Imagine

It’s alright

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.

4.0 really nice. Jealous Guy and Imagine are true classics.

Poor - 1.5. First half of the album is just awful, second half improves a little. Low quality singing, dull melodies, asinine lyrics. Would not recommend. Standouts: Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep.

haha covid

Not as saccharine as I anticipated. Infused with good jangle.

This is no *Plastic Ono Band*. Of course it's got the legendary title track, "Jealous Guy" and "Gimme Some Truth. Oh, and that track dissing Paul, "How Can You Sleep?", whose instrumentation is as lush as the song itself is bitter. But hey, I agree with John that up to 1971, Paul's solo output was dumb muzak indeed. So all of this is striking, but as I said, what we have here is no *Plastic One Band*. Because, apart from the four highlights I've singled out in my first paragraph, much on what can be found on "Imagine" is not up to the level of that true masterpiece. Even if it's good to very good, generally speaking, and remains an essential listen to me... Number of albums left to review or just listen to: less than 800, I've temporarily lost count here Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens:  approximately a half so far (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: a quarter Albums from the list I will certainly *not* include in mine (many others are more important): the last quarter

Great great album This is what the list should be full of Cover art 4/5

The title song has become so familiar it’s easy to forget what a blinder it is. And balls to those who say he can’t sing about this kind of stuff cos he was a millionaire. There’s a clarity of sentiment and a simplicity that hits you regardless of whether it was composed in a mansion or a bungalow. Anyway, that aside, this is one of the most consistently brilliant albums of this Beatle I reckon. Love it love it love it.

jo war ok, paul is trotzdem besser :)

It's fine, but nothing special. Had never given it a fair listen and am happy I did now, but happy to move to other things, too.

A great album. Inventive and original. I don’t like John Lennon personally, but I recognize that this is a great album. 4/5

Some awesome tracks, less interested in the blues style tracks

Some good songs, others pale copies of Beatles songs

Everyone knows this is great, don't they? Just skip over Imagine...

it's not the plastic ono band necessarily. but im curious. It's a dated version of everything. Probably edgy in the 70s but boring now.

Great album. I enjoyed How do you Sleep. Lennon is quite the spicy bitch. Other good songs included Jealous Guy, How and Oh My Love.

nice and mellow

Of course amazing

Waaaah waaaah war bad, u gonna cwy wittle Johnny?

Some classics, would listen again, favorites album as a whole, but no songs individually

It is so hard to find a good recording of this album. The drums in the 2010 and 2020 remasters have been destroyed with compression, and vinyl rips floating around are often crackly and/or clip at the high points. Like many reviews here, I'm torn between 3 and 4. Going up this time because I think I'll likely listen to this occasionally. If I can find a good recording. Standout track: How Do You Sleep?

an album full of beautiful melodies and just a groove all around. Especially loved oh yoko. a wonderful start to this journey.

Some iconic moments. Some lighter bits too.

This is a fabulous album, for the most part - probably John's best post-Beatles. But I'm subtracting 1 for him being such an arsehole to Paul in How Do You Sleep.

I did enjoy it more than i thought i would as Imagine (the song) is overplayed and i reflected this back to the album which isn’t justified. Well worth a listen although a bit too lyric focused

know it great stuff

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

Before I heard this album I was dreading it. I'm no fan of The Beatles, John Lennon, or the song "imagine" so I figured I'd not enjoy this album. The first couple of songs proved me right, then it picks up. I actually like the wide variety of sounds on this album from traditional beatles sounding stuff to move hippy/groovy vibes. The song "Oh my love" was my favorite, I actually really liked that one. 3/5 stars, nothing special one way or the other.

a relisten

A 3 for imagine alone. Some of the other ones seemed weak tho.

3.4 - solid album. Always liked Oh Yoko and Imagine. Jealous Guy is solid, but recent covers show the potential missed in the original. Others like Gimme Some Truth just missed the mark.

The album starts with one of the most amazing melodies ever written. You know, the lyrics aren’t half bad either! It is a pure classic. The album itself if really good with one memorable song after another. 4/5 Best songs: Imagine, Jealous Guy, Oh, My Love

Landmark

How?

nice

I bought Imagine on 7" when they released it after he died. It's strange as it's become a song to avoid but when you listen to it after a long time and in isolation, it's not as terrible as you remembered it becoming. The albums the Beatles could have put out in the first half of the 1970s would have been up there with anything they did in the 1960s and also better than the individual solo albums they released over the period. And this is a pretty good Beatles solo album.

