Imagine

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

surprised me

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

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

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

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

Det är John Lennon.

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

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

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

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

Imagine is a great song

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dragons

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

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

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

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

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

Good stuff.

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

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

Great vocals Chill instrumentals

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

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

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

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

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

Some good track but not his best work.

gött häng. han kunde ju skriva låtar pojken

Very good

Some real timeless songs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

classic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He was a great musician. 4.5/5

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

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

8/10, made me see Lennon inndifferent eyes

Only 4 stars because it has imagine on it

81/100

Not bad, will probably come back to it

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

Classic and rebellious

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

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

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

enjoyed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good album with some great classics.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

a relisten

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

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.

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

Rock, Pop. Suave, melódico.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

A varied manifesto that delivers almost all expectations.

this a fun listen with some very meaningful songs

Apparently this was the first metal album? So cool!

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

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

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."

Frábær plata

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.

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

4/5. Very strong album by a legend.

Lennon is the best beatle

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

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......

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

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

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.

"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.

imagin

nice

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

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.

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

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???

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

Bien

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!

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.

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

De pogga mer än ja trodde

Pretty good!

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

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

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

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...

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...

Wow he's a Beatle

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

a classic.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Dit is nu goede Jonnen muziek hoor.

4 Ja iconisch, maar toch niet zoveel dikke dikke hits. Imagine is natuurlijk wel goated. En ja het blijft echt een icoon. Dacht persoonlijk dat ik er al meer van zou kennen omdat het album me wel heel bekend was.

Wow they made an album around a Gal Gadot song?? John bro, this is fresh!

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Imagine, Crippled Inside, Gimme some truth

Lennon was probably my least favorite Beatle, but this one is pretty aight.

Imagine

Listening to the solo efforts from each of the Beatles it's not hard to appreciate the reason each is still so admired.

This is a great album. Imagine, Jealous Guy, Gimme Some Truth, Crippled Inside, How Do You Sleep... I mean, I may aswell list the whole album! Lennon is a great lyricist with a sharp tongue. I expect McCartney felt the sting of How Do You Sleep.

Un álbum interesante. Representa muy bien al Lennon roquero que todos conocemos, todo da vueltas respecto a lo que John sabe hacer y le gustaba "rockear", los arreglos de cuerdas de algunas canciones son simplemente hermosos, el trabajo de producción da ese sello distintivo a este trabajo (wall of sound from Phil Spector). Las canciones están combinadas en el estado de animo de Lennon y su perspectiva respecto al entorno que vivia.

У Dream Theatre был сборник с ироничным названием "Greatest Hit (…and 21 Other Pretty Cool Songs)". Тут, на первый взгляд, ситуация отчасти схожая: "Эпохальная песня... и 9 треков, что можно прогнать между делом". Заглавный трек великолепен, там даже на верунов небольшой наезд, за что невольно 10/10 напрашивается, особенно с учётом того, что придётся ещё всяких христианских ламаров-хуемаров слушать. Но в остальных треках и той глубины особо не наблюдается. Jealous Guy и Oh My Love неплохи. Толи мне дженерик лирики не хватает в жизни. Oh Yoko! даже душевная вполне. А вот всяким блюзовым мотивам мне в моём бытии лишнего места обычно нема. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die душилово какое-то. Самый раздражающий трек, God Save Us, благо, вне основного альбома находится. На самом деле мог бы 5 поставить будь кроме заглавного хоть ещё один трек, в который можно было бы залипнуть, а позже - возвращаться. Но не завезли. Посему 4, но твёрдая, без скидок.

I thought this was just the album with "imagine" on it. It turns out that many of the other songs on the album are just as good. 4.3/5 stars

Surprisingly nothing on this annoyed me. All very enjoyable.

Yoko O Yes

Imagine slappin' Yoko upside the jaw

I liked the sick piano solo after he said 'crippled inside'

Surprisingly good after the overplayed first song.

Better than I thought it was going to be. Some voice

I really tried to listen to this objectively but Mum has always been a Lennon fan. His voice is so familiar, so comfortable. And, you know, she'd kill me if I rated him low, somehow she'd find out, Mum's do that. I can't be objective at all, I love it, even the not so great stuff.

