A lot of people malign this album of Lennon's, but for me it is my favorite album by him and I finally got the remastered version of it on CD and it sounds fabulous. I don't know why people seem to hate this album. It had TWO top ten hits on it "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" and "#9 Dream" and "What You Got" got a lot of airplay too. There really isn't a bum track on the collection unless you count his quickie knock-off of "Ya Ya" with son Julian on drums, and I even like that because it's charming.
I find his two highest-rated albums "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine" not as good or equal at best in comparison and a bit overrated. "Plastic Ono" is rather harsh despite some good songs, and "Imagine" has the incredibly long "I Don't Want to be a Soldier, Mama" that keeps me from liking that album more.
People seem to like these two albums because Lennon was in a lot of pain while making them. Like he wasn't when he made "Walls and Bridges". He was separated from Yoko, for goodness sake! This made for harsh but lushly performed songs about his relationship with her (save for things like "Steel and Glass" which is about Allen Klein).
If you have never purchased a Lennon album beyond his greatest hits collections, I highly suggest "Walls and Bridges" along with "Plastic Ono" and "Imagine". You could probably pass on "Some Time in New York City", "Mind Games", "Rock and Roll" and "Double Fantasy" for later as I feel they are not up to par, but they all sound great now that they've all been remastered.
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Regards,
Mark Arnold
http://funideas.home.att.net
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