Imagine

John Lennon, after leaving the Beatles, had an interesting solo career. He did some weird shit with Yoko Ono for a while, but then he pivoted and did pretty normal singer/songwriter stuff that was way more up his alley. This brings is to Imagine. The title track has found enough acclaim for it's dreamy approach and vaguely anarchist lyrics, so I won't spend too much time on that. I think that solo Lennon is a lot different than Beatles Lennon, in that he's bearing his soul a bit more by diving headfirst into touchy political subjects. Was there ever any doubt that he had bought into the hippie counterculture? I feel that this acute sense of vulnerability brings a great new dimension to his music, complimenting his already-excellent songwriting talents. So it's pretty good.

John Lennon’s Imagine is sleepy. Really on the last four tracks bring anything of value, everything else being a snooze fest. It’s truly unfortunate, considering Oh Yoko! was really well put together, John’s vocals clicking together excellently with the instrumentals. It really is not anything worth nothing besides that, with lackluster vocal performances and bland songs. All in all, Imagine is a mid album. best Song: Oh Yoko! Worst Song: I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die

If it wasn't for Imagine, this album would not even be talked about. Whilst it's not bad, I found it kind of average overall. There are some ok songs throughout, but there are a couple that don't seem to quite fit in my opinion. Best: Imagine Worst: Oh Yoko!

Bien.

Venga, un 5 por la canción de Imagine. El resto del disco, agradable sin más.

Imagine just make me think of Gal Gadot now but this is a really solid album

Imagine is butts but the rest of the album is great

Some really good songs, however the second song on the album kiiiiinda ruined it. Also rip imagine, that’s forever ruined lol.

p232. 1971. 3 stars. Further evidence the lack of quality control post-Beatles. On the plus side, there are some stone cold classics. On the downside, it suffers from early 70s wankage (How Do You Sleep, I Don't Want To Be A Soldier), and the production makes most of the songs sound as if they're coated in syrup. This hasn't aged well, a bit like John. Sorry mate.

Mid

⚪️

Буквально 3 песни вытянули этот альбом. 6/10

Visionary songwriting, iconic music, and some great, bitter sniping about Paul McCartney placed alongside some sincere ditties about yoko which feel sweet and universal. I absolutely love John Lennon. Simple clean melodies, meaningful concise lyrics, bursting with grandiosity as well as humility - flippancy alongside purpose. His vulnerability, anger and self-importance laid out for all to see in a way I find completely appealing and relatable.

This is the first time I have ever listened to this album all the way through, despite hearing the title track an infinite number of times. I enjoyed tracks as I got through the album, but it doesn't seem like a cohesive expression, and tends to jump from sound to sound in a slightly jarring manner. I liked the bluesy songs on this one a lot, and I had no idea the album behind Imagine included such a large shift in song structure. Overall the album feels unpolished, but still delivers powerful messages in classic Jon Lennon fashion. Worth the listen, but not a standout for me. Fave tracks: Imagine, It's So Hard, I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama

I don't particularly care for John without the Beatles. Outside of Imagine, which is a monumentous track, the rest of the songs here are forgettable. It just sounds like he's trying to further cash in on the fame of the Beatles while spouting his "I've done at lot of drugs and we're all connected" one love bullshit. At least Paul and George were trying (and succeeding) to do interesting things around the same time. Fav Tracks: Imagine, I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama

AJ: How Do You Sleep..? is my favorite track. Imagine is iconic, duh. Pretty cool. All Things Must Pass it is not. The walrus was Paul.

Nice one :-)

not bad…some bangers for sure but also a few duds. i suppose he did the best he could without paul to help.

Lennon’s best album? Yes.

i don't think this album has aged particularly well 50+ years later (nor has john lennon's legacy). it really seems like he needed the rest of the beatles there to prevent him from putting questionable stuff into his lyrics that the FBI couldn't torture out of me in a million years. the actual music in the songs is pretty lackluster and boring in my onion. imagine is a pretty boring, overplayed song at this point in time, but certainly felt profound the first hundred times I heard it. given the context, controversies, and contradictions of john lennon's personal life, I wonder if he would still believe any of it if he were around today. also is jealous guy just about him beating his wife? john, dude, you can't just put that in a song... and the paul mccartney diss track? wot favorites: imagine? i guess? maybe oh yoko! meh

F JOHN LENNON

Ik vind sommige liedjes echt geweldig, maar sommige ook erg saai. Dat helaas het nadeel van een album. Muziekaal is het wel een sterk album, maar ik zal het niet heel vaak opzetten.

Top 5: Imagine, Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep (best song) and How. His first album is better but this is a close 2nd.

As we all were, I was indoctrinated with "Imagine" as a kid. "Crippled inside" might be the classiest song I've ever heard. Yeah, Gimme some truth.

🤜🏻🙍🏻‍♀️🤛🏻 3.5 out of 5 pretentious wife beaters. I don't wanna be a soldier mama? More like I don't wanna listen to this song mama. The rest of the songs I enjoyed. I love the Beatles but JL solo music doesn't hit the same plus he was a self important asshole who wasn't as talented as Paul.

surprised me

John Lennon is great and this album is okay. In addition to the obvious Imagine, Give Me Some Truth is a highlight

This album... is amazing. It doesn't get better than the song "Imagine" but the quality just keeps coming despite starting at such a high point. The 1-2-3 of "Imagine" "Crippled Inside" and "Jealous Guy" hit me super hard. I admire his songwriting skill, and his willingness to say what he means in such clear and powerful ways. "How Do You Sleep" is another standout, and rather shocking how scathing an attack it is on Paul - I want back and listened to the Ram tracks of Paul's that John was reacting to, and they are much more veiled. In any case, lots of great tracks here - I will refrain from listing all of them - and they hold together as an album. A remarkable work by a legend.

For "Imagine" alone this gets 5 stars. I can't think of a more iconic, timeless anthem in all of rock music. A beautiful plea for optimism and faith in humanity. Pair it with "Gimme Some Truth" or "How Do You Sleep?" and you get the flipside to that coin. Here the venom flows. And it's this dual nature in John that I love so much.

I'm not one to listen to a lot of solo work by any former Beatles, but Lennon's seems to be the most Beatles-like in execution. It's hard to objectively review this since I've heard Imagine a billion times, but other tracks like "How Do You Sleep?" are interesting psych-rock almost continuations of the Beatles-style compositions. I can't see myself wanting to listen to it, but respect where respect is due.

I still have a hard time reconciling that on the same album we have "Imagine" and "how do you sleep". An unparalleled (and incredibly naive) song of peace of hope along with a weird angry dis track against Paul. I guess he's just a jealous guy

2.

6/10 rien de spécial.

Although John Lennon was an arse, I admittedly enjoy his music. This album was a bit of a change in sound. His first solo record was more barebones/stripped back. This one is more produced, thanks to another certified arse in Phil Spector. And how could I forget the Paul McCartney diss track? That’s cold!

