4.5 stars - Uneven but excellent

Imagine (1971.) John Lennon's second solo album.

In 1970, John Lennon finally found his voice as a musican apart from the Beatles. His previous solo attempts weren't even really albums, and die-hards even tend to dislike them. His first true solo album, Plastic Ono Band, beautifully demonstrated his potential for making music apart from the Beatles. And in 1971, he tried his hand at it again. Read on for my review of his second solo album, 1971's Imagine.

The title track needs no introduction whatsoever - it's John Lennon's biggest non-Beatles hit. And what an excellent song it is. Another fairly popular track on the album was the ultra-melodic ballad, Jealous Guy. You've gotta love this song. The album's second track, Crippled Inside, is a rather interesting experiment in that it uses some country/western elements. The end result is actually quite pleasing, too. And, of course, what would a John Lennon album be without him lashing out at the corrupt world? He does just that on I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier and Gimme Some Truth. The vocals in the latter song are particularly catchy. One song on the album that tends to get a lot of mention from fans is How Do You Sleep?, Lennon's personal attack on his former Beatles comrade, Paul McCartney. This song is an underrated masterpiece of a song that should have gone onto become a bigger hit (and NO, I DON'T hate Paul or anything like that!) George Harrison, like John, was still pissed at Paul from the latter Beatle days, so he helped John record this song. The album closes out with a more light-hearted, simplistic number, Oh, Yoko! This is rather obviously an ode to Lennon's lover. Although I'm not too crazy about Yoko (like so very many Beatles/John Lennon fans), I DO like this song. All in all, we are left with an album that, while uneven, is still excellent.

Unlike the Plastic Ono Band reissue, this one doesn't include any bonus tracks. That's both a good and bad thing. Good because there are no extra tracks to hurt the flow of the album, bad because there are so many songs from this era that were single-only tracks, and accordingly, you'll have to buy a rarities package or hits compilation to get them on CD - putting them on here would have made them much easier to access.

Many people complain about this album being uneven, but if anything, I think that its uneven nature is one of its greatest strengths. The album shows just how many different types of musical stylings Lennon is capable of. This is his most popular solo album (mostly due to the successes of the title track.) If you're a fan, buy it.

4.5 stars - uneven but excellent nonetheless

Imagine (1971.) John Lennon's second solo album.

In 1970, John Lennon finally found his voice as a musican apart from the Beatles. His previous solo attempts weren't even really albums, and die-hards even tend to dislike them. His first true solo album, Plastic Ono Band, beautifully demonstrated his potential for making music apart from the Beatles. And in 1971, he tried his hand at it again. Read on for my review of his second solo album, 1971's Imagine.

The title track needs no introduction whatsoever - it's John Lennon's biggest non-Beatles hit. And what an excellent song it is. Another fairly popular track on the album was the ultra-melodic ballad, Jealous Guy. You've gotta love this song. The album's second track, Crippled Inside, is a rather interesting experiment in that it uses some country/western elements. The end result is actually quite pleasing, too. And, of course, what would a John Lennon album be without him lashing out at the corrupt world? He does just that on I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier and Gimme Some Truth. The vocals in the latter song are particularly catchy. One song on the album that tends to get a lot of mention from fans is How Do You Sleep?, Lennon's personal attack on his former Beatles comrade, Paul McCartney. This song is an underrated masterpiece of a song that should have gone onto become a bigger hit (and NO, I DON'T hate Paul or anything like that!) The album closes out with a more light-hearted, simplistic number, Oh, Yoko! This is rather obviously an ode to Lennon's lover. Although I'm not too crazy about Yoko (like so very many Beatles/John Lennon fans), I DO like this song. All in all, we are left with an album that, while uneven, is still excellent.

Many people complain about this album being uneven, but if anything, I think that its uneven nature is one of its greatest strengths. The album shows just how many different types of musical stylings Lennon is capable of. This is his most popular solo album (mostly due to the successes of the title track.) If you're a fan, buy it.

A Modern Classic

Before buying this album my knowledge of Lennon's songs were restricted to the 'Lennon Legend' compilation. 'Imagine' certainly opened my view to the songs which are usually left out of the best of... type of albums. Songs like 'Crippled Inside', 'How Do You Sleep?', 'How?' and 'Oh Yoko!' show the artistic mastery of Lennon as a musician and his typically straightforward lyrics are as poignant as ever.

This is the first MFSL recording I have listened to and the sonic performance of this CD is astounding. Having compared the songs 'Imagine' and 'Jealous Guy' with the standard sound of the conventional CD I was simply amazed at the quality delivered on my sound system (standard equipment). The superb sound of this CD is well worth paying for.