Powered by bitchiness. Dude could write.

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

good

Good start, second half fell off a little, but still enjoyed it. 8/10

This is arguably the best of John Lennon's solo albums. It's certainly the one I would point to as being most representative of his work. If you want a sense of who John Lennon was as an artist, it's pretty much all on this album. The disarmingly direct lyricism, the acid-tinged vocal, the offbeat pop sensibility, the fondness for roots rhythm and blues, it's all here. The title song is massive, of course. It looms over the rest of the album more than it should. Part of that is less about the song "Imagine" itself, and more about how the song has been appropriated in various ways over the years. It's probably one of the most well known, well-loved, and overplayed songs of its time, but there's a reason for that. It's an absolutely lovely, perfectly crafted song, delivering a universal sentiment both sweetly and plainspokenly. It's incredibly rare for a song to have such broad appeal that spans across decades. It's Lennon's triumph as a solo songwriter. The range of the other songs is broad, touching on themes personal and political. The tone can be playful and jaunty, intimate and introspective, strident and biting. I don't know about other people, but I feel like I know a little more about John Lennon every time I hear this album. Not a single bad song on here, a real pleasure. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Imagine, How?, Oh My Love, Jealous Guy, It's So Hard, How Do You Sleep?, Oh Yoko!, Crippled Inside, Gimme Some Truth, I Don't Want To Be A Soldier

It was okay. Not my style really

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

Rock, Pop. Suave, melódico.

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

ni en pedo saludos

I mean, it's John Lennon so I'm supposed to write a gushing review, right? He is a great lyricist, and Imagine is a great song.

this album is almost whisky in the way it sounds, i think that just sort of comes with john lennons voice tho. overall i liked it a lot, definitely will listen again

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

Bit imaginitory, interesting but like very mellow and hard to listen to all the way through without getting a tiny bit bord at parts. Has its highlights but really just like 2 or 3 songs that out shine the rest that are all just lost in the blur of the whole project

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

Can see this in my normal rotation

Love him or hate him, Lennon has a decent mixture of songs on this album. Especially liked the interchange of piano based tracks versus guitar heavy ones (Crippled Inside as opposed to Don't Wanna be a Soldier Mama). Can definitely hear Spector's influence!

not his best but jealous guy's enough

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

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

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

From "how can I give love when love is something I ain't never had" to "my love will turn you on" after one song. Gotta love the character development in this one lol.

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

This is one of those albums, man. Has the stink of genius all over it. Imagine is still a great song. So is Oh Yoko. Jealous Guy is also pretty good. But this isn't really even as good as Rumors, ya know? This is not one I would listen to three times in a row. And I love the Beatles and John Lennon in general. I'll give it four stars because Imagine still strikes me as something that would bother religious conservatives. But that's as far as I can go.

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.

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

the one good song

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

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

A varied manifesto that delivers almost all expectations.

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

Meh.

Ah, it's been a long time since I listened to this. I was always more partial to John's rawer, grittier Plastic Ono Band album that preceded this, but listening with fresh ears this really is a classic. Just a beautiful album with some tender, confessional songs mixed in with some edgier tunes. Imagine is of course one of the greatest songs ever written. How Do You Sleep just blows me away - as a Beatles fanatic the lyrics are fun to analyze, but musically it's also a classic song. Jealous Guy is also an amazing song. Really not a bad song in the bunch. 5 stars.

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

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.

this a fun listen with some very meaningful songs

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

Apparently this was the first metal album? So cool!

Great

No thanks

gotta love Lennon. Very... optimistic album. Not my favorite solo-beatle album, but I certainly enjoy it.

ata. como se eu n conhece isso em 2022, por favor ne. só pra não ficar sem falar nada sem esse. quando se fala de john lennon, a maioria das pessoas pensam no poder de composição dele, eu penso nisso tambem claro, mas a voz dele é algo que me toca. ele consegue ser suave quando quer e um animal quando tem que ser. e esse album mostra muito bem isso. um exemplo é jealous guy (suave, uma melodia bonita) pra gimme some truth (um rock and roll em que ele canta quase gritando).

Disappointingly mid. George had the better solo work.

