Imagine

I mean, it's Imagine by Julian Lennon's dad, it's a bit 'meh'. Jealous Guy is a good song....towards the end it made me punch a wall...but at least it wasn't my wife, eh John?

John Lennon is the worst human being who ever lived

I found this album even more mean-spirited, and insecure than I remembered it - "Imagine no possessions", sang the man who had a temperature-controlled room for his fur coats. 1 star

I’m slowly realizing that a big part of the Beatles magic was the mix of their individual sounds together. Paul’s sound without John or George was great, but it was just missing something. This album further proves it. I think it’s the closest John sounded to his days in the Beatles... turns out George was on guitar for a lot of it... which, I think, is a huge reason why it’s as close as it is.

This album taught me an interesting lesson. Namely, that Lennon really needed the rest of the Beatles to avoid being a bullshit artist. I think it's because he was pretty much a trash human being and, without the balancing influence of his bandmates, all of his egotism, hypocrisy, and pretension didn't get filtered out. Instead, he spent the whole album spotlighting his worst traits to the detriment of his (few) positive traits. To say it's distasteful is an understatement. Giving this one a very generous 3 stars...

Glad he's dead.

Can we stop pretending every shit from a Beatle is gold? #freeRingo

"In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my own intelligence" -John Lennon

This is a phenomenal album with some of John's best songwriting. It's debatable which of John's songs is his best but Imagine would certainly be on the short list. This song as well as the ballads Jealous Guy and Oh My Love are all done with piano accompaniments rather than guitars resulting in the album having a soft touch. The guitars are saved for the rockers. Most Beatles trivia buffs will say John's last public performance was in 1974 when he joined Elton John to play a few songs after losing a bet but the real trivia geeks will say his last "public performance" was in 1977 when John was bored in a Tokyo hotel so took out his guitar and played Jealous Guy while sitting near the elevator. The way I heard it, nobody who saw him knew who he was or cared! Crippled Inside is an excellent tune. It has a hint of country and excellent keyboards contributed by Nicky Hopkins. The opening piano on Crippled Inside is reminiscent of the beer barrel piano style on the intro to Paul's song Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da which I understand John contributed even though he hated the song! Side 2 starts with some venom with Gimme Some Truth. The political message in this song is obvious hasn't changed much in 50 years. John knew how to dish out venom when he felt it was warranted. Of course he saves his best insults for Paul in How Do You Sleep. In this song Paul is the target of his venom as John returns fire after the salvos Paul aimed at John and Yoko on "Too Many People" from his second album. Perhaps the most clever is John's comment on Paul's post Beatles' songs when he says: "The sound you make is muzak to my ears". I expect this would have been devastating for Paul to hear. As they say, the truth hurts. Lesson for Paul: Don't use lyrics as a weapon when fighting with John. Oh Yoko is another love song to Yoko. I'm guessing Paul would have preferred if John had contributed this love song to Abbey Road rather than the far less commercial / user-friendly I Want You (She's So Heavy). John's harmonica at the very end is random but a very good way to end an excellent album.

I went into this album having already downloaded two of the songs, I left having downloaded them all. This album has it all, good songwriting, good music, and variety. The political messages sound extra important in today’s world and the Paul McCartney diss track is something special. I’m sure I’m biased because of my Beatlemania as a kid but I have to rate this as a near perfect album. 9/10 but 5/5

The worst impulses of Lennon are encouraged when freed from the Beatles.

As a kid, I would have given this a 5. As the album hits it the middle group of songs, it becomes more average. By the end you realize Spector’s production is the only thing making some of the average songs great, along with mysticism around Lennon’s celebrity. As an adult with a new perspective, the album is good, but not as big as I once thought it was. Due to Spector, I would give this 3/5 album a 4/5.

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Bland. Very MOR. Would have given it a very bland 2 but it's hard to listen to a wife beater twittering on about being a jealous guy so he's getting a 1.

Pile of shite.

Epic.

