Imagine

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

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!

not my favourite

I already find Imagine somewhat annoying and trite, and the rest of the album only gets worse from there

Muut otti bussin, John lennon. Eipä ollut tätäkään levyä tullut kuunneltua aiemmin. The Beatlesin on tullut jo neljäkymmentä vuotta kuunneltua aina silloin tällöin. Lennonin soolotuotanto on jäänyt vieraaksi, Tuttuja tältä levyltä oli tietysti hittibiisit ”Imagine” ja ”Jealous Guy”. Ne olikin levyn parhaat biisit, muu olikin sitten aika kuraa…

Imagine if this album was interesting

It's amazing how much greater the four Beatles combined are than the sum of their parts. The solo projects are all somehow underwhelming, mediocre even. Imagine is Imagine, of course, but would the rest of the album still be listened to if it was made by anyone else? It probably isn't anyway tbh.

I never finished Catcher in the Rye but I am a John Lennon hater. I love that jealous guy gave us the donny Hathaway cover that gave us chance the rappers juice, but i hate that imagine gave us the worst part of the covid pandemic and everything else about this album.

It is strongly recoded that I am a Beatles guy. That being said, I rarely enjoy their individual projects. They need each other. This is another one of those albums where I feel like the artist is high on their own supply. I don’t love the titular track very much. Possibly it’s just too played out but it sounds silly to me. Crippled Inside - I get it bro. Same. Jealous Guy - I also get it. Though I don’t usually beat the person I’m jealous over but you know, we’re different guys. I actually like this song but I too am a whiny brat. We get some rockish jams and some slow jams. The variation is nice. I think this album tells me John was not the lyric guy in The Beatles. His lyrics lack creativity and depth and are really disappointing. His voice is so whiny on its own. How Do You Sleep feels like he’s trying to capture The Beatles feel while attacking Paul? The weird grammar in the lyrics makes me wildly uncomfortable. Oh Yoko makes me want to vom. What an appropriate ending.

The titular track is great. But I’m sure John came away from this album saying, “this is the best work I’ve ever done. Better than The Beatles!” He would be wrong. I know that’s unfair but I just didn’t enjoy this album much. There are some solid moments but overall I just found it rather boring.

I don’t think he really protected yoko with this work and can see why the world came for her, although I am a yoko ono apologist. Imagine is one of the corniest songs ever but has done a lot of good, I think

Slow paced a bit to sad for my taste

Por qué a la gente le gusta tanto John? Esta vaina es bien meh. Literal creo que solo imagine se salva

Uninspired swill.

go, white boy, go!! this album was WAY more corny and insufferable than I expected. the title track (which is the opener) does NOT prepare you for it. I would make a joke about John Lennon hating the whole "celebrity Imagine video during covid" thing if he'd been alive to see it, but I actually have NO idea how he'd feel about it.

A bit dull

Found it to be quite self absorbed and missing much of the more interesting musicianship and chord progressions of his work with the rest of the Beatles. Might have my judgement clouded by how he came across in ‘get back’ though. Never liked imagine as a song and found a lot of the rest of the album to be trite.

Kind of boring

Shallow indulgent tripe that sounds like it was recorded in the middle of a warehouse.

Imagine writing a diss track against Paul McCartney when this is the best you've got to offer. A tedious, boring record for the most part

I - meh - gine More like

Ehhhhhh

Ännu ett album som man förstår varför man bara har hört en av låtarna. Resten är ärligt talat generisk rock. Inget sticker ut speciellt mycket

⭐️ How?

Vind dit wel een klassiek voorbeeld van een album dat geweldig klinkt, maar als je verder dan dat probeert te kijken blijkt het niet heel veel om het lijf te hebben. Dat is dan ook wel direct symptomatisch voor veel producties van Phil Spector. Het eerste deel pakt me wel, met zijn folksy en bluesy composities. Het tweede deel daarentegen is cliché filosoof John Lennon, en hij lijkt daar vreemd genoeg soms een beetje op een parodie van zichzelf, hoewel het wel écht en oprecht is. Ik vind het niet zo heel sterk. Het slappe en kinderlijke 'Oh Yoko!' is tekenend. 6/10 Highlights: Imagine Jealous Guy It's So Hard

This album is all about the first song but other than that song it’s pretty below average over all.

