George Harrison - Brainwashed (2002)

Artista: George Harrison

Álbum: Brainwashed
Año: 2002
Género: Rock
Duración: 47:47
Nacionalidad: Inglaterra

Lista de Temas:
1. Any Road
2. P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)
3. Pisces Fish
4. Looking For My Life
5. The Rising Sun
6. Marwa Blues
7. Stuck Inside A Cloud
8. Run So Far
9. Never Get Over You
10. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
11. Rocking Chair In Hawaii
12. Brainwashed

Alineación:
- George Harrison / Vocals, Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Slide Guitar & Ukelele, Backing Vocals
- Jeff Lynne / Acoustic & 12-String Guitar, Piano, Bass, Keyboards, Percussion & Backing Vocals
- Dhani Harrison / Electric & Acoustic Guitar, Wurlitzer, Backing Vocals
- Jim Keltner / Drums
Musicians:
Mike Moran & Marc Mann/ Additional Keyboards
Ray Cooper/ Percussion (Track 6) & Drums (Track 10)
Strings Arranged & Conducted by Marc Mann (Track 6)
Jools Holland / Piano (Track 10)
Mark Flanagan / Acoustic Lead Guitar (Track 10)
Joe Brown / Acoustic Rhythm Guitar (Track 10)
Bikram Ghosh / Tabla (Track 12)
Jon Lord / Piano (Track 12)
Sam Brown / Backing Vocals (Track 12)
Jane Lister / Harp (Track 12)
Isabela Borzymowska / Reading From "How To Know God" (Track 12)
George & Dhani Harrison / Namah Parvati (Track 12)

Comenzamos con este primer post en este blog de cabezones. Quería comenzar con un disco que considero particularmente uno de los mejores de la carrera de George Harrison.

Publicado en el año 2002, es un disco que dejó inconcluso George Harrison. Sin embargo, antes de fallecer dejó instrucciones bien claras a Dhani para que lo completaran. Como comentó Jeff Lynne, George quería que el disco sonara como demos, pero Jeff sintió que las canciones eran muy buenas. De esa forma continuaron las mejoras de las canciones hasta obtener el resultado tal cual como se refleja en el disco. Es considerado por la crítca como el álbum más refinado e intimista de su carrera. Las canciones incluyen tracks olvidados en las sesiones del Cloud Nine, colaboraciones con otros artistas y composiciones de los años 90's. La última canción, "Brainwashed", es una crítica a la sociedad materialista de hoy en día.

Como dato curioso, Dhani comentó que las canciones favoritas de su padre eran siempre las que ponía como Track 7, en este álbum es "Stuck Inside A Cloud".

Aun quedaron bastantes canciones sin publicar de George Harrison, entre ellas la tan comentada "Valentine" que según se comentó en aquella época era una buena canción, esperemos que en un futuro no muy (pero muy) lejano sigan lanzando material inédito del Gran George.

Como estoy corto de tiempo vamos con el comentario de ultimateclassicrock.com:

Celebrating its 11th anniversary this week is George Harrison‘s understated and deeply beautiful ‘Brainwashed,’ the famed guitarist and former Beatle‘s eleventh — and, tragically, final — studio album.

Though ‘Brainwashed’ is indeed a collection of George Harrison-penned songs, it’s technically a posthumous set, released almost one year after the legendary songwriter’s death, following a lengthy battle with cancer. The songs are vintage Harrison, full of nimble chord progressions, tasteful slide-guitar solos, and warm vocal harmonies — but ‘Brainwashed’ wouldn’t exist if not for the efforts of producer-instrumentalist (and longtime Harrison collaborator) Jeff Lynne and Dhani Harrison, George’s son.

The seeds of ‘Brainwashed’ were planted as early as 1988, when Harrison originally wrote the driving pop anthem ‘Any Road’ (which he whipped together during a video shoot for his 1987 single ‘This is Love’). With 1987′s Jeff Lynne-produced ‘Cloud Nine,’ Harrison had regained his critical and commercial standing, and he followed up that project by forming the supergroup Traveling Wilburys (along with Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty), who released two albums over the next few years. All the while, ‘Brainwashed’ remained on the back-burner, but its progress was halted by Harrison’s throat cancer diagnosis in 1997 and a knife attack from a mentally unstable fan in 1999.

As the cancer spread to his lungs and, finally, his brain, Harrison still charged forward on his music, keeping specific instructions about how the songs and production should be carried out, even recording vocal melodies intended as string arrangements. After Harrison’s death on Nov. 29, 2001, Lynne and Dhani Harrison took charge of the album’s production, overdubbing any remaining vocals and instrumentation to complete the songs as Harrison requested.

Phenomenally, ‘Brainwashed’ never sounds — even for a second — like an awkward patchwork. Lynne, typically known for his grandiose, symphonic productions with ELO, kept the songs tight and spacious, allowing the unhurried charm and graceful humor of Harrison’s writing to breathe freely — like on the tongue-in-cheek blues-pop of ‘P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night)‘ or the gently atmospheric folk of ‘Stuck Inside a Cloud.’ There’s plenty of pain stirring under the surface, too, if you look for it. It’s difficult not to get choked up on ‘Cloud,’ as Harrison sings, “Never been so crazy, but I’ve never felt so sure / I wish I had the answer to give, don’t even have the cure.”

“The album was very cathartic for me,” Dhani Harrison said during a 2002 CBC interview.  ”As I said, it was done at the right time. I dealt with a lot of this as it happened and never shied away from any of the reality of what’s been happening over the last few years. Doing the recordings was great and wonderful and really sad as well … It was a very positive thing to have done so soon after his death.”

Though it’s been over a decade since its release, ‘Brainwashed’ remains a tuneful, tasteful source of comfort — a loving swan song from one of rock’s finest talents.

Este es mi primer post así que disfrútenlo.