Imagine

Fav song: Imagine Personally I feel like without Paul and George, John gets waaaaaay too lost in the sauce. I'm probably never ever going to listen to 'Oh Yoko' again for as long as I live. That being said, I really love Imagine as a song (even if John can't follow his own principles, I still love the message and the sombre feelings) and Gimme Some Truth was pretty cool too.

Kind of dreary affair all around

It's okay.

Meh, this was ok. A couple good songs but the rest just had me wishing I was listening to The Beatles.

Even using my imagination won't help me like this album.

I expected to like this more and yet I was waiting for it to end.

None of the rest of the songs on the album lived up to the title track. This was boring and honestly pretty disappointing.

After the title track, which is an undeniable classic, I found this album a weird mashup of non-Beatles songs. Maybe that was the point, but Lennon doesn’t so barrelhouse or blues or anything else so well. Interest g to watch icons find (lose?) their way after jumping off their pinnacles.

Some good

Don't really rate it. Seems like ideas left off of Abbey Road mostly

This was whiney and self-serving. John did really need the other Beatles.

i didnt enjoy it that much wasnt very catchy

Started pretty good but was ready for it to end by about halfway

what a whiny twat 4/10

Take away the fact that this is John Lennon, the album is kinda meh outside the two songs I knew. It's Lennon dabbling in other genres and being kinda mid at it; Paul and George did better solo stuff. 2* Highlights: imagine, jealous guy

I dislike very much John Lennon’s solo work.

Imagine that besides "Imagine" (and 2 other tunes, maybe), the rest of the Imagine album was pure shite. Buuuuuut it was a ring for a week before ICLR.

Two stars for jealous guy.

Disjointed, so much so that at first I thought it was some kind of compilation album. That would require this album to have more than a couple of good songs, which I didn't really feel it did. Several tonal, and genre changes throughout the album. A song about how he's different, followed not long after a diss track, then a love song to his current wife. He may love Yoko Ono, but I don't love this album.

I feel like this album are songs that just didn't make the cut for any Beatles record. It's a nice listen, nothing that was "I really want to skip this", but also just kinda boring. Nothing really stood out for me. 2/5

Imagine is a fantastic song. The rest is meh or worse. I'd give this a 1, but Imagine bumps it to a 2.

rolled my eyes when i saw this pop up. uh,, yeah. its john lennon. i dont fucking know.

He was better with the beatles...

fine but not very exciting (did not finish)

Boring.

This album is proof that the Beatles were more than the sum of their parts.

Underwhelming. Some bland 80s pop-sounding stuff.

It felt scattered and not cohesive at all. Almost like recycled concepts from the beetle's

#324. Imagine if this guy remembered how to make good music after he left the Beatles. 2/5: unfortunate

middddd what the helll

Altså.. Imagine er en objektiv banger. men.... Den sætter også tonen for resten af pladen; Opblæst og ideologisk. Jeg værdsætter mere hvad The Beatles lavede i fællesskab, for de har tydeligvis brug for hinanden. How Can You Sleep er simpelthen det mest whack diss-track jeg nogensinde har hørt...

I’ve never understood the Beatles hype. They undeniably have a few good songs, but to be treated with such reverence and considered one of the best bands ever? I don’t get it. This album is kind of like that. Imagine is undeniably a good song. The rest are fine, I guess. Nothing really sets them apart from any of the other 60s pop songs. My album yesterday was The Monkees, and if I didn’t know the names attached to each album, there’s just not a lot between them. I'll give it 2.5 stars. Imagine is a good song, How Do You Sleep is pretty good as well.

I liked Imagine but not really anything else.

preferred the songs that aren't seen as the hits on this one, felt most of the songs went on too long, was enjoying don't wanna be a soldier but it should be half as long as it is

..

A perfect summation of John Lennon’s persona; equal parts iconic and pretentious. How can you lead the album with the messaging on Imagine but then also have a diss track about your former bandmate on the same album? This record fluctuates from fantastic to grating on the ears far too often

meh. nix davon mitgnommen

One star off because I am just reminded of that horrible video of those celebrities singing “imagine” during covid

Dislike

Everyone knows of the tour de force that is the song “Imagine”…but I…imagine (ha ha) that a lot of people aren’t aware of the album it’s a part of. Well, I was one of these people…and following a listen, I have to say I hadn’t missed out on too much. In my limited listens of solo projects of the former Fab Four, I’ve found most had at least one or two unreal songs (ie Imagine or Jealous Guy) and then mostly filler type songs, or tracks that don’t really hit the same and don’t become so memorable soon after the listen. Obviously the Beatles enthusiast should hear this album, there are some decent tracks here for sure. But it’s also hard not to listen through and wonder what this could have been had it been done as part of the Beatles. As it stands, this is worth a spin for the first few songs, but don’t be surprised if you find your interest waning by the end.

Very mid Also bad person

Too busy at work to appreciate and also turned off by Yoko Ono song at end for some reason.

I wasn't too big on Imagine the song and I gotta say I'm definitely no bigger on the rest of the album 2/5

Not a big Lennon fan, though I appreciate his contributions to music. This album he sounds tired or depressed through a lot of it? I find it lacks catchy or interesting melodies... Gimme Some Truth is Punk Rock though...