Listened in the truck via YouTube music. Not the biggest fan of Lennon solo work. Imagine is what it is.

Meh.

Imagine as a first song is pretty good but honestly the rest of the album is okay.

White boy why.....

Appreciate the talent but wasn’t grabbed by most of the songs.

Perhaps the most overrated and overplayed song of all time, paired with mostly uninteresting album cuts. He wrote a lot of great songs for The Beatles, but I was never the biggest fan of Lennon’s solo material.

I’ll be honest, I skipped the bad third form poetry that is Imagine and Jealous Guy because Bryan Ferry does it better. Everything about this album is so thin, from the production to the vocals and the lyrics. This is John Lennon being a pissy wee bitch as usual. It’s really not that great.

If this wasn’t by a Beatle, it’d be a one-hit wonder no one paid any mind to.

Even though most inescapable Beatles songs still somehow find ways to sound fresh to me when listening to albums. However, other than imagine, this album is a bit simple and boring for me. I always figured Lennon was the one that worked less for me, which this mostly confirms. I get why people would love it, but I don’t need to ever hear this again

Nothing will hate me make this man less, especially his music. Fine album, some of the songs were even decent.

This was pretty terrible. I feel like at this point he was so far out of touch with a normal human experience that none of his songs make sense. They're also not good musically.

completamente distante do que eu gosto camarada conseguiu fazer uma diss track musicalmente chata devia ter ficado quieto aceitando o fim dos beatles

john lennon sem os beatles = tudo de ruim chato demais.

he was crying about his love life i hate it.

I like the song Imagine. it's kind of inconceivable that it came from John Lennon alone when you look at the rest of the songs here. everything else is meh

It’s fine. He needed the other Beatles

It's alright. Not really finding it especially interesting.

4/10

Should have stopped after imagine

I tried, I even got high and tried again. A couple of really good songs and a lot of fair songs. I'm not going to dwell too long here because I've tried several other times and have determined that this album doesn't excite me and that is okay. Peace out!

Remember when Lorde put out the pandemic record about how if you go outside things will be better? This is that but the 70s.

Meh

Ugghh

Yoko OH NO!!!

A bit dated overall, but nice songs.

1 banger, 9x ???

Couple of good songs and I admire Lennon for what he did for rock music especially with the Beatles but I wouldn’t listen to this again.

Aside from Imagine I found this album a bit boring personally.

Two timeless gems, and a final track that feels like I landed up in the middle of their morning cuddle, awkwardly holding toast.

He was better with the other guys. Love me some beatles, but not so much JUST John Lennon. Damn Yoko.

A couple bangers but the rest didn't do a ton for me.

mostly cheese

Wet slime. 1.5 for some nice melodies which cannot surpass the gross tinge on everything.

Langweilig, bin aber auch biased weil Lennon 1 Frauen schlagender Hund war

Oof, what a disappointment this would have been at the time. Great first track obviously and then... nothing to write home about.

M/v

imagine draggin’

More bearable than I'd envisioned but for the most part pretty boring. I like the pop songs though. The title track alone drags this down to a 2 for me though. Fav track: Oh Yoko!

Probably my least favorite solo Beatle. The title track is inescapable from that horrible COVID video by Gal Gadot and other braindead celebrities. A lot of the tracks read either as Beatles songs that didn't make the cut, or just flat. I liked one song, that being How Do You Sleep? I write this at 3:56 am, so, not well!

Snoozer. Really makes it evident how much he needed the other Beatles.

Never been a huge fan of Imagine (the song) so wasn't looking forward to this. Weirdly it really doesn't represent the rest of the album at all which draws much more from blues and roots rock. Still an incredibly boring album though

A huge downside to Lennon’s solo stuff is he just cranked shit out for a quick turnaround. And this album is an indication of how sloppy and a waste of his talent.

Only thing saving it from one star is the title track. The whole album reeks of insecurity to the point of feigned arrogance.

