George Harrison

George Harrison spent most of the 1980s concentrating on producing gritty English movies such as Mona Lisa and Withnail & I. Then, in '87, Harrison teamed up with ELO's Jeff Lynne and came back strong with Cloud Nine, his biggest seller since All Things Must Pass. Lynne's heavy-handed production has aged about as well as a Fat Boys video, but Harrison's songs are uniformly strong. "Cloud Nine," "Devil's Radio" and "When We Was Fab" (which could be a Rutles tune) all became hits. But the set's crossover smash was "Got My Mind Set on You," which set the stage for the Traveling Wilburys.

If Cloud Nine were simply a decent record, it would still mark a major comeback for George
Harrison, whose latter-day solo efforts have for the most part presented little more than a
tired blend of spiritual, romantic and musical banalities. But the good news is that Cloud
Nine - Harrison's first album since 1982's Gone Troppo - is considerably more than merely
decent; it is in fact an expertly crafted, endlessly infectious record that constit... More >

"Gettin' old as my mother," right on and why not. "Feel more like Big Bill Broonzy," not so fast. For one thing, the Other Beatle should know better than to risk comparison with his betters. For another, he's not ready to settle for Broonzy's audience share. (Grade: B-)