Brainwashed (album) - History

History

Harrison had begun recording the tracks that would eventually see issue on Brainwashed as early as 1988 (with "Any Road" being written during the making of a video for "This Is Love" from the Cloud Nine album) and would continue to do so in a sporadic manner over the next decade and a half. After recuperating from being attacked in his home by Michael Abram on 30 December 1999 Harrison focused more on getting his album finished, simultaneously sharing his ideas for all its details (from the sound of the finished songs to the album's artwork) with his son Dhani — information that would ultimately prove very valuable.

Harrison had successfully battled throat cancer in 1997; in 2001 he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs, and radiotherapy for lung cancer which had metastasised to his brain. Once he realised it was an irreversible situation, he worked further on the album's songs—in conjunction with Dhani and his old collaborator Jeff Lynne—until he was unable to do more. Harrison's final work on the album was done at a recording studio in Switzerland shortly before his trip to the United States for cancer treatment. On 29 November 2001, Harrison died, leaving Brainwashed not quite finished, but with a guide to completing it in the hands of his son and Lynne.

After a few months away from the project, both the younger Harrison and Lynne returned to working on George's final songs and adding the appropriate instruments—as per their composer's specifications—to the recordings. So close to completion was the project that the two used the exact timetable and session bookings which George had booked himself. After some difficult but rewarding sessions, the work was done and George Harrison's final album was completed.

Brainwashed received mostly positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album holds score of 77, based on 16 reviews, which means "generally favorable". A live tribute of Harrison by an assembly of his musical contemporaries, entitled Concert for George, took place at the Royal Albert Hall simultaneously with the release of the album. The album sold respectably—though perhaps slightly below expectations—reaching No. 18 in the US and going gold, and No. 29 in the UK, where "Any Road" became a Top 40 hit single in spring 2003. In 2004, Brainwashed's "Marwa Blues" won the Best Pop Instrumental Performance Grammy. The album had also been nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, as well as Best Male Pop Vocal Performance (for the track "Any Road").

Three of the tracks from Brainwashed were included in Harrison's career-spanning compilation album, Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison: "Any Road," "Marwa Blues," and "Rising Sun." Notably absent from the track listing was "Stuck Inside a Cloud," the first promotional single from Brainwashed.