Corny communist manifesto opening title track aside, a very good rock album that once again showcases how personal Lennon treated his music

not all perfect but warming slowly to lennon's songs

Yeah this guy knows what he's doing

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

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

👍 proper classic

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

Even though I prefer the weirdness and abrasion of "Plastic One Band," this is clearly the standout solo record for John Lennon during his inconsistent-at-best post-Beatles run. There is an excellent documentary (Netflix?) on the making of this record. There is a magical scene where all the other [stoned] studio musicians are trying to cling for dear life to a new chord progression John is teaching them. Meanwhile, George Harrison is there [also stoned] following the chords and anticipating them with lead melodies. It's incredible to see George and John seemingly thinking with the same mind. Other than the title track, I really love "Jealous Guy" and "Oh My Love."

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

Frábær plata

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

Imagino sim

Barely

Honestly, not as good as I was expecting. Still solid jams. Probably a 3.5 but I'll round up mostly because I know I've given something a 4 that was less influential or good than this along the way.

Musically a fine album, garbage human though.

Uninspiring outside of a few songs

Imagine the music would have if John was still alive. Lennon would have no musical boundaries.

First and foremost, I understand that John Lennon was a blatant not-so-nice dude. That being said, his talent in music can’t be understated. Yes, this album is pretentious, but barring the lyrics, the melodies and music part of each song sound great. Based mostly on this, the album is good. However, adding in the lyrics makes you remember what kind of person John was and the pretentious feeling comes back, ruining the experience. Just imagine you can’t understand the English and this album is excellent. Favorite track: Imagine

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

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

Five important Lennon solo song ; Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Solo, How, and his signature song, Imagine. A mixture of protest songs, primal scream truth-telling, and pop fancies. Straightforward production with a crack band, tastefully under-playing, and really lovely string arrangements. Thanks god Lennon vetoed the record company's desire to release Oh Yoko! as a single. Nothing against Yoko, but this song is noticeably more pop than the rest of the record, and a little out of place. The thing I really noticed about this record is how honest Lennon often is. listening to Jealous Guy, he is saying things in a a blunt, unvarnished way that I find hard to believe that the biggest pop star in the world would put on a record for all to hear. he is really laying himself open on this record. That said, is Imagine a slightly tone-deaf plea of a multi-millionaire eschewing material possessions? easy to say, if you're rolling in it, mate.

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

Iconisch album, maar viel me niet onmiddellijk in de smaak

It was great to revisit this album which is so wrapped up in Lennon’s charisma and my memory of listening to it as a teen.

I love John Lennon.

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

4/5. Very strong album by a legend.

Lennon is the best beatle

Классика жанра :)

nah

Classic album right after the Beatles split

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

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

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

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

Pensé que no le iba a poner 5 estrellas porque Imagine está muy muy muy quemada. Quizá no haya persona de más de 15 años que no haya oído esta rola hasta el cansancio (COVID, Juegos Olímpicos, eventos de paz, lo que sea) y pues sí, ahora suena y difícilmente me da gusto. Pero es que el resto del disco tiene joyas de dos de las personas importantes de Lennon: Yoko y Paul. Rolas melosas (tal vez hasta demasiado para ser suyas) dedicadas a Yoko (How?, Oh my love y Jealous Guy), y rolas muy muy muy enojadas y agresivas dedicadas a Paul (How Do You Sleep y en cierta medida Give Me Some Truth) y todas ellas son excelentes.

not as good as the beatles 2.5

Epic start with Imagine. 2 Paul diss songs (Crippled Inside and How do you sleep?). LOVE How? Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, and It's So Hard. And Oh, Yoko is just plain fun. "In the middle of a shave, in the middle of a shave, I call your name, Oh, Yoko... My love will turn you on." Although, I prefer the Plastic Ono album.

No good.

Fav songs: - How Do You Sleep?

4, huge

This album bats deep. Love “don’t wanna be a soldier”, “oh yoko”, “gimme some truth”, “how do you sleep”. Some classics too like “imagine” and “jealous guy”. 8/10

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

What a glorious album. Like most people, I was only familiar with the title track - which may have been overplayed at this point. But the rest of the album is perfect, track after track. Really worth your time. Added, with pleasure.

An entire album resting on one song, 3 minutes and 7 seconds in length. At least give it the respect it deserves and capitalize it on the album cover. This isn't a 5 star album, but it's hard to rate it less than 4 given the influence John Lennon has had in the world, especially with this one song. Is this a case of where the hype is actually greater than the output? Perhaps... perhaps......