Phew. Freed from the Beatles, I have very little time for any of the individual members. John particularly. This is an album with one evergreen that's been played to death... And then there is a whole bunch of incredibly mediocre songs that are variations of blues routines and Beatles-esque ballads and Beatles references. And I get that John wasn't a particularly peaceful person in his younger years, and he was openly compensating for that with all his peace and love stuff in the 70s. But my God, is this getting dreary really and cringey quickly. Having said all that. It's well-produced and I'd much rather listen to this again than to Sign O the Times by Prince. That album got 1/5, so this has to be a 2/5.

It’s not great. Phil Specter’s contributions do make it at least palatable, but mostly melodramatic and boring. Time and place, I suppose.

It's John Lennon without the Beatles.

This one just washed over me like a bucket of wet sick. Very similar to the Plastic Ono one that precedes is but somehow less fresh and interesting. His grandiose digs at McCartney on 'How do you sleep' are not a good look, and 'Imagine' is so hackneyed and overplayed now you just can't take it seriously (if you ever could). 'Jealous Guy' is the only one that stands out as a great pop song worthy of John's legacy.

Fine, but the mixing is off and makes the listening experience worse.

Sum of the Beatles seems better than its parts. 2 stars. Was ready for it to end.

There's some fun jammy blues stuff with George Harrison on guitar and pretty groovy bass, but that's not what you're listening to John Lennon for. Jealous Guy is a great song sullied by what's known about his behavior. Imagine is so embarrassing it hurts, imagine being moved by that. His voice and the cadence of his vocal phrasing are the best bits. But this is mostly pretty dull stuff.

mimo remastera to jakosc slaba, nic wybitnego poza Imagine i Oh Yoko!, reszta to typowy angielski rock z amerykanskim country inspiracja

The title track is in a league of its own on this album. The only other tracks that are okay are Jealous Guy and Gimme Some Truth. The Soldier thing is horrendous. The solo albums of former Beatles members remind me of the solo ventures of Kiss members; none of them are remotely as good as the full bands’ albums. That being said, Jealous Guy sounds like it wouldn’t have been out of place on Peter Criss’ 78 solo album. Now try not to hear Peter’s voice on the track!

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Very John Lennon. Only song that stood out as memorable was Oh Yoko! But I wouldn't call it a favorite. Too poppy and not enough of an interesting sound. Will probably not listen to again.

Imagine is one of the most overrated songs ever, by one of the most overrated artists ever.

If he's not writing songs with The Beatles, John Lennon doesn't have ideas. Aside from Imagine, the other songs feel like fillers. It made me fall asleep, and it made me understand how amazing was the chemistry between those 4 individuals.

this album actually goes hard asf but i hate john lennon so its a 2/5 because of that. but if its j the music like 4 idk

girly this shit is ass. this is just straight ass

I'm not the world's biggest Beatles fan, and I can't say that I know a ton about the four members personally. But I sure did learn how petty and immature Lennon was after the break up. Diss tracks, scream therapy, an adolescent's view of the world... This was kind of sad even if it was interesting.

So typical of the Beatles crew to throw together an album which rides solely on the strength of a couple songs, while the rest are just weird experiments. I'm probably just coming too late to the party with this album, but I swear my parents bought this on CD in the late 90s and I literally recall none of it. If ever an album needed a few more months in the development stages, it's this one. You can't just walk into the studio with one good idea and hope the rest falls into place. This could have been a beautiful statement, but instead is just a bunch of demos.

Imagine Oh My Love I don’t want to be a soldier mama Great tunes. The rest? Less so. I get the cultural significance but it doesn’t save some of the cheesier moments.

Honesty does not absolve, and this album is proof. Half balladry laid on thick, and half white boi pastiche of American blues and 50s rock 'n' roll without any personal input. I'll give him this, there are moments where I'm almost won over. The melody of "Jealous Guy"; the guitar work on "How Do You Sleep?" (although that's George's contribution, obviously), the strings on "How?" I'm not a big Lennon/Beatles apologist generally, but I'm also not deaf, and I know there's moments, and they're just enough to make me not hate this album, although they're also not enough to fully win me over, either. At the same time, though, there's enough pretension ("Imagine"), straight rip-off ("Crippled Inside"), and downright cringe ("Oh Yoko!") to make me physically grimace, and I can't ignore that, either.

Even the Beatles are not immune to the solo record melange. Solo albums suck, sometimes inexplicably. This is an OK collection of charming British songs. Imagine is the musical equivalent to a tranny blowjob

2 songs added. Meh, overall

Know he is important for music evolution.

who even cares

it’s nice that he’s trying so much stuff but his smug lyrics and politics are top-level cringe

Lennon's gotta be one of the prime examples of the fake deep artist. "Imagine no possessions" says the dude swimming in money. The album itself, once you look past Lennon's shitty philosophising, is very forgettable. Sole highlights are the title track which is decen enough and Jealous Guy which was sampled in a far superior Pusha T track.

Didn't really enjoy this. The title track is good, but the rest is kinda meh.

It was okay. I’m not a big fan of the John Lennon solo albums, only song I got something from was imagine.

A better start (crippled inside) than a finish (oh Yoko)

Pretty mediocre overall. Imagine is a good song but I have heard it tons of times. The other songs are not great, just forgettable space filler. I won't listen to this again.

I sure expected this to be better. Oof.