I have always loathed the song Imagine. This hatred, I understand, is very common. Both on its own and considered within cultural context, Imagine cheesegrates the sensibilities of anyone with a scraping of taste, reason or heart. It rhymes "one" with "one", just as a starter. The melody is basic past the point of banality (and it was used better on Jealous Guy, which in any case was performed better by Roxy Music: you really need Bryan Ferry for that blue, wistful saudade atmosphere, that's what he gets up in the morning for). A millionaire ensconced in his mansion asks us to "imagine no possessions"; presumably he imagined no possessions, as he could just buy whatever he wanted. One can defend its simplistic, naïve messaging as wilfully childlike and idealistic (in fairness, it does retort "You may say that I'm a dreamer"), but that just underscores its infantile, playground view of politics; also, as adults, aren't our political values meant to be taken from sources a bit more substantial than 3-minute hippy anthems? Yet the inherent irksomeness of Imagine has become exponentiated to an emetic degree by its overbearance in culture. Remember Gal Gadot and her celebrity pals trying to bring the world together in the early days of Covid by singing Imagine over their phones? I just tried putting it on Youtube, but I was genuinely too scared to hit play. Imagine is, of course, mountainously smug, but Gal et al. create a planet of smugness in 3 minutes, whereas that slowpoke God had to take a day to make the earth (although he did also make the heavens and light that day too, so he took a third of a day to make the earth, maybe?). That is one especially charmless sample from a smorgasbord of mortifying celebrity versions of Imagine. Want another? Cee-Lo Green's take on Imagine changes the most interesting line "and no religion too" to "and all religions too", managing the dubious achievement of making Imagine even more inane and unchallenging. About the only by-product of Imagine of any merit is when Oasis stole it for the beginning of Don't Look Back in Anger, which is still the best of beery singalongs at closing time. Still, I'm here to review an album, not one song, and the album is properly weird. It does have the apparent virtue of authenticity, of John Lennon making an honest John Lennon album, but an honest John Lennon album is not an album around which the cult of John Lennon was consecrated. Now, if you want John doing songs that sound like Beatles off-cuts, you have Crippled Inside's jaunty cynicism (George Harrison plays on 5 of the songs). Gimme Some Truth provides you with your fix of vinyl-thin political protest. If happy-clappy hippy sentimentality is your bag, man, then aside from Imagine you cool cats should dig Oh My Love, though I wonder if it's possible not to laugh at the lines "I see the wind / I see the trees". I'm So Hard is yer boilerplate bluesy rocker, and I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama is yer standard jam that goes on just a tad too long. But if none of these styles really satisfy, the weaknesses of John Lennon's songwriting emerge like a magic-eye picture. In particular, much of his lyricism is unintentionally comical. "Oh Yoko, my love will turn you on" ends in perhaps the three worst words imaginable in that situation (seriously, do you want that image rattling around your head?). "How can I go forward when I don't know which way to turn?" only makes sense if John is driving a car. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama has its die/fly/cry/lie rhymes, making you wonder if John don't wanna be a launderer mama, he don't wanna dry, John don't wanna be a salesman mama, he don't wanna ply, John don't wanna be a psychic mama, he don't wanna scry... (make up your own, kids!) But the best song on the album also makes for the most uncomfortable listening (well, aside from the excruciating Imagine). How Do You Sleep? shows us the angry, resentful and vindictive John Lennon, his ire generated by and thrust at Paul McCartney. Brief backstory: with the fallout of the Beatles' break-up, the courts had gotten involved, and John made a few disparaging asides about his former bandmates in interviews. Macca then, on his album Ram, recorded Too Many People, which featured a few mild jabs at Lennon, then took out an ad parodying John and Yoko's bagism by showing Macca and Linda dressed as clowns (I would say Macca probably meant this as a joke, albeit perhaps a little unwise in the midst of the legal farrago). This caused Lennon to revert to his most splenetic in How Do You Sleep?, barraging Macca as a middling chancer bolstered by sycophants who will ditch him now the talent (i.e., John) has disappeared. The thing is, the song works: the wordplay is clever and intentionally funny ("The only thing you done was yesterday", "The sound you make is musak to my ears"), and Phil Spector's strings reinforce the groove of the Wurlitzer and slide guitar (George Harrison again). But the rancour John displays only unsettles the listener, like a glimpse of, well, an exceptionally bitter argument between a divorcing couple (Ringo visited the recording of this song and found it upsetting, believing justifiably that John had gone too far). As for its place on the album, it frankly demolishes all the peace-and-love affectations the rest of the album tries to volunteer, implying that John the ambassador of peace was hiding John the brute spoiling for a fight, and all it took for that metamorphosis to occur was a slight dig and three pints of bad cider. In summation, Imagine qualifies as the quintessential John Lennon record, but that is very much a backhanded compliment. It has all that's stimulating about John Lennon's music, and all that's tiresome. Whether you find Imagine inspiring or exasperating is your prerogative. Personally, I don't find John Lennon, or Imagine, that interesting. The songs tend to be just okay, with one notable atrocity, and the best song is unrepresentative of the album and itself a disconcerting listen. Much of the curiosity this album fosters is due to its historical circumstances: the break-up of the Beatles and the curdling of hippy utopianism. By the by, I write this in 2022. Since in recent times we have witnessed a worldwide resurgence of nationalism and religiosity, along with marked increases in inequality and the entrenchment of consumer capitalism ("imagine there's no smartphone / I wonder if you can"), doesn't that mean that the legacy of Imagine is illusory, and that the judgement of history is that John Lennon was a tosser?

