A$# 016 George Harrison | Gone Troppo

Gone Troppo is one of my favourite George Harrison albums. Its overall tone is one of happiness and having fun. It was not critically well received upon its original release in 1982, but it has received some reappraisal since the posthumous remaster release.

George was often accused of being preachy on his solo albums. But he wasn’t doing that here. If this were a Jimmy Buffet album, and not a George Harrison one, I think it would have been hailed as a great work.

But enough with the silly critics. There are some really neat tracks here, and it’s a happy album, with catchy songs and arrangements. It also showcases George's musical versatility. On this album he played guitars, dobro, synthesizer, mandolin, marimba and jai-tarang.

Wake Up My Love is a breezy, synth-driven pop song (a quite timely arrangement in 1982) about love - is it about love for God, or George's love for his wife Olivia? The listener can decide.

That's The Way It Goes - This is one I would daresay is a masterpiece - some of George's understated satirical lyrics, and that fluid guitar work that he's famous for. It also has a great pop hook and great bass vocal underpinning George's.

I Really Love You - Doo wop harmonies! A glockenspiel! That bass voice! A neat homage to the 50s, years before Got My Mind Set On You.

Greece - An instrumental that isn't quite all that instrumental, and a catchy tune.

Gone Troppo - very Buffetesque. I could just picture George sitting at his place in Hawaii playing this one with Olivia and Dhani and friends around. Just fun, and neat lyrics, and not to be taken too seriously. "Much hot, not much on the body."

Mystical One - Ok, this could be a quasi-religious song. Or maybe it's a tribute to Eric Clapton. Here again, though, it's not to be taken too seriously. Plus some nice mandolin playing. The demo version bonus track on the remaster is great too.

Unknown Delight - Another pretty love song. An ode to Olivia?

Baby Don't Run Away - A story of lost love. Great backing vocals from Rodina Sloan (and Billy Preston too).

Dream Away - Sure, it has some nonsense lyrics that might sound like Hawaiian, but great guitar work, great backing vocals (George really sang well with female backup). A fitting theme to Time Bandits.

Circles - As we know, this track had been around since the Esher demo session in 1968. It's a sombre ending for the album (I would have reversed the running order of Circles and Dream Away), but it's one of those interesting introspective tracks that George was so good at. I'm not sure it fits on GT, though. It might have been better on Living In The Material World

But as they say - Your mileage may vary.

Track listing:
1. Wake Up My Love
2. That's The Way It Goes
3. I Really Love You
4. Greece
5. Gone Troppo
6. Mystical One
7. Unknown Delight
8. Baby Don't Run Away
9. Dream Away
10. Circles
plus bonus track on remastered CD:
11. Mystical One - demo version