Lenin’s solo work suggests that either Paul was the true creative force behind the Beatles or Yoko (Oh No!) is a creativity vampire who drained Lennon completely

Najbolje pjesme: 1. Imagine 2. Jealous Guy 3. How? 2.5/3

Ehhhhhhhh not my thingggg

Quality songs and arrangements. Just that unfortunate voice.

Imagine is a perfect song, if you forget that the person saying "imagine no possessions" had a separate apartment in NYC for just clothes. The rest of the album is mid at best, and the singer is a git, so, overall, 2.

YAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Lennon is not my thing.

One of those albums with songs I've always heard but never really listened to. Worse than The Beatles.

Eh, not for me. Plus the dude is notoriously all the things he preaches against.

Imagine is clearly the best song on here. The other songs are ok but unfamiliar to me.

Bit miserable

Blegh.

Not my cup of tea. Imagine is this only reason i would click on this album again.

The title track is a timeless classic (if not a little overplayed!). John Lennon was one of the wealthiest music celebrities, living in his mansion whilst writing about how great the world would be without possessions and greed. Hypocrite warning! John Lennon was a complex dude and was pretty appalling to women. In his own words "I used to be cruel to my woman ... any woman. I was a hitter. I couldn’t express myself, and I hit. I fought men and I hit women.” Both these stars are for the title track only.

John Lennon is overrated (as are the Beatles) His lyrics to 'Imagine' are more ironic than Alanis Morissette's 'Ironic' (which ironically isn't at all ironic - it's just bad luck) 'Imagine' may be one of the most irritating songs ever.

Meh. Imagine if a song could actually inspire change rather than assuage guilt. I don’t love the title track and I didn’t really like anything else either. Actually, Gimme Some Truth was the only one that jumped out.

I don’t really like the Beatles so I’m not sure why I would like John Lennon alone.

This was alright not something I would seek out again. But not bad for his era of music. 2.5/5

Aside from the hits (imagine/jealous guy) this is not a great effort and a huge drop off from Plastic Ono Band

Nothing exceptional, kind of boring

Have only heard imagine before was hoping for something else that good or better. Not sure I got that. I don't want to be a soldier mamma, rambles on for far to long, it actually annoyed me. Its just the same drivel for 6 minutes. I had to have a pause from the album at this point. This is probably why somebody shot him, maybe he should have become a soldier after all, then at least it would have been a fair fight. When I came back I'm not sure if it was better or I had just calmed down a bit. Nothing really stood out from the album. And if we are being honest I'll probably only ever hear imagine again on the radio. After this album John might have even gone below Ringo in order of my favorite beatles

Enjoyed imagine, although like Chris, out of touch celebs but a downer on it. Jealous guy is cool as is Oh Yoko but beyond that I wasn’t a fan. Obligatory mention that Lennon beat his first wife

Wonder what he would think of Fortnite 4/10

🤷

could i write poetry to this? n

When Paul and George went solo they made some of the greatest music of all time. When John went solo he showed the world what a whiny, self-important prick he was. That said, I am shocked how much I disliked this album.

What a bitter little album. I'll be kind and say that John Lennon is 'complicated'. A song writing genius but, by most counts, a bit of a prick. This seems to be a collection of song where he simultaneously apologises for and confirms it.

This is SO BORING. It makes sense that “Imagine” (song) is simple because it’s a straightforward idea. Why are the rest of the songs so uninteresting? I liked the mixing on some of them and the variety of instruments (whistling, harmonica, was that a harpsichord in “Oh My Love?”) but all the songs were just so boring, structurally. After “Hold On”, a song started that I was immediately like “okay this is more like it” but it was just Spotify playing the Beatles “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” after. (Oh apparently “Hold On” wasn’t part of the album either. I wrote “good mixing” for that one.) No one would think twice about this album if anybody besides a Beatle made it.

First time hearing most of these songs, and honestly they were better than expected. The title track is now a bit cringe inducing, but overall not at all a bad album.

This list should be called 1001 albums with one hit on them. Honestly songs like I don’t wanna be a soldier are appalling. Personally I have hated imagine since I was a child, and the more I learned about Lennon, the more I felt vindicated about my opinion. This albums sums up what a pathetic, hypocritical and generally unpleasant person he was. “I’m just a jealous guy”… Jesus I’d hate to be on the receiving end of JL’s violent jealousy like the people close to him were. Having said all that I do really like ‘how can you sleep’ musically, I’d definitely listen to that again. It’s just ridiculous how he lashes out at McCartney for no reason, “how can you sleep at night you cunt?” John asks, in an unused take of that song. I Imagine Paul always slept a lot better than John, who probably rolled around, haunted by all the evil things he’d done in his life.

Never was a big fan. I appreciate what the Beatles did for music but his was the least impressive solo career of the bunch.

Folksy vibe. Imagine was the song I knew and the most “mainstream “ on the album. It was okay.

not bad but wouldnt listen again. 2

2.5

This one popped up straight after Paul McC's debut so it was interesting to compare. Lennon definitely a more interesting writer imo, but still not really my thing. Knocked a star off for the terrible Yoko song.

Better than Paul McCartney’s effort, but proof, were it needed, that The Beatles were way more than the sum of their parts.

Imagine obviously the massive song. But kind hit or miss for the rest. I do like Jealous Guy though.

Asides from Imagine, this album really did not do it for me, especially because it came immediately after the White Album. It strikes me that John Lennon without the Beatles to throw ideas around with just isn't the same, and a lot of the charm is lost that let you get past some rather weird ideas.

