Brainwashed [Bonus DVD] [Limited]

Performer: George Harrison
Artist: Jools Holland; Jon Lord; Jim Keltner
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, dobro, ukulele); Isabela Borzymowska (spoken vocals); Jeff Lynne (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, piano, Wurlitzer piano, keyboards, bass, background vocals); Dhani Harrison (acoustic & electric guitars, Wurlitzer piano, background vocals); Jane Lister (harp); Jools Holland, Jon Lord (piano); Mike Moran, Marc Mann (keyboards); Jim Keltner (drums); Bikram Ghosh (tabla); Sam Brown (background vocals). Producers: George Harrison, Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynne. BRAINWASHED was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. "Marwa Blues" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. "Any Road" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. This is a specially packaged limited edition containing a bonus DVD single on the "Making of Brainwashed", a poster and a guitar pick. Personnel: Jeff Lynne (electric guitar, 12-string guitar, piano, Wurlitzer organ, keyboards, acoustic bass, percussion, background vocals); Jane Lister (harp); Marc Mann (recorder, keyboards); Ryan Ulyate, John Etchells (recorder); Herbie Flowers (tuba); Jools Holland (piano); Mike Moran (keyboards); Jim Keltner, Ray Cooper (drums); Sam Brown (background vocals). BRAIN WASHED may be the posthumous successor to 1987's CLOUD NINE, but the 15 years George Harrison took to put this collection of songs together was time well spent. Featuring a small group of musicians including son Dhani, fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynne, and Jools Holland, Harrison's last legacy showcases some of his finest playing wrapped around the kind of weighty topics expected from someone with terminal cancer. Introspective without being the least beat mawkish, the ex-Beatle touches on the metaphoric wonders of dawn ("Rising Sun"), his inevitable demise ("Looking For My Life"), and a fond look back at a former lover ("Never Get Over You"). Lynne's production steers clear of its usual heavy-handed tendencies and instead allows Harrison's playing to shine and come to the fore on cuts like the crying instrumental "Marwa Blues" and the slide guitar-fueled sweetness of "Rocking Chair in Hawaii." The late great one even snags a ukulele and delivers a light and easy version of the standard "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea." Appropriately enough, Harrison's interest in Eastern religious thought finds its place in the album-ending title track via a reading from the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali, lending a fitting epilogue to the last new work from the Quiet Beatle. George Harrison went quiet not long after the second Traveling Wilburys album, surfacing only for the Beatles' Anthology in the mid-'90s. He was recording all the while, yet he died before completing the album that would have been the follow-up to 1987's Cloud Nine. His son, Dhani, and his longtime friend/collaborator Jeff Lynne completed the recordings, released late in 2002, nearly a year after George's death, as Brainwashed. Given its baggage it's easy to be suspicious about the merits of Brainwashed prior to hearing it. Posthumous efforts often feel incomplete, Harrison's albums were frequently inconsistent, and Lynne favors ornate, cinematic productions that run contrary to George's desire for this project to be simple and low key -- nothing that would suggest that Brainwashed would be a success. Defying all odds, Brainwashed isn't just a success, it's one of the finest records Harrison ever made. Yes, it doesn't achieve the splendor of All Things Must Pass, nor is it quite of its time like both Living in the Material World and Cloud Nine were, but it's a quiet, subtle gem, one that strikes close to the heart of Harrison's music. It's intimate, alternately insightful and cheerfully lightweight, balancing his trademark black humor with silliness and good humor. Anyone searching the album for his views on mortality -- as he faced not only cancer, but an attacker that nearly took his life -- will surely find it, but this is not a somber album, it is a warm album, the sound of someone enjoying life without losing his wry sense of humor. This same spirit carries over to the music, with Harrison abandoning the idea of getting a hit and simply relaxing, primarily by playing a lot of ukulele and guitar. There aren't any major songs here and perhaps a tune or two could be pegged as throwaways by the cynical, but there are no down moments and it all holds together well -- better than most Harrison albums -- and it's a fitting way to say goodbye, every bit as good as Double Fantasy and, in some respects, even sweeter. [Brainwashed was also released with a bonus DVD.] ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (12/26/02, p.106) - Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2002" Rolling Stone (12/12/02, pp.91-2) - "BRAINWASHED is a warm, frank goodbye, a remarkably poised record about the reality of dying, by a man on the verge..." Entertainment Weekly (11/22/02, p.76) - "...It's suffused with the quiet Beatle's trademark warmth, candor, and good-will....It's an aptly poignant conclusion to the career of this longtime spiritual seeker..." - Rating: B+ Uncut (12/02, p.134) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Harrison's songs and singing represent a burst of form....These songs are what George wanted to say at the end, and they say it well..." Mojo (Publisher) (12/02, p.102) - "...BRAIN-WASHED is a mature and often profound record, comprising some of his most thoughtful songs since ALL THINGS MUST PASS..."

George Harrison was always a fluid guitarist, but his voice and his skills as a songwriter came to full flower in the post-touring years of the Beatles. He became the first from that defunct band to release a work that was justifiably hailed as a masterpiece, the epic ALL THINGS MUST PASS. With his passing in 2001, the rock world lost one of its most deeply spiritual voices, whose signature slide-guitar style and early experiments with incorporating Eastern influences into rock were enormously influential.

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