Erika (June 9, 2007)

One of the best solo George albums! These songs are a lot happier and a lot catchier than other George stuff. "Love Come To Everyone" is fun and catchy, "Not Guilty" finally resurfaces (it was started during recording for the White Album, I think - anyway it's on Anthology 3) "Here Comes the Moon" doesn't stand up to "Here Comes the Sun" but is still very good, & "Blow Away" and "Faster" are both fast & fun.

Bruce Beatlefan (April 17, 2006)

George Harrison's first album in three years finds him with a new wife and a baby son and seemingly basking in the Hawaiian sunshine (and moonlight), resulting in one of George Harrison's most mellow and lovely albums. You get the idea that George is kicked back in his lawnchair--not simply sipping rum and soaking up rays (that doesn't happen until Gone Troppo)--but hard at work wielding some exceptionally exquisite sounds from his guitar, resulting in songs like "Here Comes the Moon", "Your Love is Forever", and "Soft Touch". The latter two songs form, along with "Dark Sweet Lady", a superb triple play of love songs--his finest since "Something". When you add to this mix the other outstanding tracks "Soft-Hearted Hana", "Blow Away", and "Faster" (George's ode to his Formula One racing buddies), you have one of George Harrison's most satisfying albums.

BeatleBeatle (April 2, 2005)

It takes a few listens, but the pop songwriting on this album is both catchy and moving. Easily one of the best Beatles solo albums, and one of George's best.

The Soft Touch Of George Harrison (March 22, 2010)

Some years back when I first heard this album on vinyl I wasn't sure if I cared for it too much. Because it didn't contain any big blockbuster hit songs that burst out at me it seemed like something that was all too easy to ignore. When I recently listened to this album over again on the remastered CD I have a new opinion on it. Already haven taken the step to begin adding new elements to his sound,particularly a heavy soul and funk influence on his previous album Thirty Three & 1/3 he then took the time on this album to bring in the usual musical charges such as Gary Wright,Clapton along with Steve Winwood for an album that was a true departure for him and a very liberating musical experience. This album doesn't contain as much,if any at all of the melodic pop/rock style of The Beatles that was very common on his earlier albums and makes an effort to alter the nature of his arrangements to accomodate a different style. As illustrated by the soft focus photo of George on the album cover this album is by and large a rich,glossy and melodic affair with songs that are generally mid to lower tempo. "Love Comes To Everyone" sets the stage as a sweetly grooving urban R&B type groove that,as with everything here is a big counterpoint to the disco and heartland rock dominating radio during this time. "Not Guilty",the one Beatle era tune here is presented with a relaxed Caberet type jazz arrangement."Here Comes The Moon","Blow Away","Faster","Soft Touch",Your Love Is Forever" and "If You Believe" all have a glistening,optimistic late 70's singer-songwriter vibe to them. Producing the album along with Russ Titelman really added to the heavy sheen the music on this album contains. George's slide guitar is played down here as he strums pretty much in the style he probably used while writing the songs and some of his riffs are mildly more jazzy than usual. The likeminded "Dark Sweet Lady" is a kind hearted,loving type of musical wedding present to his second wife Olivia and I am sure she more than appreciate the gesture because it's one of this album's highlites."Soft Hearted Hana" of all things takes a note from Paul McCartney type of musical hall pop and,being somewhat different in that respect is truly a highlite here as well. The demo of "Here Comes The Moon" is here as the bonus cut and is a pleasant unplugged style version of the tune that really gives you something of a peek into how Harrison composed his songs. While bearing little resemblance to what came before and after it,as well as being George Harrison's least obviously rock styled efforts this album is actually one of George's most individual and in every respect has well stood the test of time and changes on the pop music front.

Shimmeringly romantic, magical and tropical (November 6, 2008)

One of the most romantic albums ever recorded. Every song flows perfectly into the next and takes the listener on a journey of warmth, magic and romance. The songs Dark Sweet Lady, Your Love Is Forever, Here Comes The Moon and Love Comes To Everyone are especially poignant, but the entire album is magical and filled with romance. A sense of wistfulness and contentment permeates the album, and it is unabashedly sentimental and beautiful. There's also a tropical element in some of the songs and a refreshing sense of gentleness, lightness of spirit and warmth in the vocals, production, lyrics and instrumentation.