Bluesy, but not enough of screaming John

Lovely, and too dull for my tastes overall.

Not a huge fan of John Lennon as a solo artist. I'll just leave it at that.

Imagine and How we're alright but the rest of it was pretty dull. This feels like one of those very famous albums you are meant to like but I just don't

I don't like this album. "I dont wanna be a soldier mama" is a particular one that I dont like because the lyrics are just the same all the way through, and I prefer songs to have better lyrics than that tbh. Imagine is fine, but that's about it. 2/3***

Of all the solo Beatles attempts over the years, this one might take the cake for my least favorite. It’s not that John wasn’t a great writer for his time, but I just think he needed Paul more than Paul needed him to write quality music outside of the title track, there’s nothing of value here. And Gimme Some Truth is not a good song. It’s a track I would’ve written in 8th grade.

I can't imagine I'll ever be listening to this drivel again.

Blew his load on the first song

You can tell that the album is made by a very talented musician. Unfortunately I’m not a John Lennon fan, and hearing an entire album of him being a poor me sad boy was not my favorite.

I used to want to like John. Then I gave into not liking him because his solo work just didn’t do it for me, and that’s ok. Now, knowing more about his shithead past, and how he wrote songs about it there were somewhere between a brag, an excuse, and a lament… I just don’t think he was all that great on his own. That and he helped make one of the worst Nilsson records. Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to this record. If I never hear the song Imagine again, it’ll be too soon. Jealous Guy is beautiful if you don’t read into it too much. And Oh Yoko is kinda fun, but the rest is just a yawnburger.

Not into it at all. I agree with the idea that Lennon and McCartney really worked best together as song writers. I found this whole album to be very boring and uninspired.

Yawn Lennon I can't remember anything except the single. The rest was sorta country-folk-y? Boring. 2/5

Unimaginative Rock.

I’m sorry I just don’t think this is it. The Beatles arent my cup of tea but john Lennon on his own is worse

John's singing sounds weak and lacks any kind of edge unless he filters his voice through a distorter. His supposed poetry is primitive and shallow. The songs themselves are repetitive and basic. So why the second star? I respect the production and contributions from the backing musicians on here, who rescue John's mediocrity. Oh no, I.. don't wanna be a baker mama, I don't wanna rye. Oh no, I.. don't wanna be a cleaner mama, I don't wanna lye. Oh no, I.. don't wanna be a farmer mama, I don't wanna sty.

It's John Lennons Imagine. Come on. How is this not an instant classic? That's what I thought going in. Can you imagine, the only decent song is the title track, and even that has gone sour in recent years. How? How is this album so.. boring?

John lemon doet me niet zoveel

Slightly better than Plastic Ono Band but not by much. 'Jealous Guy' might be the song that holds up most. The others make me think of that one guy from college, who never left your small college town, who still has Marley posters on his wall, and won't stop telling you about how you just have to read Marx. Like, his intentions are good but he's not actually doing anything.

Meh

I've listened to a lot of the Beatles' music over the years, but the only song of John Lennon's I'd heard before today was the title track off of this album. Based off of "Imagine," I figured this album would be full of sappy songs about dreaming of peace and building a better tomorrow. Thankfully I was mostly wrong, but regardless, I wasn't very into this album. Musically, it was fine. There was some nice guitar and piano playing, and the songs sounded fine, but overall, this album felt like getting a C- on a term paper: sure, you passed, but it doesn't feel great. This album feels like most of the songs are just riding the coattails of the title track, and frankly, those coattails aren't strong enough for anything to hang on to. My biggest gripe against this album is that, knowing what we know about John Lennon now (wife beater, deadbeat dad, general asshole, etc.), everything on this album just feels disingenuous, like it's all a cheap facade used to create this image that John Lennon is a peace-loving intellectual hippie. I try to judge these albums based on the music itself, but it's really hard to filter out John Lennon the person from this album. Even if I didn't have strong feelings about John Lennon as a person, I can't see this album being more than three stars.

Pretentious and bland

hmmm. idk how to feel about this, i dunno if i’ll like it or not, obviously there’s a banger on there, but as for the rest? who knows. i didn’t care for it. Imagine was legendary and that’s about it.

Prick tbh

If it weren’t for that one song… this is not a very interesting album. I don’t know if this album started the trend of having a honky-tonk song and a blues song as a staple of albums of this era, but they’re just not very interesting. The three best songs, Imagine, I Dont Wanna Be A Soldier, and Oh Yoko. The rest, not very interesting or good.

Ugh.

If I never hear the song Imagine again - I’d probably be ok with it. The rest of the album is ok, Jealous Guy is a tough listen once you know how shitty John was. But the song shitting on McCartney is fun as is Oh Yoko!

n convence

O wat als de Beatles elkaar nooit hadden gekend, en iedereen begon direct met hun solo carrière. John Lennon zou zo hard door de mand vallen. Bijzonder hoe het als groep zo goed werkt maar solo de mannen (behalve mccartney) weinig weten klaar te spelen in mijn ogen. Imagine is misschien wel het kutste nummer ooit gemaakt, wat heb ik daar een hekel aan. Album echt heel saai. Haal z’n teksten weg en het is hier en daar nog wel te doen, maar vind er geen reet aan.

Other than a couple of good tracks, this album has always left me a bit cold. Mostly I just think it's kind of dull.

