Imagine

It was okay. Not my style really

As a writing duo with McCartney he was brilliant, as a solo artist I feel he was missing something, and feel the same way about McCartney. Aside from the tracks that everyone knows there was nothing that really stood out in the album.

The song, Imagine, is probably John Lennon's most well known (post-Beatles) song he recorded and it might just be one of the most recognizable songs in the world. Imagine, the album, with the help of the popularity of the song is considered by many essential, but listening to the album as a whole, it isn't his best work. Apart from a couple of songs, the album is inconsistent and a little over-rated. There's nothing wrong with it, but he has other albums that deserve to be on this list more.

Thought I'd be nostalgia biased but no actually. And his voice really isn't that great. Still really like Oh Yoko though, what a ditty.

Fulgte ikkje så godt med, så mulig eg kunne gitt da 4. Men mistenke at eg like Beatles bedre

Aside from one or two tracks, the music doesn’t really interest me. The messages are powerful, none the less.

Imagine is a classic but besides that nothing stood out to me

Not amazing. Needs the rest of the Beatles. Just got a name from them and tried to go solo. Didn’t work out so well

I enjoyed this. If you're closing an album with "Oh Yoko!" then it's going to be hard for me to hate what you're laying down, and I had a pleasant time with "Gimme Some Truth" and "Crippled Inside" as well. I'd be fine to let "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" stay in 1971, but I get it. Activists gonna activist. And, of course, there's the title track which we don't even really need to talk about at this point. Most atheistic leaning song to ever connect with the wide mainstream? Maybe there's another I'm not thinking of... Going to go listen to some Stryper to counterbalance. See ya!

the song imagine is just unbeatable so having it start off the album set up really high expectations that proceeded to not be met throughout any part of the album. it was completely mediocre. #samebirthdaythough

OK, the title track may be simple and overplayed but it's an undeniable all-time classic. I just don't know about the rest of it. It's fine. I like the Beatles as much as the next person (that isn't a Beatles diehard) but I think John really missed Paul. :) Maybe not *literally* ("How Do You Sleep" is an early diss track haha) ok ok obviously it's not supposed to be the Beatles and it shouldn't be but there's a melodic and quirky element that's often missing from John's songs that is...nothing *bad* by any means, but a little more straightforward than I care for. And some of these songs just drag. Still, I'm nitpicking - it's a good listen, just not a great one. 5/10 3 stars.

kind of boring honestly. it had some funky little tunes but overall i don’t think i would listen to it again. john lennon and john legend are not the same person (both artist’s music is mediocre though, apparently)

Meh.

Pretty average album. Probably hovers between 2-3 stars for me. Most songs feel like Beatles leftovers or pretentious. Jealous Guy sounds like he is trying to excuse his abusive behaviour. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama feels lazy and uninspired, especially as a protest song. There are a few gems on this album, notably Imagine, but I do not think of it as an amazing album. Best Songs: Imagine, How? Worst Songs: I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama,

2.5 stars. It was fine, pleasant to listen to. Nothing really stood out. His voice could be annoying on occasion. Appreciated the melodic sound, various supporting instruments

Disappointingly mid. George had the better solo work.

Imagine es un clásico y Jealous Guy es una de mis favoritas. Nunca le encontré la gracia a How do you sleep, en todo caso.

Some of John Lennon's best solo works, and then there's the rest of the album. It was sure nice of George to lend his services to some bland music. Where's the life and vivacity? Why does it sound like John's phoning it in for half of these?

Imagine is a classic and timeless song easily 5/5. I am unfamiliar with the rest of the album. I enjoyed the second song. So far I'm feeling this album is a solid 3/5. Easy to listen to but not spectacular enough for me to give it any more than 3 stars. I'd listen again though to see if my opinion changes.

I never listened to this before, but I like it. It’s kinda Beatles, kinda new. There’s some passive aggressiveness towards Paul. I dig it.

It comes to me as no surprise that the title track has loads more plays on Spotify than anything else in this album; it's definitely a great (but not Earth-shatteringly good) song, even if one attempts to remove it from the lofty (and perhaps annoying) pedestal it's earned in pop culture. The other songs aren't really worth mentioning, I feel. Not terrible but not great, they really seem to suit the idea of a post-prime older artist experimenting with different sounds.

Barely

Musically a fine album, garbage human though.

Uninspiring outside of a few songs

Lennon was pretty good at writing piano ballads, even though I think the philosophy of the song "Imagine" eluded the man himself. The man had a knack for writing songs, and his sons aren't half bad at it either. I don't find these songs particularly captivating, especially when considering the Beatles discography. I don't understand why he put that effect on his voice for several of the songs because he had pretty good singing chops, but the effect just kind of butchers it. Highlights: 1, 3, and 8.

Five important Lennon solo song ; Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Solo, 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. Thanks 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 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. That said, is Imagine a slightly tone-deaf plea of a multi-millionaire eschewing material possessions? easy to say, if you're rolling in it, mate.

I only knew the 2 big songs from this album. It's decent enough. Still with the heavy Beatles vibe. Stand out tracks - I don't wanna be a soldier mama Jealous Guy Imagine

Iconisch album, maar viel me niet onmiddellijk in de smaak

Not particularly impressive - reminiscent of my least favourite tracks Let It Be.

Some of this was blah, 70s folky shit. But there were some decent tunes. Bit of a surprise

J'ai depuis toujours horreur des guerres et autres attentats terroristes pour la simple et bonne raison que pendant les jours qui suivent un tel évènement, un nombre incalculable de chorales de connards va s'en donner à cœur joie pour nous matraquer les oreilles à coup d'« Imagine all the people » emplis de niaiserie. Laissez-nous tranquille.

Cet album était absolument nul, John Lennon ne se présente même pas en tant que meilleur Lennon. On lui préfère en effet Aaron Lennon, l'ailier virevoltant des Tottenham Hotspurs, pourtant loin d'être une référence footballistique.

Comenzar a escuchar un disco hoy y encontrarse primero con Imagine complica demasiado las cosas. La barra queda muy arriba y muy probablemente el resto de las canciones no serán ni la mitad de conocidas ni tendrá la mitad de la importancia, así que la dejaremos por un lado. El disco comienza bien, Crippled y Jealous son buenas, el disco promete. Transcurren las canciones y se mantiene la calidad pero algo no cuadra. Las canciones se sienten inconexas, no que todas tengan que tratar los mismos temas o sonar igual pero le encuentro ni pies ni cabeza. 3.5 que bajo a 3. No me atrapó como para darle un 4.

Fav songs: - How Do You Sleep?

Not as great as its reputation might suggest. Controversial??! There are some fine tracks though.

I was surprised that I only enjoyed three or four tracks. I liked it, but I expected to not hear as many slow tracks.

Like imagine, everything else faded into itself

Enjoyed it when I was young, then wasn’t too keen on it, but now I like it again.

Pretty good

Aside from the obvious songs (Imagine, Jealous Guy) this album is pretty ho hum.

I have a problem with John Lennon's solo albums: on one hand, they include hugely potent material (say, Imagine - what a culture bomb!, Jealous Guy, or Watching the Wheels if we're allowed to increase the scope from this particular album). But on the other hand, these albums are also full of very forgettable material, too. Given we're looking at the albums rather than the individual songs here, I will therefore go with the harsher interpretation.

John Lennon was a star. With the Beatles he had much fame. Then, alone, also. In this album his better songs are "Imagine", "Jealous Guy" and "Oh Yoko!"