Imagine, Crippled Inside, Jealous Guy, Oh My Love 3/5

Imagine a world without out the Beatles id feel rather crippled inside and maybe there would be more jealous guys it’s so hard to imagine a world without the Beatles maybe I’d be forced into the army but my family and I would scream i don’t wanna be a soldier mama so gimme some truth oh my love I’d then find it that I would be asking myself how do you sleep? How? Only to ask my friend Oh yoko!

Интересный альбом. Некоторые песни заставляют задуматься, некоторые созданы чисто чтобы поймать вайб и отдохнуть. Каких-то глубоких мыслей не заметил, всё предельно просто и лежит на поверхности, Ленон поёт о своей жизни, о том что видит вокруг себя и с чем сталкивается каждый день.

Det är John Lennon.

8.5/10 - hadn’t listened to this for a couple of years so I was unsure going into it, yet it was as self indulgent and bitter as I remembered. That being said, it’s still such a good album with great Spector production and classic Lennon spitefulness. Would listen again Favourite tracks - Imagine Jealous guy Gimme some truth How do you sleep? How?

Favourite song: Imagine

It’s good.Of course it’s good John Lennon was a beatle.He wrote happiness is a warm gun.Nothing on this album is like super groundbreaking musically but all the songs are good.Obviously imagine is outstanding evh if it’s legacy has been tarnished by stupid celebrities.but cripples inside and jealous guy are also great.Gimme some truth is kinda weird but I like it along with how do you sleep.Good album

A very good album with great production and songs. My favourite Lennon solo album is Plastic Ono Band but this is not far off it.

i liked it, but imagine was the best

There is a comforting feeling of familiarity on this Lennon album but with just enough differentiation from his Beatles-era compositions to make this a standout post-breakup solo record.

Imagine a world without Imagine. It is quite hard to do.

Imagine is a great song

Eternally awesome

4.6 Just banger after banger with enough variety to keep you on your toes, obviously not as good as Beatle era stuff but it's pretty damn good. Fave songs: How do you sleep? (AKA McCartney diss track), Oh my love, I don't wanna be a soldier mama

Imagine is an overplayed dirge, Crippled Inside a throw away, Jealous Guy a song written by a genius It's So Hard is an unremarkable 12 bar blues. I Don't Wanna be a Soldier Mama, ibid Gimme Some Truth is OK I guess Oh My Love is a really nice song How Do You Sleep is John at his vile, ugly worst How is another good song Oh Yoko is a good closer I felt Lennon phoned in a lot of his last contributions to the Beatles. This has some absolute moments of genius with a couple of not very much but on the whole I'm more positive about it than I expected.

Didn’t love it except for imagine of course.

John Lennon is great. And the majority of this album is great. Not a fan of don't wanna be a soldier, how do you sleep and oh yoko... those really dragged the album down.

There are so many sides of this guy's creative genius. I find something inherently funny about him but he also has a super dark side.

Nothing much special after Imagine.

John Lennon kinda looking like a younger Bernie Madoff here. Very good album except for the last track. I like some of his honky tonk rock stuff. Reminds me of the Yellow River Boys. Imagine there's no Yoko......

Imagine gets 3 stars by itself. I was surprised by the quality of the rest of the tracks. One of the GOATs for a reason. How Do You Sleep? - elite song

Ooh Johnny boy. Some years ago this would've been an easy 5 for me but I'm not so sure anymore. Imagine is an incredible song, so beautiful, but at the same time my eyes want to roll out of my head while I'm listening to it. "Imagine no possessions" he says while playing his grand piano in his mansion. Crippled Inside and Jealous Guy are both great songs. It's So Hard is kind of whatever until the strings hit towards the end - i guess credit should go to Phil Spectre there. Gimme Some Truth is one of Lennon's best in my time. How Do You Sleep is a great tune but I don't appreciate the way he is speaking to Mr McCartney. Oh Yoko! is a nice little closer.

Some great stuff here. Imagine is a classic. Jealous Guy may be my favourite Lennon solo track. How Do You Sleep would be one of his best as well if it wasn't such a vicious attack on Paul McCartney. It's remarkable to me that on Spotify that song is the third least listened to song on the album, which must be in part attributable to it's lyrical content since it's so good musically.

I never got to fully listen to this one all the way through, so this is a nice opportunity. Also, I got Plastic Ono Band like five days ago, so I got both Lennon albums super close together. Neat, I suppose! I'm gonna end up running out of Beatles things to look forward to on here soon. It's easy to think of the overplayed titular track and dismiss it, but there's some lovely stuff that I kick myself for forgetting about. My favourite songs were Oh My Love, How Do You Sleep?, and How?

It's cute how both John and Paul wrote diss tracks about one another like they were scorned lovers still not over each other. They probably never did get over each other. Lennon's punches come across harder, which apparently is one of the benefits of primal scream therapy. It's quite obvious that "How Do You Sleep?" is sung directly at Paul, whereas McCartney needed to point out the lines that were supposed to be potshots at Lennon. Those cheeky fellas! This remains a great album overall, even if Gal Gadot and her celebrity friends sort of ruined the title track for all of us. Plus, Lennon sends us out with one of the jauntiest love songs he ever wrote.

Pretty solid album, Imagine is the big hit but the others are a good listen too

Imagine and jealous Guy are beautiful of course, rest for musically and lyrically less interesting than e.g. early solo work like Instant Karma and Cold Turkey

You can tell that he had a lot to get off his chest after leaving the Beatles.

How Do You Sleep is really cool. Always loved Jealous Guy.

John Lennon kind of sucks. Not interesting.

3/5. There are some good songs on here but it just feels empty really. Almost like John doesn’t care about what he’s singing. The hard hitting songs are quiet and the soft songs are the better part of the album. Maybe it’s the Brit fatigue but this was just okay. Best song: Imagine, Jealous Guy.

Already reviewed "Hard work. Sounds like it was recorded behind a mattress."

John solo with a some good songs. Imagine carries all of them on its back.

Loved. No notes.

3.5

I'm starting to think that I just love music. This album was incredible, start to finish. Like Zack said to me, it started off hot with Imagine and Jealous Guy, among others, but I think that it also ended with a bang, with my favorite song on the album being the last (Oh Yoko!).

Imagine was good, but the rest was meh.

This is what happens when you are the weaker member of a song writing duo and you branch out alone. It's also impossibly dated.

Byrjar þokkalega, miðjumoðast svo og endar á tveimur góðum. Þetta er allt í lagi. Blendnar tilfinningar.

I loaded this album up in Clone Hero and played bass to the whole thing. For someone who was basically the biggest musician in the world at the time, this album is surprisingly down-to-earth. John clearly wanted to play some old-fashioned rock n roll. There's some really insightful social commentary on here (the title track is vapid by comparison when you listen to "How?"). I wasn't expecting much from this album (I've found Lennon to generally by over-hyped), but I actually quite liked this. Three stars, but not a video game critic three stars-- a real three stars, where it means that the album has interesting and good stuff on it, and I'll play it again in the future.