As fresh today as ever

Since the time of its original release to the present day, my father played (plays) this album every day. The song "Imagine" is his morning prayer. I heard side one of this album repeated over and over again, every day, for 14 or 15 years. I know every note, every drum beat, every crackle in John's voice, etc. on that first side. When I grew up and moved out, I actually missed the album, and purchased a copy, on compact disc (so I became enamored with side 2 as well). I still listen to Imagine often (though not obsessively like my father). The songs are wonderfully written, and it is obvious that John and his all star cast had fun laying them on tape; resulting in a recording that stands the test of time (I have heard it more times than most people have heard any recording, and I still love it). The Beatles had "Sgt. Pepper", Paul had "Band on the Run", George had "All Things Must Pass", Ringo had "Ringo", and John had "Imagine"... Enough said

Great album

It's funny how you can have a song like "Imagine" on the same CD as "How Do You Sleep?". Still, it works (at least I think so). If you're skeptical, just get it for the title track. You don't have to like the rest of the songs, it's a classic. It's more than a classic, it's a masterpiece. As for the rest of the album, "Jealous Guy" and "Oh My Love" are beautiful and touching. "How Do You Sleep?" is amusing. Still, it's a little upsetting how sinister and mean Lennon was towards his former buddy. "Those freaks was right when they said you was dead". Overall, the most Beatles-like album of John's short solo career. One of the best ex-Beatle solo albums. NOT another Plastic Ono Band. Definitely an essential.

Imagine

After 1970's Plastic Ono Band, people weren't sure what to expect from John Lennon. Spare, raw, and naked both instrumentally and emotionally, this didn't sound like the man behind Strawberry Fields Forever or All You Need Is Love. Imagine, released the following year and featuring George Harrison's guitar, Phil Spector's beefed-up production, and Lennon's songwriting and vocal prowess, is a much more Beatlesesque affair, and overall more satisfying - arguably the most satisfying of all John's records. In fact, it's generally vaunted as his best post-Beatles work, and I'm in no position to argue. This really is a splendid album and belongs in the collection of any music fan, not just Beatles and Lennon followers.



The bulk of the material here is the work of a genuine pop genius. The title track needs no description - you know and love it, and if you don't, well, I don't know where you've been exactly, but I suggest you return to earth. From there Imagine is a contrast between the two faces of John Lennon: the sarcastic, cynical social commentator and the soft, vulnerable human being. The scathing Gimme Some Truth and jaunty Crippled Inside demonstrate the former; Jealous Guy, How?, and Oh My Love, all overwhelmingly poignant and beautiful, without the shadow of the doubt, are the latter. I prefer the emotional ballads, personally, as they reveal that John was a person after all and not the god that posthumous burnishing has made him out to be.



In addition to those afore-mentioned we get some searing blues in It's so Hard, the absolutely giddy folk-rocker Oh, Yoko! (my personal favourite apart from the title track) and the infamous How Do You Sleep? This bristling rocker is a vicious attack on Paul McCartney, and while I love Paul, the song is so good that you end up getting drawn into John's anger and spewing venom right along with him. Paul took it (more or less) in stride back in the day in any case, so it's all cool. The only downer and this disc is the mantra-like I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama. Essentially tuneless and repetitive, this one place where Imagine could have used a bit of the editing John's former partner's albums have so often been accused of warranting.



In the years following his death John has been elevated to something close to musical sainthood, pushing his equally talented partners Paul and George into the background - an unfortunate circumstance, and not one that he would have liked. But no matter how much praise is given him at the expense of his bandmates, the fact remains that John Lennon was truly one of the greatest artistic minds of our time. Imagine is testament to that.

Imagine and a lot more

I just bought this album and expected a good album, but not as good as the Plastic Ono Band. Well, the album was every bit as good as it. Here's a track by track review-



Imagine- 10/10 - I can't say much about this song that hasn't already been said. It is just one of the most beautiful songs ever written and about that utopian world. Lennon's voice is in top form.



Crippled Inside- 8/10- A catccy tune, with great lyrics by John. Has kind of a country feel.



Jealous Guy- 10/10- A beautiful song about his love with Yoko. Often overlooked because of Imagine, but it is one of John's best songs ever.



It's So Hard- 10/10- The first real rocker on this album.



I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama- 10/10- One of Lennon's most famous protest songs. It has some great slide guitar by Harrison. It has a similar feel to Come Together.



Gimme Some Truth- 10/10- Lennon's best protest song. Harrison also plays guitar on this. It has a lot of the emotion that was evident on songs like I Found Out on Plastic Ono Band.



Oh My Love- 6/10- a nice song written by both John and Yoko Ono. I personally don't love it. Harrison takes guitar again.



How Do You Sleep?- 10/10- An amazing angry song directed at Paul McCartney. This might be my favorite song on the album. More slide guitar from Harrison.



Oh Yoko- 5/10- A catchy, upbeat song about John's love for Yoko, not one of my favorite Lennon songs, though many seem to love it.



Most of the songs are obviously stand-outs, and I think the presence of the song imagine overshadowed these songs and stopped them from becoming more popular. This is a must-have CD along with Plastic Ono Band.

Lennon's second best solo album!

John Lennon wasn't the greatest producer of rock 'n' roll. That title belongs to George Martin. Here Lennon comes up with some outstanding material only to be ripped to shreds by Phil Spector. You would think Lennon would have learned his lesson after "Let It Be." Instead he used Spector to oversee some great songs, which was a big mistake.