Trying to listen to Imagine as if you've never heard it before is pretty difficult. Not least when you have a tone deaf version by a renowned former Israeli squaddie/ murderer of Palestinians and their celeb friends still giving you the creeps. But in truth, it is one of two tracks (with Jealous Guy) on this album that reaches anything approaching the heights of what the Beatles did. It is, uncynically, beautiful. The rest of the album plods in the most boring, American way. One of the best things about the Beatles is that they competed so hard to get the best songs to ensure they made the album that you couldn't get the turgid plod rock of Its So Hard, the dull, Oasis style tribute of Gimme Some Truth or the bitter resent of How Do You Sleep. Without Paul, the sad, bitter, wife beating John Lennon wears his worst traits on his sleeve for all but two tracks. Those two tracks are, however, sublime.

3.3 - Bland and pretentious. An entitled baby boomer with a hugely inflated sense of self-righteousness. Besides “Imagine”, the song structures sound lazy and the lyrics simplistic (e.g. “My love will turn you on” and “All I want is the truth/Just give me some truth.”)

Some was okay, most was mid

An OK album. Quite bitter. Don't know if I'll be listening it to it all the way through again.

I went in with low expectations, considering that I don't particularly care for the title track. I do think that it's the weakest song on the album, which pleasantly surprised me. Right after the title track is Crippled Inside, a bouncy jugband tune. Followed by the standout Jealous Guy, a raw love ballad, and arguably the best song on the album. The second half of the album starts with the fiery, mad-at-the-world Gimme Some Truth, featuring some incredible guitar work from George Harrison. Side B continues with songs with more of the Beatles sound, including Oh My Love, ... How?, and How Do You Sleep? - another highlight of the album, and a very blatant diss track at Paul McCartney. The album ends with the tongue-in-cheek Oh Yoko! and it left me wanting more. My exposure to John's solo music has been the title track, and though I came in with low expectations (and part of me wanting to dislike this album because of John being an abuser), I was pleasantly surprised. I'd give this album a 7 out of 10. On the 5-star scale, it would be a very high 3. Enjoyed it, but not as much as some of my 4-star albums such as Blondie or Jerry Lee Lewis.

If this album was made by anybody not named John Lennon, you wouldn't think it was especially good. The title track is the highlight and the rest is immediately forgettable.

Well, I was curious if Lennon's solo career was more (of note) than just Imagine. After listening to this that really doesn't seem to be the case. Imagine is a fantastic song. Nothing else on here is in any way noteworthy though. It doesn't sound bad, just completely uninteresting. It's a 3.5 for me, but I'm rounding it down because I don't really remember any of the tracks a couple of minutes after I've finished listening.

Good album overall butJohn Lennon was better with the Beatles. Would give it a 3.5 if I could.

Pretty much what other people have said. Some nice songs, some songs that could’ve been left out. I like the drums on ”I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama”

It´s a nice album.

gg

Two excellent ballads cannot save a mediocre album of worse ballads and questionable choices in blues-rock flirtation. Besides, you can't handle the truth, John.

Good jams overall. A bit whiney and cliche, but when is John Lennon not? Definitely liking his Beatles work more at this moment in time.

Imagine, the song, is not only one of John Lennon’s most iconic tunes, it’s one of the most iconic tunes of the 20th century. The album however, doesn’t back it up. It’s good but not great. Some tracks remind me of Rolling Stones b-sides.

It very much sounds like what would happen if you were in the biggest band in the world then thought you could give it a go yourself. It's a good enough album but doesn't hit like the Beatles.

Una excelente voz y temas muy en la línea de los Beatles. Alguna canción se ha llegado a convertir en un icono. Canciones sencillas y melódicas. Le ha faltado algún hit más a destacar

It was ok. I prefer the Beatles.

+/-

Solid album

The first 3 songs were good but a lot of the album seemed like filler. Lennon is like "LOL, I beat my wife but I can’t help it because I'm just a jealous guy!"

Beautiful, but too simplistic

title track, obviously a well-known classic. jealous guy feels cheesy, jury’s still out on whether this is good or bad. i think i like it. it’s so hard kinda slaps. same with i don’t wanna be a soldier mama. gimme some truth , okay king, same. oh my love is sweet. how do you sleep is ahead of its time, gooood groove. how and oh yoko lost my interest

The songs I liked made this album great, but honestly there were some songs that I just couldn't stand.

Cool cool

Decent album but didn’t do a whole lot for me

Obviously hits some real high notes, but other parts are pretty bland

Never really got into the Beatle's Non-Beatles stuff, but I like most of this one

"Imagine" has to be one of the most overrated songs ever, but the rest of the album holds its own.

A decent album, but not hiting the best of what I had come to expect

Na da bin ich jetzt ja mal gespannt. Auch hier kenne ich natürlich wieder nur den Titelsong (und Jealous Guy). Gimme Some Truth ist "I am the Walrus" 2.0. Platte ist ok.

Like the sentiment of some of the songs but mostly just fine

Hard work. Sounds like it was recorded behind a mattress.

Nice

Imagine (song) is legendary, but the rest isn't all that great

3/5 folky, overhyped me thinks

Inspiring beautiful album of an artist that can tell the story he wants to tell.

Somehow not all that great.

A bit hit and miss for me.

2.5

Much of the music is lovely. I cannot personally stand the insipid, saccharine Imagine. The lyrics of Jealous Guy sounds like an apologia for a wife beater (hmmm I wonder why?). And for all the peace and love, the attack on Paul on How Can You Sleep? is pretty vile (but again, the music is lovely, especially George’s guitar work). The production is excellent - Phil Spector! What a bizarre choice - what strange company, in hindsight. It’s endlessly fascinating to me that the magic of The Beatles came from the four collaborating and whilst strong, this solo album doesn’t compare to the band but maybe comes closest.

The title song is iconic. The rest is meh

That one great song, and a lot of random mutterings that are significantly worse than that one song

Actually much more mediocre than I expected from a legend.

Good - Imagine and Jealous Guy. Meh - the rest.

I think I still hold the opinion that 70s John Lennon is a little bit overrated, but this record is pretty good.

The Beatles suck.

Odd mixing, strong lyrics and themes.

Plätschert vor sich hin

Probably about as close as you’re going to get to a 13th beatles studio album.

This was a beautiful rock album from John Lennon, with his very popular title track - Imagine - stealing the show.

Legendary opener Another short album, yay Favorites: Imagine (duh) Jealous Guy

I felt weirdly embarissed putting this on while cooking -dunno why maybe I have some negative association with John Lennon? I enjoyed it actually, more varied and upbeat than I was expecting

Decent listen

Some wonderful classic songs and some total filler

Classic tracks and some lazy efforts.

3/5 good one, some nice songs but ultimately no.

Some nice tracks, but others rather indifferent.

Derivative

Ok Imagine c’est bon, on la chante et on a tous le gout de brailler un peu. On voit aussi que c’est l'inspiration de plein d’artistes à venir dans les années 80-90. Sinon, je commence à me dire que j’aime pas mal plus que je pensais les chanteurs qui utilisent piano/base principalement. John Lennon en fait pas exception. Mention pour It’s So Hard!

todas son aceptables, me gustaron algunas y otras no tanto

How Do You Sleep is interesting for sure...

Two all time classics. The last song...

John Lennon slowly devolved into a very predictable song-writer from "Strawberry Fields Forever," on. He is super witty and politically powerful in lyrics. He continues some themes from "Plastic One Band," but this is much weaker. One or two hit songs.

yoko tres bonne pour ouvrir les rideaux ...point pour elle.lennon est un génie mais pas sur cet album

Lots of bops

better than i thought it would be

I've never really bought into solo John Lennon as being such a visionary etc. etc. But, a fine record.

Net so geil wie ich dachte aber schön war's schon

3

Classic but lots of songs i’m not fond of

Listen, I know John Lennon is one of the greatest names to do it, but I can't will myself to fully enjoy this project. It's full of nice sounding songs. That's the best compliment I can give it. Of course I've heard the title track Imagine and that's a truly beautiful song, but it's the only one of that ilk in my opinion. Imagine as an album sounds like the music of yesteryear and that feels a little antiquated to me. People don't make music like this anymore. That's a sentence that can be interpreted very differently depending on who says it. I think that says a lot about my taste and exactly what Imagine by John Lennon is.