Literally one good song and that was Crippled Inside so one star for that and one star for introducing some new types of sounds. Didnt enjoy it but hey some of that shit was fresh back then

If you just heard Imagine with no context of who wrote it you might kind of agree with the sentiment, I would for sure. But it's such a lie coming from John Lennon. He would have hated the world he was wishing for in that song because he would be equal with everyone else and that's not what he wanted at all. I mean he professed all these ideas of no possessions and equality while standing there waiting for his maid to change his sheets for the third time that day. No, he was a pretty terrible person for sure and all the ideas he spouts in that song are definitely a 'this is for you but not me because I'm better than you' mentality. And this whole album is another example of why the Beatles were so great. None of their solo stuff was ever close to what they made together. George Harrison was probably the closest to making something comparable. This album is just kind of boring, run of the mill music with a couple of high spots here and there. And full of insincere and false sentiment. Best song is I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier. But still, if John Lennon hadn't been a Beatle, nobody would have listened to this album at all. 2.5/5 but rounding down for reasons.

God free us from the John Lennon d*ck riding.

Pretty tepid, even the big songs.

imagine

I can’t get behind the singer/songwriter aspect of pop sometimes…even if it’s John Lennon.

Not a huge fan of this one.

Meh. I'm not really a fan. Songs were ok, it played in the background but nothing really caught my attention.

I don’t even really like the title track

dull.

Not my thing.

The classics imagine and jealous guy are here but I the main a fairly lacklustre album

Ich hatte am Tag davor ein Paul McCartney Album. Paul McCartney ohne Beatles ist definitiv besser als John Lennon ohne Beatles.

Imagine - sönder spelad Crippled inside - Monty Python music hall Jealous guy - håller fortfarande It's so hard: gubbrock-blues. Borde stannat i byrålådan. I don't wanna be a soldier: intresxsantast hittills men lyfter inte riktigt. Lennons röst är alldeles för vek och snäll för en sån här låt. Gimme some truth: gäsp Oh my love: pinsamt 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 ok/bra låtar. Trist produktion. Svag sång. Knappast topp 1001.

I don't really like John Lennon's solo work, this one especially has some duds. The overall vibe of the album is way too mopey and cliché 70's pop rock. More dull than the Carpenters or Captain & Tennille. Imagine and Jealous Guy are songs I've grown tried of over the years and there's a lot of awful pop slop in here as well. There's still some nice songs, John Lennon hadn't completely forgot how to make a good song, but overall not a very enjoyable album.

Does not really feel like an "album experience" - how are these songs connected? Lyrics and themes are everywhere. Music is a bit monotonous for my taste but it does not hurt my ears.

this album's name has been dragged through the mud all because of that goddamn title track. i don't think the stink from the celebrity cover from early 2020 will ever wash out. rest of it is proof that McCartney was the superior songwriter. i can kind of fuck with the atmosphere and premise but it rarely is engaging. deserves to be one of the 1001? no but (barely holding back grin of extreme contrarian pleasure) Plastic Ono Band / Yoko Ono should!

Seems a bit indulgent to me. I suppose if there's anyone who deserved being allowed some indulgence in their career, It's John Lennon. Didn't really enjoy this.

imagine there's no album / it's easy if you try

Nothing that would bring me back for more as an album. Obviously Imagine is great, but beyond that I wasn’t a fan

I love the Beatles, John Lennon not so much

first song 5/5, the rest are do doo

It was alright…like I don’t know Imagine is a great song but the rest was….ok???? Maybe my expectations were too high for a former Beatles member

Surprising not good. After the opening track it’s a imbalanced ride

[generic blues rock jam comes to a close] "Ok, John that sounds like there might be something there, we can keep working on it and maybe when the lyrics are fully done, you know without all the hypocrisy, we might be able to shape this into something..." "There will be no introspection! Only the shifting of the blame and the pointing of fingers, and these ARE the songs! Roll the tape, this next one is about how Paul McCartney is a piece of shit." [toxic vibes proceed to seep into analogue tapes]