1/10 - I hate John Lennon. Overrated as fuck. I don’t know how people listen to this and think it’s good.

John Lennon’s second album is portrait of a man who is at a crossroads and is trying to figure out who he is. This inner turmoil is also reflected in the shifts in genre from the placid and occasionally lush (classic Phil Spector production), to the more country/rockabilly, and rock and roll influences tracks. Lennon is contemplative, remorseful, and angry all in a 40 minute span. He ends and starts the album with no answers to the deeper questions but with the knowledge that love and humanity are the heart of the answer.

It's Lennon. I already loved all the songs I knew, but there were a few I was unfamiliar with, and even those are lovely. Aside from loving this throughout, I have to go top marks in case one day Mum finds out I didn't, she'd hurt me, I'm sure of it.

A complicated album for me to review. John Lennon is one of my favorite musicians of all time. He is probably my favorite male vocalist. When I was younger I saw footage of people mourning him after his assassination and I remember crying my eyes out. He has been an icon to me. Heʻs also from what Iʻve read later in life, kind of a huge asshole and physically violent person to both men and women earlier in his life, before he (mostly) repented. I wonʻt go into depth on this front but suffice it to say that itʻs enough to really taint his legacy and recently has made it hard for me to fully put that shit out of my head when listening to his music. But for the sake of this review Iʻll attempt that. Anyway, this album is wonderful, but still a huge drop in quality from his previous album, Plastic Ono Band, which is one of the greatest of all time. Imagine (the song) is extremely overplayed, but it's still a classic. Oh Yoko! has been a favorite of mine for years, ever since I heard it in the Wes Anderson movie Rushmore. Gimme Some Truth is just a brilliant verbal assault on hypocritic politicians. I have a really fond memory of my aunt rap-singing "I'm sick to death of seeing things/ From tight-lipped, condescending, mama's little chauvinists" to me when I was kid. I love how vulnerable and open he is on this album, he really bares his soul in many songs like Jealous Guy and Oh My Love. His love for Yoko inspires so much beauty in his music. A dark spot is How Do You Sleep, a scathing takedown of Paul McCartney that always felt unnecessarily cruel to me. A reminder of just how fucked up he could be in one moment while in the next being this revolutionary, life-giving force of music.

Despite how much of a behemoth the title track is, this album has a number of pretty great songs on it. Pretentious high concept nonsense before it was cool. Phil Spector sort of ruins it a bit though. I quite like that it is pretty angry and political but really just sounds like a pleasant pop album. I really love Oh Yoko.

Enjoyable listening. I prefer George Harrison's solo albums, he really flourished when he was liberated from John's tyranny. The one thing everyone needs to know is that the track Imagine was largely written by Yoko Ono, who John selfishly decided wasn't worth crediting because she's "just a wife, y'know?" He was a total douchebag, but it is easy listening.