Ha passat a la història pel contenir un dels grans himnes immortals del pop, que dóna títol al disc i que és ja un clàssic de la cultura pop. Però el mèrit principal és que la resta del disc no està per sota. De fet, en casos com 'Jealous Guy', 'Gimme Some Truth' o 'How', està per sobre, i a les lletres tan d'aquests temes com d''I Don't Want to Be a Soldier' o la pròpia cançó títol, es concentra tota la ideologia i filosofia de l'artista. 'How Do You Sleep' continua sent la millor cançó de revenja contra un antic company i amic, des de l'elegància, però amb tota la mala llet imaginable

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

Great album. Imagine, jealous guy, how do you sleep,

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

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.

Like imagine, everything else faded into itself

Some very good songs and then some so so songs. I love Jealous Guy, one of my favorite solo Lennon tunes.

Already listened

An excellent album and probably the solo album of his that sounds the most like the music the Beatles were making when they broke up. There are other John Lennon albums I like more, probably because they're a little more rough around the edges than this one. But it’s a great summary of who John Lennon was as an artist. I always feel weird about the Paul McCartney diss track "How Do You Sleep?" though. I know they had a falling out but it just feels so harsh to rip into Paul like that. It feels petty and needlessly negative, especially after the peace and love message of "Imagine.” "Oh Yoko!" was a big song for me and Dree when we first started dating in college. I put it on a mix CD for her and I'll always associate it with early memories of dating in college and moving in together after graduation. There are a lot of great songs on this album but that one is an easy favorite for sentimental reasons.

Pros: - Imagine is probably a top 100 song of all time (right?) so any album that has a top 100 all time song on it should be rated high for atleast bringing that song to the world. - There's a lot of Beatles hangover ideas in here, and it's a cool amalgam of those ideas (the rock-ness early Beatles that comes in "Crippled Inside", a random "and when I hold you in my arms" lyric, the yelling fast psychedelia Beatles sound reiterated on "Gimme Some Truth", etc) and the later John Lennon sound. Cons: Misc: - I feel like there are 4-star albums that are better than this one, so it's a 3.9 for me which I'm rounding to 4.

Absolute classic

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

Incredible

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

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.

"Imagine", as a song, is very boring and naive, almost detatched from everything Lennon did and would do until his death. But as an album, it's great. "Crippled Inside" is a ironically joyous way to talk about depression, "Jealous Guy" is a great exercise of how bad man can be to their lovers, one of Lennon's biggest personal struggles, "Gimme Some Truth" is a political anthen to this day, "How Do You Sleep?" was a great way to put out all of his anger towards Paul McCartney, and so on. A great piano rock album, overall.

Pretty good

imagin

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

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

nice

One of my all-time favorite albums.

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.

How timely for this album to come up today? Yesterday, I was listening to two radio stations both of which had segments of peace songs. And on both stations, the first song they played was "Imagine." There are two other anti-war/political songs, "I Don't Want Be A Soldier Mama" and "Gimme Some Truth," but really this album is a collection of songs, mostly great ones. One connective thread is that most of these songs sound very personal, although more loosely personal than his first album, "Plastic Ono Band" (where Yoko and his primal scream therapy strongly influenced). The songs were written from 1968 to 1971 with three written during the "Let It Be" Sessions. The album seems to go back and forth between piano (softer) and guitar-driven ( more rockin) songs. Four are love songs highlighted by the incredible "Jealous Guy." There is an anti-Paul song with whom John was feuding with at the time. John also delivers a stunning vocal performance, along with George Harrison's slide guitar, on " Gimme Some Truth," probably the highlight of the album for me (title song excluded).

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

It's got some great songs; the title track and Jealous Guy are classics and there are a couple of other great songs (How do You Sleep, Oh My Love), but it also has some filler that keeps it from being a 5 in my opinion. 4.5 🌟

ni lo escuché pero es bomba

Something something beat wife something something

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

How do you sleep? is perhaps the saltiest song of all time, and for that, I am awarding this album 4 stars.

Exactly what I would expect from a John Lennon album - raw, direct, angry and, for the most part, great. (Oh Yoko! is lame, though). 4/5

You’ve got to love the opening title track and Jealous Guy is also beautiful in its simplicity. But two great tracks don’t make for a five star album, a couple of nice moments throughout but the rest slipped into the background a little.