Meh, knew nothing but the first track, and now know the reason, nothing was quite as catchy. Rating the album as a whole, 2.

imagine = défi essayer d'être plus niais tracks 2-3-4 nul track 5 ça valait le coup de l'écouter en sah track 6-7 je commence à me faire chier track 8 sympa track 9 je viens de l'écouter que je l'ai déjà oubliée

It seems the rest of the Beatles kept a lot of John's worse instincts at bay. Most of the times I can try and not let the quality of the person muddy my assessment of the album, but it makes it tougher this time where said person is actively being hypocritical in the album. John could write a song, sure, but these are a but meh. Also being overly preachy, asking for the world to do better when you're ultra rich? I'm a terrible person feel sorry for me I don't deserve love...it was tough to separate the artist from the art on this one.

Dull & forgettable. Really dislike the title track!

I counted 125 uses of 'I' on this ten track record. After the Beatles broke up, this man's ego and self obsession went unchecked and he thought everyone was intrigued by his relationship with Yoko and Paul, when they probably just wanted better tunes. A bit of a prick, some of the songs ( Jealous Guy) are alright but generally this is all guff.

Worse than the Beatles together

Imagine nos feratu...its scary if you try...

Personal disdain for the artist aside, no one loves John Lennon as much as John Lennon loved John Lennon and I think that sums up his work without the Beatles

I approached this album ready to lambast John Lennon. Of course, I already know the title track, while it's a very altruistic sentiment that I agree with, it sounds very hypocritical coming from John Lennon. Truth be told, from this point forward the production choices at every turn were so disarming that I enjoyed the songs more than i thought I would. The strings in "It's So Hard" absolutely save the song from being a boring electric blues rock song. They almost sound digital "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama" is like something Scott Walker would begin to do in the late 70's and mid 80's. It's so far ahead of it's time! I was so enamored that I didn't mind the slight lull of "Gimme Some Truth". From this point forward the songs hit closer to what I feared it would be: just post-Beatles Beatles songs. Stylistically, the trite balladeering "Oh My Love" and "How?" falls flat, and "How Do You Sleep" no matter how well-intentioned it is, sounds like a White Album reject. "Oh, Yoko!" is sweet, because who hasn't thought about writing their cush/partner a personalized song, but it is a bit corny. But that Harmonica at the end absolutely shredded. All in all, better than I was expecting. I've attempted to listen to John Lennon's discography before, but somehow never made it to Imagine before, and I have to say, I'm delightfully surprised that I like anything Beatles adjacent. Here's to personal growth! That said, only the A-side had any real standouts. If any John Lennon album should be here, it should probably be this one, but does this one deserve to be here?

If he was alive today, do you think he’d drink Stella? Anyway, not particularly fond of Lennon. “Imagine” is overplayed and I get the sense of a darker meaning behind “Jealous Guy”. 1/4 of the Beatles deserves more than what I’d give I’m sure, but I can’t stretch to a 3 so I leave it at 2. Nothing amazing here.

First, you think "the lyrics of Imagine are actually so true", then you think "wait a second, it's actually really hypocritical of John Lennon to write those lyrics". But in the end, who really cares? Arguing about "Imagine" has got to be one of the least productive things you could be doing more than 50 years later. The real problem with this album is that just one year without Paul's granny music left John completely unable to write a decent hook!

Udover imagine er det ikke et godt album, 2 stjerner pil ned.

To old for me

Couldn't get past the production on this, sounded like he recorded it standing in another room

Cheesy af

What a miserable album. 'Jealous Guy' is one of Lennon's greatest ever songs, but on the whole this a nicely produced trudge and a depressing look at a rotting talent.

Chill but not much of my vibe.