Heard it many times. Not a Lennon fan

This is really an exceptional album. John was a complete asshole, but also a complete musical genius. This one actually belongs on the list. 5/5

I grew up with this album so it's difficult to view it objectively. I can see how some might see this as a bit wishy-washy musically but the sound has Lennon stamped on it and it depends on whether it's your bag. There are some genuine classics here though- Imagine (of course), Jealous Guy, Give me some Truth, but my favourite has always been 'How do you sleep' which was aimed at Paul and is pretty scathing and is surely one of the best songs anywhere. After listening again to the whole album there are a few weaker tracks but the general album taken as a whole is worthy of *****

one of the classics

5/5 based on the 1st song...

Loved it

A perfect album.

Obviously excellent. Oddly, he showed this first to some guy, I forget who. “Imagine” was originally a B-side on that tape.

I think I last listened to this album all the way through when I was about 12 years old (my best friend's older brother had a copy) and I'd forgotten how utterly, utterly brilliant it was and I want to apologise to the world for leaving it so long - I've played it 5 times today to try and make amends. It's just visceral and totally brilliant, the best thing I've heard so far. Can I give 6 stars? (also just noticed that Billy Bragg nicked the riff from 'Oh Yoko' for 'Waiting for the great leap forward'). I wrote loads more (twice) about this album but deleted it all - there was no need, you already knew it all anyway.

5 stars

Discazo

listening to this album calmed my anxiety

Hot Stuff!

It is a great album from a great man. Remember when Gal Gadot and her 'friends' did Imagine at the start of lockdown?

It is a classic, heard imagine so many times it can be a bit tiring, but think jealous guy is the best anyway

After Plastic Ono Band's violent debeatling, the nation's favourite demagogue continues his primal scream-induced plainspeak. Try this on for rawness: "No short-haired, yellow-bellied, son of Tricky Dicky is gonna Mother Hubbard, soft soap me with just a pocketful of hope." Or, "I was feeling insecure / You might not love me anymore". Lennon softens the edges with pop-friendly euphemisms, albeit acerbic ones, such as "You can wear a mask and paint your face / You can call yourself the human race," but most notably Spector's luscious wall of sound, which coats Lennon's salted caramel brittle with a litre of extra thick double-cream. Special mention to Oh Yoko!, which is almost a unassumingly beautiful as the Velvet's After Hours. Makes me think I'm in love with Mrs Lennon every time.

It's so much more than its title track. Demerit for explicit references to Yoko. Best track: Gimme Some Truth

Imagine being good

Huh, I wonder why I've never heard of any of these songs besides the title track? Oh, they're all shitty blues songs made by an Englishman.

Didn’t even listen to it. IMAGINE that. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

First track sounds like something that would be sung mawkishly at Anfield. Can see where the worst parts of the beatles albums come from with the 2nd. It's basically just when I'm 64, or a wacky Norman Wisdom chase montage. Ponderous, dull uninspired garbage from the joint worst beatle

One of the most famous songs of all time, says it all, and it's a good album!

Beautiful songs. How could I not enjoy listening to John Lennon.

Not the best solo album from a former Beatle. But pretty close! You really can hear all the things that John brought to that band without any other influence. And for a brief moment it’s magic. 5/5

5/5

This is a classic. Every song shows Lennon's brillance

Really really good. Jealous Guy, How, How Do You Sleep, Gimmie Some Truth, all absolute classics. Even Crippled inside, which I am not a huge fan of, when it's in the context of the album, it sounds good. Really good

The first half of this album makes my heart flip sideways with nostalgia. But then we hit songs like "How Do you Sleep" and "Oh Yoko" and I'm like yeahhh there: this is why John will never be more than my third favorite Beatle.

No. 221/1001 Imagine 5/5 Crippled Inside 3/5 Jealous Guy 4/5 It's So Hard 3/5 I Don't Wann Be A Soldier Mama 2/5 Gimme Some Truth 3/5 Oh My Love 4/5 How Do You Sleep? 4/5 How? 3/5 Oh Yoko 4/5 Average: 3,5 I mean this is pretentious, but the songs were just too good.

