George Harrison - Dark Horse

very very great, like always

I really can't believe more people don't consider Dark Horse one of George Harrison's best albums. Honestly, I think it's time to stop praising All Things Must Pass to the moon and start *really* listening to the albums he made after that one. George Harrison was WAY too good of a songwriter and emotional singer to care about only one of his albums, despite how much of a classic it might be.

Funny story- all these years I thought the song "Dark Horse" sounded so cool because George was deliberately giving the vocals a creepy dark feeling. Now I read he was actually having throat problems, so that sound was by total mistake! Interesting. Doesn't change the fact it's one of his best songs ever. Absolutely LOVE it. I remember the first week of 7th grade -BORED out of my mind because I hated school so much- and just singing this song to myself over and over.

"Hari's on Tour (Express)" is quite an instrumental that goes from jazz to hard rock, to just really good rock music. It's a memorable song for the way the song jumps around to different parts. It took me a couple plays to get into this one, I admit, and that's not really a flaw with the song- just my struggle getting into things the first time.

"Simply Shady" has some cool lyrics, and HIGHLY enjoyable vocals. Love the way the verse melody sounds dreamy (or drunk) and the chorus is really good too. "So Sad" is incredibly beautiful and emotional. Classic George Harrison. What a voice that man had.

"Ding Dong Ding Dong" is like a Christmas song, but I don't know if it's officially considered a Christmas song. According to a radio station that once played it, yeah, it is! "It Is "He" (Jai Sri Krishna)" kind of repeats that one chorus like crazy, but I don't care. It's melodic. The verse melody that occasionally pops up is really good too. "Bye Bye Love" is kind of forgettable though. But the rest of the album is great, so five stars is what I believe the album deserves. November 3, 2008

"Dark Hoarse"

George Harrison's 1974 rush-release suffers from his obvious laryngitis - surely he could have waited until a full recovery. Not surprisingly, the best track on "Dark Horse" is the opening instrumental, "Hari's on Tour." Despite the impeccable musicianship, George's shredded voice ruins everything from the title song to an unnecessary remake of "Bye Bye Love." The world's finest digital remastering cannot salvage Harrison's weakest album. August 11, 2008

IT'S OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You must be a real george fan to like this one. Has some good songs. March 16, 2008

A pretty solid record

While I'm not quite as enamoured of this album as I was when I originally got it, I still rather enjoy it and consider it a pretty solid and interesting effort. It's too bad that it got roundly panned when it first came out; it seems that a lot of times, the original critical praise or panning stays with an album, book, or movie, and people years later automatically repeat it as though it's set in stone, instead of actually taking the time to discover the product for themselves and come to their own independent conclusions about its worth and merits. And while it's no ATMP (what album ever could hold a candle to George's masterpiece?), it's still a nice album that's long overdue for some critical reevaluation.

The album starts with the instrumental "Hari's on Tour (Express)," and unlike the four interminable pointless meandering jam sessions rammed onto the end of ATMP, this instrumental actually belongs here, doesn't go on forever, is fun to listen to, and has a definite beginning, middle, and end. It also quite helps to set the mood for the songs to come. This instrumental is followed up by the rather nice, lovely, and underrated numbers "Simply Shady" and "So Sad." Unfortunately, as nice as these two songs are, they're kind of marred by George's cracking voice, which is a bit painful to have to listen to. Whatever possessed him to record an album when he was quite sick with laringytis?! "Bye Bye Love," a partial reworking of the old Everly Brothers' classic, is about the same topic as "So Sad," George's failing marriage and how Eric Clapton stole his wife. This song is probably hands-down the single worst song on here, not just because of the scratchy vocals, but because it just seems pointless, weak lyrically, and out of place here. It also seems to drone on a bit long. Side one closes with "Maya Love," a nice jazzy song, influenced by his interest in Indian mysticism and religion.

While "Ding Dong, Ding Dong," the opening track on side two, is hardly one of the standouts of his solo career, it is a fun upbeat peppy song, and also quite original in its focus. Just about everyone out there has done an Xmas record at some point, but how many artists have actually done a song about the New Year? The next song, "Dark Horse," is possibly the best song on here, and for once George's hoarse voice seems to add to instead of subtract from it. It's really beautiful, deep, and introspective. "Far East Man" is a rather touching song about always being there for a friend who needs and counts on you. The album closes with "It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)," and as a welcome change, the vocals seem normal again. It's a really beautiful chant to Krishna and his main consort Radha. But then again, I'm deeply interested in Indian religion, in particular the Krishna movement, so I'm admittedly a bit biased in my love of this song.

Overall, this isn't the album to recommend to someone just getting into George's solo work, but it does have some very fine moments and isn't nearly the awful record it's been made out to be for decades. And if nothing else, it does have pretty awesome cover art. July 5, 2007

Great one from George.

This is a fabulous album, even though it was critically panned when it first came out. Sure, it's not "All Things Must Pass" or "Taxman", but then, if you were expecting that from George, you missed the message in this album's title track! Great songs on here, especially "Simply Shady", "So Sad", and his post-Pattie venting in his cover of "Bye Bye Love". It took me awhile at first to appreciate it, simply because I was more accustomed to earlier George works, but I'm so glad that I purchased this CD. May 16, 2007

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