Horrible. Self-serving. Self-stroking.

it's ok

Imagine - Appreciated classic Crippled Inside - The Americanisation of John Lennon Jealous Guy - Good It's So Hard - More Americanisation I Don't Want to be a Soldier Mama - Very bad Gimme Some Truth - Oooh I liked this one Oh My Love - Bad again How Do You Sleep? - Alright I guess How? - Also fine Oh Yoko! - These feel like songs for montages in family friendly films

I've never listened to this album in full before, but I'd heard a few songs--including "Imagine", obviously, which I find harder to tolerate as years go by. I feel embarrassed when people have an emotional response to that song. I've seen grown men cry to it! But it's hypocritical and pretentious and perhaps the least self-aware song Lennon ever wrote! And boring and simplistic! It's incurious and preachy! Have you seen the video in his home for that song? It's ridiculous. I wish he was being ironic when they shot it, but it's sincere. Maybe he thought he was being vulnerable. I'm harping about the title track because I think it's emblematic of everything that doesn't work for me about this album. It contains all of my least favorite impulses in Lennon's songwriting. The Beatles may have needed him, but he also definitely needed the Beatles. Also, I am truly mystified by the popularity of "Jealous Guy". I guess it points towards some kind of self-reflection, but the melody sucks, the strings are ridiculous, and the production is plodding. Not to mention the content. 'I treated you like shit because I'm insecure, baby! I'M in PAIN! I didn't MEAN to hurt you!' And then he fucking whistles. Lennon is responsible for some of my favorite songs ever, which makes me feel all the more venomous towards this album as an exercise. I'm going to go listen to 'Revolver' again.

Jealous Guy is the highlight, otherwise rather underwhelming.

Bland

What a twat. Calls himself a philosopher whilst making the most egocentric songs in existence. Don’t forget the abuse of his wife.

I really didn't like this. Imagine is a "great" song that is beloved by millions but I do not get it. There's also a tonal whiplash from last week's album "Pet Sounds" having a song against LSD and John Lennon took enough to marry Yoko.

Ok album, some good tunes

This album seems like it starts strong, but really just opens with its only good song. It's downhill pretty fast after Imagine.

Couple decent songs

Supposed to like it. But I just don’t. Obviously quality songwriting because it’s John Lennon , and there’s good stuff here and there. Just ok and you expect more from a superstar caliber musician. I like the more vulnerable stuff. Imagine is now a cliche, but has a lovely intent. So now why can’t he and Paul live in peace? Hmm? HMMMMM????

it's nice, very mellow, very banal, very bland and 'ringarde', if you will I fear all of these songs sound the same I can't even say that this isn't my thing because I feel like ordinarily it would be...

People need to stop dickriding him so hard

Songs fluctuate between okay and kind of annoying. It would probably be decent overall if the album didn't have the curse of being by John Lennon and thus having to compete with the Beatles' work. Compared to that, my impression of the album is best summarized by the word “pretentious”. 2.5/5

Boy was I glad to finish this album. Look, I get why people raved about this when it was released, the peace and love themes are very very apparent and given when this album came out I can totally understand the massive following behind this music. But honestly, I didn't love it. I think the only song I really really enjoyed was Crippled Inside. I was very close to adding Oh No to the list because I thought it was the end of the album and I was really happy about it but turns out it wasn't the end and I had to listen to more John Lennon. Maybe Mark David Chapman was trying to spare us all

Didn’t know so many people hated John Lennon. Kind of refreshing to see. Album is a 2 at best. Can’t believe his iconic solo song is on such an average / below average album.

чет скучная хня для хиппарей, хотя, может быть, при определенном настроении, при определенном положении планет, мне это и понравится, мне все равно не нравки((( 2/5

A couple of obvious bangers, but a lot of absolute dross. Imagine is in the converstaion for best song of all time, but there is no editing and quality conttol. Waffly, wanky lyrics and thin, scratchy blues.

Look, I love Lennon. But I don't usually love solo Beatles. They just made each other better in ways that are lacking on their solo stuff. Paul needed John's edge, John needed Paul's joi de vivre and they needed each other as a creative counterweight Imagine is obviously an all-timer, but the rest of the album is just mediocre 12-bar blues and soft dad rock outside of the OG diss track How Do You Sleep? and Oh Yoko! The album is fine. Give me Paul's Ram over this any day.

Most of this album is pretty terrible. The title track is of course wonderful (I've heard it far too often, but I still remember how it sounded when it was fresh). "Jealous Guy" was better recorded by Bryan Ferry. "Oh My Love" is gorgeous. The rest of the album... No thanks.