Although I would have Imagine as the fifth best post-beatles album, Jealous Guy and Oh Yoko are possibly the two most affecting songs for me in the post-beatles catalog. John was always the edge in the Lennon-McCartney pairing and his songs have a way of slicing so deep for me... Imagine is extremely corny (but I can't help but sing along) and How Do you Sleep is the like first rock music diss track from what I can tell! The issue is that none of the other songs are particularly memorable... but man does Oh Yoko! fuck my shit up every time

Loved this album when I first listened to it. Must admit I wasn’t too keen on this on repeat listen, a lot of filler, combined with some of the best post-Beatles songs, takes this album from an average to a good album. “How do you sleep” is still the most underrated song of Lennon’s back catalogue. A respectable 7/10.

A cultural landmark, from a flawed man that wrote great songs.

It's fascinating to me to be able to hear the distinct parts that make up the Beatles. I am a Beatles fan, but I'm only really familiar with the George and Paul solo works. I think I heard The Plastic Ono Band at some point and wrote John off as "lost his mind". This was nice though, a pretty solid album. John has an impeccable voice. Some of the songs are a bit bland, but I do enjoy quite a few. This album is definitely worth a listen to hear the John Lennon dimension of the Beatles Express itself.

Although not my favourite Lennon album I'd forgotten how brilliantly vicious an attack on Macca 'How do you sleep' was.

My first exposure to the title track was when I was in 6th grade and we read someone's article about them cowering in fear of the communist lyrics. I was never a fan of Lennon as a person. I was a McCartney fanboy and sided with his criticisms. Growing up, I realized I loved Lennon's songs just as much, and honestly I think the title track "Imagine" made me think Lennon was the one in charge of the Beatles ballads like "Hey Jude" and "Let It Be" (turns out McCartney wrote both of them). But these days I appreciate Lennon a lot more knowing that the hard, energetic Beatles songs were sung by his fuzzy vocals. The beginning of "Crippled Inside" strongly reminds me of another Beatles song (from the White album?) but I can't put my tongue on it. "Jealous Guy" is probably my favorite on this album, despite being one of the softer songs I've been known not to be a huge fan of. Not a big fan of the next two tracks. I do appreciate the antiwar sentiment and the psychedelic fuzz in the latter song. Much prefer the second side. Makes sense considering this is where Harrison makes most of his contributions. Many of the Beatlesesque songs on this album certainly feels like they belong on the White album, except much more polished. My favorite of these is "Oh My Love." In fact, I swore that song was on the White album until just today. Such a beautiful song. And yes, even "How Do You Sleep?" is a fantastic song, despite the savagery on McCartney. Album ends on a lovely note with "Oh Yoko" which grows with each listen. Some fantastic songs interdispersed. A few weak songs. But the remainder is great. Coherent and has great mixing and Harrison's guitar work, reminding me that Harrison was not being carried by any means, and dramatically enhances the experience.

Good

Ive always found John though a good songwriter a little bit cheesy. And well, listening to this album was very nice, but sadly, still a little bit too nice at some moments.

Pleasant enough

Yes, the title song may be completely over played, but you can't fault the sentiment. Lennon's more polished second solo album shows him at his typical contrary self, love, peace, jealousy, anger. BT: Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep?

Some real gems on here. Also, some not so quality material. Always liked this album, but Lennon’s solo material for me is not his best work. This is no exception.

Bien.

Classic

Good album, just not a five.

Tres bon album jepe sais que c’etait un receuil de toune comme imagine mais c’est rock et tres stylise le reste de l’album. Je ne l’avais jamais ecoute au complet et je suis agreablement surpris. Je reecoute a coup sur. 4.75

Strong 4. It’s amazing how well this album holds up. I can definitely see myself coming back for more. The lyrics, the vocals, the production, it all sounds great, even today. Very strong project.

Such a tuneful beautiful album. A classic of course. I am so over Imagine as a song and don't massively like listening to it, but it probably is very good isn't it

Like it!

Really nice melodies and songs.

