Track Listing

1. Cloud Nine
2. That's What It Takes
3. Fish On The Sand
4. Just For Today
5. This Is Love
6. When We Was Fab
7. Devil's Radio
8. Someplace Else
9. Wreck Of The Hesperus
10. Breath Away From Heaven
11. Got My Mind Set On You
12. Shanghai Surprise (Bonus track)
13. Zig Zag (Bonus track)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3001 in Music
• Released on: 2004-02-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Extra tracks
• Dimensions: .24 pounds

Customer Reviews

Cause for Celebration
The reissue of "Cloud Nine" is a cause for celebration. The remastering sounds fresh. Harrison's material on this set is consistently strong. The title track is one of his best buoyant melodies. "If That's What It Takes" is a strong song, one that has me hit the repeat button. "Just for Today" is one of my favorite meditative songs; its sincerity as Harrison tries to live "through this day only" highlights his "Be Here Now" philosophy of living in the moment. The bubbly background vocals on "This Is Love" and the retro guitar riff makes this one of Harrison's most addictive tracks, "little things that will change you forever may appear from way out of the blue." The lovely piano part with the classical melody makes "We Was Fab" one of Harrison's greatest Beatle legacy tracks. "Devil's Radio" may be a bit overly didactic, but Harrison rocks so well that it's nevertheless quite fun as we join in singing "gossip". On "Someplace Else" the slower melody works marvelously as the gumdrop background choruses lull us into the sweetest of moods, "I need you now to be beside me." "Wreck of the Hesperus" rocks out joyfully with Harrison's marvelous lead guitar punctuating his unusual lyrics. The lovely Asian-inflected melody of "Breath of Heaven" is charmingly romantic. The closer for the original release, "Got My Mind Set On You," is one of Harrison's most commercial rockers, "It's going to take patience and time to do it right." The bonus track "Shanghai Surprise" has some lovely Beatlesque harmonies. "Zig Zag" seems a bit whimsical and perhaps a bit half-baked, but it's a lot of fun! The sequencing of songs provides just the right mix of fast & slow. The art and photos in the booklet are exquisite. This re-release of this classic set is not to be missed. Bravo!

George On Cloud Nine
George Harrison had huge success with his 1987 album, "Cloud Nine," and with good reason: this is some of the most catchiest, irresistible music George ever made in his solo career. Co-produced by George and his pal, Jeff Lynne (of ELO), "Cloud Nine" contains nothing but absolutely wonderful, infectious pop: the title song, "That's What It Takes," "This Is Love," "When We Was Fab" (George's affectionate look back at his Fab Four days), "Devil's Radio," "Breath Away From Heaven," George's #1 hit single cover of Rudy Clark's "Got My Mind Set On You," and all the rest---simply marvelous music. George sings & plays his heart out, and he's joined on the album by a great group of friends, not only Jeff Lynne but also Eric Clapton, Elton John, and his old Beatle chum Ringo Starr. "Cloud Nine" is a very happy, upbeat, feel-good album that's eager to please, and it remains one of George Harrison's very best. You, too, will be on Cloud Nine listening to this one!

Harrison's triumphant return to the spotlight
Cloud Nine (1987.) George Harrison's ninth solo album.

Following the release of his 1982 album, Gone Troppo, George Harrison took an extended vacation from recording albums for a while. During his leave of absence, he recorded a track for the Porky's Revenge soundtrack, which was nothing short of excellent - and a premonition of what was to come. In 1987, Harrison teamed up with Electric Light Orchestra (E.L.O.) frontman Jeff Lynne, for some help with his upcoming ninth studio album. And in 1987, Cloud Nine was released. This was Harrison's most popular release in nearly fifteen years! Does it live up to the hype, or is it just an overrated and subpar effort? Read on for my review.

Is this album overrated? Yes it is. Does it deserve to be overrated? Yes it does. This is George Harrison's first true five-star album since 1970's All Things Must Pass. No, this album doesn't quite top that one, but it's a very close second best. On this album, Harrison serves up masterpiece after masterpiece. The big hits to be found on this album are Got My Mind Set On You and When We Was Fab. Got My Mind Set On You is a cover of a song written by Rudy Clark. Harrison's take on the song hit number one on the pop charts. The other fairly popular track featured on this album is When We Was Fab, Harrison's ode to his Beatle days. Because of Jeff Lynne's assistance on this album, many tracks on the album greatly resemble Electric Light Orchestra - and this is the closest thing on the album to one of their songs. But, the big hits aren't the only good songs on this album! In addition to Jeff Lynne, Harrison recruited an assortment of all-star musicians for these sessions. The album's title track even featured Eric Clapton on guitars! While My Guitar Gently Weeps from the classic Beatles self-titled "White" album demonstrated beautifully that the two could function well as a unit, and this track helps to further establish that claim. Even seventies pop star Gary Wright appears on a few tracks (Wright was best known for his seventies hits, Dream Weaver and Love Is Alive.) Wright has appeared on a number of Harrison's solo recordings, and why not? He does an excellent job contributing to Harrison's work. There are a number of masterpieces to be found on this album, and it really must be heard to be appreciated. The album has often been called the most "Beatles-sounding" of the former Beatle solo recordings, and that's a good thing.

Recently, all of the George Harrison studio albums and the live album from the Dark Horse years have been remastered and rereleased, and in some cases even gotten bonus tracks. On Cloud Nine, as far as bonus tracks go, you get the underrated tunes Shanghai Surprise and Zig Zag. Unfortunately though, the record company wasted a huge opportunity here. There were a ton more songs that should have been bonus tracks on here, but weren't included. Among these are Handle With Care, a big hit from Harrison's Traveling Wilburys days, I Won't Back Down, a Tom Petty song that George helped out with, Cheer Down, the song that Harrison recorded for the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack, and the infamous studio rarities, Poor Little Girl and Cockamamie Business. The latter three songs are available on Best Of Dark Horse, but the record company DID NOT reissue that compilation! Putting those songs on the rereleased Cloud Nine would have been extremely smart, but no. Now fans are going to have to hunt down an out of print compilation, just for the sake of three songs.

Cloud Nine is George Harrison's finest work in a very long time. All of his solo albums are excellent, but this one, along with All Things Must Pass, are in a league all their own. No fan of George Harrison, casual or die-hard, should be without Cloud Nine. This is a masterpiece just waiting to be added to your collection.