I'll take Neil Young over John Lennon for my protest songs, thanks. Ignoring my bias, this album was fine. So it gets a 3.

Eh, not my piece of cake. 6/10

just because he was a beatle doesn’t mean everything he makes is good

Sounds cool. Not a fan of the politics. I probably should’ve listened to the Beatles first.

John Lennon used Sing

it wasn't very effective.

Not too hot on John's "old west saloon" Crippled inside, the rest of this album should definitely be more widely known to the general public than its title track. Personal highlight include "Jealous Guy", "How Do You Sleep?", "How?", and closer "Oh Yoko!" Having listened to The Beatles over the years I'd never ventured too deep into any one of the fab four's solo work outside of radio singles, but John's "Imagine" really sets a high bar personally. Let's hope the other members have as good of an outing as John did with this record.

Imagine there was no John Lennon It’s tricky if you try No Beatles or Bed-ins or Imagine No tears on the day he died Imagine all the people Living without Peace!

I have a very vivid memory of being a preteen at the New Jersey shore with a boombox on our blanket in the sand. When the song Imagine came on it was everything to me. And the rest of the album is good, too. Still not sure how I never heard the song Imagine until 1980.

This was a tough one to get the rating right for me. Obviously, there's the opening track, but even that is victim to what I think is an incompleteness to this album. Laziness? It sounds like they slapped the same reverb on every song and let the tape roll. And there's a demo-like quality to many of the songs as well, as though not all these ideas are fleshed out. There are lots of great passages, and the looseness isn't always a detraction, but I couldn't help feeling like Lennon was only half interested in the whole affair. Pair that with lots of more-righteous-than-thou lyrics and an unnecessary diss of Paul McCartney, and I that ultimately pulled it down to a 3. Hard to give such a revered album a middling review, but that's how I was feeling about it.

A couple of bangers does not a classic album make. None of the post-Beatle solo albums are five stars for me, but this one is definitely overrated. The production is uninspired, but so are the arrangements. And for the most part, I don't love the songwriting, either. This is more of a 2.5, but I'm dinging it a half a star for the Macca dis track.

I listened to this LP so much as a kid after I exhausted The Beatles library. Imagine will never become trite to me. I always got a little thrill reading the last four songs as a little story.

My honest opinion that apart from a few songs that have become icons in themselves, most of the album is pedestrian. Great if you are a Beatles diehard or love the song Imagine and there are as I've said some inspired moments

A partial meal, you yearn for The Beatles and only end up with two of them on this album, some great songs but not as complete as you would hope for .

Too folksy

Bleh

Fuck this album…. The song writing is so shit. I couldn’t not finish this

As a huge Beatles fan and a fan of the other solo John record I've heard in Plastic Ono Band, I'm shocked I never actually had gotten around to listening to this in full before. And it's great! It has the almost ethereal quality that later John tends to have in droves, and the songwriting is just as tight as ever. Definitely feels much more focused and stripped back still than the later Beatles material, as I would've expected him to be the one to get weird with it after going solo. Of course there's the classics on this record, such as Imagine (which I don't care for all too much due to its heavyhandedness), and the much more potent Jealous Guy, but the album cuts are what really makes this album shine. Crippled Inside is a harrowing song that's stuck with me all day, Oh My Love/How? are beautiful songs that stick with you in a slightly different, more melancholy way, and despite your feelings on Yoko, Oh Yoko! is a brilliant love song. I greatly enjoyed this album, with the only major flaw being his overt political angst at times, which dates some of the songs a bit. But, when this is good, it's John at his best.

Dragons

Some decent tracks in there, but I don't think John Lennon's a really good singer.

Always wondered why I'd not listened to this all the way through before. Same this time. Sort of lacking.

The title track does a lot of heavy lifting of this record towards "classic" status. It has all the hallmarks of a John Lennon record: strong melodies, folksy sound, one or two honky tonk tunes with a little bit of goofiness, a track about Yoko, you get the picture. Other than "Imagine" I would say its a perfectly average record from the early 70s, but the weight of that track elevates it just a touch.

I need to point out that Imagine is the most overrated dirge of a track. I simply can't believe that anyone would choose to actually like it. The rest of this album is actually very reminiscent of earlier (and better) Beatles tracks, and that's a great relief because had the rest of the album been like the title track, I'd have not been able to listen to it. Overall, this another album that's here because of the legacy of the artist rather than any inherent merit of the music.

Liked it , but it went Youtube on a Beatles medley. Nice enough, but not what I Wanted.

Ouais j'ai bien imaginé là

un peu bizarre à réécouter

Imagine how good this album would be if the title track was actually any good

Legendary album.

He has a great voice and exceptional song writing ability, but knowing anything about his personal life makes it particularly hard to take the peace and love stuff seriously. The existence of the song Jealous Guy is wild. It is hard to separate someone so famously cruel to his first wife from his art, especially when he is doing that art with/about his second wife who he cheated on the first wife with.

Was ok.

First time listener. Short which is a plus in my book. Strong start, I enjoyed up until 'I don't wanna be a soldier mama'. Down hill from there. Oh Yoko was upbeat but awful chorus. I was expecting better. Disappointed. 2.5/5

I've always been a Paul guy myself, but this album is no slouch. John continues his streak of being painfully honest in songs like "Jealous Guy" and "How?", and shows he still isn't afraid to get political on the iconic "Gimme Some Truth". And I find the closer, "Oh Yoko!" to be one of his finest, sweetest moments. Still, songs like "It's So Hard" are a little boring, "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama" goes on a little long, and the title track is so ubiquitous that I find it kind of hard to listen to now. Still a great album, but not quite as perfect as his debut.

Aardig plaatje, maar afgezien van een paar aardige nummers, toch weinig echt boeiends. Ik ben wel zwaar fan van Cold Turkey, maar die staat hier helaas niet op.

Hoewel het solo werk van alle Beatles het bij lange na niet halen bij hun gezamenlijke prestaties, vind ik dit echt een sterk album. Goeie songs met lekker veel Lennon venijn. Vooral de sneer naar Paul in How can you sleep? Niet geheel terecht, maar het vat wel mooi samen wat het sentiment toen was.

John is een held. Niet alle nummers op dit album zijn even sterk (soms wel erg zoetsappig), maar het merendeel is echt geweldig!

Love this album. Love John.

A classic, fore good reason. Title track is not my favourite, but lots of other good songs. How do you sleep is probably the one I like best, like a diss track in the style of Lynyrd Skynyrd channeling Oasis.

3.5

Ok.

Good stuff.

I had never heard this. I really liked the bluesy bass lines.

I find Imagine and Jealous Guy so overplayed they don't have much of an impact on me. Oh Yoko is one of my favourites though and drags it up from a 3 to a 4

Het titelnummer heeft zo'n beetje een generatie en nog meer gemarkeerd, en van de andere nummers hebben we nooit meer wat teruggehoord. Er zitten nog wel wat aardige dingen tussen, maar niet alles is even interessant, en in alle eerlijkheid weet ik niet of ik deze plaat vaak zou opzetten als ik hem in mijn collectie had. De slijmerige ode aan Yoko Ono had al helemaal niet gehoeven. Volgens mij was Lennon gek op haar, en verder vond niemand haar sympathiek.

