Let It Roll: The Songs of George Harrison [Best of, Original recording remastered]

George had plenty of great songs spread out throughout his solo career. He even had more hits than people seem to remember.

It used to be that you could get all the hits by owning Capitol's "The Best of George Harrison" (which contains half Beatles tracks written and sung by Harrison), "The Best of Dark Horse", "Cloud Nine", and "Traveling Wilburys, Volume 1". "All Things Must Pass" is worth owning for many other great songs, although its 3 big hits are already on the "Best of George Harrison" CD.

Before Harrison died he got his CDs remastered and re-released with added bonus tracks (ex. the de-Spectorized "All Things Must Pass" was released in 2001, and many of his other CDs were released in 2004)--- and these CDs sound amazing and are worth owning over the earlier releases, especially the inferior sounding "Best of George Harrison" CD.

However, "The Best of Dark Horse" CD, which conveniently contained all the hits from the later 1970's (where the "Best of George Harrison" CD left off) up till his last few releases before/after he died, has been discontinued (ain't that always the way???). Now the only way to get songs such as "Crackerbox Palace", "Gone Troppo", "Love Comes to Everyone", "That's the Way It Goes" and "Here Comes the Moon" is to buy the individual CDs they came from... I have done this and I'm not disappointed but it's costly and only true Harrison fans will spend the extra money.

The new "Let It Roll" collection is missing songs that the "Best of Dark Horse" had (see above), but the added songs from Harrison's last releases and the live tracks are wonderful. It's missing "Horse to Water", which was his last recorded song. I just wish it was a 2-CD set... give Harrison his due!!!

This CD is definitely worth owning and most people will be happy enough with this one CD of Harrison's solo songs. The remastered sound is great and consistent throughout, even on the older tracks and live tracks.

But you should still own "All Things Must Pass", "Cloud Nine" and the re-released "Traveling Wilburys" 2 CD/1 DVD set. Really!!!

Any greatest hits collection, for an artist that has more than two or three anyway, is going to contain some questionable selections and omissions. This compilation is no exception. Having said that, here is my main objection to this package. Including Beatles' songs might have made sense in 1976; it does not, in 2009, unless the package was larger (2 or 3 discs). One cannot imagine Lennon or McCartney receiving similar treatment and, if Harrison's chroniclers want him to be perceived as their near-equal, they have done him a disservice here. Secondly, the inclusion of these songs means that there is no room for some of Harrison's later work or the brilliant "Handle Me With Care" from the Traveling Wilburys. So I guess we will have to wait for the next version of The Best of George and hope that the record company gets it right.

This latest collection of George Harrison's spectacular musical history contains the most popular hits of his career. To be noted, there are some hits that are excluded, but are available on other Harrisons Collections such as, 'Best of' and 'Best of Dark Horse'. The best part of this disc is the fantastic remastering done by Giles Martin at EMI's Abbey Road Studio; the birthplace of the Beatles. Expert Warren Zanes has extensive liner notes that reveal the heart and soul of George Harrison and some insights into his person and music. Zanes notes that George Harrison has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame both as a solo artist and as a Beatles member. Also included are the amazing mentions of Harrison's eleven (11) Grammy awards from the Beatles, his solo work and 'The Traveling Wilbury's'.

This collection spans George Harrison's entire solo recording career, including the #1 singles "My Sweet Lord," "Isn't It A Pity," "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)," and "Got My Mind Set On You." The collection also includes three live recordings of Harrison-penned Beatles songs, including, "Something," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," and "Here Comes The Sun." from Concert for Bangladesh the 1971 all-concert benefit at Madison Square Garden. Five of the songs are from Harrisons groundbreaking triple album, 'All Things Must Pass [BOXED EDITION]'.

For the true fan, there are dozens and dozens of album cut gems from other albums in Harrison's tremendous career.