Somewhere in England

George Harrison - Somewhere in England

Somewhere in England
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CD Details

Artist: George Harrison
Edition: Music CD
Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2004-02-24
Music Label: Capitol
Soundtracks:
  1. Blood From A Clone
  2. Unconsciousness Rules
  3. Life Itself
  4. All Those Years Ago
  5. Baltimore Oriole
  6. Teardrops
  7. That Which I Have Lost
  8. Writing's On The Wall
  9. Hong Kong Blues
  10. Save The World
  11. Save The World-Demo Version (Bonus track)

Music reviews of Somewhere in England

Music Review: Blood from a clone
Rating: 3 Stars

After a series of relatively succesful albums, it seemed that Warner Bros. (the company that was releasing George Harrison's musical works), really wanted this comeback to be a hit. So the original lineup for Somewhere In England was very much altered before its releasing in 1981. That fact makes this CD a little more difficult to listen, and perhaps turns it into the weakest of the CDs that was re-released in the 2004 boxed set The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992. Still, when one tries to forget those discrepancies, and sees the released work as a group of songs instead of a proper 'album', the results are much more satisfactory.

The original edition of this album was going to include: "Hong Kong Blues", "Writing's On The Wall", "Flying Hour", "Lay His Head" and "Unconsciousness Rules" on Side A; plus "Sat Singing", "Life Itself", "Tears Of The World", "Baltimore Oriole" and "Save The World" on Side B, and included the original art cover with George's hair reminiscing the shape of the Great Britain (hence the wordplay in the title... 'Some Hair In England'). In the 1981 released version, however, the running order was changed, and four songs (namely "Flying Hour", "Lay His Head", "Sat Singing" and "Tears Of The World") were replaced (by "Blood From A Clone", "All Those Years Ago", "That Which I Have Lost" and "Teardrops"), and the album cover was changed for a more 'upbeat' picture of a 1981 George with moustaches and in front of a stone wall. What happened in between? Apparently the company wanted a different-sounding album, they didn't want the polished sound that George had to offer. So they made him change the tracklisting and remove some songs... The result must have been unconvincing for them: sure, he changed the mood of the original album by removing some tracks, but still he left as a opener, the dry, sarcastic and ironic mock at the recording industry "Blood From A Clone" (arguably one of the best rockers of his carrer), with agressive lyrics ("they want some oohm-papa / nothing like Frank Zappa / and not New Wave / they don't play that crap") about critics who don't know anything about music ("don't have time for the music / give 'em the blood from a clone").

This was, perhaps, his mind after the changing of the conditions. Because they (whoever they were in Warner) took away at least two of the best songs on the original album, the gorgeous spiritual ballad "Sat Singing" and the fantastic pop rocker "Lay His Head". He, however, managed to mantain the two Hoagy Carmichael covers that he did, the ellegant "Baltimore Oriole", in every angle a highlight of this album (despite the sax!); and the catchy "Hong Kong Blues". These two tracks symbolize the effect of too much synthesiser in every track, and defects in the production that make this effort sound a little dated. "Hong Kong Blues", in particular, is an effort in resurrecting some sounds from the early years of the 20th Century, something that George would revisit with much better results in other tracks like "Hottest Gong In Town" from the unreleased soundtrack of the Shangai Surprise movie.

So you have to listen to this album as individual pieces of music to make it work more properly. In that case, even the weaker tracks like "That Which I Have Lost" or "Save The World", could work as separate entities, because both of them have clear messages, even though they get lost in the confusing track choices, and they are a little uneven comparing them to some much stronger tracks in previous albums like George Harrison or Thirty-Three & 1/3, or even in the much underrated Gone Troppo album.

But the great songs are always there if you look at them... "Life Itself" is a beautiful love anthem with references to the divinity ("you are my friend and when life's through / you are the light in death itself") with precious works from the slide guitar (George's trademark); "Unconsciousness Rules" explores some of the tropical, laid-back themes that Gone Troppo would deal with, incorporating the 'in your face' lyrics that were typical of George in the adult era of his life, this time condemning the contradictions in people's existences; and whilst "Teardrops" suffers from excesses in the synthesisers feels, the imagery created is beautiful at times (especially in lines like "and it feels like I have taken over from the rain") and the song itself is rather pleasant. "Writing's On The Wall" tries to rediscover some of the themes that were explored in those obscurely produced and beautiful songs from the 70's like "The Ballad Of Sir Frankie Crisp" or "The Answer's At The End", recovering some writings from Sir Frankie Crisp, the former owner of Friar Park, George's house in Henley-On-Thames, and reconstructs a nice atmosphere, even though not as strong as in the previously mentioned.

And then there's the best track on the album, the Lennon tribute "All Those Years Ago", which had originally been thought for a Ringo Starr album and had re-written lyrics after the terrible events of December, 1980. This track also incorporated Paul and Linda McCartney and Denny Laine (from Wings) on background vocals (which are almost inaudible in the mix) and Ringo himself on drums, making up for the first 'Beatles reunion' after John Lennon's death. In the song, George humbly confesses the deep admiration he felt for his bandmate ("living with good and bad / I always looked up for you"), reminds him as a social icon ("you had control of our smiles and our tears"), and a wise philosopher ("you found the way for the truth when you said / all you need is love") and tries to find an explanation to the horror in the confusion that the world lives in ("they forgot all about mankind"). It's all brilliant and moving, in the rhythm of a middle 80's-track, and one of the highlights of the solo Beatle production from those years.

So when it comes up for a ballance, one doesn't know what to do. One gets a CD with excellent songs paired with weaker efforts, fragmented sounds without a visible unity and a singer that's not always comfortable with what he's producing (just see the lyrics for "Blood From A Clone"). In the re-releasing, one gets the original cover (but with the rearranged running order!), a remastered album that doesn't include any of the erased four songs from the original album ("Tears Of The World" went to the Thirty-Three & 1/3 remastered CD; whilst "Lay His Head" and "Sat Singing" and "Flying Hour" remain as 'rarities' in George's catalogue), and the bonus track is a demo of "Save The World", with different rhythm and lyrics from the original, which, at the same time, is an excellent showcase of George as a great acoustic guitarist, and a really unexpected addition to the tracklisting (because it comes right after the finished version of "Save The World").

Hard to listen to back to front, but the strength and 'heart' of the songs is really brilliant. So in the end, and in spite of all the obstacles find in the listening process and in the re-releasing, the album is a good experience, and very recommendable, if only for songs like "All Those Years Ago" and "Life Itself", which are worth the price of the CD for themselves. Get it.
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Description of Somewhere in England

Japanese version for the Beatle collector.Track listings are the same as the USA edition.

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