“Imagine”, poetisk, politisk, smukt

Sorry, I find this album just kinda mediocre. "Imagine" is fine, but quite overplayed in my opinion. The song I enjoy the most from this is "How Do You Sleep", which musically is awesone, even if I don't agree with the sentiment in his lyrics. But the rest of this album is just muzak to me.

Lame

not as great as I'd hoped. Obviously Imagine is the heavy hitter but the rest are kind meh

Some songs are amazing and some are not for me

Weirdly for someone who regularly gets mistaken for Lennon by drunk men, I have never actually listened to all of one of his albums before. It's OK. I've been over exposed to the famous tracks to the point where it's hard to listen to them properly. The mixture of slightly mawkish sincerity with angry arseholeness is weird.

erm ik vind punk wel leuk maar deze was echt mid..

imagine is de eyp anthem daarom -1 ster omdat ik het tegen mijn wil in te vaak gehoord heb.

A strange album, full of oddness and contradictions. And the occasional tune, and echoes of The Beatles (particularly with George on guitar). Interesting and flawed, let's go with 3.5*

Fav song: Jealous Guy

Phil Spector bærer denne plata skuldrene sine.

Great first song, boring cd

The title track is great. I understand if you think he's being hypocritical, but I still think the message and sentiment are good and correct. The rest of the album is pretty much forgettable, but I think a lot of the 1-star reviews are reviewing the artist and not the art. I listened to Paul McCartney's post-Beatles offering Paul McCartney (1970) immediately before this. I would say Paul McCartney was overall better.

I was expecting more. Much to my own distain, I think I do think John Lennon is the best Beatle - MUSICALLY- but.. this one not so much. Short and sweet, imagine is a good song but it's been so meme-ified that it's hard to take it on its own merit and at the end of the day - we should be imagining all that shit. The vibes were correct. But ultimately the album hasn't got the same edge as some of his other stuff idk sue me.

Decent but not really a standout album for me.

i don't really like the main song because i am a bastard who hates world peace. i feel like the album sits on a stylistic bedrock of that same cadence and delivery that for some reason annoys me. when it gets less lyrically focused and more playful with the instrumentation, just showing off a capable performer that loves music, it kinda rules. imo high highs and low lows. favorite song is How Do You Sleep? or Oh Yoko! soft 3

The first song is just flat out amazing. The rest while still quite good does feel like the Beatles but off balance

John Lennon, a hero to many, but to me a good singer and a remarkable person. I’m giving this album 3 stars...

I have very mixed feelings about the title track. Lennon himself called it 'sugar-coated' and I guess there is an art to writing a song with contentious lyrics but a tone that invites everyone to sing along. The warm, sleepy melody has lulled generations into using it as a unifying hymn to peace, love and understanding but it is quite unsuited to that role. For one thing, it is nothing like as tolerant as it sounds. 'I hope some day you'll join us, and the world will live as one': in other words, we could all live in harmony if only everybody else agreed with me

Finally all caught up. I liked Imagine and Oh My Love the best. 3 stars.

Not the best JL album. Mind Games is still the one to go. But it has good elaborate and intricate song arrangements.

Don’t tell my mom that I’m not giving this a 5…

I think Plastic Ono Band is a more authentic and enjoyable version of Lennon solo. This album, a few standout tracks aside, leans into more musical clichés of the time and feels less timeless as a result.

would have been a 4 without the last song lol

"Imagine" - 2.31 I lowkey hate this song but apart from the associations with it its alright "Crippled Inside" - 3.55 nice lil country song, pretty catchy. Nice change of feel there at the end. "Jealous Guy" - 4.01 beautiful piano and violins. great bass tone. Love the touch of marimba. Vocals are alright pretty good "It's So Hard" - 3.22 Bluesy shuffle. sax. its alright kinda forgetable "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" - 3.79 Nice vocals and background pianos. Very saloon like. Sax solo section where it opens up is nice, would be nice if it had a greater contrast and lasted longer. "Gimme Some Truth" - 2.73 Songs kinda boring and whiny Not a big fan !!! just kinda boring and doesn't do anything, just constant throughout "Oh My Love" - 3.80 I Liked this one. Very nice piano and guitar. Nice riff under the main vocal melody "How Do You Sleep?" - 4.30 Nice chorus riff with a long contrasted vocal melody. Very nice guitar solo. Very catchy, probably my favorite on the album. "How?" - 4.20 Like the chord hits with the violins "Oh Yoko!" - 3.35 Nice vocals pretty catchy. nice guitar and pianos Pretty good album, the beginning was mid but the ending had some great songs Overall: 3.526 rating

honestly dissapointed

Never been the biggest Lennon fan. There are a few good songs on this one, along with a lot of filler.