George Harrison (August 3, 2008)

The songs in "George Harrison" are poems of transformation. They tell of changes from day to night, summer to winter, storm to calm. Describing what is impermanent, they make visible the timeless love that surrounds us.

Harrison recorded this album during the summer and fall of 1978 in his home studio at Friar Park, England. He had composed several of the songs in Hawaii, and one ("Soft Touch") in the Virgin Islands. His art, like that of the painter Gauguin before him, blossomed in the tropics, nurtured by the lush, bright atmosphere he found there.

Meditations on nature form the core of the work. There is "Here Comes the Moon," expressing awe as a full moon appears on a Hawaiian shore while the sun is setting; "Blow Away," where redemptive sunlight follows an English rainstorm; and "Your Love is Forever," which begins:

Sublime is the summertime warm and lazy...
These are perfect days like Heaven's about here,
But unlike summer came and went-
Your love is forever.

Other songs depict extremes of consciousness. In "Soft-Hearted Hana," Harrison eats "magic mushrooms" on the island of Maui, and grows as tall as the Haleakala volcano. He falls in love with Hana, who "lives beneath the crater in the meadow," meeting her "among the fruit and grain...after heavy rain has fallen." "Faster" was inspired by Harrison's friends in Formula One racing. It is a tribute to all those who have "moved into the space/ That the special people share/ Right on the edge of do or die/ Where there is nothing left to spare."

"Brown-Eyed Lady" is a love song for Harrison's wife, Olivia. In the album notes (taken from his autobiography "I Me Mine"), he said the song "sounds to me a bit Hawaiian/Spanish." To my ears, it also resembles Brazilian bossa nova. The lilting verse of "Soft Touch" may be for Harrison's new son, Dhani: "You're a soft touch baby/ Like a snow flake falling/ My whole heart is melting/ As a warm sun rises."

Dating from 1968, "Not Guilty" alludes to the discord within The Beatles at that time. The bitter edge of its lyrics contrasts with the album's prevailing, upbeat mood. It ends with melancholy, wordless singing.

The beginning song, "Love Comes to Everyone," and finale, "If You Believe," are morale builders meant to encourage us in our present situations, whatever they are. "Love Comes to Everyone" states the imperative of life:

Go do it,
Got to go through the door,
There's no easy way out at all...
Still it only takes time
'Til love comes to everyone.

The music of "George Harrison" is gorgeous. Its lovely and complex harmonies unfold in an instrumental mix that is both clear and rich. Harrison said that the open tuning on his slide guitar forced him to make up new chords, rather than use conventional ones. On "Blow Away" and "Your Love is Forever," he plays this guitar with the expressiveness of a human voice.

I especially enjoy the music of "Here Comes the Moon." Its sprinkles of harp tones sound like stars twinkling. Sustained vocal and keyboard chords, supported by Willie Weeks' bass, convey the majesty and peace of the cosmos. As Harrison sings "here comes the moon, the moon, the moon, the moon, the moon," a sudden shift to quick guitar triplets emphasizes the drama of the moon's emergence. The CD's two versions of this song complement each other. The full instrumental recording paints an image of the spectacle unfolding in the sky, while the bonus, solo acoustic track expresses Harrison's feelings as he watches.

Created at the artistic midpoint of Harrison's solo career, "George Harrison" is his transcendent album. Its radiant spirit reveals the essence of the artist, and shows why he is irreplaceable.

George Harrison (March 31, 2008)

Great CD...had the vinyl but haven't listened to in years, wanted to update to CD. The songs sound great and George playing and singing are some of his best. AAA+++

MELLO (March 17, 2008)

This cd is the mello side of george, Blow away will make you feel good and faster will speed it up a little. A very fine lp or cd Just kick back and enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!