Imagine if the other songs were as good as the first.

Decent album but for a legendary and hyped artist like Lennon, I can't help but to feel the album is underwhelming.

John’s kinda soured for me over the years tbh

All things considered, is a decent album. Starts off with the hit of all hits, and then kind of peters out.

Some great songs, but not the best of the Beatles.

Lyrics hold some power, but the music isn't fantastic. Maybe should have been released as poetry instead of an album?

Interesting experiments with different sounds but executed poorly. Half the tracks come off as beatles b-sides. Still worth giving a second listen in the future. Favorite tracks: Imagine, Crippled Inside

Heel saai en erg matig

This is really a tale of two albums - the John Lennon solo stuff is all whiny atmospheric stripped down singer + piano stuff. He also recruited George Harrison to play guitar on a number of songs such as How Do You Sleep (which has a great solo) and Crippled Inside. These are really good. It goes to show that John needed the Beatles more than they needed him. Imagine is a massive song that has a legacy that outweighs the rest of the album, but it’s honestly overrated. Hot take, I know. Out of touch millionaire talking about imagining no possessions. Well, he got French revolutioned in the end. Was it worth being such an insufferable person? ⭐️⭐️.5

Boring, uninteresting music, and very surface-level lyrics. The Beatles were the very definition of "greater than the sum of their parts."

imagine is a 5, everything else is a 1, average becomes a 3 but i'll still give it a 2, it's crazy how imagine opens up the album for then this nonsense background noise that I’m sure has amazing lyrics, but just mushes together and doesn't stand out in any way shape or form

Is it just me, or does this album sound like dogshit? Like just terrible production. 3 good songs, 3 interesting songs, and some other stuff. But I actively don't want to listen to it ever again because it sounds like it was recorded in a bucket.

This must be one of the most over rated albums I've heard yet. It's not quite a 1, but it's not far off.

I don't like the Beatles.

Pretty dull and uninspiring on the whole.

Meh … man I used to think Lennon was awesome. This isn’t even mid. 🤦‍♂️🤷‍♂️. 👎

I gasped when I saw that this was the album of the day I can't listen without thinking of the celebrities singing it during covid I have never listened to the whole album unfortunately "imagine" is by far and away the best song on it

this is really not doing much for me. sorry mr lennon.

The songs here sound OK I guess but lyrically, a majority of this comes across as super insincere and I just couldn't get into most of these songs.

Franchement insipide, il est là parce que c’est John Lennon ?

I dont like it but at least I didn't hate it.

John Lennon is probably my favorite Beatle, or maybe he's just the Beatle who wrote my favorite songs. I wouldn't cut out a pair of his lips and kiss them or anything. One of the things I like the most about him was his tendency to get weird / edgy / experimental. Because of this, there are Lennon sounds I like and Lennon sounds I do not. Unfortunately, I find Lennon at his worst when he's up his ass politically and doing blues stuff, so a lot of this album was a nonstarter. The grit of the album before this (the exceptional Plastic Ono Band) is washed away, and so too is a lot of the honesty that made that album (and a lot of his Beatles stuff) so interesting. "Jealous Guy" doesn't say anything we don't already know, and neither does "Oh Yoko!" As most of the top reviews of this album point out, John Lennon could be bitter and abusive. I normally find simply repeating the atrocities an artist commits as a review weak medicine (depending on the atrocities, of course) but Imagine struggles the most when it feeds into the idea of Lennon as a self absorbed, faux-activist douche canoe. I do disagree with a lot of the 1 star reviews here because I believe the album has it's moments. "How Do You Sleep" (though a rather weak diss track... Paul loves his mom a lot apparently) is an interesting look at what happens when high school friends spend too much time around each other, and "Oh My Love" hits the spot for soft-spoken loverboy Lennon shit. I can go without everything else, though.

I see Lennon as a songwriter often "touched by brilliance" (something that seems like a gift or mystery rather than achievement through calculation or incremental effort). I expected to like this more than I did - I found mostly filler and zero thriller. Actually listening to the whole of Imagine was surprisingly unpleasant - I've heard it too many times, the slow repetition dragged - I used to somehow be open to the lyrics' simplicity, but I can't appreciate them now, too much irony. So I started reading to refresh my sense of context - the music was swiftly overshadowed by looming myth, legend and commerce of 'Lennon' (and the Beatles generally) - which includes clay feet of the actual man. Having some special gifts as a musician of course did not infuse his whole being with virtue. He had flashes of insight, wanting to take critical and even activist positions, but often misspoke embarassingly - eg statement on returning his MBE because of British imperialism but also because his latest album wasn't charting well?! Anyway, what about this particular album? Title track has undoubtedly been impactful, but now, in 2026, I find it to be a drag. Next few songs were unconvincing arrangements. I remember Jealous Guy, the lyrics are short, it could come from self-awareness that goes with real commitment to change or it could be too pat (going along with self-excusing), a short song might but shouldn't be expected to 'reveal' whole truth of a person. I expected I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama to be very powerful but my inaccurate memory of the song had invested something in it that I couldn't hear when I actually listened to it... How Do You Sleep? was mildly interesting musically, I'm no fan of diss tracks, this one seems like a 'normal' misjudgement. Oh Yoko! I didn't mind. Overall, once I put aside any idea that the album somehow invites a judgement of Lennon in general, and any sense of special occasion because this is "a Lennon album!", I realise there's very little here to hold my interest - it is insignificant as a phenomenon, relative to any of the Beatles albums I know relatively well. I'll say it's Not Good, 4/10.

Imagine is a fine song but I don't love it and then the rest of this album is just John being the third best beatle (musically; worst overall) for an hour. Nothing great, nothing life changing, some bad blues, some really rough like Rock n Roll attempts, just a weird collection of songs. Oh, Yoko is cute but a bad song. Jealous guy is also a standout I guess.

Ever wondered what happens when two human pieces of garbage get together to make an album (Spector and Lennon - not poor Yoko)? Well here it is - the audio version of a Birds Eye potato waffle - bland and makes you feel a bit gross. There are some highs - Jealous Guy is great (but the Roxy Music version infinitely better), Oh My Love and Oh Yoko! are nice enough. How anyone can listen to Imagine without have some kind of visceral reaction to either the Lennon hypocrisy or the vomit inducing celebrity COVID version is beyond me. Overall, a boring miss of an album I'm afraid

Basically two nice love songs (Oh my Love/Oh Yoko) and a load of tat. The chorus for ‘How do you sleep?’ Is a real earworm, but it’s one of the most embarrassing songs ever recorded and makes my physically cringe. Also, ‘Imagine’ is trash and I wont hear otherwise.

Sounds kinda like the Beatles, but even worse.

This album starts with Imagine. I’m not sure that Imagine is that good of a song. When I was a kid I thought it was better but as an old man I hear that song and think this guy was just writing some crap. Then I hear the blues song and a country song and I’m like oh god John Lennon is annoying. Then I hear I hear the Mama I don’t want to be a soldier song. It’s one the worst songs I have ever heard. I’m not sure what he’s going for anti-war protest anti-military but then he says I don’t want to be a lawyer because he doesn’t want to lie. But he lied to himself thinking he was important enough to write these songs. But there’s one song where I was like John Lennon is real petty and it’s Paul McCartney diss track. Where he said his music sounds like Muzak and surprised by Sgt Pepper’s. All I was waiting for was John to yell Mustaaaardddd. I thought rap artists had the market on dis tracks but John talked about Paul and his girl like they were his mortal enemies. I didn’t like this album but I’m glad I heard it.

I am running out of ways to say album could be ok but the genre is not my thing at all.