Wat kan je muzikaal verwachten als 'vrede en liefde' het thema is van een album. Dan zullen de vonken er niet vanaf spatten. Een aantal nummers, waaronder de hit zijn dan ook dodelijk saai. John vindt intussen de blues. En als we dat geluid horen, is het gelijk wat prettiger. Maar echt onderscheidend wordt het nergens. Totdat hij zich afvraagt hoe zijn voormalige collega 's nachts nog kan slapen. Niet zo'n liefdevolle vraag. Dus dat nummer trekt wel de aandacht en is de uitschieter op dit album. 2,5 ster.

We kennen allemaal de wereldhit van rond de kerstperiode, waarin we een moment van bezinning en melancholie beleven. Maar verder mist John Lennon af en toe zijn muzikale maatje Paul wat mij betreft en klinken de opnames simpelweg gedateerd. Al staan er op kant B wel een paar pareltjes met het ingetogen Oh my Love en het bluesy How Do You Sleep.

It's hard to rate this album objectively because I absolutely love John Lennon, and this album also. And Imagine is a beautiful song which will no doubt stay relevant for the remainder of our time on this planet. Setting my emotions aside however, none of The Beatles produced a lot of great music after they disbanded, and this album taken as a whole is unfortunately no exception.

Great vocals Chill instrumentals

Brilliant album. Was initially skeptical because the Beatles don't tickle my fancy so far, but the folk music bug caught me yet again. Looking forward to more of this kind of music. Also liked the instrumentals and lyrics. John Lennon ftw.

I think i only enjoyed the first two songs. The rest were just... fine.

Between a McCartney diss track, a song about shouting Yoko's name in the bath and a rant about pyschotic critics/journos this was a pretty entertaining listen. Listened to Imagine (the single) while working to the tube this morn. I felt briefly more cerebral and peaceful before getting into HMT. John needs Paul's musicality to take his records to the next level but this is a decent solo job. 3.5

"Imagine" must be short for "Imagine this album being good" Mainly powered by the lead track, which itself is overplayed these days. .5 more because couple of tracks towards the end were alright 2.5

I’m back betches Title track has been tainted by that celebrity singalong at the beginning of covid. Rest of the album is really good though, thought I’d dislike it

Half the songs amazing. Half the songs almost John Lennon parody. 3/5

Score: 50 Album Art: 60 The lyrics on here have so much weird hypocritical garbage it's unreal. Ignoring John Lennons actions is almost impossible because of how preachy this shit is. Wow John it is really hard to imagine the world as a better place, you're so deep bro. The music is good and he's a good singer but I cannot give a single shit about this, I just can't. When he's saying how sorry he is and that he's just a jealous guy it comes off as so insincere it actually sounds like he's bragging about it. Gimme some truth is really funny as well. Oh yoko is really funny with a dumb outro. No one wants to hear about your talentless wife who thinks she's the next Bjork. Glad it's over lol see you on the flip side

Imagine isn't even a terrible song, but when this hypocritical bum or other 'liberal' celebs sing it, I cringe. The rest of the music here isn't bad, but it's full of boomer jams and collectively boring and bland. I don't care what the hippie has to say. He needed the other guys to wrangle in all his pretentiousness. I'm sorry you're dead, but the other Beatles are cooler and didn't beat their wives. Stop blaming Yoko for everything, the man was a dick. Sorry Julian.

First track is over played garb but rest had its moments.

J-Len goes from stinky king of hippies yelling “Peace, man!” to wanting to scrap McCartney for the crime of writing wank granny tunes, then churns out a Spectory ballad that sounds exactly like it could be the cousin of Long and Winding Road. Shameless behaviour. Middle drags a bit and the title track is excruciating, but some great tunes here, including Oh Yoko which slaps almost as hard as Johnny Boy slapped her.

Some good track but not his best work.

gött häng. han kunde ju skriva låtar pojken

There is some nice playing from George and mates, and Lennon has still a way with a tune. but the overall vibe is of being cornered at a works do by that colleague that everyone else is avoiding because they know he can talk no-stop opinionated rubbish at your for an hour. And Imagine would make my reverse Desert Island Discs - ie what 8 records would you least like to have as your sole listening library, alongside Candle In The Wind and Bo Rap.

A bit too hippie for my taste

I'm not going to lie. I have a deep, seething hatred for John Lennon. I can't stand his voice. I can't stand his lyrics. I can't fucking stand the song "Imagine," literally one of the most hypocritical and preachy songs ever written. I've tried to listen to this album before and never got past "Jealous Guy," which, frankly, is hard to listen to knowing Lennon's history of abusing women. I did manage to listen all the way through the album all the way through this time, and I tried, I REALLY tried, to listen with unbiased ears. I'm sorry, but I still think this is hot garbage. Literally the only song I like is "Oh My Love," but there are cover versions I much prefer over this one. Besides that one song, every song on this album is grating, boring, or frankly unlistenable (shoutout to "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama," one of the worst songs I've ever heard). John Lennon was so far up his own ass, and it really shows in his pretentious lyrics throughout. I know a lot of people love this album, and of course, to each their own. But for me personally, this album can go fuck itself.

A couple of all time classic tunes, some weaker ones, but overall pretty good.

Medium.

It's okay, just a bit lame overall. The first song is probably nice, but its so overplayed its lost any appeal.

I've ignored this album for a quite long time because of how boring i find the song Imagine. Surprisingly, there's quite a bit to enjoy here. If nothing else, the track "How do You Sleep" is a masterpiece.

Good enjoyable album. I am not a fan of John Lennon personally (he was a shit person). The Beatles had some really great album when they were together though.

Absolutely like porridge. Bland and yet I eat it up.

There’s some good stuff on this, but it just feels so one-note compared to the latter two thirds of the Beatles catalogue, it’s impossible not to compare really and it just falls short

Very good

Some real timeless songs

We need a category/rating for ‘I appreciate this but wont be returning’. Enjoyed bits of it but other parts just passed me by and although I can see why this is rated so highly, its just not my cuppa tea. ‘Its so hard’ and ‘how do you sleep’ were the standouts for me

Imagine is a brilliant song, up there with the best of the Beatles. The rest of the album, like other Beatles stuff, varies between great and awful. Thought the second half of the album was far better than the first, particularly enjoyed how and Yoko. More evidence that supports the theory John and Paul are time travellers that nicked the best songs from loads of other bands and filled the rest of the albums with their own rubbish.

