Most first posthumous albums fall into a trap of mourning their respective artists, for example Johnny Cash’s A Hundred Highways ending with I’m Free From the Chain Gang Now. Brainwashed probably shows George’s natural cheerful personality a lot better than just about anything else he’s done. There is a mournful tone to Vatican Blues and Ricking Chair in Hawaii due to being able to hear precisely how sick he was on these tracks.
The album was finished by George’s son and a handful of other close friends. The album opener, Any Road is the oldest track on the album, written in 1988. Recording began in 1997 after his first round of throat cancer and the record was nearly finished by the time he died in 2001. The album has a warm sound driven primarily by an acoustic guitar as the most prominent rhythm instrument. Lyrics wise, this is no All Things Must Pass; but this more importantly, this is the sentiments of a man setting the way he wants to be remembered.
Most of the songs have either an appreciation for eastern philosophy, or in a couple of cases a few digs at Catholicism. I think that his ultimate goal was to make an album that he would want to listen to if he wanted to relax. The best tracks are Any Road, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea and Vatican Blues. Brainwashed has a particularly jarring point which begins with a critical view of western monotheism which turns into a Hindu prayer in the second half, personally I would have put the prayer section at the end of Any Road where it sits better thematically.
Until we get a de-Spectorised cut of All Things Must Pass, this probably stands as my favourite George Harrison album, although I would be interested to hear some of the solo acoustic tracks or outtakes of other older rock and roll tracks from the sessions. Maybe we’ll get a deluxe edition down the line.
Any Road: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mePp1l299EE
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgNL-jobmvg
Vatican Blues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NuIeGy1bJA
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