Не люблю Джона Леннона. Перший трек на альбомі Imagine чомусь не доступний через Apple Music в Україні, що з порогу вже створює негативне враження. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama трек не дуже, але з зрозумілих причин мушу його відзначити. Gimme Some Truth не погано, але загалом не чіпляє його творчість. Oh Yoko! - топовий трек. Звучить щиро і не пафосно.

Okay John

Aside from the title song, this is a wholly forgettable album for me. I have essentially no relation to it, so the newness is all I possess to be able to experience this album. I don't really like Lennon's voice or musical instincts enough to really care about this album. Even on Imagine, it's a fine song with great pedigree, but it really rings hollow to me at my present self iteration. I really don't enjoy the vocal filter applied on most of the songs. I think the songs would be much better suited with unfiltered voice vs. this slightly dirty, filtered version. It's an ok album, but far (read: FAR) from the best Lennon works.

526/1089 - Separating the art from the artist so I can hate John Lennon twice.

Nie mam cierpliwości ani ochoty na Lennona, dobrze, że go Yoko Ono zabila

Corny greier. Phil Spector gjenbruker ideer fra The Long and Winding Road på How? Kjedelig. Blues rock? Kjedelig. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier er inne på noe.

It's so dumb to me that Paul McCartney was seen as naff and rubbish after the Beatles split while John was the acclaimed one, cos so much of this is naff and rubbish, insincere sentimental claptrap! I like a lot of John Lennon's solo stuff, but it's mainly the stuff where he gives in to being the petty and problematic person he really is and is spikey and bristly. there's a bit of that here, but too much wishy washiness for me to really enjoy it. Oh Yoko is peak Wes Anderson core tho and I still like it.

Rating: 5/10 Imagine is a really annoying mixed bag. The title track and Jealous Guy are both undoubtedly really well made songs, but god the lyrics coming from this guy really give both a sour taste. I don't even like many of the songs after that very much. They're fine. Oh Yoko! is a pretty cute and fun one to end the album, I might just go with that as my favorite.

Imagine (the song) is a bit naff. You're going to lecture us all on materialism while.sitti g at the most expensive piano I have ever seen? Fuck off, John! Most of the rest of the album is just Lennon being a whiny baby. Grow up John! "Oh Yoko, my.love will turn you on!" -gross. This album is actually not bad to be fair to it, but I still hate it.

Nothing outright terrible but I never clicked with anything by The Beatles or any of it's members' solo projects. Just a bunch of ballads without any kind of hook to them whatsoever. 2/5

Damn, I expected better. Superficial and simple aside from the title track.

Underwhelming. I must say, I'm disappointed with this one. Maybe my expectations weren't appropriate, but I like the beatles and really didn't enjoy this as much as I was expecting to.

A word that gets overused in music and movie reviews is “pretentious.” In this case it absolutely deserves it.

What a miserable album

more like Yoko Oh No! ha ha ha you get what I've done here? anyways this is as bad as all the beatles stuff so 2 i guess

5/10 My style of music listening is to ignore the lyrics, so when applied to this album it's just boring

I'm totally indifferent on John Lennon the solo artist and the man. I don't even rate Imagine as a song, which is good because it must have been terrible to watch Gal Gadot and pals do that to a song I liked

Fuck John Lennon

imagine um hipócrita e chatorongo

Imagine if he didn't leave the Beatles and actually made a good album

Imagine is one of the worst songs ever made and the rest of this album is pretty mediocre imo. One of the most overrated albums. I cannot take this dude's lyrics seriously at all, and the songs suffer from mind numbing repetition and annoying hooks. Oh Yoko is kind of sweet, but knowing how he treated her just makes it feel hollow in it's sentiment. yeah idk I don't care for it at all really.

Listened Before? N So, i really WANTED to like this album. Imagine is a fantastic song. The rest of it was just.... boring. John Lennon is touted as a musical genius - but I think he needed the rest of the boys more than he wanted to admit. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Imagine

Fuck offffffffff

This has its moments but they are few and far between. In general, it just comes across as a bit lacking in variation. Like so many albums on this list, it's mildly interesting at times but a blanket of blandness nullifies any interest it might garner.

If I hear the words "uptight, short sided, narrow minded hypocrite, tight-lipped, condescending, mama's little chauvinist" I certainly imagine John. I'd rather not listen to him excusing that "I began to lose control" because "I didn't mean to hurt you," but hey, "my love will turn you on" so I guess it's all good? At least he admitted she'd written Imagine once he was on his deathbed.

I do no pray at the altar of Lennon

I wonder what lennon would thought about the celebrity rendition of "imagine" in the pandemic. I like the message of the song but it's now too pop to have any meaning. other than that, this is not my sound

Can’t listen to Imagine without having severe flashbacks to that COVID era video with Gal Gadot et al. Rest of album alright if a little boring

Everything on this album is a little same-y for me, and feels a bit like someone else's daydream. Imagine should be so much more beautiful than it is, but it's been ruined by social media - I still like it though!