I skipped Imagine, but had forgotten that Oh My Love is on this album. My favourite song of John's solo work. I listened to the album with an open mind, and parts I really liked (Oh Yoko! has whimsy) and other parts I was on the fence - a worse Beatles sound. At least the Solo stuff from George and Paul has its own identity away from their group work. I'd give this a 3.5 if I could (based on Oh My Love, Oh Yoko!, and Jealous Guy), but no half scores, so I'll award the +0.5 bad boy bump.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, he uses a lot of interesting styles of music. Think Imagine was his only song I had before but overall I was pleasantly surprised. Highlights: Imagine Crippled Inside It's So Hard

This was probably better than I thought it would be, but didn't have high expectations. No desire to go back and listen to any of it again. Imagine aside, I thought jealous guy was probably the best track, although it was probably more beatlesy than most of the rest of the album. Tbh the fact that this album just wasn't just more of the Beatles sound was unexpected to me.

This was such a great album. Obviously everyone knows "Imagine" but "Jealous Guy" and "Gimme Some Truth" are both excellent too, even "How Do You Sleep". Nice and easy listen and strong all throughout, except maybe "Oh Yoko!" for obvious reasons. 9/10.

Was fine, better than some beatles stuff but not going to listen again

⭐ How?

I had heard some, but not all, tracks from this record. It's really strong. It might sound silly, but I'll always be a little sad that John Lennon and Paul McCartney parted acrimoniously (same with Roger Waters and the rest of Pink Floyd, particularly David Gilmour), but I acknowledge that's a childish view on my part. That being said, like Paul McCartney, the post-Beatles music John Lennon created is still excellent. I'm glad I got to hear the full album. PS -- The bad rep Yoko Ono has had to endure for decades is so unnecessary; no, she is not the reason the Beatles broke up. Also, I once saw an exhibition of some of her artwork and it was great.

No I won’t John

It’s okay but it would be even better if an assortment of very rich celebrities covered it

Kind of average. A couple songs stood out.

awful.

It is okay, i get why it has the classic status. But I just think it sounds very dated. The soft rock sounds are just not done that well. Just a worse version of that John Martyn album.

Respect but mixed feelings.

Tracks: 1 killer, 9 filler (10%) Highlight: Imagine

Voor een diehard Beatles fan ken ik bijzonder weinig van het solowerk. Hiervan eigenlijk alleen de titeltrack echt. Maar deze plaat maakt wel weer duidelijk wat een ongelooflijk goeie songwriter Lennon was. Eigenlijk staat er niks slechts op, met best een aantal pareltjes. 5 sterren.

heh. mielikuvituta että ei olisi heh, omistuksia, omaisuuden NÖYRIMISTÄ.. niih.. vähän potuttaa että tykkäsin albumista aika paljon aika paljonkin varmaan samalta tuntuu kun costello herralla tänään... pakko olla objektiviinen että tulee 3.00 prikulleen, ei voi rupee... i dont want to be a soldier mama

I'm a huge Beatles fan, but I've always been of the opinion that the band was greater than the sum of its parts. This album hasn't changed that opinion. It's not bad, but there's something missing without the others to temper Lennon's sensibilities. "Jealous Guy" is my favorite song on the album, but unfortunately for Lennon, it took Donny Hathaway to really give it the oomph it needed; Lennon's version (especially when accompanied by the music video) is kinda dorky in comparison. The other Beatles are sorely missed here. That's no knock to Lennon—I'd say the same for any of their solo efforts.

I've been listening to Lennon's solo work for many years, so this was like revisiting old favorites. I've always admired his writing style & sometimes wished I had just a sliver of his talent. Solid album.

Some good, some bad. Not really the best of John Lennon, but still a good listen.

I like McCartney's RAM a WAY more.

I'm a huge Beatles fan as well as being keen on all members solo careers. I must have listened to this album 50 times already, and to me, it hasn't lost its charm I enjoy every track for different reasons. Perhaps the only track that could be below par is 'I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mana I Don't Wanna Die', but to me that song is just peak John Lennon weirdness, even if it becomes rather repetitive at times. And yes, the obvious criticism when it comes to this album is the hypocrisy of the title track. To me, musicians and artists are more often than not just workers applying their trade. Sometimes, due to the content of their songs, their image becomes representative of something that isn't actually symbolic of their life, views or personality. This is something that many artists have struggled with (Dylan comes to mind as a prime example). 'Imagine' is an absolute anthem of a song, a really stand out track. Yes, John Lennon lived in a mansion, and maybe he wasn't the perfect image of peace when it comes to his personal life, but the song is still good, and has a good message. The rest of the album is filled with tracks that range from good to incredible. The musicians used for this album include George Harrison, Nicky Hopkins, Alan White and Jim Keltner. Its a pretty star lineup and the musicianship is very good. Lennon's vocals are on point. I think this album is not as good as 'Plastic Ono Band' but it is still a very good album and one I highly recommend. 4.75/5

As somebody who doesn't really like the image of John Lennon, I really enjoyed this album

Some good songs lead off by perhaps the greatest song ever written.

It’s really cool to see Lennon without the Beatles, sounds pretty different. Songs that stood out to me, Jealous guy, How do you sleep?, Oh Yoko!, How?, Imagine.

Its fine, I don’t know if I will ever get over the fact that everyone blames Yoko for breaking up the Beatles when John Lennon was also kind of a primadonna and totally screwed over his first wife

classic

One of the best songs ever written - Jealous Guy - and then a load of dross. Sorry John.

I did not expect to like this album so much! I have always been a little meh about the Beatles, like I think they are fine but a lot of songs I have just heard so, so many times. I had heard the title track "Imagine" before, of course. I actually do like it, despite having heard it used in such cheesy ways. But then the rest of the album was also good!! Bluesy, vulnerable, just good. Lyrically and musically. Worth the hubbub. Favourites: "Crippled Inside," "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama"

3.5

It's an essential album with not so many remarkable songs besides "Imagine." I'll probably forget about it in some weeks (while still mentally singing "Imagine" tough), but I guess that every time I go back to it, it's an opportunity to remember how important it was (Lennon himself and also his songs)

Not prime Beatles, but some solid songs including Imagine. Sounds like someone trying to change and regretting their past.

A classic, sweet, sweet album - starting with one of the most universal songs ever written in 'Imagine' and closing with the beautiful 'Oh Yoko!' - Lennon is a master and I think this is the only record that stands out after the Beatles' for any of the former members as a true classic. There have been good ones mind you, but none as legendary as this.

One of Lennon's best solo albums and some of my favorite songs are on it (Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth). The title track is his signature song. Great production too - the sound is lush and relaxed, especially compared to his first solo record which had a raw sound.

Yes I know he was a bad guy but I think this album is good. Lots of strong songs

Starts and ends strong, but not even close to Lennon’s best post-Beatles work. “How?” shamelessly rehashes “Long and Winding Road.” It’s the most blatant example of how lazy this album is. Lennon, at his worst, is a sanctimonious fuck and he gets a bunch of it out of his system here.

He can’t write a chorus for shit. He writes what he knows, which are hateful lyrics to Paul, and an attempt at a love song for Yoko. Both of which fall flat. He’d probably argue this was music he made for himself but I disagree with that as a whole. You don’t write, produce, and distribute an album for yourself. It’s for everyone else. I don’t think many people related to this one.

