Comeback Albums

If one is talking about comeback or post-hiatus albums, three albums for me would be absolute favourites. While Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline (1969) came after an almost-fatal motorcycle accident, Eric Clapton’s 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) was his first studio album after he quit heroin and George Harrison’s Cloud Nine (1987) after a five year break from songwriting.

All three are peculiar for a sea change in the kind of music each of these artists made prior to these albums. Although Clapton continues the same blues-rock style that he followed in his previous Layla... venture, 461... offers more variety in the form of an unlikely cover of Bob Marley’s reggae “I Shot The Sheriff” and his pleading self-composition “Let It Grow”.

Dylan collaborated with Johnny Cash to come up with a sparkling country rock album in Nashville Skyline. He sounds refreshingly different in the album, much softer and less smoky. The sound of the album is relaxed and the length just over 25 minutes; it’s almost as though he’s not trying to make a serious record at all. But it brings everything together beautifully with the power still there in his lyric, and there being various emotions written about at the same time. The emphasis though is still on romance with tracks like “Lay Lady Lay” and “Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You”.

Harrison’s Cloud 9 is probably Harrison’s rebirth after albums like Somewhere in England and Gone Troppo. The album sound is remarkable and markedly different from his earlier albums with Jeff Lynne’s (Electric Light Orchestra) great contribution in production. The tracks have a light pop-rock feel, are pepped up, but there is still no compromise on the guitar work. There is nostalgia (“When We Was Fab” takes you back to those Beatles years) and love (“Cloud 9”, “Got My Mind Set on You”). And there’s lyrical genius in “Wreck of the Hesperus”.

Derek and the Dominos: Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (1970)

It's been a long break - almost a six month one. And yours truly has been going through various blues-rock albums. Mostly dominated by Clapton and his various bands. He's been watching concerts and relishing newly acquired albums. But one that needs a special mention is this - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, being the only work by the Derek and the Dominos (the Dominos being Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon and Carl Radle). An album with exceptional guitar work by guest Duane Allman (who plays the slide in most tracks) and 'Derek' Clapton, it'll take atleast six runs to settle down in you. But boy, once it does, you'll love every bit of it. Typical blues-rock that way. Not quite the catchiest tunes, but then, isn't that what most blues is about? It has an impressive tracklist, mostly Whitlock-Clapton compositions. And intermittently featuring some really good covers, like 'Little Wing' (being a tribute to its creator, Jimi Hendrix), 'Key to the Highway' (written by Charles Segar and Willie Bronzy in the mid 1940s) and 'Nobody Knows When You're Down and Out' (written by Jimmie Cox, which later became one of Clapton's favourites to perform - it can also be found on his Unplugged album).
In sum, a great album, which would make you wonder why it didn't top the charts when it was released. And then everytime you finish the album, you would wish that Derek and the Dominos had produced more albums. But then, Derek had caught up both with heroin and the heroine soon thereafter.

Must watch out for:
"I Am Yours" (Track 5)
"Anyday" (Track 6)