I tend to prefer John Lennon written songs when it comes to the Beatles, and post drug albums. But listening to this album made me realize there's such a thing as too much Lennon and too much drugs. Maybe the other three guys tempered John's excesses. In any case, there are a few good songs here, Imagine obviously and I really liked How do you sleep? but I'd never go back and listen to this album as a complete package. How? Is also OK. Kind of just shows you the start of the decline more than anything. Keep in mind when I write this, I'm only a passive Beatles listener, not a massive fan. I enjoy some of the best later stuff, but not crazy about them.

I’ve never been a Lennon girlie, I’m pretty much ride-or-die for Paul, so I don’t particularly enjoy John’s solo work. Some songs do slap, like unfortunately the infamous Paul diss-track How Do You Sleep is the coolest song on this album, while most of the rest kind of rubs me the wrong way. Still, even if I don’t really like it, you certainly can’t deny the enduring reach of Imagine. (2.5 stars)

Music is nice, but the voice isn't

One great song. One pretty good song. I found the rest pretty boring

Past imagine (the first song) it really didn't grip me.

The titular song is fine but I couldn't vibe with anything else on the album.

someone needed to put a leash on this man my fucking god. not only that but another phil spector dumpster fire to suffer through

Oh Yoko? Oh dear.

Well, Jealous Guy is good. Though I think Donny Hathaway did it better.

Tenía el presentimiento de quee iba a aburrir con este álbum, tenía razón.

2 songs

4 for the songs. -2 John Lennon -2 Phil Spector +2 Jealous Guy

Some good songs but mostly not for me. I understand I'm of the few here. Just wasn't for me.

Raga che lagna mi sento male non me l’aspettavo affatto

Meh

I’ve taken to checking out the authors of the reviews and it’s fairly clear that if you hate Lennon or Dire Straits, you just love Screaming-Cats-Electrified-By-A-Cattleprod-type music. Lennon seems pretty polarising anyway. If you grew up with the Beatles you usually love him. If you cut your milk teeth on hip hop or punk, you think he was just a bullshit artist. I didn't bother listening to the album as I already knew the key songs enough to remember most of their lyrics. Not my cup of tea now or then. Was the album influential? Probably. Do I need to listen to it all before I die? No. Two stars.

Not my favorite sound. Some songs are fairly boring.

I know an album is probably going to suck when I don’t even care for the big track on the album. Given how much the Beatles have been a part of my life, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the day I get a Beatles album. Go and figure that the first crumb I get is one of John Lennon’s solo albums, where all of John’s ego and artistic bullshit can go unchecked. As mentioned before, I don’t really give a fuck about Imagine. It’s a surface level peace song that’s overplayed as much as it’s pretentious. It doesn’t even mean much on the album. Hard to preach about peace when you put a Paul McCartney diss track on it too. But the big problem I have with Imagine is that almost none of the songs are worth anything. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier is a 6-minute repetitive nuisance, Oh Yoko made me feel uncomfortable and Gimme Some Truth is just surface level political commentary. The only song I kinda liked was Jealous Guy. Honestly, most of the songs just felt like they used the same lyrics over and over again. I wasn’t a fan of this one, which sucks as a Beatles fan. Hopefully, it’s one of those albums I see John Lennon again. Favorite track: Jealous Guy Other hits: Oh My Love, How?

There are a few songs here that are musically stellar, but it's hard not to listen to Lennon's lyrics and hear a small, deeply insecure man whose big picture idealism is perpetually at odds with his dented ego.

как можно было чпокать йоко оно? диссить пола маккартни? старина ты по моему перепутал

Not a Beatles fan but at least when they started they were doing something new and exciting. By the time we get to 1971, the Beatles are over and this album proves that there's no I in team. The title track is insipid, just some rich bloke being out of touch. Peace and love unless you step out line, eh John? Although I do like the main piano line. As for the rest of it, he really should have just left the white man blues to the Rolling Stones. At least they were good at it. The whole album feels insincere and self-absorbed. The production's good and ultimately, it's not unlistenable.

