The Dark Horse Years 1976-1992 [Box set][Original recording remastered]

George Harrison

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 24, 2004)
• Original Release Date: February 24, 2004
• Number of Discs: 8
• Format: Box set, Original recording remastered
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B0001ADB8C
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #119,333 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

George Harrison forged the most idiosyncratic, artistically stubborn career of any ex-Beatle. After the spectacular success of All Things Must Pass (whose glorious, Spectorized production Harrison all but disowned in later years), The Concert for Bangla Desh and some tepid follow-ups on the Fabs' Apple label, Harrison released the half-dozen albums contained in this remastered box set on his Dark Horse imprint. Frequently out-of-print and ever under-appreciated, they remain in many ways his truest musical legacy. Powered by a deceptively breezy compositional sense and impeccably tasteful soloing (his fluid slide work remains some of rock's most lyrically distinctive), Harrison variously mixes biting humor ("This Song" answers his "My Sweet Lord" plagiarism suit with sarcastic jabs), a love of pop history (his Motown tribute "Pure Smokey," covers of Cole Porter's "True Love" and Rudy Clark's obscure "Got My Mind Set On You," which became an unlikely late '80s hit), and ever-present spiritual meditations into an often jazzy musical tack that veered sharply away from his Beatles past. And while that laconic sense occasionally goes unfocused (as on "Gone Troppo"), it came to warm fruition on the triumphant Jeff Lynne collaboration "Cloud Nine." Harrison's past glories are revisited on that album's "When We Was Fab" and elsewhere on unused Beatle-era songs ("Not Guilty," "See Yourself"), as well as his tribute to the fallen John Lennon, "All Those Years Ago," but crucially they are always part of a larger, more forceful perspective. His double-live album from a 1991 tour of Japan with Eric Clapton encapsulates that sense, and is featured here in the SACD format with 5.1 surround sound. Also included is a DVD exclusive to this set, featuring highlight footage from those concerts, interviews, and a slate of Harrison videos. --Jerry McCulley

Product Description

Box set includes six CDs: Thirty Three & 1/3, George Harrison, Somewhere In England, Gone Troppo, Cloud Nine, and Live In Japan (SACD). Also includes The Dark Horse Years exclusive DVD, available only as part of this set. Includes 24 page booklet.

DVD running time: 89 minutes, includes Dark Horse Feature, promo videos, previously unreleased live footage, and selections from the movie "Shanghai Surprise."

Sound: Stereo except four concert pieces which are in 5.1 surround sound, in both Dolby Digital and DTS formats.

DVD TRACKLISTINGS: 1. Dark Horse Feature 2. This Song 3. Crackerbox Palace 4. Faster 5. Got My Mind Set On You - Version I 6. Got My Mind Set On You - Version II 7. When We Was Fab 8. This Is Love 9. Taxman (from Live In Japan) 10. Cloud 9 (from Live In Japan) 11. Devil's Radio (from Live In Japan) 12. Cheer Down (from Live In Japan) 13. Shanghai Surprise 14. Someplace Else 15. Hottest Gong In Town

George Harrison Photos

More from George Harrison

The Best of George Harrison	The Concert for Bangladesh	Living in the Material World
Cloud Nine	Dark Horse Years 1976-1992	The Concert for Bangladesh DVD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth discovering -- or re-discovering!!!, February 25, 2004

By	Timothy Smith "fabsmith" (United States) - See all my reviews

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!!!

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag (and far too expensive!), April 19, 2004

By	David Goodwin (Westchester, NY United States) - See all my reviews

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.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great collection, but somewhat lacking..., February 28, 2004

By	T. Schmidt "strangebird" (Mansfield TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After briefly being in print on CD in the early '90s only to disappear soon after, MOST of George's ouput on Dark Horse records is finally available again in beautifully-remastered sound and impressive packaging.

Each of the six albums represented in this box are available individually but, let's face it. A true Harrison fan will want the whole shebang. In addition to the original albums, the box includes a great little booklet with commentary by Olivia Harrison and David Fricke and an exclusive DVD.

Any further details concerning this set would be redundant, but there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed, most importantly the absence of the three "new" tracks from the still-out-of-print _The Best of Dark Horse(1976-1989)_ ("Poor Little Girl", "Cheer Down", and "Cockamamie Business"). Is it safe to assume that we'll have to buy _Best of Dark Horse_ when and if it's reissued just for those three great songs???

Then there's the issue of tracks from "Shanghai Surprise". The title track of the movie along with the rollicking "Zig Zag" (originally the B-side of "When We Was Fab") are presented as bonus tracks on _Cloud 9_, but what of "The Hottest Gang in Town", which is featured on the DVD? It's just as good as "Zig Zag" and far surpasses "Shanghai Surprise" but yet was left off.

Finally, there's the previously-addressed issue of _Somewhere in England_. If George saw fit to reissue it with the original, rejected cover then why didn't he include the four "lost" tunes as bonus tracks?! Yes, "Tears of the World" is a bonus track on _33 & 1/3_, but it doesn't belong there! (That's just me being nitpicky. Sorry!) Perhaps an additional bonus disc of the long-gone _Songs by George Harrison_ EP would have been appropriate for this box.

Oh well. What we DO have here is a good chunk of the most underrated Beatle solo music in one tidy package. Overall, the quality of this collection outweighs any faults. Purchase and enjoy!