Yep yep

John takes a break from beating his family to shit out one of the most overrated boomer anthems of all time

This guy's got promise

Highlights: "Gimme Some Truth" Musically, this album is a retread. Even at the good parts, you are hearing "A Day In The Life," "I Am the Walrus," etc. Spector's here for the acoustic bits, and John uses distortion and slapback on the vocals to get trippy on the grooves. The lyricism is where things get ugly. Opening with the famous statement of "Imagine" means that the gauntlet of extremely negative, bitter songs that follow belie his utopianism. It is very easy to imagine something, John! That's true! Where the rubber meets the road, though, he's either totally confused and incoherent ("How") or disgusted by everyone around him (various). He betrays McCartney by projecting mother issues onto his marriage when a shared trauma of losing their mothers is something that brought them together ("How Can You Sleep"). He manages to give a non-apology for his serial domestic violence that searches for refuge in self-pity ("Jealous Guy"). Overall, just an awful human being exercising his dysfunction on his fans. Without any compelling music, we're forced to contemplate the inner life of an asshole, which wouldn't be so bad if he weren't both so addled and so evasive.

2/3/23 3.5/5 Favorite song: imagine Super soothing album - very 70s

Favorite songs: -Imagine -Crippled inside -Jealous guy -Oh Yoko! Kind of boring, but it's still cool to listen to the music of that time

Jahn

Absolute classic

Meh

Ah yeah, this is pleasant enough. Imagine is a good track, Crippled Inside is a bit of a banger and Oh Yoko! is just funny.

Some pretty good tracks, but deducting a star for a wifebeater singing about being a "Jealous Guy". 😒 Fave track - "I Don't Want to be a Soldier Mama", but that's mainly due to the excellent version Mad Season did....

It’s very solid I like most of the album, some of the longer songs did drag a little for me though ( I don’t wanna be a solider mama, how do you sleep) they’re not bad though just kinda lost my attention at those points. I am much more of a paul guy when it comes to my beatles though so I’ll give this a 4/5 but that could change in the future.

4/5 I did my best to not judge this one with previous knowledge of the artist. I tried to evaluate the music, the voice and the lyrics like I have done with all the albums. The end result:I think it is really good. I liked the orchestration. I didn't feel out of place or pretentious. The lyrics are actually audible and made sense. The music was in tune, catchy, fun etc. There were songs I will remember and I will listen to this again. Yas Magical Music Monday!

I tried really hard to dislike this album given it's not only a Beatle but the Beatle I least like but I couldn't find any real tangible reasons to. There are some stand out tracks but all in all it's a good album. Never felt like the album dragged on or that any of the music irritated me (as some of the stuff have thus far) and would honestly listen to it again.

Imagine is fantastic, good to play on piano. Loved jealous guy as well. But the rest was sub-beatles.

Regular readers will know of my dislike of The Beatles, so it'll come of no surprise that I'm not a fan of their solo careers as well.

Listenable and partly nice

Just give me "Imagine" and "Oh Yoko" then I'm set. Legendary album.

meh rock songs, didn’t care for it

I feel like Lennon wrote Imagine and maybe jealous guy and just used filler for the rest. This record really struggles in the first half. sucks. And it feels like he blows the wad on that first track. It's get's okay by the end but this is not up to the level that I would expect from one of the two main Beatles.

Not bad, just kinda bland?

Ah John Lennon, both the patron & the punching bag of edgelords (don’t believe me? Go check the first review) I grew up with this record, I still hold my parents 80’s vinyl copy which is in very bad shape after years of overplay and misuse by me and my siblings lol. The record is good, it is inspired and redemptional at least to a degree. I don’t like all the songs and totally believe how do you sleep? would be denounced by its creator if he was alive today. I understand the hype, and I also hear the violence from Jealous Guy, but I prefer to enjoy the tunes I listened to while growing up and keeping the good memories with them

Really didn't like this, surprisingly. Stopped listening part way through. All a bit grim.

It's got some notable songs ("Imagine", "Jealous Guy") but otherwise it's a pretty nice but forgettable album.

Не услышал ничего интересного в этом альбоме, кроме пары нормальных песен. Мне трудно воспринимать тексты всерьёз, учитывая, каким человеком был Леннон. Да, конкретно на этом альбоме довольно трудно отделить творца от творчества и от этого портится всё впечатление от альбома. Также этот альбом прямое подтверждение тому, что Битлз лучше звучат только тогда, когда они вместе. (5.5 - 6)

The Courtney Love of his era, great musician, trash human

Du très bon (Imagine, Jealous Guy, Oh my love, Oh Yoko...) Du très pénible. Au final pas un album très agréable.

Didn't have much expectations for this, but the songwriting and vocals are pretty decent actually

Great. Not as all around solid as All Things Must Pass but still one of the truly great solo Beatles albums. 8/10

I don't know if I've really paid attention to my thoughts on Lennon vs. McCartney as song writers. Good. Not great. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is better in my opinion.

Probably my favorite Lennon album, and definitely a top tier Beatle solo album. Very raw and yet very crisply produced. The title track gets hate now but if you strip away the cynicism it’s as beautiful as you once thought. Jealous Guy is one of my favorite John songs but it could do without the Spector strings (same goes for How?) Really enjoyed I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama this time around. Really really love Oh Yoko! Just such an utterly John Lennon project.

Imagine is pretty good, I'm not a Beatles fan and the little I've heard of Lennon's solo stuff outside of the played-out Imagine isn't my thing, but this is well put together. Jealous Guy is really good, delicate but stoic, Oh My Love is nicely done as well. 3/5, it's good.

Not as good as his other post-Beatles album - although there are a couple of really good songs on here. Imagine I've heard so much to the point it hurts, so not really a net positive, but Jealous Guy and Gimme Some Truth are fantastic songs (but probably both better when covered by others), and the McCartney diss track is also decent. Not great aside of that, it merits a 3 but no more.

I absolutely adore the lyrics and instrumentation

Better than I thought it would be, with various genres infused into a rock and sometimes pop sound.

Never been a big Beatles fan, but this wasn't terrible.

Doesn’t even have imagine

One of the great solo beatle albums.

I've never really liked this album much, apart from Imagine. I'm really tired of hearing Jealous Guy, and it definitely has a different vibe now knowing how abusive Lennon was to his wife! The rest of the album is very middle of the road; a lot of throwaway songs with muddy production and several that run too long.

He was a great musician. 4.5/5

I have a grudge against the title song but I have to admit that it’s musically good. Most of this is a little too country for me but I love the 70s production style. Oh my love is good! How do you sleep too! Overall not my favorite but I like a few songs.

Judging by this, The Beatles were definitely greater than the sum of their parts. I found this pretty bland, the songs largely plodding inoffensively. Generally, the covers of these songs that I have heard are much more developed than these originals - Roxy’s Jealous Guy and Shockabilly’s Oh Yoko!. I knew of How Do You Sleep? but had never really heard it, and for me this is the standout track here. Focused and impassioned, it may not be the best song here but is definitely the most convincing. Overall, not the quality that I would expect from one half of The Beatles’ main songwriters.

