Search - George Harrison :: Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992 (Bonus Dvd)

Well worth discovering -- or re-discovering!!!

Timothy Smith | United States | 02/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Right from 1970 onward, George Harrison has always made his albums with great songcraft and care. This box, while not perfect, delivers on many different levels and should be in the music library of all George Harrison fans as well as more-casual Beatles fans.
The DVD and book it is housed in are simply magnificent. How great is it to see footage of George live in Japan in 1991 with Eric Clapton! Seeing him play a stinging slide on tracks such as "Cheer Down" and "Cloud Nine" remind of his unbelievable talent.
(If only he had toured more than he did. But that's another story.)
The book is crafted, again with care, with beautiful and rare photographs and an interesting collage of news clippings from the era of 1974, when he launched Dark Horse Records. The notes by Rolling Stone's David Fricke help complete the package.
Of course, it is mostly about the music. The six albums are all wonderfully remastered, with CD booklets containing awesome rarely seen photos. Much more complete than the original CD reissues of the early 1990s.
Music-wise, the clean sound helps really bring home the sheer brilliance and multi-layered ear candy that are "This Song," "Beautiful Girl," "It's What You Value" from 1976's 33 1/3; "Love Comes to Everyone," "Blow Away" and "If You Believe," from 1979's self-titled album; "Mystical One" and "Unknown Delight" from the highly underrated Gone Troppo. There isn't enough time to go into the gems on 1987's Cloud Nine, or to run down the career-spanning gems delivered live with Eric Clapton on the Live in Japan SACD (Don't worry, it also plays on a standard CD player).
A slight negative is the lack and variety of bonus tracks: Almost all George Harrison fans know about the travesty of Somewhere in England, and the four rejected songs. One of those, strangely enough, is a bonus track on the excellent 33 1/3. But the other three are nowhere to be found. CAPITOL, PLEASE REMEMBER SONGS SUCH AS "Flying Hour," "Lay His Head" and "Sat Singing" ON ANY FUTURE ANTHOLOGY (WHICH HAS BEEN LONG-RUMORED)... Too bad "Cheer Down" didn't make it either. But at least there IS the Live in Japan version!
The olive green box with the distinctive top-opening lid is so beautiful, too. The 1974 photo of George, amid the leaves of God's nature which he adored, and the stunning Dark Horse logo really are awe-inspiring for Harrison fans and should open the eyes, and ears, of many other music fans who have always been reluctant to give the "Quiet Beatle" his due as a solo act.
The timing of this release also is great, following the acclaimed "Brainwashed" and "Concert for George" DVD (both highly recommended) and his Grammy for the pop instrumental "Marwa Blues." His induction in March into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a soloist can only help shine the light of awareness on even more people! To that, I can only say, "It's about time!" God Bless You George, Olivia and Dhani for this wonderful treasure that I will always cherish!!!"

"Beating My Head On A Brick Wall!"

Harvey J.Satan | Among The Garden Gnome,Friar Park | 03/12/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Why must the music industry continually attempt to rip-off the fans??This box set is an ABSOLUTE RIP-OFF!Thankfully,each album IS available seperately. As for the DVD,read below.The good news is some of the discs include new/original art concepts. "Somewhere In England" now uses the original photo collage cover. "Cloud Nine" uses an alternate back cover photo.The "bonus" tracks,on each CD,are nothing more than DEMOS. What happened to the known unreleased songs? Such as "Flying Time","Lay His Head" & "Sat Singing"? Where are "Cockamamie Business","Poor Little Girl",and "Cheer Down" from the "Best of
Dark Horse" album? Where is "I Don't Want To Do It" or "The Pirate Song" ? What about some of the music from "Time Bandits"?As for the DVD it too is INCOMPLETE. Spending more time on "Live In Japan",and being sure to include BOTH versions of "Got My Mind Set On You"...instead of including "True Love","Blow Away","All Those Years Ago",and "Dream Away".Why not just release a Harrison Music Video DVD? ( and include the pre-Dark Horse videos too! )I love George's music,particularly "33 & a 1/3",but this set leaves a lot to be desired,especially considering the cost! Buy the discs individually,at your leisure,and give the karmic finger to those who wish to rip you off!"

A mixed bag (and far too expensive!)

David Goodwin | Westchester, NY United States | 04/19/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"2004 *finally* sees--after seemingly endless delays from all sides--the re-release of George Harrison's post-Capitol output on Dark Horse records. To some, the idea that any former-Beatles material could ever be out of print is pure sacriledge; this set (and the individual reissues that accompany it) puts right that wrong.Unfortunately, the six albums contained in this collection--33 and 1/3, George Harrison, Somewhere in England, Gone Troppo, Cloud 9, and Live in Japan--have always represented a maddeningly inconsistent period for Beatle George. While two are generally highly regarded (33 and 1/3 is viewed by some as a lost classic, and Cloud 9 is--quibbles about Mr. Lynne's production aside--one of the most unexpected career renaissances ever), some of the other albums are not looked at as kindly by the scrutiny of hindsight. "Somewhere in England" and "Gone Troppo" aren't bad albums by any stretch of the imagination--the latter is somewhat unfairly maligned--but to use another former-Beatle parallel, they are the "Mind Games" to All Things Must Pass's "Plastic Ono Band." On the plus side, the "remastering" done here is far, *far* better than the hackjob inflicted on "All Things Must Pass." Granted, the original Warner Brothers discs were pretty good to begin with; however, there are little improvements here and there, and the drive to "modernize" the sound by compressing it to death is thankfully not in attendence.Bah, enough with the critical caution. All of these discs have their champions, and there're certainly gems lurking within; I, for one, am a big fan of 1979's self-titled effort, especially the racing tune "Faster." The albums are definitely worth hearing.But is this super-expensive boxed-set the answer? To the casual fan, the answer's a resounding "no!" The booklet is nice, I suppose, and the somewhat-rushed DVD does fill a niche (although now that I know what the "Live in Japan" shows *looked* like, I'm even less fond of that somewhat-sterile live artifact), but only seriously hard-core collectors will see these perks as being worth ~$50 more than buying the discs separately at retail. The DVD in particular feels like a "preview" more than a collector's exclusive; where, for example, is "Blow Away," and why don't we get more of that TV appearence for "This Song?" Worse, the paltry bonus tracks/annotation on the CDs don't really make these "upgrades" significantly more attractive than the original Warner Brothers discs, which have been hitting used bins en masse. We were promised a cornucopia of out-takes and rarities, and if they're being saved for a future boxed-set down the line, making *this* your collector's expenditure seems somewhat silly.Verdict? I'm not saying that the "Dark Horse Years" boxed-set is bad, nor am I saying the albums aren't worth investigation. They are! But this set is an unfortunate reminder of what could have been, and it offers very little value over simply buying the discs separately. And if one merely wants to *hear* the albums, the dumping of "old" editions of the albums makes that very affordable (and heck, it isn't like old LPs were ever difficult to find). This "Dark Horse" set reminds one of those super-expensive "Songs by George Harrison" comps that offered very little value for a lot of money. Let's hope the Harrison estate reverses that trend in the future."