3.8

huge lennon vibes. slow but meaningful lyrics. 4/5

Love you Dad

Some classics, bit preachy

Really beautiful, mix of like Beatles and Lennon. Mac millers later work reminds me of it

Imagine is a solid solo release.

Not a huge fan of the title track, and I prefer plastic ono band, but still a pretty good album. Closer to a 3.5

Five important Lennon solo songs; Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep, How, and his signature song Imagine. A mixture of protest songs, primal scream truth-telling, and pop fancies. Straightforward production with a crack band, tastefully under-playing, and really lovely string arrangements. This is probably Lennon's strongest solo record, but it sure ain't a satisfying substitute for a Beatles album. Thank god Lennon vetoed the record company's desire to release Oh Yoko! as a single. Nothing against Yoko, but this song is noticeably more pop than the rest of the record, and a little out of place. The thing I really noticed about this record is how honest Lennon often is. Listening to Jealous Guy, he is saying things in a blunt, unvarnished way that I find hard to believe that the biggest pop star in the world would put on a record for all to hear. He is really laying himself open on this record. Although that could be the flipside of a view that everything he says is a Very Important Work of Unimpeachable Genius, and he uses honesty as a moral shield for his culpable behaviour. He seems to regard his shortcomings (temper tantrums, domestic abuse, vitriolic egotism, needless provocation, unfaithfulness, hypocrisy, etc etc) as artistic opportunities rather than personal failings. Mind you, a myriad of followers had been telling him he was some kind of messiah for nearly a decade at this point. I'm sure it's hard to maintain perspective in those circumstances. As a result, he still can't reconcile his ambitions and ideals. I mean, Imagine is just the tone-deaf plea of a multi-millionaire to eschew material possessions. Easy to say, if you're rolling in it, mate. But I think this song is now officially recognized for the hypocritical bullshit it really is, following Gal Gadot's incredibly ill-conceived cover video released during covid.

Should preface this by saying I’m a big Beatles fan, but have never really embraced much of their solo work (with the exception of George’s All Things Must Pass). Lennon’s solo stuff is pretty hit or miss for me. Obviously he can pen some great songs. A few are here: Imagine, Jealous Guy, and Oh Yoko. But there are songs that lack imagination (pardon the pun) here too, like Crippled Inside and It’s So Hard. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier sounds like an experimental track that doesn’t quite land. That said, there are some interesting tracks here too, like How? and How Do You Sleep? Overall, I guess what I’m saying is this album is very inconsistent, and I’m a bit surprised it’s so highly rated on these greatest album lists.

Being a good old Beatles hater, I wasn't looking forward to this, but it's pretty tolerable. The piano ballads (Imagine, Jealous Guy) stand out much more to me than the bluesier songs on there, they kind of pass by without much thought. Outside of the significance of the opening track i'm not really seeing why it was included in the list, there's nothing exceptional in the music here.

kind of bland. Huge start with Imagine and then lots of filler.

I was ready to give this 1-star because I think John Lennon is a bit of a wanker. But no, I did as I should and I listened to the album and am judging it on its' content. This album is wanky. Imagine is such an awful single. If Jeff Bezos wrote a song telling you to give more money to charity he'd be crucified. Oh Yoko! pissed me off - 4 minutes of wailing. No thank you. He picks up the extra star for the Macca diss-track. That is based asf