4/10 John Lennon’s post-Beatles life feels incredibly performative to me. He comes across as a complete bastard deciding to spend every public facing moment of his life trying desperately to present himself as being the kind of person that he thinks people think is “a nice guy”. To me, it always felt like he should have spent less time trying to seem like a nice guy and more time trying to actually be one. That seems like a bit of an irrelevant way to start a review of Imagine, but it actually goes some way to explaining my thoughts about this record. We start with the ultimate cheese fest of a song that Lennon thinks represents the nice guy he wants us to see. Why can’t everyone be nice (like me)? Why can’t we forgo possessions (like Yoko’s 80 fur coats in a climate controlled cupboard)? Why can’t we all just get along (like me and Paul)? It’s performative nonsense, dragged through a sickly-sweet melodic pop-song composition. What follows is a fairly erratic selection of songs that, while having moments of quality, often feels like an assortment of demos, rather than a focused and intentional album. The production is all over the place, with Phil Spector doing an incredibly poor job of coaxing quality vocal performances out of John, recording tracks that clip and distort, washing stuff in too much reverb, or making incredibly odd choices about instrumental prominence, so that the record sounds wildly inconsistent. Of course, there are bits and pieces of superb quality scattered through the record. John was a great songwriter and, while not having the rest of the Beatles there (apart from George Harrison, who has some lovely moments of his own) seems to have impacted his song selection, development and editing process (a complaint one could also extend to his former band-mates’ solo projects), the underlying genius is still there. There are also some great instrumental performances, particularly some of the piano, rhodes and guitar work. Interestingly, the best cut on the record is the one where Lennon actually allows his mask to slip and he goes on attack against Paul McCartney. If he’d continued to mine that rich seam, there may have been a lot more grit and energy to this record. Unfortunately, what we end up with is a pretty scattergun effort, with a couple of excellent tunes and a lot of unmet potential. Imagine - A massively overplayed track that’s so saccharine and feels completely insincere to me. This feels a bit like the songwriting equivalent of the apology speech a truly awful person makes to prove how much they’ve changed, because they think it’s how “nice” people talk. The lyrics are those of a 15 year old self-proclaimed poet who tries to seem deep to impress girls. The piano is really poorly recorded, and the rest of the arrangement is completely predictable and obvious. I do like the bridge when he sings “you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one”, but the rest of this can go straight in the bin, as far as I’m concerned. Crippled Inside - This is very twee and blues-country in style. I don’t really see what it does to elevate itself above a fairly decent song within that genre. I mean, it’s ok, there are some cool performances in there, particularly on the piano, and it’s got a nice blend of rhythms and a nice bit of swing to it, but it’s just a bit stylistically odd for me, especially as this isn’t a consistent musical theme across the record. Jealous Guy - Lennon’s vocals on this record so far have been pretty weak, and again this sounds more like a scratch vocal take rather than a finalised one. That viewpoint is only enhanced by the fact that he gives up on singing and whistles for some of it, like he hasn’t finished writing the lyrics yet. There’s some lovely piano work on here though, despite it again sounding quite muffled and poorly recorded. It’s kind of weird, because some parts of the track, like the string arrangements seem almost overwritten, but the rest of it sounds almost like a demo of a really good song that’s not been refined to that point just yet. I can hear the quality of the writing in here, but it’s just not executed particularly well. It's So Hard - This one drops back a bit to the bluesy swagger of Crippled Inside. The strings sound crap, and it’s an uneventful take-off of classic blues. I just don’t really understand what he’s trying to achieve with this apart from to shove in a bunch of double-entendres. I Don't Want To Be A Soldier - And now we get something that is absolutely drenched in reverb, and in places the vocal even clips. Tonally, this record is all over the place. The piano, hidden as deep as it in the mix, is pretty good, as is some of the guitar work. But sonically, this is a clashing mess of a track. I think there are cool aspects to this, but it’s presented in such a poor way that perhaps I’m trying too hard to find positives. I quite like the rhythm and cadence of the vocal delivery, but on the whole, this is a complete mess and drags on, rambling along in it’s cacophonous echo chamber for far too long. Give Me Some Truth - The vocal rhythm is pretty good and this definitely has echoes of some of the Beatles’ more experimental work. Again, the production is poor and the rest of the band apart from the vocal have a very stilted flow to the rhythm. It’s also quite repetitive and bland. Oh My Love - And suddenly we have something that’s incredibly crisply recorded and sounds super clean. This really is an odd sounding album. There’s some really nice modulations and bits of flair in the piano and it dances really nicely around the guitar. It’s quite sickly sweet, but the strength of the interwoven parts hold it up and, while it’s not necessarily the most melodically interesting, the strength of the playing and the tonal manoeuvring of the instrumental parts make it a pleasant listen. How Do You Sleep? - Now this is more like it. It’s got great swagger, dirt and groove with some cool 70s kung-fu movie-esque strings. This is the song in which Lennon’s mask slips and he forgets that he’s pretending to be the nice guy he wants the world wants to see, with a direct attack on Paul McCartney. But he’s way better when he’s being himself. The vocal has great bite, the George Harrison solo is excellent, and I’m a big fan of the rhodes piano. The vibe is so cool on this one and it almost leans into a funk sound, with so much groove and rhythmic layers across the instrumentation. It’s far and away the best track on the record. How? - This is very meandering and takes us back to the kind of aimless feel of much of the record. Not sure why the kick drum is so prominent, but the oddness of the production is pretty par for the course at this point. There’s no real flow to this, it keeps getting into a groove and then everything drops out apart from that over-loud kick. There are some decent melodic moments in here, it just feels lacking in momentum and flow. Oh Yoko! - This is a pretty good little pop song. It’s very twee, but it’s delivered in a bouncy, pleasant way. Lennon’s vocal performance is a tad patchy, but it kind of works with this style of quirky pop song. There’s some good piano playing here and while the rest of the band play things fairly straight, the general vibe and tightness of the performances hold things together really well. I do find Lennon’s overt and direct references to his own life quite odd, rather than the more standard musical approach of making things a bit more generic or metaphorical, but he was definitely a man with the most main character energy one can have. A quality closer.

I've always liked the song Imagine, but the rest of this album was surprisingly boring.

I think this album is overrated, conflicting, and not my thing. Not a John Lennon fan, less so not an imagine fan… Rating: 4/10 Favorite Song: How do you sleep?

Dull and vapid, not a fan of the lyrics

I like 'Imagine' and 'Jealous Guy'. But I knew that already. None of the other tracks really did much for me. Weird variety of vibes towards that odd Beatley Sgt Pepper nonsense to some more 'meloncholic' stuff like the two songs I already liked. I'm giving it a low score because there's nothing new on it I like. (I think it's only worth marking high stuff I want to revisit. Middle 3 score stuff should be stuff I'm really not sure about). 2/5

Ich habe das Album nie verstanden. Die Beatles haben sich nach viel Streit und Drama getrennt um endlich alleine Musik zu machen und John Lennon kann endlich politisch werden und dann bringt er so ein mid ass Album raus... Ich mein bro.. ach komm lass stecken

The best song on here is “Jealous Guy” and that’s totally undermined by John Lennon not having the self-awareness to understand that maybe he shouldn’t be writing songs about being a shitty, abusive partner when he was, in fact, a shitty abusive partner. The guy could write a melody, sure, but who gives a shit. Didn’t hate that last song about Yoko Ono though, sounds like an underachieving indie band. Nothing here is changing my mind about how The Beatles are massively overrated.

Meh. Lennon was a douche.

Better than regular Beatles, at least the first half of the album.

"Oooooh, si seulement le monde était plus en paix !" *Bruits de violence conjugale "Oooooh, si le monde n'avait pas de frontières !" *Bruits d'enfant négligé au point que Paul McCartney écrit une chanson là-dessus Breeeeef, j'ai une opinion très basse pour John Lennon. Il est connu pour ses violences conjugales envers les femmes avec qui il était en couple, pour avoir négligé ses enfants, bref, un personnage qui a une image publique bien éloignée du personnage assez odieux qu'il était. Donc avoir cet album à écouter m'a un petit peu emmerdé. Et je reste persuadé que si tu sors Imagine et Jealous Guy, tout le monde s'en fout de cet album. Parce que c'était pas foufou non plus. Imagine, ça sonne hyper hypocrite pour un gars aussi odieux et Jealous Guy... j'aimais beaucoup cette chanson à une époque, mais connaître ses histoires de violence conjugale et écouter les paroles en mode "oh non, je suis si triste de t'avoir fait pleurer :'(", c'est particulièrement déplaisant. Non, John, tu n'es pas "juste un mec jaloux", tu es un sac à merde. Le reste de l'album est franchement oubliable et j'aurais peut-être été plus tendre si John Lennon avait été à la hauteur de l'image qu'il voulait se donner. C'est pas le cas. Donc 2/5 et c'est cher payé. Autant je suis obligé de tolérer sa présence dans les Beatles pour profiter du talent des trois autres, autant en solo, c'est non !

you may saaaaay i‘m a dream-eer

RATING: 4/10 HIGHLIGHT: How Do You Sleep? LOWLIGHT: Gimme Some Truth

This has some good tracks on and is a good listen but isn’t an album that gets me going, or even paying too deep attention, like some. It’s fine, and I can see why many people like it. But for me it’s not something that I’d go out of my way to listen to.

Puedo encontrar tres canciones relevantes, pero no siento que sea algo excepcional, al contrario refleja o romantiza la forma real que fue john lennon

Everyone knows the title track. There were blues efforts on other tracks but nothing special. Felt condescending and self-absorbed to me.

Although no one could deny the quality of this album, Imagine as a song that unifies the world, John Lennon, and The Beatles in particular, this is not something I would put on and play in my leasure time, simply too depressing and slow for my taste :)

I don't know who was ultimately responsible for most of the production duties here between Lennon, Ono and Spector, but it just falls flat. "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama", the worst offender, sounds like it was recorded in a tin can, and not in any creative or endearing way. Phil Spector already makes my skin crawl knowing all the horrible shit he got up to in his private life, but if this is the product you'd get by letting him in your studio post-1960s (his limelight era), I'm not impressed. Lennon's songwriting is the only thing keeping this from being a total flop because there is some decent material underneath everything that would make a decent 7/10 album with a better producer. The title track is a funny staple of classic rock, also funny that he wrote an entire track getting mad at Paul McCartney. You know the arguments those two had would've been funny as fuck to listen in on back in the day. 4, maybe a 5/10.

Definitivamente hay mejores. How do you sleep esta bueno sinceramente, el cual esta dirigido a Paul, tension post-Beatles. Mucha influencia de Yoko Ono.

bro put the communist manifesto in a song and thought we wouldn't notice

The lyrics feel like they were written by a pretentious 12 year-old. Some nice sounds though...

imagine is a it song but the rest was pretty underwhelming. 3/5

It’s just so unbelievably not for me at all actually and I’m very surprised by that god I’m so bored?