I understand what John Lennon has done for music but he's too mellow for me.

I don’t get the hype

Nothing too exciting here for me.

its kinda hard with this artist separating the art from the prson that produced it. The album itself is meh, kinda funny that the two most popular songs are a communist manifesto and a song where John apologizes for "losing control", "feeling insecure". Ye he just "didn't want to hurt you". Anyway enough about Jom Lemon, everyone's favourite BEATle, this album is good as an elevator music in giant malls

Una buena rola y lo demás muy cringe.

1001 albums to avoid. This does nothing else than destroying the legacy John has built with the Beatles. Imagine is the only good song on this album.

doar john lennon fiind un cacat neinteresant

A sad departure from the beautiful songs the Lennon has mad before. A look into the life of a man struggling with how others perceive him and who he wants to be.

John Lennon was kind of a twat and his music reflects that.

Besides track 1 Imagine, nothing spectacular. Last 2 tracks good

I find I like this much less than the Beatles.

The title track is so hypocritical. Lennon preaches peace and love yet was not very peaceful or loving to family members. Sorry but not buying it John. Rest of the album is very meh.

Probably ruined by overplaying but Imagine is insufferable. The others are not great either...

Abusive husband, neglectful father, and one of the most successful musical artists of all time tells the rest of us to stop caring about earthly possessions and be better people. Not only is the messaging gratuitously pretentious, even when ignoring all the character flaws Lennon had, but most of the songs aren't even good or catchy enough to make up for it. The album jumps wildly from genre to genre giving you musical whiplash and many songs are cheap imitations of classic American rock.

Walking home after work and seeing this was the album of the day and thinking "what a nice album to listen to today." *Ron Howard voice over* "it was not nice, in fact it only had one redeeming song"

https://youtu.be/k-39NexNiLc?si=BCMzRBO96OVFsoeP john lennon was such a wanker set the tone by opening with one of the most beautiful songs of all time then several tracks later make a song with george harrison involved asking paul "how he can sleep at night". just the year before you were wondering into the studio with yoko off your faces on heroin while paul was simply trying to make an album. its a shame because that guitar groove is one of the better moments on this album. this record is wearisome sententious and overrated

This will probably generate some hate but here goes: Imagine is just not that great an album. It's full of drippy odes to Yoko Ono (Jealous Guy) and hippy dippy pseudo-philosophical claptrap like Imagine. Meanwhile his bandmate George Harrison had just recently released the brilliant "All Things Must Pass" and Paul Mc Cartney pushed out the weird and quirky Ram. This album is just dull in comparison. It's a Beatle trying to be James Taylor. Imagine is one of the high points of Lennon's post-Beatles career, which doesn't say much for his post-Beatles career.

The Beatles bore me

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

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

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

2.

Favourite song: Imagine

Nothing much special after Imagine.

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.

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.

Too folksy

Bleh

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.

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

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.

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

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

⭐ How?

No I won’t John

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

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.

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

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.

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

meh rock songs, didn’t care for it

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)

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

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.

Some good songs, mostly oke

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

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.

Alternates between boring and annoying.

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

Eh.

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

Lennon is mid.

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

Best Song: How Do You Sleep? I liked the eastern influences in this song. Worst Song: Imagine. Imagine liking this track. Overall: This is the supposed Magnum Opus of Britain's greatest songwriter? First of all, can we finally admit that the title track is straight trite cheese? If there was ever any doubt, the celebrity rendition at the beginning of the pandemic illuminated what the actual context of the song is: wealthy privilege wistfully singing "imagine there's no hunger" while never being the least bit hungry themselves. The song is the pinnacle of pandering, and I hate that it was ever considered a poetic masterpiece. The rest of the album is totally forgettable as well.

haha covid

Waaaah waaaah war bad, u gonna cwy wittle Johnny?

Just not very interesting to me, I’m being harsh with the ratings since I know most of these are classics. Imagine is a good song but a bit simplistic in its approach and a lot of the rest of this album feels the same. Couple decent bangers in between, liked oh my love a lot.

Not my favorite Beatle. Just don't like his solo stuff

Fairly mundane album. Checking in at only 33 minutes, the album still felt long.

Mostly pretty boring, lots of mid-tempo slurry, for half of the album Lennon's voice sounds like dogshit, and 'Imagine' (the song) should've seen everyone involved in its creation on trial at the Hague.

the one good song

Considerably more interesting than With the Beatles from yesterday, and somewhat interesting to hear the changes after 10 years. It's hard to overlook the association of Imagine after the early covid celebrity wankfest and things don't really pick up as there seems to be a number of repeated lines throughout the album that just have one word changed. This makes a number of songs feel like a minute long song stretched over 3-4 minutes. ("I don't wanna be a ____mama, I don't want to ____" and "How can I go forward when..."). Finally ending the album on Oh Yoko! which is so bad it's bordering on parody left a bad taste. Ultimately proving that maybe I'm not a fan of The Beatles or Beatle derivatives.

not as good as the beatles 2.5

No good.

Everyone knows the namesake track from a mini age, but I don’t think I knew any other tracks. Could be telling, or could be one to grow on me later.