Much like yesterday's album. One really great all time classic song ... then the rest of the album just sits there.

3.5/5 Favorite Songs: Imagine Jealous Guy Its So Hard Oh My Love How Do You Sleep? Oh Yoko!

A few good songs

ikke kom med no jeaulous guy til meg john wth how do you sleep er kul

A John Lennon album. Personally, I don't listen to him nor The Beatles much, but the sound here are pretty much got my attention going. It's clearly not a linear album, with variety of sound styles incorporated. But all throughout, it never ceased to sound iconic enough for me to expect differently. Maybe that's both a pro and a con, a double-edged sword. Not bad, but again I haven't found my path within The Beatles-verse yet, maybe the rating will change? Who knows.

Heard the title track enough for one lifetime. The rest is pretty solid!

3.3

Yeah. It's pretty good. I wasn't too excited about this one because I just don't like the song Imagine. It's just a bit too preachy, plodding hokiness to me, but there's some decent tunes on here.

The first 3 songs are fantastic, and then I feel the album kind of stutters along until the end where it ends pretty strongly. I am not sure how I feel about it, I am not a big fan of Lennon as a person, I think he was troubled and had some contentious beliefs. He was clearly besotted with Yoko Ono. Outside of Jealous Guy, the standout track is probably Crippled Inside or How. 3.5 stars

Better than I expected

Liked this a lot more than I thought I would. Might actually listen again someday! "Oh Yoko" isn't abysmal!

Hippy

It's alright. Imagine is obviously a classic but nothing else on this album stood out to me. Whiny at times, which I hate. (3)

It was ok, I didn’t think it was that good though very middle of the road well a bit weaker it’s a low 3

Really shouldn’t have put Imagine on first, nothing is ever living up to that (the yoko song, not to just pile on her for the sake of it, is garbage). The rest is perfectly fine.

Solo conocía la canción Imagine pero me gustó un par de este album.

Ok, listen so the Beatles and the whole story of Yoko Ono aside lets talk about the reason why this could be on this list: John Lennon's skill set. The fact is, his best work (and Paul's best work) were with one another. It's simply a fact, except for "Imagine". This is a mediocre album that has a supernova as an opening song. It really is one the greatest songs ever written. Take that song off this album and...well.... John Lennon is clowned for leaving Paul. There are other decent John Lennon songs without Paul or the other Beatles, they just aren't on this album. If he was alive today, and this album was considered- they would never ever put the album out. It would be a digital single, with maybe a digital EP of some of the better moments on here (which no one would listen to). It gets 3 starts strictly because Imagine is one of the greatest songs ever written. Without it, it's two stars at best. Even then if John Lennon's name wasn't on this album, and Imagine wasn't on it, it's not on this list and would get a 1 star for even being suggested. Now, you put all of John's best solo work together... that is probably a 5 star album. But that could be said about George and Paul. TL:DR this album is on here for the first song, totally MEH after.

Couple good songs. Imagine is not one of them

I prefer the Covid celebrity version of Imagine, but whatever.

Oh Yoko! is such an amazing song

Dobré, ale Beatles mám radšej...

Not his best work, but not horrible. 3

Cruising to four-star status until "Oh Yoko!". Cringy. Even more cringy that Phil Sector's singing as well.

está bueno, tiene temas mucho mejores que otros pero lenon y yo lo sé me hacen gente muy rara y no me deja como disfruta tanto el álbum, igual estuvo bueno

Pues ojo que me lo esperaba bastante mejor

I'm a big Beatles fan but I just have never felt a connection to John Lennon's solo music.

Aside from the obvious classic single: a delightfully-entertaining blend of both contemporary & classic/throwback Beatles, fronted by John.

Hiked up to church in Cesky Kumlov and this playlist finished at the exact time I reached church. Imagine, a premonition from God itself? Album was ight

Very nice

I love imagine and I guess I thought the rest would be more powerful and meaningful. He felt more indifferent and annoyed. He seemed really unsure if everything except really really loving Yoko (that alone is something though, stand by your woman that the world turned against so completely for just existing!).