The temptation was to skip Imagine as the opening track. Great song, for sure. But how many times do you need to hear this? The message has long since been lost on me after every shitty commercial radio station plays it on rotation. They don't wake up the breakfast crew with Gimme Some Truth. Which is a shame, as there are bloody great rallying calls here beyond all the hippie bollocks. I'm always surprised when I see that this was recorded in 1971. It doesn't sound like a Beatles crossover album. I also had no idea that Phil Spector was involved. Jealous Guy is up there amongst some of the finest Beatles songs.

Góð en ekki fullt hús. Látum vera að Imagine er ofspilað, að mér finnist Jealous guy bara fínt, og að ég sé #TeamPaul í hinu annars frekar catchy How do sleep. Hin lögin eru flest góð og ég get alveg hlustað oft. En heildin er bara ekki efsta stig.

A lot more honky-tonk style country than I was anticipating. Sure, there's a pretension here, but the songs are overall solid. I'm also a sucker for a good diss track. Favorite tracks: "How Do You Sleep?", "Imagine", "Gimme Some Truth"

3.5 stars. Imagine us great but only really enjoyed a couple other songs

I just always feel solo Beatles albums are lacking.

One of those songs that will be around forever for good reason.

This album is just ok

meh, 3/5

excellent!

favourite tracks: jealous guy oh yoko!

8/10, made me see Lennon inndifferent eyes

Only 4 stars because it has imagine on it

Decent, John's solo work definitely doesn't compare to any of The Beatle's projects. I'm yet to hear any of Paul's solo work but i'm hoping it's better than this. My rating: 6.5/10 Need to be on this list: 9/10

I found it pretty decent. A little all over the place thematically and sonically, which keeps it from getting stale but also is a little weird at times. Lots of different influences and topics covered, all quite well tbf. 6/10

81/100

All my life I thought John was the best beatle. But after listening to this, I think it was actually Paul.

I tend to be disappointed by Lennon solo albums, and this one follows that. Imagine (the song) is amazing. I was surprised by how much I liked Oh Yoko! though...maybe the 2nd best on the album. 3/5

Not bad, will probably come back to it

I must say I have a bias towards the Beatles so I'm probably going to enjoy this more than a casual listener. Imagine (the song) is an all timer. Jealous guy is fantastic- top tier lennon song. Crippled inside and gimme some truth were great tunes. The two songs I enjoyed the most were Oh My Love and Oh Yoko! Oh yoko is an AWESOME ending track. Great album RIP John 8/10

Surprising listening to this for the first time. Familiar with the singles but not the album.

6/10 - (Didn’t Finish) Overall good. I like the mastering sound, almost grungy or like it’s in a warehouse. Some blues influence on songs. Nice songwriting, not quite my tastes.

Good album but in no rush to listen again.

Classic and rebellious

Some good songs, mostly oke

"Imagine" fin troppo bella e carica di significati. Rilassante

Imagine, great stuff but not 5 star great album wise. 4 from me!

I sleep well

Its a sweet album and it may not be the most ground breaking album ever but itsnstill lovely

Political at parts, personal most of the time. While it can feel sappy, it delivers through catchy instrumentation and mostly interesting personal anecdotes.

3.8

6/10

Good album containing some all time classics. More background music for me.

This album has Imagine on it! And then some other songs

The lyrics are poignant and I like a lot of the songs individually, but taken as a whole the album really starts to drag after a while and becomes a bit of a chore to get through. 2.5

Get this shit out of here. 1 star.

The second best 'first' solo album by a former Beatle. You pick up some arrangements that could've been Beatles tunes and if done in the Abbey Road / Let It Be sequence, they could've been done great by the Fab 4. But, here Lennon assembles the best studio musicians and formulates his version of what a Beatles album could sound like without being helmed by Paul McCartney and George Martin. Aside from the still relevant Imagine, the whole album is beautiful (even the How Do You Sleep dis track).

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

Title song’s irredeemably scuffed up by The Celebs, but I liked this a lot more than I thought I would. I imagine (heh) it was probably pretty difficult for people to have normal reactions to beatle solo work back when it first released

Never been a Beatles fan and it’s hard to listen to this open minded. The title track is okay, but I’m just not interested in hearing it for the 4000th time. Other than that, Jealous Guy and Oh Yoko! are catchy and maybe the only two I’d choose to listen to again.

Surprisingly mediocre. It seems that old Johnny-boy sounds best when he's working alongside the rest of the Beatles, when he does songs that refer to them like How Do You Sleep?, or when he sings tracks like Jealous Guy - which sounds a lot like A Day in the Life. Otherwise, the record isn't very hard-hitting (heh).

enjoyed

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

His best work post Beatles. A little too self important but how could that much fame not go to one's head?

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

Okay. This is not fair of me, I know… it’s a classic album, it’s without a doubt strong all the way through, it sounds like the fulcrum upon which music was shifting from the 60’s to the 70’s. But I just have trouble *enjoying* John Lennon’s solo music. Where people hear peace and love, I hear cynical, jaded, angry. In common parlance… he sounds butthurt! The McCartney “How Do You Sleep?” track doesn’t help adjust my perception. I think John Lennon’s writing has to contain some of the most widely misinterpreted lyrics in music. People wish to ascribe to him a mistaken sense of optimism and level-headedness that I see nowhere in sight. There’s nothing wrong with the album, the Phil Spector production feels nicely restrained, there are great sounds. He sings his heart out. But I’m not eager to return to John Lennon’s world.

“Imagine” beautiful piano, great on my AirPods. I can just imagine living in 1971 and having this come out on vinyl. How cool would that be? “Crippled Inside” great tune, great twangy banjo, never heard it before. I like the sax breakdown towards the end of “I don’t wanna be a soldier mama.” The band is tight and outshining Lennon’s voice for me. Wow, How Do You Sleep? was High Drama. I loved it! Jacob is right, John Lennon is butthurt and I’m eating it up. Man, put violins and drums together and it’s going to be a big yes from me. Really enjoyed the band in How? I agree with Dyl that Oh Yoko! is the best song on the album. The Rushmore soundtrack can’t go wrong! Overall, I enjoyed listening to this album, nothing ground breaking for me. The band shines so bright ☀️.

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

Alternates between boring and annoying.

Ah John. Imagine what could have been. Best first 3 songs of any album ever? It's a strong contender. Lose a star for Oh Yoko

Honestly went into this album wanting to hate it given John Lennon as a person, but I really enjoyed it. Imagine might actually be one of the lamest songs on the album compared to songs like crippled inside and I don't wanna be a soldier mama. This was a very eclectic album too, went through a surprising number of genres with each song. Doesn't quite get a 5 because of John Lennon and it's so hard though.