Already listened

Album was a lot worse than I expected. A couple of good songs but mostly pretty boring. Can't imagine writing a song like "How Do You Sleep?" or "Jealous Guy" and then actually releasing them for everyone to hear. Pretty embarrassing.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Beatles. I like a lot of what Lennon did solo. But this album. The videos that went along with it. All it did was make me hate Yoko Ono more. I can't stomach her.

its ok. not a massive Beatles fan and this didn't change my mind

Oh come on, fuck the cult of John Lennon. This is pretty boring, too. Just really bland. 2/5.

When it comes to the Beatles, it's hard to pick my favorite: George is probably my favorite person of the lot and an undersung contributor to every song, Paul has the best pop sensibility and I love his post-Beatles output the best, and Ringo may not have much but at least he's not John.

Not for me

Overrated 2

Hmmm, John Lennon eh? I like the titular track but the rest I could take or leave

I just find John Lennon so pretentious on his own. It’s so hard to enjoy his solo work, because he just seems like such a prick.

As a friend described it's "perfume floating in a man's hat kind of stuff"

oh yoko är kanske den sämsta sången jag nånsin hört,,, vad pinsamt.

Not great imho. Not bad, but just not something I’d want to listen to.

Not terrible but takes a hard nosedive after Imagine

Un par de temas top y no mucho mas

Found it mostly pretty musically dry, and the production didn't blow me away. Didn't mind a couple of tracks, but found a lot of it uninteresting.

I am not a huge John Lennon fan, and I think a lot of this was pretty overwrought.

“Imagine” by John Lennon (1971) When this album was released in 1971, teenage music lovers like me filed in to the metaphorical world auditorium in respectful lockstep, reverently silent, hushed before the opening track, inhaling half a breath then holding it—this was, after all, John Lennon. No one was disappointed by the first song, the title track “Imagine”, with its unsurprising yet inspiring theme of world peace, universal love, shared prosperity, and a hopeful feeling of fellowship, transcending transcendence itself. Then the album kinda went to crap. We began to smell an odor we had never smelled before. By the end of the record, the stink had a name—sanctimony. Now don’t get me wrong, it was very well executed sanctimony. But it was a sanctimony that most of us did not want to hear from a working class hero like John Lennon. We were used to the first-person anger, iconoclasm, and individualized angst (from the far superior album John Lennon Plastic Ono Band), but now, on Imagine, he was preaching at us, telling us how to think and act, transitioning from truly artful expressions of his own personal hatred of God to a demand for us to dispense with God (and country) as well. I grew uncomfortable. Within four years I had joined the Navy, started college (history major), and found Jesus. It wasn’t until much later that I discerned that Lennon’s challenge on this album to abandon metaphysics and political identity was deceptive. He was, knowingly or not, enticing his audience to commit to an uncritical exchange of one metaphysical/political worldview for another. It was naive and dangerous. And it was effective. Too much Marx and not enough Confucius. Lennon’s love for Yoko Ono (“Oh My Love” and “Oh Yoko”) is both embarrassingly transparent and powerfully explanatory. But his insensitivity toward the handicapped and his unreflective attitude of white privilege (“Crippled Inside”) could stand deconstruction [Malcolm X had already made it clear, before CRT, that you should be judged by the color of your skin, John. You’re white.] Plus, his rude and nakedly vindictive slam of Paul McCartney (“How Do You Sleep?”) is lacking both humility and maturity. Now there are some fine musical performances here, from George Harrison’s heavenly electric and slide guitar to Klaus Voorman’s solid bass, to orchestral backings by members of the New York Philharmonic (humorously dubbed “Flux Fiddlers”). But Lennon’s overly-dazzled and under-informed ego dominates. The album (and song) “Imagine” has attained the status of an anthem. I think I’ll take a knee. 2/5

I Beatles secondo me rappresentano quel fenomeno dove il tutto è stato più della somma delle singole parti (affermazione opinabile) e in quest'album, il caro John Lennon, pur essendo messaggero di pace e amore, ha fatto i conti con i propri limiti. Il risultato è un album mediocre a tratti country, boogie woogie, rock 'n' roll, folk, ballate.. Fa un po' di tutto, ma fatto male. "Imagine" nemmeno la considero, sono troppo influenzato dall'uso spropositato di questa canzone dei media, non posso dire che faccia schifo comunque. L'unica canzone che per me è passabile, ripeto, passabile, è "Jealous Boy". Non sento di essere così severo da dare 1, anche se musicalmente secondo me forse lo merita, do un 2 perché fondamentalmente era rincoglionito e in buona fede, probabilmente ci credeva veramente.

Non sono mai stato un fan di John Lennon e, dai lo dico, secondo me Imagine ad oggi è una canzonetta. Sicuramente è uno di quei pezzi molto legato al contesto storico, quando è uscita faceva un altro effetto, forse perché il contenuto sembrava più verosimile. Comunque l'ho trovato sicuramente il pezzo più debole dell'album. Sono rimasto colpito negativamente dalla produzione che, adesso che ho più dimestichezza col sound '70, ho trovato davvero pessima (ma perché all'inizio il piano di Imagine è mono e poi diventa stereo a caso quando parte la voce?). Gli altri pezzi non sono niente di particolare, qualcuno mi è piaciuto di più tipo "I Don't Wanna be a Soldier Mama" e mi è piaciuto molto il fatto che uno dei pezzi si chiama "How do you sleep?" e quello subito dopo "How?", ma diciamo che non è un album che riascolterò. Per me è un 2.5 ma 3 mi sembra troppo e 2 mi sembra un po' poco ma meno di quanto 3 mi sembra troppo.

ok....sono stato un pò influenzato dalla notizia che mi ha dato Daniele...però adesso non riesco a non sentirlo come un coglione. Escludendo il pezzo in cui ammette di picchiare le donne ma il resto mi sembra comunque banale. Se canta "How can I feel something if I just don't know how to feel?" sembrano parole buttate lì tanto per fare il fenomeno e tutto il disco mi arriva un pò così. Un manifesto dell'essere boomer. Anche la produzione in realtà non è che mi abbia proprio entusiasmato. Voto = 2.5.