I was hoping to love this, and it was good, but I wasn't wowed. Imagine is the quintessential peace and love song of the era and a timeless classic. I liked the beats of Crippled Inside, and Oh My Love is a really sweet love song. The couple other hits on here are fine, not great, and overall, it was just a bit too quiet and reserved. It was missing a "powerful" feeling for me.

Paul was always my guy but i get the hype now

i found out the other day that i share the same birthday as the guys that killed Abraham Lincoln and John Lennon

There's quite a mix of songs, but the quiet piano and string heavy songs really shine here. Standouts: Imagine, Jealous Guy, Oh My Love, How Do You Sleep, How

Not that great. Maybe it was an off day but I felt it just didn't hit me like some of his other stuff.

B Imagine 5 Crippled Inside 3 Jealous Guy 4 It's So Hard 3 I Don't Want To Be A Soldier 3 Give Me Some Truth 3 Oh My Love 4 How Do You Sleep? 3 How? 3 Oh Yoko! 4 This is a good album, but it’s not amazing.

Imagine as pessoas tudo

Cool, it has 1 famous song. The rest is kinda mid

It’s not the worst album I’ve heard, but c’mon! Your John fucking Lennon! Get yer shit together!

For an album that's so iconic, Imagine feels very underwhelming. Favourite Songs: Imagine, Jealous Guy, Oh My Love. Least Favourite Songs: It's So Hard, I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die.

Some classic tunes here but also shows what a petulant git Lennon was.

Kinda weird an annoying at a point. It’s either you’re already into it or you let it grow on you. Bot bad tbh

British guys from this era would just cut people out of their lives and internalize anything falling out so they could "keep calm and carry on" . This album came shortly after the beatles breakup and you can hear yoko coming through johns voice in alot of the songs. Imagine is a great song though.

"Oh John"... "Oh Yoko"... "Oh John"... "Oh Yoko"

Admittedly, for as familiar with The Beatles as I am, much of the band member's solo work has long alluded me. Looking at the track list, "Imagine" is the only one that stood out as recognizable to me. Working through the album, nothing really stood out as strong as the opening track. I don't think any track was bad by any means, just a lot of okay. Dig the Blues-rocky vibes on "How Do You Sleep?" as that felt something a little more distinctly different from the rest of the body of his work. Overall, the album kind of just washed over me. The lyrics have some meat to them, and it's probably the best part about the album. The production is solid as well. But there really isn't anything that's blowing me away here. I guess I was just expecting more? Doubt I'll revisit this album, I'd rather just go listen to the full band. Favorite Track: "Imagine"

I honestly thought this was charming. I hadn’t really listened to anything by John Lennon apart from learning imagine in school. But I enjoyed this a lot. Some of the songs I could have done without like I don’t wanna be a solider mama as I just felt it was a peace love and yoko but some of the songs are very touching. I particularly liked how do you sleep? Just beautifully done.

Imagine all the people, but not Paul. Paul can do one

Pretty ordinary

2.5

The title song is really his anthem, isn't it? The rest, meh. His talent was overwhelmed by Yoko, wasn't it? Hard to imagine (?!) he thought many of these were his best work for the time.

'How do you sleep?' Was really good. I like the honkey tonk guitar throughout, but the lyrics of these songs sound like they were written by a 19 yr old college freshman that took their first joint hit after sitting through Poli Sci 101. The Yoko love song sounded like it was a jingle for an antidepressant.

Alright album, sounds like the White album but

I love the song Imagine! The rest of the songs are okay/pretty good

Decent album with one stand-out track that got a little overplayed. I was surprised to see how many negative reviews this album has mostly from people complaining about Lennon as a person, but I am here to see how the music holds up itself. Besides the obvious, I really enjoyed I Don't Wanna Be A Solider Mama which I felt came the closest to his work with The Beatles. Overall, this album is not nearly as strong as The Beatle's discography, but not a bad album by any means. Favorite Track - Imagine Least Favorite Track - Oh My Love ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Album 185. Imagine (https://open.spotify.com/album/0xzaemKucrJpYhyl7TltAk?si=Hafrpdp4T4a_d4hpgGz-rA) — John Lennon (1971) aaaahhh, it's a hard one to review. I've been repeating the word "enjoyable" a lot recently. So, that's very enjoyable, but not great. Sometimes it's actually pretty bad. The songwriting is easy and simple, but good. However, the lyrics are sometimes awful, I don't understand why. This album confuses me, I don't really like it, I don't really hate it and I'm not neutral toward it either. I already have 3 liked songs from the album, nothing new I want to add. 3/5 Liked: — Imagine — Jealous Guy — How Do You Sleep?

