John Lennon - "Lennon Legend"

Hello readers, if there are any of you left, I greatly apologize for the long break I know it has been two months since my last post. It is one of those things where you suddenly get busy and start doing all these different things and the time seems to vanish. Wake up and before you know it it is time to sleep again.

After some special posts, one for Stephen Stills' birthday, I am returning to my alphabetical list of albums. This is the last CD I have by John Lennon. This 1997 single disc Best of compilation is really perfect. "Lennon Legend" subtitled "The Very Best of John Lennon" certainly lives up to it's subtitle.

Contained here are all his solo singles (even the ones released after his death) along with a few choice album tracks. Sure there are other good songs in his solo catalogue but this is the best of it.

After Lennon's first two solo albums, his remaining albums had a cobbled together and sometimes tossed off feel.  A few great tracks then some stuff he was just playing around with.  This grabs many of the best moments from "Walls and Bridges," "Mind Games," and "Milk and Honey."  Also included are songs like "Cold Turkey," "Give Peace a Chance," "Instant Karma," and "Happy Xmas" which never appeared on any album.

All four Beatles solo work actually had the same feel, a handful of great songs then the rest of the album was devoted to forgettable songs.  Each of the four had at least one excellent album though.  So their solo catalogues are prime arenas for compilations.

As I said before this is an excellent compilation showcasing Lennon's best solo work. It follows basically chronological order, but when it does move songs around it is with good taste and for good effect.  The sound is strong and the booklet contains many candid photographs and very brief information about each song.

I believe this compilation went out of print in 2010 when Lennon's entire catalogue was re-released in honor of what would have been his 70th birthday. Now the only compilations available are well packaged box-sets or a shorter compilation. The albums "Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine" are must haves but if there is one Lennon compilation to seek out it is this one.

John Lennon - "Imagine"

I had originally wrote about John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album for what would have been his 70th birthday in 2010 here is a link to that post
http://loosenthekey.blogspot.com/2010/10/john-lennon-john-lennonplastic-ono-band.html

Lennon's second solo album "Imagine" was released in 1971 and became a number one hit. Again produced by Phil Spector who is able to incorporate more of his Wall of Sound techniques than he was on the previous "Plastic Ono Band" album.

"Imagine" finds Lennon moving toward the political activism that would comprise his next album "Sometimes in New York City" and his public life for much of the early 1970s.

The title track has become his signature tune and will always be a spectacular plea for peace and understanding that, for me, never gets old. It is Lennon being the master musician but also pushing a slightly political agenda. On my car I have a bumper sticker that reads "You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one."

"I don't Wanna be a Soldier" and "Gimme Some Truth" are straight forward political songs obviously protesting the Vietnam War and the latter calling out politicians. Despite the ranting lyrics (particularly on the latter track), Lennon is such a strong musician he makes them catchy.

The rest of the album focuses on confessional songs similar in content to "Plastic Ono Band." Yet where that album was raw and bare, the songs here are given smooth sweeping arrangements that slightly mask their raw emotions. "Crippled Inside" is a mix of two faced politicians and Lennon's own pain with his winking off-center humor. "Jealous Guy" is a beautiful apology (possibly to Yoko Ono) set to sweeping strings. "How Do you Sleep" is a snarling through gritted teeth confrontation with Paul McCartney (but Lennon later said the song was a way to separate himself from the Beatles). "It's So Hard," "How?" and "Oh My Love" are simple quiet emotions and would have fit well on his previous album.

This is a great album, especially for Lennon fans. The version I have has a lot of photographs and lyrics in the CD booklet. Thank you John for another gift of music

For Christmas 2012 lets imagine all the people living life in peace and the world as one. Merry Christmas Everyone.

John Lennon - "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band"

Since tomorrow Oct. 9th, would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday I am breaking the sequence of my loosen the key blog to honor him. But next week we shall return to the alphabetical order that has been going on.

When I was in high school I was incredibly interested in John Lennon, I still have an interest in him it is just not as dominating. I used to have shirts with his picture and sayings like "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance." I found him mesmerizing in a way and just researched him and listened to his music.

His first solo album "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band," excluding the sound experiments of "Unfinished Music," is a brutal confessional album focusing on all the feelings that Lennon was experiencing at the time, including loss, anger, insecurity, bitterness, love and hope. The album is incredibly demanding as it does not bend to the listener, Lennon wants to talk about these things and if you do not want to listen you should buy a different record. When he sings, "I was the Dreamweaver and Now I'm Reborn, I was the Walrus but now I'm just John, The Dream is Over," its a truly moving statement that is heartbreaking. While there is a bleakness to the album, Lennon wraps some simple yet melodic music around his lyrics. I connected with this album in High School because I knew what "Isolation" felt like, and "Love" but also losing dreams and "Look at me What am I supposed to be?" I was feeling those emotions and the confessional feel of the album connected. He also brought some hope on the horizon with songs like "Hold On" and "Love" which I also identified with.

As with all Lennon solo albums, with the exception of "Double Fantasy," some of the songs seem unfinished or simply demos but here it adds to the feel of the album. It is not a perfect recording, the screaming at the end of some songs gets overbearing, the CD reissue also adds two singles to the end of the album seemingly to balance the bleakness. This album brought Lennon from the heights of Beatle power to a regular person who happened to being feeling the same way that many of us everyday people felt. That is the power of the album it explores universal emotions in a simple confessional way. This album is not for everyone as it may be too demanding for some listeners, but it is something special from a very special musician.

So for what would be your 70th birthday I write this review to you John Lennon. You were stolen from us but thank you for the music that you made, as it connected us. I hope you are somewhere hanging with George and jamming with Elvis. Happy Birthday John.