. I would have appreciated some notes on the making of the album, not just lyrics and the beautiful dedication.
Still, this album does seem very heartfelt and genuine, and is at least a whole other level above 'Extra Texture.' It's not an album I see myself returning to again and again like with some of his other solo albums, but it isn't the worst way to kill some time. And in spite of the overall mid-tempo mood, there are some true gems hidden in here. I get the feeling that there was a much better album in here waiting to be let out, but given the usual problems associated with putting together a posthumous album and coupled with Jeff Lynne's typical production values, it just wasn't brought to its full potential.