Imagine one of the Beatles made a solo album, it's easy if you try, but with no talent and nothing to say, imagine all the songs, and just how shit they'd be, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, this albums really shit. Also makes me think of all those celebrities singing it and that annoys me

All you need to know is Imagine is the best song

John Lennon sounded like a really bitter person on this album. He definitely had a lot of unresolved mental issues. The only good track besides “Imagine” is “How Do You Sleep?”. Everything else was trash.

no es mi tipo de musica, algunas buenas pero me aburre un poco

This album is pretty annoying in my opinion. So slow and repetitive and not providing anything great. It's not THAT bad, but I would not choose to listen to a single song from this album again. When it's not annoying, it's just kind of boring.

Old crusty cliche now

Wholly dull. Another point of proof that Harrison had the better solo career and more talent.

bueno se puede decir que John fue honesto en la forma en la que ve el mundo sus creencias políticas y que golpeaba a su esposa

Imagine how many times I've heard that song in my life. CLASSIC/CHEESE/HIPPIE ADJACENT/KUMBAYA/THAT ONE GUY YOU HATE'S FAVOURITE ALBUM

Imagine is a nice song but the rest is just weird country by john lenon. Its actually suprisingly bad.and bad country at that

This is an album entirely consisting of popular songs that have better covers of them, or songs that weren't covered for a reason. Nothing bad with it, but not my type of music, and if it was I would listen to the other versions.

Second album proposé après 'John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band' que j'avais détesté (noté 1/5, très ennuyeux et cris insupportables). Sur ce second album on a les tubes 'Imagine' et 'Jealous Guy' (je connaissais la version de Roxy Music, j'ignorais que le morceau original était de Lennon) qui lui évitent la note minimale. Les autres morceaux ne sont pas vraiment intéressants à mon gout, je me suis vite ennuyé. =>2/5

Not a fan. So much better with the Beatles.

Imagine is the best part and he didn't even write it. The rest is ehh. I still do not like Phil Spector's "what if we made it sound really shit" production style. Also he murdered a woman.

It's just not very good is it?

It's kind of crazy how much better the Beatles were than the sum of their parts.

There’s no need to be witty or philosophical. This album is just not very good. That opening track, though … that one’s got potential. Mark my words … watch the charts for that one. And that cover photo … it’s nice to see that singing wasn’t the only art form at which Yoko was terrible.

He’s a racist.

Imagine a world without any Beatles(like the movie "Yesterday"); it's easy if you try. It's also easy to imagine that, despite the fact he didn't deserve to be killed, John Lennon was not a good person. This album is so bland, and other than a few highlights, it's not worth listening to. Favorite Track: "How Do You Sleep?".

This is what we get when John Lennon is left to his own devices without the influences of other band mates. The overall posturing, preaching and bile quickly grow wearisome. If I never heard the song "Imagine" again I'd be perfectly fine with it. The song imagines an idealistic world which never once existed in the entire history of mankind and never will yet people are so moved and bow in reverence over Lennon"s "enlightenment" and "depth". Imagine this album without the feelings and reputation inspired by the Beatles and Lennon as a Beatle. Would I want to listen to this? In either case, not really. Lennon's post-Beatles worked paled in comparison to his prior work. 2.5/5

Lennon is not a nice bloke. That is an established fact. He's also spectacularly hypocritical. But is he a good musician? Well, he's not as talented as he wishes he was, and the success of the Beatles is a reflection of the output being greater than the sum of its parts. Lennon alone lacks the warmth, compassion and realisation that he's whiny. Imagine is a fine song, overplayed and then badly tarnished by COVID (not his fault but I'll still hold it against him). The others are a bit pathetic. How do you sleep particularly venomous.

Imagine really captures the entire issue with the hippie movement. Lennon sucked sometimes. "Glad he's dead" might be a bit far. That song really sucks though. But then Jealous Guy. But also the song God. But unfortunately, all the Yoko shit. Anyway, RIP, 3 stars.

Boring

just really annoying, man. and i like the title track! that's not even the one i mean! that song is smarmy coming specifically from Lennon but is, as a sentiment, pretty affecting to me. but so much of the rest of this is shitty, bland blues-rock with horribly whiny lyrics. no clue what anyone gets out of the inside-baseball of How Do You Sleep? or Lennon breaking into his angry rock 'n' roll guy voice to deliver some of the dumbest lyrics he's ever written on Gimme Some Truth. the final two cuts are my favorites here - sweet, vulnerable, genuine - and even those have a line each that make me want to take this guy's lunch money. whatever, man, was always more into George anyway

Without Ringo they're missing that magic

Not for me.

Besides Imagine, i harfly finished thr album. I might just hate John Lennon nvmnd

John Lennon is buns he pmo

2/23 Was okay. Glad I never heard the Imagine song during the covid year with the cringe attempt by celebrities to appear human. Other than that, I never really liked the Beatles or anything from the band members. Too overrated to me

No esperaba que sea blues, guarde un par decanciones que me parecieron lindas como musiquita de fondo pero, no es mi estilo para nada, un poco me aburrio

Meh.

Not that impressed, Jealous guy aside this is a bit meh. Never liked Imagine. More a Macca guy.

Sorry John. This was just so.... Blah. Imagine is a great song but the rest of it was somewhere between boring and embarrassing.

5/10 - it's alright, the Yopko song is hippy af; but imagine is great

Only a fool would say that

You know it's missing something, about 3 other somethings. Also feels like there's songs where he's mad at Paul. But idk. It was alright I guess

Not for me not my thing.

Não consigo gostar dele cantando música alegrinha... Mas amei #3, 7 e priiiincipalmente #9 (How).

Beyond Imagine and Crippled Inside turgid rubbish.

Title track is great but the rest is bitter garbage

another ok album, imagine is a banger, but the rest is sort of self-righteous stoner drivel.

oh my love ❣️❣️

This album just doesn't have a whole lot to listen to. There are some songs where I feel like my brain is tying to forcibly tune it out. Even when that isn't happening, the interesting songs are fairly short. that song about Paul McCartney is the exception, that one was wild. He clearly has a lot he wants to say, but I wish he stuck with the style he said it with on the album before this one.

An enjoyable album with a few notable songs, although not as remarkable as I was expecting. - Heard before? A few songs, but not in its entirety. - Will I listen again? Probably not. - Does it inspire me to listen to more of this artist? Probably not.

Only ever heard the title track on this and nothing else before today. Not sure I need to revisit it. The stuff that sounded very Beatles like, such as "Gimme Some Truth" and "Oh My Love" were good, but the rest were just okay.

Save:0

I'm not a huge Beatles guy though I certainly was was exposed to them. Johns writing here is fine but I never cared for his voice alone as much? It's sort of like Simon and Garfunkel; both are okay singers but put them together and it's kind of magic.

i’ve already listened to this bro

Not really my thing, I found it boring

The album Imagine contains some good songs, but also some really bad ones. I do not understand why the style is so country-influenced in places. Apart from the music, I cannot forget what a horrible person he was, so I am giving it two stars because of his abusive behavior.

Didn't really do it for me. The song Imagine is great, but I didn't get the album.

Imagine is an all time great song, not an album

🥱

Lennon is only good with McCartney. The opposite is also true.

Prefer Harrison

no me gustó :) psicodelico suena a jipi y lsd xd

Imagine a world where John Lennon never met yoko ono, it's difficult if you listen to this album There's a reason you don't hear about any tracks from this album outside of the title track, and it's because they stink. I don't know if it was the copious amounts of drugs, or yoko ono, or a combination of the two, but Lennon couldn't figure out whether this album should be a country hootenanny, or a deep album about loss, or an album about his love for yoko. Only thing saving this album from a 1 is the title track and gimme some trith. And even then, that's being generous considering Lennon's lifestyle vs what he is preaching in imagine

I don’t like this. I don’t think I like John Lennon. I feel some kind of annoyance because he’s simply not a good singer or lyricist.

