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CD
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By John Heaton
Format:Audio CD
The first Beatles solo album to come out following the tragic death of John Lennon. We Beatles fans were in a bad way and thoroughly welcomed this release in June 1981. Nothing heard from Paul since May 1980 or from Ringo since 1978. At least George was still producing albums. And I remember being quite pleased with this album on its release.
Hindsight and repeated listenings have shown it to be not one of George’s best albums, although it has its moments for sure. Part of the problem is that George’s first submission of the album had been summarily rejected by Warner Brothers, leading George to remove four tracks and replace them with four new ones. With mixed results. Gone are ’Sat Singing’ and ’Tears Of The World’ which should never have been anything other than B Sides. But also gone are ’Flying Hour’ and ’Lay His Head’, the former so obviously an outtake from the previous album ’George Harrison’s sessions, with Winwood organ to the fore, a great lyric and, although not excactly a classic, far too good to dump basically. ’Lay His Head’ is better, with that great slide guitar line. Warner Brothers: what exactly was wrong with this one??? It is great.
And so to the replacements: ’All Those Years Ago’ is a moving if somewhat lightweight tribute to John Lennon, and as it featured Ringo on drums and Paul and Linda on backing vocals it is even more moving. I lost my rag with some girl at university who complained that George was simply making money out of Lennon’s death. I mean….how Wrong Can Someone Be? OK it is not a classic exactly, but is thoroughly heartfelt in its lyric. Especially on lines such as ’living with good and bad, I always looked up to you’.... Read more ›
Hindsight and repeated listenings have shown it to be not one of George’s best albums, although it has its moments for sure. Part of the problem is that George’s first submission of the album had been summarily rejected by Warner Brothers, leading George to remove four tracks and replace them with four new ones. With mixed results. Gone are ’Sat Singing’ and ’Tears Of The World’ which should never have been anything other than B Sides. But also gone are ’Flying Hour’ and ’Lay His Head’, the former so obviously an outtake from the previous album ’George Harrison’s sessions, with Winwood organ to the fore, a great lyric and, although not excactly a classic, far too good to dump basically. ’Lay His Head’ is better, with that great slide guitar line. Warner Brothers: what exactly was wrong with this one??? It is great.
And so to the replacements: ’All Those Years Ago’ is a moving if somewhat lightweight tribute to John Lennon, and as it featured Ringo on drums and Paul and Linda on backing vocals it is even more moving. I lost my rag with some girl at university who complained that George was simply making money out of Lennon’s death. I mean….how Wrong Can Someone Be? OK it is not a classic exactly, but is thoroughly heartfelt in its lyric. Especially on lines such as ’living with good and bad, I always looked up to you’.... Read more ›
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By P. Price
Format:Audio CD
This was the album that first got me into George's solo stuff. I borrowed it from the library I recall and was immediately impressed by the quality of the songs. It was only when I went on and bought the entire catalogue of George's albums that I could decide on reflection to place it in the second string of his stuff - the first string being 1979s "George Harrison", "All Things Must Pass" (1970) and "Brainwashed" the brilliant last album. However, I would still recommend it as a good introduction to his stuff.
But I am confused as to why this remastered version has the cover of the original rejected version, if this is not that version of the album? The made over version of the album had a completely different cover, which I am very fond of. Either release the original rejected album with this black and white cover or put the proper cover back on what was the official release. Don't mix them up!
But I am confused as to why this remastered version has the cover of the original rejected version, if this is not that version of the album? The made over version of the album had a completely different cover, which I am very fond of. Either release the original rejected album with this black and white cover or put the proper cover back on what was the official release. Don't mix them up!
14 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Petra Zeitz
Format:Audio CD
This album was first released in the summer of 1981 and it was the first George Harrison album I bought, only the 3rd album I ever bought actually. I love this album and I still enjoy listening to it to this day. It's great that a remastered CD is being made available. The artwork is the original one chosen by George, but unfortunately rejected by his then record company WEA. "Life itself" is to me one of the most beautiful songs of our time.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
Initially rejected by Warner Brothers this album will dissappoint many Harrison fans. Not that the songs are bad, or uninteresting, but largely due to the thin and feeble production. Had George simply lost interest? Ringo's It Don't Come Easy clearly shows that George had an ear for full, rich musical arrangements that compliment the music, making it colourful and layered. This is not the case with this album. Teardrops, for example is a fine pop tune, but lacks drive and energy. Save the World, similarly, is an interesting and commendable song, but with such weak production the listeners interest soon wanes. The best two tracks on the album aren't in fact written by Harrison, but by Hoagy Carmichael, namely Baltimore Oriole and Hong Kong Blues. Both tracks are welcomed variations on old songs, well played and arranged. Life Itself is exquisite with some beautiful slide guitar playing from George. All Those Years Ago is reflectively cheerful and not at all morose as it could so easily have been. This album clearly shows a man who has a passion for many things, but making this album the success it should have been was not one of them.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Have always loved George.s music and am now trying to get some of his really early albums. Not the best I have heard.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I liked the album, the songs, the musicians and George Harrison’s performance. It is essential for those who are Harrison’s fans.
By Sid Griffin
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Despite containing an proper hit single in All Those Years Ago this is not a good album Ray Cooper's production is thin and lacks punch and George sounds somewhat uninterested. Worse, the songs have very dated synth padding and riffing on too many of them and there is not nearly enough signature Harrison slide guitar.
'tis pretty sad when the strongest, most interesting cuts seem to be the acoustic demo of Save The World (where Harrison sings like he means every word) and the original LP's cover version of Hoagy Carmichael's Baltimore Oriole.
'tis pretty sad when the strongest, most interesting cuts seem to be the acoustic demo of Save The World (where Harrison sings like he means every word) and the original LP's cover version of Hoagy Carmichael's Baltimore Oriole.
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Good album, well-written songs. I echo what the other reviewers say about the overall sound still being rather muddy despite the remastering. I guess it's the best we're ever going to hear this George LP sound. Odd really, as the LP before ('George Harrison') sounds nicely bright and clean. The use of the original artwork is confusing too: I thought this meant we would get to hear the tracks that were dropped from the original incarnation of the LP as bonus tracks, but the only bonus is a (very nice) demo of Save The World. It would have made more sense to include those dropped tracks, and bring the collection together as a neat whole... It's still good. Quite a grower really but not necessarily the best LP for the novice to begin on.
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3.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Typical of a reluctant George!
Somewhere In England is worth buying for a couple of reasons. Firstly, being George's first offering since Lennon's death, it contains George's hastily re-arranged tribute song to... Read more
Published on 25 May 2010 by Dl Fairey
4.0 out of 5 stars
It Grows on You
Back in 2004 I originally gave this album a 2-star rating, saying:
"Even in its remastered form, this is a disappointing album. Read more
"Even in its remastered form, this is a disappointing album. Read more
Published on 9 Mar 2004 by Mr. J. A. Smith
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