How? - This is definitely John Lennon. Some okay strings and stripped back production. The main motif is pretty annoying to me. This is about what I expect from this album Jealous Guy - whining about being an abusive fuck. boohoo. also produced by fucking Phil Spector lmao holy shit. Abuse abuse abuse for everyone! It's So Hard - some real booty ass rock n roll bluesy vibes. Not into it. Kinda like the lyrics though. Pretty standard blues stuff. Life is hard and sometimes I feel like giving up but eating out my girl makes me feel better. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama - A little bolder production, a little bluesy and rock n roll with a washy psychedelic reverb feel, kinda fun. Actually kinda like this one. More pretty standard stuff about fears of growing up and being a man in the world. Not bad at all. Nice little psych-rocky bridge solo thing. Oh My Love - I like the guitar intro, piano compliments it nicely. Somber little number about finally reaching some clarity amidst a probably pretty chaotic life. Can't really relate. Kinda bored tbh. I might like this one much later in life. Imagine - The big one, the classic, the meme. This song is fine. nothing really great to say, nothing really bad to say. It's catchy, it's inspirational, it's fantastical. Yeah, it is what it is, no real strong feelings after hearing it everywhere my whole life only for it to become a meme during covid. Crippled Inside - quirky little guitar intro with some buttass piano folksy shit. Kind of a fun bounce to it though. Criticism of keeping up appearances when you're actually a piece of shit. Ironic. Literally talks about being judged for the color of his skin what the fuck lmao. Meh. Oh Yoko! - The music is fun on this one. Nice vocal melodies. I do not like the lyrics though. extremely repetitive and just not saying much. "in the middle of ____ I call your name" "Oh Yoko" "My love will turn you on". That's the whole fucking thing. Fuck this song. Your harmonica solo can't save you now John. Gimme Some Truth - Musically this is more like what I can appreciate from the Beatles crew. I like the aggression coming from his vocals in this one. That slide guitar kinda rips. I can get into this one. Anger and distrust towards people in positions of power. Yeah this is more like it. How Do You Sleep? - oh this one has some groove okay. Guitar is great. Nice funky keys. Great pad of strings. This is just a fucking beef track against Paul though lmao. Not bad though, It sounds good, has at least one or two nice burns, the music backs up the feeling and the attitude of John feeling angry but also more cool and collected. Pretty good track despite just being a diss. Had some surprises in it honestly but overall was about what I expected. I just don't care about the Beatles or their individual solo endeavors. I respect it, but this shit gets so boring so fast. I recognize that that's mostly just on me but there's nothing I can do to change that. Probably won't even return to my favorites from the album because I largely enjoyed them as a novelty. Pretty overrated and mediocre album to my ears. 2 or 3 out of 5.

Preface: I'm a big Beatles fan. I swear. That said, I've never really liked much of John's solo work, save a few tracks. And of those tracks, "Imagine" is not one of them. There's nothing musically compelling about the track for me, and lyrically, it's just a void. My issue isn't even about the hypocrisy of a rich man imploring the listener to imagine no possessions. It's that it postures as being profound, as revolutionary, when it's neither. It's just a bunch of vague gesturing. "Bad things bad, good things good." Thanks, John. I'm actually kind of glad that that stupid video during the pandemic shone a light on how empty the song is. (Jeez, it's like I'm hating the song more as I write about it!) Anyway, the title track aside, I hadn't heard anything from the album. I didn't have high expectations, but I came with an open mind. Somehow, it was even worse than I thought. This was a slog, pure and simple. Of course I have my biases. Blues rock isn't really my thing, but I think I can still appreciate it when it's done well. But "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" was SUFFERING. Ironically, by around the 4-minute mark, I think I wanted to fly, cry AND die. Jealous Guy is... something. It's like when you rightly criticize someone for something and they get on their knees and say "Oh, yes, I'm SUCH a terrible person, I don't deserve love, I should just go crawl in a hole and DIE." Jesus Christ. Gimme Some Truth. Did you know that... politicians lie? John knows, and he's tired of it! Look out! I will admit, "How Do You Sleep?" is a novelty. Paul not like us. A couple of good zingers. But here's the thing. It's on Imagine. IMAGINE. The fact that he included such an over-the-top mean-spirited song on IMAGINE is hilarious. It provides the perfect contrast and exposes the hippy-dippy, wishy-washy, well-wishing nonsense exactly for what it is. I was fully prepared to give this a 3, maybe a 2, until I realized over the course of writing this how much I actually hate this album. I'm actually shocked. It's terrible. Fav track: Oh My Love

Was worried I might have to grudgingly admit this slapped until jealous guy started. I am willing to admit that my view of Lennon is colored by current events and because I just finished For All Mankind where they retcon his assassination to fail and I spent a good couple minutes imagining how insufferable he would have continued being. But I am not willing to admit that much of this album was any good

4.5/5

Validates my opinion that John was the most essential Beatle and I won't heard otherwise. Lots of greatness here including the title track, "Jealous Guy", "Crippled Inside", "Gimme Some Truth" and the charmingly goofy "Oh Yoko". I don't think it's quite as fantastic as Plastic Ono Band, but it's still awesome. 5 stars.