It would appear my impression of mediocrity for the Beatles carries over to their solo discographies. It’s just that, mediocre.

Not very good tbh.

kill john lennon kill john lennon This was kinda mid, another one of those albums (like the Dolly Parton one) where the title track is far and away the best and outshines everything, especially given its placement as the first song of the album. This dragged on and I had no interest in listening more than twice. Imagine is still a really good song tho

You know what, i didn't like it. Obviously imagine is an important and great song, but outside of that, if i was a Beatles fan and they broke up, I would be disappointed with this solo effort.

2|10

Some gold plated hits, a few pleasant country rock foot tappers and some introspective songs which are more a vehicle for Lennon's lyrics. A little disappointing overall.

Honestly, what is the fuss over this guy.

Not bad, but not great. 1RS

Didn't enjoy, doesn't help the main tune is really overplayed

Bon cet évaluation m’a étonné, je m’attendais à un album que les gens qualifie de mythique d’une legende du rock pour être déçu à mort. Mais non, c’est l’album d’un Londonnien qui a été trop longtemps dans le midwest et qui s’est mis à chanter des chansons de cowboys. À part imagine, les autres tounes sont d’une légèreté subjuguante. Je lévite, la vibe mid west, j’ai le goût d’aller dans le Kentucky, le Misouris, le Tenessee Je l’évite oh my love et imagine, des tounes plates et qui ne goûte pas les ribs et le bourbon

Vapid at times, but had some good pop bones when Lennon gets over himself.

J'aurais aimé donné un 2.5 Quand il essaie de sortir de son style habituel, j'aime pas trop ça. Mais quand il reste avec ses ptites chansonettes il est bon. J'irais le voir au pub si la grosse pinte est à 2 pour 1.

Pretty chill.

4 songs and boy that's a tough one. I'm not enjoying it at all this far. Welp. One good song only. Album is pretty meh overall.

Expected more in the songwriting department from John on this one. Lyrics veer way too repetitive and obvious, instrumentation could use a boost of originality and harkens back to Beatle days.

Meh. Okay. I'm just not really a fan I guess.

Ehhhhhh

Yksi biisi...

RIP Gammie

Lennon oli keskinkertainen yksin, jos sitäkään.

Mostly-fine soft-rock. The massive overexposure of the title track does it no favors, and neither do the other string arrangements in its vein. Slightly overwrought and in need of more vocal harmony or weirder arrangements or both.

1971: Imagine, Jealous Guy

Not keen. I love his work in The Beatles but his solo stuff leaves me cold.

The only nice thing I have to say about John Lennon’s solo career is that he didn’t write “Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime”.

"Imagine me beating my wife" -Also John Lennon

Imagine my ahh.

im not listening to this shit ass album the beatles r only good in the framing of their time period in which there was lead in the paint and u got shot if u were gay. being a beatles fan is just saying yeah im a racist

I was worried my intense dislike of John Lennon after The Beatles and my complete loathing of the title track would skew my rating unfairly. Luckily, the album is pretty poor anyway. I can't give it nil so let's say the one point is for Bryan Ferry's cover of Jealous Guy.

I hate John Lennon Fave track: Imagine

Considering the man’s general conduct, as well as the extent to which he had his head up his own arse - this album has aged horrendously. Rest in piss you fucking loser. 1/5

Imagine is the best song. Huh.

Oh brother, this guy STINKS

I find him slightly annoying. The music I very inoffensive but kind of boring

This is so corny. Please let me never hear it again.

I hate John Lennon. My favorite part is the part where he fucking died. maybe crippled inside is alright. I find imagine just annoying. It feels like hes playing the whole “world peace protest song” archetype as bait. Jealous guy would be good if it was made by anyone except Lennon. “I didn’t mean to hurt you” says the guy that cheated on his wife and abandoned his son for the chuzz. Or maybe the songs about Brian Epstein… No, I do not care to separate the art from the artist as it would not exist without the artist. Instead I think you have to look at the art and artist through a view of when the art was released. Kanye wasn’t always a Nazi, and now he is and now his music is bad. “I don’t wanna cheat on my wife mama” or something like that- you know maybe the one good thing Lennon did was the anti-war stuff. The song is actually decent, unfortunately. His singing annoying though and it’s carried by the vocal effects and instrumentation. I like the brass. Gimme some truth is also a good protest song, I think it’s supposed to reflect the decline in government trust during that time. The second half of the album is him and Ono making out in the studio, which makes me want to stop and leave, just like the other people in the studio probably also felt. Ok “How do you sleep” WOULD be insanely good if it wasn’t by John Lennon and about Paul McCartney. I think that attack on him is petty, undeserved, and honestly lame as shit.

i hate john lennon

John Lennon hit his wife and was a piece of shit. The least he could do is make some bangers, but the only bangers he makes are his former wife hitting the wall. 0/10

Overrated

This was terrible. Everyone has heard the title song, and it gets sullied by the fact that he was a terrible human. The rest of it was complete crap.