The title track is a Lennon classic sung in his child's voice which he used in a lot of his songs. It's not smothered by Spector and it works great. The next song, "Crippled Inside" has some great piano work, but Lennon's voice is so crippled by Spector, which is how he ruined a lot of Lennon's songs. George Martin would just use Lennon's natural voice and only when Lennon would ask for something different, he would experiment with it. Spector has a knack of throwing Lennon's voice almost in the background so you don't get the full effect. Whereas "Plastic Ono Band" had Lennon howling and tearing up the vocals, here he sounds like a much lesser singer because of Spector. The song that suffers the most from Spector is "Jealous Guy." This was a great song similar to "Dear Prudence" initially titled "Child Of Nature." In this song, which is a song about regrets, Lennon sounds so weak from overproduction. It's almost as if Spector turns off Lennon's microphone and just mikes up the instruments. A fine rock 'n' roll number is "It's So Hard." Again, smothered by Spector, but the song is strong enough on its own. "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier" would have been a Lennon classic, but it isn't because of Phil Spector. A year earlier Lennon would have made this a funky tune with some howling vocals, but again, Spector chooses to concentrate his sounds on tambourines.



"Gimme Some Truth"...wow, what a classic!!! However, it isn't a classic and it is obvious from Harrison's overblairing guitar and bass guitar that Spector didn't know what he was doing as a producer. "Oh, My Love" Oh, my what a waste of space this boring song was! It was a great song, but what was the deal with that abysmal piano? Again, some bad production. "How Do You Sleep" is a song that could have been great, but it lacked any tenacity from Lennon. Sure, it was overproduced by Spector, but Lennon can't seem to turn this into a rocker. It's almost more apologetic than angry. Another song completely destroyed by Spector is "How." Lennon's supposed to sound fragile in this song, but was he supposed to sound like a poor singer as well? This is what Phil Spector's artsy production did to all of Lennon's songs was made him sound like a lesser singer. One song not too affected by Phil was "Oh, Yoko." This is a fun, but not great song with good harmonica and piano.



The reason I gave four stars is because the songs are so strong by themselves. If Lennon had given this album to George Martin to produce it would have been 20 times the album we listen to today. Spector is an overrated producer that relied too heavily on tambourines and high treble. "Imagine" suffers almost in the same way that "Instant Karma" did. In that song Lennon's voice was altered again unnecessarily by Spector for a more powerful effect. The outcome wasn't impressive. The same person that brought you "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except For Me And My Monkey" and "Revolution" would have no problem tackling this song witout any sound effects.



In short, Lennon should have never split from George Martin and because he did, much of his solo work was worse than it should have been. Even worse, he joined up with Phil Spector.



If we want to hear a great Lennon album without too much of Spector's touch, look no further than "Plastic Ono Band." This is a great album where Lennon shouts and howls some great rock 'n' roll tunes. There's some great unplugged ballads like "Love." The worst song is "Look At Me", but even that is a good song very similar to "Julia." It's not an album you want to listen to all the time because of its negativity, but it is overall better than "Abbey Road", "Sgt. Pepper", or "Magical Mystery Tour." There are no weak points on this concept album and it's the best solo effort by any Beatle.

Second strong solo album by Lennon benefits from remix

"Imagine" was supposed to be "Plastic Ono Band" sugar coated for the masses. Lennon returned to some of the themes that dominated the emotional rollercoaster first album. In reality, "Imagine" has aged better than the much rawer "POB". Perhaps its the song craft and return to melody, but "Imagine" does a much better job balancing the darker songs with the tender moments.

The utopian title track is often misunderstood. It's not a blind, hippy anthem but, instead, Lennon's recognition that we don't live in the world he wishes for in the song. His suggestion to make it a reality is to take the first step in hopes that it'll come to pass. The best song on the album, though, is the marvelous "Jealous Guy". Originally demoed and written for The White Album, Lennon was never happy with the lyrics and came back to it again and again. This is one of Lennon's most sublime and tender ballads. That's something coming from the man that unleased the electric howl of "Mother" or "Cold Turkey".

Just about every track can hold its own with some of Lennon's best solo work. "How" touches on themes explored much less lyrically on "POB". While "Oh Yoko" is a plain, straight ahead love song. Yes, "How Do You Sleep?" is a pretty nasty comment on Lennon's relationship with McCartney but they were still in the aftermath of a nasty divorce. McCartney's marvelous "Dear Friend" (from the so-so album "Wild Life")acts as the perfect letter back; it's clear that McCartney wanted to try and heal some of the deep wounds that they inflicted on each other in the press and in song.

There are no bonus tracks. That's a good and bad thing. The bonus tracks for "POB" were a horrible selection and didn't fit there. The song "Happy Xmas" might have been a good choice but Yoko chose not to include it (it was released in 1972 but recorded between "Imagine" and the horrible "Sometime in New York City"). The sound quality is sharper and clearer here than on the Capitol version. Is it a huge difference? Frankly, the differences are subtle but enough to make it a worthwhile purchase for fans of the album. That and the fact that it's a limited edition pressing (usually MFS pressings are only available for a three or so years)make it essential for Beatle fans.