I only knew imagine, so I expected more boring hippie piano so I was surprised

I think it’s great. The song “How do you Sleep” hits so hard especially

truly an excellent record. heartbreaking to listen to, given what happened to john (obviously). but even disregarding that, it’s such an emotionally fraught album on its own because you can hear that he was trying so, so hard. people forget that the beatles really did come from dirt in a way that feels impossible today—john had the most economically-privileged background and the most formal education, but growing up in postwar liverpool with a broken family certainly didn’t do wonders for his mental health and emotional intelligence. the songs were the only way that he could poke any air holes in that suffocating layer of repression. to me this album is about someone who is desperately lost and unsure of himself and his place in the world and is trying to grapple with who he wants to be now that he isn’t a beatle. i think he was deeply and sincerely troubled by war, inequality, etc. and was frustrated by his inability to do anything meaningful about it, and he was trying very hard to articulate all of that. i like the sound of that effort. i think that’s what places him in opposition to paul tonally, because paul’s music has always been so effortless. not that paul didn’t try very hard—i think he did, and often tried too hard—but he rarely allowed that vulnerability to be reflected in the music itself. his ‘vulnerabilities’ were calculated and careful and affected, whereas john’s were laid bare and plain especially on this record. it’s sometimes a little uncomfortable or even embarrassing to hear, but i think it’s worth hearing! if i were paul mccartney i would have simply killed myself after “how do you sleep?” got released. fav tracks: jealous guy; i don’t wanna be a soldier mama; gimme some truth; oh my love; how do you sleep?; how?; oh yoko!

ummm john lennon is actually kinda good….. I’m realizing that I’ve never actually listened to a full solo album of any of the Beatles besides All Things Must Pass until now. It’s so interesting because this does not sound like another Beatles album at all of course, but it has such a distinct Beatles influence. Every song on here was beautiful or groovy or cutting (How Do You Sleep is straight up diabolical…) and it ended with such a beautiful ode to Yoko. I love that he talks about her so much despite being released during peak “yoko broke up the beatles” era. And Imagine IS A GOOD SONG. It’s so overplayed so in most contexts it’s hard to actually hear it for what it is, but it IS really beautiful. And in this context, I think it’s quite an effective opener for an album full of tender ballads and political messaging because it’s sort of a balance of both and sets the tone well. Fav tracks: I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama, How Do You Sleep?, Oh My Love

5 stars

ewbeh

Imagine alone makes this a 5-star album but there is so much more: Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep? and Oh Yoko. Crippled Inside really grabbed me this time. Underrated song that spoke to me differently than on previous listens. Also, How Do You Sleep? is a dis track at Paul McCartney. Go listen again. I'll wait... Damn! John goes hard on Paul. That is a blistering track. I know there were some regrets from John for putting out that track. But that track is still a great song. Last random thought, I watched a documentary about John Lennon and he wished he had given writing credit to Yoko for Imagine as she was integral in the lyrics of that song. I thought that was so cool and admirable of him to admit later on. He was still a growing person and it is too bad to have lost a revolutionary like him at such a young age. I would love to hear what he would say about the world today.

Was soll ich schreiben? Ich habe es einfach nur genossen. Danke, John Lennon.

Ich weiß nicht, ich bin fasziniert und begeistert und im nächsten Moment auch bisschen gelangweilt. Gebe jetzt 5 Sterne, damit es in meiner bib bleibt. Muss ich mir in Ruhe noch mal anhöre.

Never been a huge Beatles fan. Yes, I get hate for it. John Lennon on the other hand, I can listen to with ease. Great voice and a stellar record.

Легенда, что тут говорить, Imagine и ещё несколько культовых песен.

Enjoyed listening to the album start to finish. Some really great music in the shadow of one of the best album opening songs in the history of music.