Juvenile garbage, a true knob and hypocrite.

No like

Bit too slow for me

Honestly if I had to listen to Imagine I’d 🔫 John Lennon too.

This album is terrible. Imagine is a good song and it’s understandable how it got so big. But the rest of it is awful.

"Imagine" and "Jealous Guy" are pretty good. "How Do You Sleep", his dig at former Beatle band mate Paul McCartney, is only notable for that reason. Outside of his LP "Double Fantasy" Lennon never really had a great solo record IMHO.

gave up after 2 songs, too slow and a bit boring

i refuse to listen

Boooring

The first two-tree songs are okey, but it’s totally not my type of music. Sorry John Lennon, but no.

Meh

This album sounds like loneliness and sadness. I just like if you feel in loneliness, this will probably be the album.

It gives off the specific kind of anti-war messaging that throws out all geopolitical factors in favor of "what if nobody actually believed in anything". An excruciatingly boring album, worsened by the 6-minute droning in the song "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier, Mama".

Asks the world to abandon possessions, borders, and religion while being delivered from the softest, safest piano bench imaginable. Nice sentiment, aggressively smug execution.

Just realized I cant stand him

Repeat listen

Nah, just nah, fuck this dude, not because of his fame but because of his music. Boring as shit.

Verbal autofellatio, especially Jealous Guy was torture. For most of the album I just felt like he was feeling so good and smug for singing these lyrics. Left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I like imagine. Rest was dull and I'm starting to think all of these will be dull

No matter how good this is, this fucker hit his wife and people forget that

Meh

What a terrible album

Can't hear Imagine without thinking of Gal Gadot & co thinking it was a good idea to sing "Imagine there's no heaven" at the height of Covid. As someone who doesn't like the Beatles, this is the Beatles but more boring.

This really wasn't very good. These songs felt very underdeveloped, surface-level, and self-indulgent. "Oh Yoko, my love will turn you on?" Jesus Christ.

"As much as possible, and this as quickly as possible: that is what the great mental and emotional illness craves, which is variously called 'present' or 'culture,' but that is actually a symptom of consumption." Imagine a world without The Beatles, a world without 'Imagine,' a world where a record was never released, a world where we were not given a tongue-lashing for thinking for $10. Imagine making $10,290 a year, driving to the record store, and naturally, imagine this record is on a big, giant, shiny display. You buy the Imagine record, race home in one of three popular automobiles: 1. Chrysler New Yorker 2. Chevrolet Vega 3. VW Beetle You get home, hang your keys to avoid losing them, and head to your home entertainment system. You imagine what Imagine will contain as you peel back the vinyl wrapping enshrouding your disc. Complete your turntable ritual, dear future listener, you are about to Imagine. You drop the needle, there is a slight crackle, you walk back to your couch across the shag carpet, and take a seat. The four bars play, and then you are asked to imagine. Imagine your religion is nonsense, imagine everyone living for today, no countries, so easy, no wars, no death, again your religion, imagine I type the same thing again; Imagine, owning nothing, I am a rock star that is taking you into my chapel for the next thirty-seven minutes - only two minutes in folks. The Album of John continues, Crippled Inside, listen closely to that one, I picture a band playing in a dive somewhere in the mid-south region of the U.S to a perplexed crowd, wondering just exactly what is being said, following Imagining there is nothing but sheep. It would seem that we need to imagine what Beatle John would imagine and then recognize the need to embrace his beliefs to fix our spiritually crippled selves. John admits he is flawed and jealous, which in turn gives him the blues, because you have to eat, drink, and feel things. However, it's really hard to be Father John, and he has to keep the world satisfied; it's so hard, and life is going down. Fear not, Protest John is about to tell you what a rich dude from Britannia does not want to be: a soldier in America! The fifth track suggests that if 'Imagine' is about anything, it is about imagining John Lennon being awesome. Imagine pulling up the old tone arm and tossing on something a little different or an album that encourages the listener to think and consider rather than "trust me, man, I'm Father John Lennon". Or continue forward, enjoy the remaining five tracks; John's rants about wanting truth, a soulful ballad with nice piano, I am gonna throw a wobbly at my ex mate Paul, another whiney ballad, and closes with the " I love my wife song; I dunno, it's a self-centered preachy record with unfinished thoughts and half-baked philosophy. At the end of the day, the music on the album sounds like manufactured pop music, created in a factory of confusion, depression, and struggles that come with fame, only to have it evaporate due to the complexities of relationships; cough, Yoko. Admittingly, I don't know a lot about The Beatles; they were never something I was into, it was just too damn Sesame Street sounding to me; at least the early material, I recognize what their pop phenomenon did for music, they proved that if you marketed right and did the right things, well, mansions.

Nope

No, I really don't like it. Even 'Jealous Guy' gets on my nerves. Next album, please.

Imagine there’s no John Lennon

Meh

Absolute shite made even worse by the final song oh yoko

This album had a strong start with Imagine, even though I've personally found it a bit questionable given how similar that opening is to The Who's Getting in Tune (which is also on this list, and released a few months before Imagine). No idea if I'm reading into things there, though. By the time you get half way through it is plainly obvious that this album is musically all over the place. While there are some good tracks, they're generally overshadowed by the rest of the album.