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

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

Imagine is one of the greatest, most inspiring songs ever, so this album is starting strong. I listen to this song on Dec 8th every year.

I have personally listened to this record at least 100 times in its entirety. I love it... But it's not for everyone...(8/10) FT: Oh My Love, Jealous Guy, Imagine

There’s still a hint of the sadness that permeates deep within his first solo album, but there’s also some hope and sweetness here too. “How Do You Sleep?” still makes me sad even if it is a banger musically.

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

Some was okay, most was mid

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

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

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.

01 | fiquei imaginando se alguém ouviu além da faixa-título porque né? já é a primeira, o que vem em seguida? 02 | crippled inside tem vibes rancheiras e em algum momento me lembra algo dos beatles. ah e a musica é ableista né? aiai os tempos como mudam. 03 | eu já ouvi essa em algum filme mas não lembro qual. ah e tem versão pt-br??? pq parece que sim. e tbm: abusive men's song much???

Not for me

ah, não..... "imagine" é uma musica muito chata... detesto

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

Classic Album. Classic songs. Classic Rating: 5. Very interesting to hear "Give Me Some Truth" in the Get Back documentary.

Overall, an enjoyable album with some pretty good songs, including the well-known Imagine and Jealous Guy.

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

Bien

Overrated 2

It's a good one for sure, imagine is obviously the best song of the album, but the other songs ain't too bad either.

Coldest take in the world. This album is good, imagine is fine but reminds of the cringe viral video at start of covid.

understand the importance of the album. Overall, pretty good!

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

There's definitely some 5/5 songs on this album but quite a bit of it seems like filler. I don't think Lennons solo work is quite as good as anything he did with the Beatles.

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

A fantastic album that I've owned since its release in all formats.

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.

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

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

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

De pogga mer än ja trodde

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

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

Pretty good!

It´s a nice album.

50 years later, you can hear the genius shining through each song.

gg

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

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

Not quite a 5. How Can You Sleep is a tune but a needlessly brutal dig at Macca

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

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

Great album. John was always my favorite Beatle, especially lyrically. Some absolutely great songs on this one, especially the title track.

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

4/5. Good. Classics on there fo sho, but kinda long and meandering sometimes. Bit underwhelming

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

Imagine is the highlight, the rest is good as well.

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

It was ok. I prefer the Beatles.

+/-

I'm really pissed off. I wanted to hate this off the back of its dirge of a title track, but turns out he's actually an amazing songwriter. Who knew 🙄 Fav new track: Oh My Love is sweet...

Not terrible but takes a hard nosedive after Imagine

This is a very comfortable album. There are a couple of iconic tracks that I'm already super familiar with and all the other tracks fit into the overall feeling. Imagine is a songwriter at the top of his game, someone who has talent to burn. Weirdly, some of the tracks feel a little bit too long, but that might be more a symptom of this modern age, rather than legit critique of this 1971 recording.

The title track is probably one of my least favorite songs ever. But as conflicted as I feel towards John Lennon, sans the title track, the rest of this album is actually pretty good. God I feel dirty writing that...

Solid album

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

Wow he's a Beatle

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

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.

Beautiful, but too simplistic

Precursor to modern protest music, and a beautiful requiem for the Beatle's career. Remember, "Gimme Some Truth"

Classic.

Before yesterday I had never listened to this entire album. I probably won't listen to it again. Just not my thing. But, good nonetheless.

Solid album, some classics i've heard with some mixed in blues rock with Lennon's style.

Good album, but besides “How do you sleep?” I don’t know if the rest lives up to the legend of the title track.

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

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

9/10 everyone should hear this album at least once it’s got a few moments that are a little awkward but for the most part it’s amazing

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

Of course I know the title track and cover from this album, but that is almost the extent of my exposure to this album. There were other tracks that were familiar, but only familiar. With such a distinctive voice, it's hard to know if you have heard a song from John Lennon or if it just sounds like John Lennon. "Imagine" and "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" were the tracks enjoyed the most. "How?" detracted from the overall experience. Rounding up probably gets this to 4 stars.

Cool cool

this is easier listening than I expected. I knew Imagine and Jealous Guy going in and I'm pleasantly surprised by the rest.