It’s such a peaceful album, for better or worse

Lennon or McCartney really needed a foil, someone to bounce ideas off of. Otherwise we get albums where they sing about their wife. A LOT. Imagine does have a few great songs, and some songs that could definitely have used some McCartney-esque touches, or a foil of someone else to say "Why not try this instead?" Songs like "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier" could have used a rewrite. "How?" kinda just peters out. A chorus or a bridge would have been useful there, I think. I don't know, maybe I just am wistful for what could have been. Hoping that in some alternate universe they had patched up things and recorded new music. And Mark David Chapman never existed. So yeah, the non-hits of this album needed some work, but they aren't bad. Definitely an album I come back to every so often.

Well, I'm sure everyone loves the title track (except maybe Lennon himself) - it really is a beautiful piece. I've always been a big fan of Jealous Guy but I don't think I knew any other songs from the album. I liked some a fair bit - Crippled Inside (cool country rock sound), It's So Hard (solid rock & roll sound), I Don't Want to be a Soldier and Gimme Some Truth (both edgy lyrics and sound). But I didn't care much for Oh My Love, How Do You Sleep, or Oh Yoko. It gets better and better with each listen but it's not quite a masterpiece.

I recently read an article that said Lennon talked shit about McCartney's "Let It Be." Listening to the song "Imagine" closely (even though I've heard it a million times) I realized it's fundamentally Lennon's "Let It Be." Some of the musical patterns (e.g., the piano) are very similar to Let It Be. But I'll give Lennon props for consistency - he apparently talked shit about the music for the song Imagine also. In fact, talking shit seems to be how Lennon spent most of the 70s - trashing the Beatles in general and McCartney in particular. How Do You Sleep is pretty over the top - it's a shame that so many people disrespect McCartney's output because Lennon talked trash about it. And he really is just talking trash - McCartney didn't have a good song after Yesterday? What a ridiculous statement. It's hard not to wonder if Lennon would have eventually outgrown his petulance towards McCartney. McCartney claims they put it behind them before Lennon's death, but everything I read right up until 1980 seems to be Lennon pissing all over the Beatles. Maybe he was trying to assert his independence or maybe the interviewers were just trying to get statements that would sell magazines, but what I see in his statements and this album in particular is a guy who was miserable despite all his success. Complaining about the world and life seems to be the overwhelming theme of this album. After Imagine, which sounds almost hopeful, we get Crippled Inside (Lennon says "I'm broken"), Jealous Guy ("I suck"), It's So Hard ("I can barely get up in the morning"), I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier ("I don't want to be anything, actually"), Gimme Some Truth ("Everyone sucks" as he plays his best Holden Caulfield), How Do You Sleep ("Paul sucks"), and How ("I still suck"). The only exceptions are Oh My Love and Oh Yoko, where Lennon says "I love Yoko, she's great. But did I mention in Jealous Guy that I suck?" All that said, I enjoy the music on this album. Some of it is pretty basic (e.g., Crippled Inside, It's So Hard, Oh Yoko), some underdeveloped (I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier, Gimme Some Truth), but some classic Lennon writing (Imagine, Jealous Guy, How Do You Sleep). I'm going to give it a 4 - yes, I know it's an absolute classic, and Imagine is up there in the list of "greatest songs ever," but I'm deducting a point for being one of the most respected musicians in the world but still being a miserable bastard. Hey, I get depression, I really do, but Lennon could afford therapy.

If you took out the song advocating domestic abuse it would be better.

Lennon was a not-nice human being, and a hell of a musician. Landmark album you should listen to at least once.

Типичный Джон Леннон. Уже не Битлз, зрело, разнообразно местами весело.

Eh.

che noia, manco una canzone bella

niente di che. un po uguali, un po troppo pop

Never listened to this whole album before but have intended to. Like it.

Oh god. Imagine is a legitamately good and uplifting song that has been beaten to death by replays ever since it aired. Crippled Inside blows that away with a jangly, honky-tonk song about emotionally stunted. The feel of the first side is more of like a bluesy jam band kinda vibe, but without all the extra fluff. arrangment on I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier, Mamma is pretty open. Oh Yoko sucks ass.

Prefs : Crippled Inside, Jealous Guy, I Don't Want To Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die, Gimme Some Truth, Oh My Love, How Do You Sleep?, Oh Yoko! Moins pref: Imagine

Eh…. Not very memorable. Great back up band!!

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

Lennon is mid.

One of the best songs ever written. The other songs are fantastic as well. This is a 4.5 for sure.

I was gonna give it a 3 but the last song made me nauseous.

Some good stuff. Imagine that. The guy was in pain, confused and lost after the break. Loss of balance. Simple tunes, a good deal of psycho babble and finger pointing with apologies. He was best when he had discipline forced on him but he rebelled and could get away with anything because of who he was. Sorry he's gone. A huge loss as he started really coming into his own a few years after this one. Cut down when he seemed to awaken.

It’s still good because Lennon, but in parts it just sounds like less good Beatles

Sure, everybody agrees Imagine is an all-time great song. I'd never listened to the rest of the album though. Not a collection of all-time great songs...

john lennon - imagine (1971) - the first beatles or beatles-adjacent thing ive gotten so far - john lennons second solo album - the song “imagine” is obviously a massive hit - paul mccartney diss track - phil spector production Fav - How? - fantastic downtempo tune with great piano and strings - reminds me of playground love by air - least fav - i dont wanna be a soldier mama - cool production and horn break in the middle - but john couldve done a bit more lyrics and vocal-wise 4/5

I was never a fan of the song "Imagine". I discovered it when I was in high school. During that time, I made slogans and reaction papers and essays about all those things about the environment, the society... you get the picture. That being said, I'm basically sick and tired of all these MAKE PEACE and SAVE THE EARTH and all those BLAH BLAH BLAH as if people would listen to fifteen year olds. Not that I don't care, it's just annoying. I feel like a clown writing all those slogans not because I genuinely care but because it's a school requirement. Everything feels synthetic when the school forces you to do it. So when I discovered "Imagine", it just passed as another MAKE PEACE blah blah blah. And listening to it now, it still is. The lyrics are frankly shallow and even naïve, and while the minimalist piano sound is a nice touch, it's not really a captivating tune. But that's the main appeal of this album. The simplicity and the straightforwardness of it. Personally, there's nothing really special about it overall, except perhaps that it's made by a former member of a popular rock band. The ballads have a pretty nice sound, they have better instrumentals then "Imagine". "Jealous Guy" might take a couple of relistens and a dozen articles about him apparently beating his wives for me to appreciate it though. I enjoyed the Beatles remants in the rock tracks. The bluesy "Crippled Inside" and the slightly psychedelic "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" are nice surprises, although they're still pretty weak. Overall, this album is decent, albeit cheap. It only suffers from the fact that it's overhyped AF and that it's rooted in John Lennon's personal musings, and John Lennon and his personal musings are too easy to hate.

Good album with some great classics.

Ihan kelpo albumi. Imagine oli näistä kappaleista tietysti tutuin, mutta suosikiksi tältä levyltä jäi Jealous Guy. Myös Oh My Love ja How? miellyttivät. Muut kappaleet jättivät hieman kylmäksi, joten kolmonen lienee sopiva arvosana.