All the songs sound exactly the same. Not my type of music, tho I understand why is one of the best albums.

Truly mid.

Mediocre at best, this album highlights how John Lennon was not the talent of the Beatles. If not for Imagine, this album would not be here. Add in the fact that Lennon was a vapid asshole, and it makes the preachy songs feel as hypocritical and hollow as he was.

Proof, if it were needed, that The Beatles were far greater than the sum of their parts.

Today I learned John without Paul is like Meg without Jack. Sorry John. RIP to a legend - but the Beatles are where it's at.

new sample found for me!! the song "Jealous Guy" on this album is sampled in the song "Dreamin of the Past" by Pusha T. I also liked the song "I don't wanna be a soldier mama" given the context of when the song came out. The rest is not really for me.

I’m a huge Beatles fan, but the only solo work I’ve listened to has been Band on the Run by Paul McCartney. I’m hoping this will be good, because it’s been six albums since a 5/5—and in those six I’ve had a one star and a two star. This may sound normal for a lot of rating systems, but comparing how I rate things with how others rate things, I’ve found that I often give higher scores on just about everything, so it sort of means everything I’ve been getting has been especially not awesome... Ok, I listened. Honestly, this album made me dislike John Lennon a LOT. I'm not going to talk much about the Elephant in the Room because I haven't done much digging into it, and I've seen a lot of contradictory evidence. I will say that I will always default to believing any accusations of that nature, but as this is a man who died years before I was even born, and whose legacy is already so complex and debated, I feel as if I don't have much to add to the discourse, so I'll try to stay away from it as much as possible. I also won't be talking about it in relation to his character with the exception of Jealous Guy. However, I will immediately bring up another controversy about the title track. It's so out of touch. It's not intellectually or artistically pretentious, but it is morally pretentious. Call me a crazy liberal/vegan, I guess, but I just don't think the guy who spends his millions on a special room for his fur coat collection has the right to just sit there and give his "I have a dream..." speech about peace and love and sharing wealth. Fur coats are even a step below eating meat, because at least meat is literally everywhere and can be necessary for people with certain health issues or for other animals. But fur coats are just a purely aesthetic indication of wealth. The fact that the three other Beatles are/were all vegetarian (with Paul McCartney being almost completely vegan), but John Lennon once bought eighty fur coats in a day just immediately bumps him down to my least favorite of the four. Not to mention, of course, the obvious moral misuse of wealth. Hearing it without background knowledge, however, this song is pretty good. The opening is a bit sudden, and I feel as if the song was placed here simply because it was obviously a hit rather than because it was a good opening sonically—though, lyrically, an argument could be made as it does summarize the themes of much of the album. I'm pretty neutral. Overall, it's a good song but nothing incredibly special. Crippled Inside does redeem it. In my opinion, it is better than the title track both in quality and in context. It's catchy and to the point while also bringing in some genuine artistry and freshness, which is what The Beatles do best. I also love how this song is so upbeat while having incredibly depressing lyrics. Then there's Jealous Guy, which is where I must reference that before mentioned elephant. It's unnerving. It's disturbing. It feels almost like satire. It's exactly what everyone warns you about, like in high school Health class where they tell you to ignore this exact plea for forgiveness and immediately get the hell out of there. It feels like something that'd be used in a domestic abuse prevention PSA. Sonically, the song is pretty good. You can hear the Phil Spector on it (which does NOT help the creepiness, by the way), and it doesn't actually work too badly on this song due to its slow, sad nature. The political messaging on Crippled Inside and I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama are much better than that on Imagine. While Imagine is a very obviously flawed man going "why can't people be better," these two songs have more of a storytelling element to them, and talk from other perspectives that separate Lennon from the narrative. Gimme Some Truth...man, it's hard to be objective about this one. I'm obviously from a different generation. Maybe what he was saying was savage then, but I find it a bit...well, just not very powerful or anything. I agree with the politics obviously. The song itself has great, raw vocals and George Harrison's slide guitar is awesome. So is the "money for dope/money for rope" part. But the part where he just shouts out insults sounds like a kid who's not allowed to curse. Again, could be a generational thing. But there is something to be said about timelessness. I still resonate with the sentiments of songs like For What It's Worth, Ohio, Masters of War, etc—and some of those were from the decade before this. I do think a lot of the power is lost with the wall of sound production. There are a lot of lyrically simple political anthems such as this one that do have power—anything by Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, or the like. And if this song were a folk track or even a stripped-down electric pop/rock song, it would retain much more power. But instead of trying to build energy with harder strumming or solely vocals, the production does much of the work which really takes away a good majority of the weight behind his words. However, I do feel as if this statement is powerful coming from John Lennon. He was a major celebrity—one that was under much scrutiny and, during his time with The Beatles, control. Having him make such a bold political statement does hold a weight unto itself. The next notable track is the worst, and that is the infamous How Do You Sleep? The best way I've heard this song described is "bringing a gun to a fist fight." It's ridiculous. The lyrics are painfully immature and petty. I'd say the only part that really is "savage" is the opening line about Sgt. Pepper, which did immediately hook me in. There seems to be this unspoken rule that artists who became famous in a band do not reference that band in their solo work, and the breaking of this rule along with the obvious target of it are effective in getting the attention of the listener. The other awesome part was the reference to the "Paul McCartney is dead" conspiracy. While it is extremely—painfully—*excruciatingly*—petty, it may become my Roman Empire because wow is that a wild thing to write. That conspiracy in general is so fascinatingly outlandish and iconic in itself, and Lennon's addition to it is just spectacular. I will say, I am most likely biased because Paul McCartney is my favorite Beatle. Oh Yoko! makes for a pretty good ending track. It's a definite tone shift, which thematically brings the album to a close. Sonically, the upbeat simplicity of it also acts as a breaking away from the songs that preceded it. I would say cut Imagine, Jealous Guy, and How Do You Sleep?, and bring back the more stripped-down sound on the majority of the songs, and this would be a pretty solid album. However, Imagine and How Do You Sleep? carry the majority of this album's character, so it's difficult to treat them as one-offs, or duds, or filler—they populate much of the album's artistic and cultural breadth and therefore make it difficult to treat them as simple flaws. Similarly, the fact that Gimme Some Truth—another key track—falls short makes it evident that, whenever John Lennon attempts something great on here, he fails in execution The reason the other songs are pretty good seems to just be because they're simpler in concept. There’s a lot of genuine brilliance and genuine humanity in this album, but its ego-fueled failings often make the gems hard to notice. It’s a sad listen. John Lennon, both the human being and public figure, had such potential. But as what happens to most people, major problems with ego and wealth interfered with his human passions. This album is messy and self indulgent. It’s a man fighting against his own past and present and the legacy he knew was all too inevitable. It’s good art in the sense that it is genuine, but it’s blind art, and it’s art that needed more thoughtfulness and less surface-level, drug-fueled, egocentric rage. It’s the sound of a man falling apart. Recap: Favorite songs: Crippled Inside, I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama, Oh Yoko! Least favorite songs: Imagine, Jealous Guy, How Do You Sleep? Comparisons: Band on the Run, Plastic Ono Band, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Easter, Born to Run, Abbey Road, Buffalo Springfield, So Far, After the Gold Rush Rating: 2/5

muchos altos y bajos, oh yoko y how do you sleep lo salvan un poco

More self righteous crap from the third most talented beetle.

Not good

**An ok album

Apart from the obvious well known tunes, Lennon’s solo material has always left me a little underwhelmed. Can’t help the comparison with Maccas amazing output from the same period. This was released the same year as Ram and is definitely in its shadow. Some classic songs but not a classic album imo

Das Album hat mich weniger angesprochen als mir der Name „versprochen“ hat.