Starts out about as strong as you can then tapers immediately.

Czasami odnoszę wrażenie, że niektóre albumy trafiły na tę listę za jedną wiodącą piosenkę, bo reszta utworów nie powinna się znaleźć nawet na obrzeżach tej listy. "Imagine" to absolutny klasyk i hymn pokolenia, a także pewnej idei. Idei, która niestety zdewaluowała się i wygląda obecnie co nieco naiwnie, być może w dużej mierze przez jej współczesną wypaczoną formę. Albo przez świat, który jest co nieco bardziej skomplikowany, niż 50 lat temu. John Lennon nie powinien był brać się za bluesa. Ani za granie na harmonijce. Jego utwory światopoglądowe trącą white privilege (śpiewanie o złych pieniądzach, kiedy jesteś międzynarodową gwiazdą rocka, come on...), jego blues jest słaby, a oda do Yoko to straszny cringe. Nie cierpiałem tak, jak przy The Libertines, bo mimo wszystko to jest wciąż świadomy muzycznie album. Ale to tyle.

Solo Lennon do mnie nie przemawia, strasznie się wynudziłem. Mocne 2

Two views. Yes, sure, spend a moment to explain to people who dont know the Beetles and John Lennon their message to the world, and the zeitgeist, and Imagine as something that people connected with. as an album, not for me. It bores me, and Yoko is a difficult topic

It's ok, but I'm pretty convinced if this album had any other person's name on it, it would be considered very mediocre.

Fuck John Lennon, hypocriete lul dat ie is. Met dat uit de weg, Imagine is wel gewoon een mooi nummer. Altijd benieuwd of de rest dan dat niveau haalt of in de buurt komt of dat het een Layla en andere nummers situatie is. Ik probeer me niet te irriteren aan de hypocrisie van de heer Lennon, ik ben tenslotte een groot Kanye fan alleen dan wel voordat ie echt gestoord was. En ik moet zeggen, het valt me mee. Je moet de teksten vooral negeren, want dit album is voor een groot deel "Heb toch medelijden met me! Ik heb het echt heel moeilijk!!!" het album, en dat klinkt toch wat minder geloofwaardig van iemand die als protest zichzelf opsluit in bed in het Hilton. Er zijn slechtere plekken laat ik maar zeggen. Had ik dit album moeten luisteren voor ik doodga? Mwah, het is prima. Er zitten een paar echte stinkers in(I dont wanna be a soldier mama, Oh Yoko!) Maar de titelsong, op de hypocrisie na, is gewoon een goed nummer. Zelfde geld voor mij voor Jealous Guy en How? Maar de rest is te matig voor een 'Goed'. FAVO: Imagine, Jealous Guy, How?

I was hoping Imagine would be the outlier and the rest of the album would convince me of the genius of Lennon everyone spoke about, but it actually gets worse as it goes along. 'An Englishman pretending to make traditional American music' describes it way too well, both in terms of its lack of authenticity and how badly it fails.

Meh, should’ve stayed with the Beatles. Fuck yoko ono

Post-Beatles John Lennon sure did talk a good game, but it was all smoke and mirrors. Other than Imagine and Jealous Guy none of the other songs were worth shit. I blame Yoko

I think I prefer him with the plastic ono band. Imagine is a classic but is also a meme at this point. Jealous Guy is decent. Otherwise some pretty meh bar blues/dad rock on a lot of tracks. How Do You Sleep?, How? and Oh Yoko! are a solid way to close out though.

Pretty boring

As someone who isn’t a Beatles fan, I wasn’t particularly enthused when this came up. It’s all just a bit bland? Maybe musically and/or lyrically it’s brilliant, just like everyone claims the Beatles are, but I just don’t get it! Sorry John, this isn’t my favourite.

I wanted to like this more than I did. Didn't really care for the songwriting across this and I can't stand the title track.

There’s too much John Lennon on this list.

Imagine not getting shot by a snub nosed revolver

Ignoring the infinite flaws and atrocities of Lennon, for an album called Imagine, it is quite an unimaginative album