1 - Imagine (at least we're getting this one out of the way immediately. Much has been made of this song' apparently hypocritical messages - Lennon himself had loads of possessions, renting out entire apartments in the Dakota for his coats, for instance. While the message itself is a genuine wish for peace and benevolence, it kind of comes off as a naive challenge to the militant consumerism that had taken hold over Western society long before this song; essentially, I find it tackles only a surface-level understanding of the problems rather than addressing the root cause of the rot. Instrumentally, it's a moody and most reflective piece and kind of serves as a spiritual successor to the Let It Be-era recordings) 3.5/5 2 - Crippled Inside (one part music hall, one part old-time country, this song is a welcome change from the brooding activism of the opener. It's so light hearted and cutesy it actually puts a smile on my face! Not a bad song at all and it's got an interesting blend of genres to boot) 4/5 3 - Jealous Guy (feather light piano and strings introduce us to this heartfelt love ballad. This one is about a breakup, naturally, where the protagonist is overly protective and ends up hurting his partner unintentionally. It's fine enough if a little sappy, and doesn't feel out of place on this album. Lennon's voice just doesn't quite reach those emotional highs to fully sell it for me) 3.5/5 4 - It's So Hard (stomping blues and a gruff performance from Lennon makes it known who his true influences were. The lighter shades of his voice on the verses make it slightly sentimental rather than the macho posturing so much of this type of blues can be. A song that clearly wears its influences on its sleeve but it actually works in this song's favour. The slinging violins towards the end are a very welcome addition and add so much flavour with their appearance) 4/5 5 - I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama (cavernous production that sounds way ahead of its time. The lonesome sliding guitar songs like it's coming out of the cave behind the studio, and Lennon's phased-out voice lends a psychedelic unease to this whole song. The rhythm sections simply grooves along before erupting into the occasional horn-laden solo. Lennon was DEFINITELY taking cues from Yoko's long form blues jams; she herself would do one for her Fly album that came out that same year. So far this is my favourite song on this album) 4.5/5 6 - Gimme Some Truth (this song, with its instruments and recordings, sounds like it itself wants the truth and is only using Lennon to voice this wish. The guitars sound so determined and are anchored well by the thumping beat. It honestly sounds like something Gabriel-era Genesis would do to end off one of their epics (it brings to mind the end of Firth of Fifth to me for some reason...)) 3.5/5 7 - Oh My Love (a morose piano ballad accompanied only by Lennon himself and some chimes and maybe a couple of guitar notes. It genuinely feels like sadness had wrapped 100-pound weights around every instrument and even on Lennon's voice itself. A fine interlude that gets its message across in less than 3 minutes without meandering) 3.5/5 8 - How Do You Sleep (this, I imagine, is the other wonky psychedelic piece on this album. It's replete with strings, fiery guitars and a gradual build across its 5 and 1/2 minute runtime. Not a note is wasted on this, and this is easily one of my favourites on this alongside I Don't Wanna Be...) 4/5 9 - How? (yet another piano ballad with a little more energy than the previous one. Lennon questions who he can be if he cannot himself determine who he is, love being the framing device here. This one is fine too I guess but this one came too soon after the last ballad. I have a theory that this was in contention with the title track to see which would stick with listeners. There was already a song like this on this album, so Imagine won that contest) 3/5 10 - Oh Yoko! (lots of punctuation in these song titles. This one has a bouncy pop sound for the first time since that 2nd track. Lennon sings about everyone' favourite Beatle, Yoko Ono, on this one. It's easy to forget that he fell in love with her for her evocative minimalist art, and that Ono herself was a well-respected artist years before she was ever associated with the Beatles. The harmonies on the chorus and post-chorus are either delivered in Lennon's falsetto; is it meant to sounds like Ono herself? Extra points for that blistering harmonica solo, was not expecting such a last minute addition to be the major highlight of this song. All in all a great way to end this one off) 4/5 OVERALL - 7.5/10