Feels like an album was made because he wrote the single Imagine and needed to bulk it out. Forgettable and in need of a lot more influence when writing, something his previous three bandmates could've helped with.

There's one good song . . .

Cançó(ns) que més m’ha agradat - Imagine - How do you sleep (???) Cançó(ns que menys m’han agradat) - Ses altres, pero sobretot: - Oh Yoko! (sembla sa cançó de Hay Day) Comentaris: you may say i’m a dreameeeer. No és es meu tipus d’àlbum, no m’agrada gens sa seua veu. M’ha costat escoltar-lo Nota: 5/10

Nicht ganz meine Musik Bester Song 1. Listen: jealous guy

I wanted to like it but he’s kinda whiny

12/14/25 This is what I get for complaining about Fiona Apple. Having to listen to a piece of shit wife beater next. "I never meant to hurt you" "how do you sleep at night" giant liar and hypocrite. Unable to listen to this without being angry. 3/10.

Second Lennon album in three days. While this may be his most successful solo album to my ears, including the most mid anthem in rock history, it also includes his apology for abuse. He was an open book when it came to his art and for that I appreciate him, but I also find much of his solo work both pretentious and juvenile at the same time.

Gimme some truth is good and obviously imagine and jealous guy are big songs but not moved by rest of it.

Förvånas av hur spretigt det den här plattan är. Det finns ingen musikalisk stringens. Snarare en samling låtar som i mångt och mycket verkar var och en för sig. Definitivt gäller detta de två hitsen. Imagine är väl i grunden en bra låt om än uttjatad. Jealous guy är dock betydligt starkare även om jag föredrar Hathaways version. Budskapet är ju dock naturligtvis ruttet. Men som Margo Price sjunger i Long live the King, He was a feminist (kan ifrågasättas) and an asshole to. Blueslåtarna med King Curtis på sax är också trivsamma som avslutande Oh Yoko. Men är finns också skräpmat som Crippled inside och Oh my love. Stark tvåa men till en trea kan inte album som inte är ett album nå.

Imagine - sönderspelad Crippled inside - Monty Python Jealous guy - håller fortfarande It's so hard: gubbrock-blues. Borde stannat i byrålådan. I don't wanna be a soldier: intressantaste spåret, men lyfter inte riktigt. Lennons röst är alldeles för vek och snäll för en sån här låt. Gimme some truth: helt ok Nixon-kommentar Oh my love: riktigt bottennapp How do you sleep: släpar sig fram. Irriterande smöriga stråkar. Går på tomgång How?: lyrik från pennan av en genomsnittlig tonåring. Musikaliskt urtråkigt. Oh Yoko!: en bagatell. Att Lennon vill förklara sin kärlek offentligt är väl fint så. Inget dom borde gå till historien. Ulf Lundell på munspel? Samlad bedömning: en, kanske två bra låtar. Trist produktion. Svag sång. Knappast topp 1001.

a few mature songs towards the end, but the rest is slop

Some nice melodies on this one, but most of the songs are too simple to leave a mark. A lot of them are ballads that just repeat the same chords the entire time. If the lyrics were good there would be a beauty in this simplicity, but the lyrics are also simple without much depth. The lyrics contain such controversial statements as "I don't want to die" and "give me the truth." "Crippled Inside" switches things up, but its jaunty melody and breakdown at the end just sound goofy. "How Do You Sleep" is likely the best song musically, though its vitriol contradicts the whole "brotherhood of man" thing from earlier. "Oh Yoko!" might be the best song, as it's got a carefree melody and there the simplicity is beautiful. And the title track? Pleasant, not bad, but not as deep as it thinks. Like most of the album really.

Standouts Jealous Guy

Albums done by individual Beatles are always proof that the creative power of that band was in the group, not the individuals. And John Lennon proves that best of all of them. Un-restrained by McCartney his worst is on full display here. To be fair, the lyrics are often great. But Lennon is at his best when he directs his venom at himself. At least this avoids the criticism of hypocrisy that applies whenever he directs lyrics anywhere else, which is most of the time. The lack of self-awareness is breathtaking. Melodically though it's an equally difficult listen and if it was anyone other than Lennon I might not have got to the end of the album. Imagine is a plodding dirge. Crippled Inside is the worst song by a Beatle since Don't Pass Me By (which to put in context was written and sung by Ringo). How Do You Sleep is a better attempt but the lyrical content (from a wife beater, adulterer and waitress-glasser) just drags it down too much. 2 from 5. Only Jealous Guy saves it from a 1.

I feel like I got too many people around me that hate this guy for me not to be influenced by them. I don't really like any songs apart from crippled inside though.

Definitely can tell who brought the creative genius to the Beatles, and it wasnt Lennon. Having heard some solo albums by Paul and George Im very disappointed as I didnt like as many of the songs on the album as much as I thought I would. Nevertheless you can tell this is a very emotional album and very heartfelt too. Which I can appreciate so I'd give it a 6/10

If there is one thing this list has taught me it's that John Lennon's solo output is...not that great. I'm in the minority that thinks the lyrics to Imagine are kind of ridiculous, especially coming from a serial cheater and all around not very nice guy. Oh Yoko is pretty great and brought back memories of the Rushmore soundtrack. The rest is forgettable.

Day682 - my least favorite beatle playing his most annoying album

I love the Beatles. Always have; always will. I have also never liked a solo project from a Beatle. John Lennon is insufferable, especially on his own. There are a few halfway decent songs here, but overall it's just not that good. 2 stars.

At least it doesn't have as much Yoko as Double Fantasy, I guess? When you know a bit about Lennon's personal history "Jealous Guy" is incredibly offputting/creepy.

Saw a review of Rush’s Moving Pictures that said it was self indulgent, which I wholeheartedly disagree with. If anything is self indulgent, it’s this album. Pretentious, whiny, boring, overrated.

I’d rather not

In the end, it's John & Yoko, again. As a result, it's self-centred and whining about stuff no one is interested in, especially his beef with Paul. I also found this musically uninteresting and quite boring.

(2.5) less good than i remember

A couple of classics but gets a little self indulgent and seems like he’s complaining about something for most of this album.

It’s hard to like this album as I always thought the Beatles were an overrated band , however I had to force myself to listen to it . I recognised quite a few of the songs and can understand why they are given the credence attached to them and also appreciate the strength of the lyrics , but unfortunately they do not instilled a joy in me and encourage me to immerse myself . Therefore it is an unfortunate low score

i have to be honest, i stopped this half way through.

oh he wanted to be elton john so bad

A bit meh for me, 2/5

Meh. I know that htis is John Lennon, and that clearly everyone has agreed that this dude is a demi god, but it's just not very good.

Meh. I get it but I do not love John Lennon's solo output as a general rule.

I'm not the biggest John Lennon fan, although I am a big Beatles fan. I am glad that I listened to this, but I think it is reminiscent of a lot of other post-Beatles albums by the members of the Beatles. 1 or 2 standout, classic tracks, surrounded by fine songs that are not very memorable. John and Paul brought out the best in each other, so this ultimately doesnt live up to any of the late-period Beatles albums. But yeah, it was fine.

there sure is some self indulgent crud on here amongst a couple of good songs.

Honestly whoever wrote these songs ought to have been shot. Partially redeemed by the title track and How Do You Sleep, a song which takes the biscuit more than an opportunistic thief at a McVitie's factory.

< The Beatles 1 or 2 decent songs. Kind of a who gives a shit album. Tired of listening to every album made by any needle beatle. For the record, the ranking of beatles goes 1. Ringo Starr 2. George Harrison 3. Pete best 4. John Lennon 5. An actual beetle 6. Paul McCartney

Pretty classic, although also pretty overplayed...preferred him in the Beatles!