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

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

7/10. Decent to listen to, pretty pretentious as I had expected

Pretty good, got worse as it went on. Gets points for Imagine and Oh Yoko. 7

8/10. Very pretty sounding, a little boring? I dunno, worth a re-listen to get a better formed opinion.

Lennon needed the rest of the Beatles. 7/10

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

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

Overall pretty solid album, though the title track carries hard. A couple stinkers but more good tracks. Leans more toward the political and social messages.

I like this. Holds up better than I expected. Vocals can be a bit one note but the instrumental styles are diverse enough to make up for it. Solid throughout and not really any low points to drag it down. Good enough to come back to for sure.

The best of Lennon's solo career I think.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nice

Well, I'm pretty tired of Imagine the song tbh. But the rest of the album is pretty good. Crippled, Jealous Guy and How do yo sleep are some of my Lennon favourites. The rest are unremarkable. This is a 3.5 for me. Because there are some good ones and a universal classic, giving it a 4.

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

carried by superb songwriting a good album where almost all songs are just good

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

“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

3/5 folky, overhyped me thinks

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

Somehow not all that great.

en legende

The best solo album of an ex-Beatle. Several great rock and pop songs (Jealous Guy, Imagine, I Don't Want to be Aa Soldier, Gimme Some Truth) and a consistent production.

John Lennon: hypocritical jerk off but he could write some songs.

A bit hit and miss for me.

was braced for hippy shite, but actually it was decent like The Beatles.

2.5

This is a pretty nice album, I really liked "Oh My Love".

a classic.

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

John Lennon proves he can sound perfectly decent when away from the other mop-tops. This album just barely grabs a fourth star for the sheer pettiness found in the diss track here.

Yeah, John is an asshole, but he is a talented asshole. I will say the diss track was surprising, and the amount of layered vocals that almost mimic the Beatles sound was interesting.

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.

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

High marks for the 3 hits - the timeless Imagine & a couple better remembered for their cover versions. Some of the other tracks would have been more to my liking with some rough around the edges production, but I suppose we were heading into the soft rock seventies. A couple of others I could have done without, for example Oh Yoko and Crippled Inside.

The title song is iconic. The rest is meh

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

Actually much more mediocre than I expected from a legend.

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

Saved Prior: Imagine Off Rip: Crippled Inside, How Do You Sleep?, How?, Oh Yoko! Cutting Edge: Jealous Guy Overall Notes: "Wow John, thank you for solving society. Now come back to bed and eat this PUSSY." - Yoko Ono after hearing this album for the first time

One of the best Beatles solo albums bearing a few of the best songs John Lennon would ever write. Production is kinda thin in a few places and some songs are lack lustre. Still a pleasant listen but WHY ISNT RAM ON THIS LIST WHAT THE HELL

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

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

What can even be said about the title track here. One of the greatest songs ever written. The rest of the album is no slouch either though. Certainly one of the best Beatles solo albums.

Pretty good, although besides how iconic the title track is the rest is really only ok in my opinion. I’m pretty sure if someone other than John Lennon had put this exact album out we wouldn’t be talking about this album.

The Beatles suck.

one of the classics

Imagine and Jealous Guy carry in the beginning. Otherwise generally good album.

Odd mixing, strong lyrics and themes.

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

Loved it

Fina John. Faktumet är att jag inte lyssnat så mycket på Johns solo-grejer mer än ett par låtar. "Imagine" och "Jealous guy" är nog de enda jag lyssnat flitigt på. En sak som stack ut i lyssningen av det här albumet var små saker jag hörde som är direkt kopplade till the beatles. Ett exempel på detta är i låten "How?" som i ett återkommande parti låter precis som "The long and winding road". Det gjorde mig ändå glad. Förutom det fanns det såklart en känsla av the beatles över i princip hela albumet, vilket är fullt rimligt och enligt min mening, mycket härligt. Bäst: "Oh Yoko!" ("Imagine" och "Jealous guy" är ju otroliga men i just denna lyssning var det "Oh Yoko!" som stod som vinnare.

A perfect album.

Really really good. Oh Yoko and I Don’t Wanna be a Soldier were a bit too repetitive for me, and I’ve heard Imagine so many times I could scream, but I gotta give it up because it’s a great song.

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.

Was great! He really needed Paul to keep him from being too dreamy. The music was good, anything Yoko is not good tho.

I wasn't expecting Bob Dylan, but that's what I got. Surprisingly enjoyable.

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