Imagine

Some damn fine tunes here. He was a great songwriter.

Obviously the title song is a classic, but the rest of this is a bit plodding

pretty okay

good Album

3.5 enjoyable sans the title track

Would have given this a 4, but then I remembered that video that came out by celebrities during the pandemic in which they all sang "Imagine" in order to say "Hey, we're in this together." Now whenever I hear that song, it reminds me of that. Doesn't sound like the best reason, but dont care.

Overall solid bluesy album

I really thought, and maybe wanted, to like this record. Or at least to like it more. But it feels like an excuse to release Imagine in a format that would sell actual records... the melodies are simple and cute, but I found the lyrics just plain stupid in some cases.

Enough has been written about the irony of a millionaire singing about having no possessions, but a bigger issue is a violent bully (by his own admission) writing a song about being “just a jealous guy”. In the entry for this album Robert Dimery describes that track as being one of the greatest love songs written from a man to a woman, which I think is completely missing the point. Even the way it is sung sounds like the feeble self justification of an abusive man. After some fun, bouncy rock and blues tracks we then get to “How Do You Sleep” which is another bitter and spiteful attack on Paul McCartney, showing that he had still not forgiven him for the breakup of the Beatles. The primal scream therapy obviously hadn’t worked. To be positive for a second, with the problematic tracks aside, George Harrison’s guitar adds a lot to the Beatles vibe on this album, compared to his previous solo release. It’s still not on the same level as it used to be though, which makes listening a bitter sweet experience, with the bitter definitely outweighing the sweet. 50%-of-the-Beatles-tastic!

basically a big ol’ commentary about the world, still applies today. liked some of the songs. didn’t like some of the songs. about a 50/50 split. i’m not sure if i will ever be in the mood to play this album cover to cover again, but def a good listen!

It was alright, but the rating is Carrier by imagine. Aside from it and jealous boy, this album doesnt really have much to offer. Kinda disappointing honestly, but instrumentals are on point.

Better than I remember - Interesting vibes

Aside from the Imagine song, I really thought this album was forgettable. The inclusion of Imagine bumped this rating to a 3.

The second LP from Lennon after the Beatles, this sounds like an extension of what they were doing at the end. Blues and Rock songs, but for some reason Lennon's vocals are often muffled and way down in the mix even in the 2010 remaster. The music is decent, there are some hooks and some excellent guitar work from George Harrison. The main attraction is of course the single Imagine, a plea for peace. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama is a blues jam that maybe meanders a bit too long - heavy on the reverb as if it were recorded in a huge empty hall. How Do You Sleep is a diss track in the ongoing animosity between Lennon and McCartney in the wake of the Beatles breakup - it's a good arrangement with great riffs and a sweet slide guitar solo from George. The hypocrisy he loves to rant about arrives when Lennon disparages McCartney's solo stuff as simple and fluffy when this record is pretty straightforward without anything particularly groundbreaking.

3/5. A solid solo effort from John. That being said I am personally more partial to his rawer and more emotional solo album “Plastic Ono Band”. Favorite song is definitely “how do you sleep”, which is basically a diss track about Paul McCartney and he gets some solid jabs in.

***

La vuelta de Lennon al pop, con un tema en respuesta a Too Many People de Paul. No es mi estilo la verdad.

Couple of great songs. Never my favourite beatle

Full disclosure - I expected to thoroughly hate this when it came up. I’m very surprised that I didn’t. “Imagine” has always been a beautiful song - the transition into “you may say I’m a dreamer but I’m not the only one” has always been one of my favourites. I liked “I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama”, and the politically on the nose track “Gimme Some Truth” and, especially, “How Do You Sleep?” - having learned from this project that it’s really only Beatles songs which are George Harrison compositions that I like, I should’ve known the same would apply here. Some of the album was a bit boring, and give me Roxy Music’s version of “Jealous Guy” any day of the week over the original dirge. But, in general, this exceeded the little expectations I had for it.

I thought I'd like this, given how much I like The Beatles but I definitely like them more together than as solo artists. Imagine is an iconic song and definitely a stand out. Following it with the honky-tonk piano of Crippled Inside is an interesting choice - it's a bit of a whiplash change of direction. And then we get to Jealous Guy. Knowing how much of an utter bastard Lennon was to the people he was supposed to love means Jealous Guy leaves a very sour taste in my mouth. I don't have the patience for all his "woe is me, it'll be different next time" bollocks. Good whistling though. And then I sort of stopped really listening. The album was happening, but I was struggling to pay attention to it. On a second quick pass through the album, How Do You Sleep? might be one of the most mean spirited, bitter tracks a Beatle ever wrote, though it is a pretty good song - I particularly liked the strings. This was a very mixed bag for me. On balance, I think it's getting: 3/5 (because I can't give it 2.5)

Vibe / Gefühl Chillig Highlights "Imagine" eine der besten Songs überhaupt "Jealous Guy" & "How?" auch sehr stark Rest Okay. Läuft gut durch. Kurzfazit Einige Songs kann man immer wieder hören, ganzes Album leider nicht spannend genug.

Ok

Good, just not The Beatles.

This was fine. I haven't really found any solo Beatles stuff I've loved yet. I kinda liked how much more focused this felt compared to Plastic Ono Band. Maybe the most interesting part of this was the songwriting, but instrumentally I found this kinda plain. Special recognition goes to that extremely pointed diss track. Rip Paul.

sweet i liked "how do you sleep"

"Imagine" and "How Do You Sleep?" are really good songs, and I wish I liked this album, but I'm not a fan of John

Fun, there was a lot more in this than I expected

Enjoyed it, iconic album. But probably won’t listen to it on my own.

Oh Yoko!

I quite enjoyed this, Lennon has so much more variety here than I knew he had

Meh.

Happy Songs, kann man nochmal hören. Sehr gut auch nebenher

imagine - jeff buckley esq, crippled is groovy and country twangy could definately 2 step to it lol, don't wanna be a soldier has some sick jazzy/blues influence and a really raspy rock vocal performance that i liked, how do you sleep feels like "loosing you", liked the begining of oh yoko but got real sick of it

Jealous Guy is a great song, and a good look at the underbelly of this guy

cute

I don’t think John has the right vocal sound for the blues songs. Other songs are fine.

Imagine als nummer is wel ok, er zitten wat blues nummers hier en daar die wel leuk zijn. Maar al met al vind ik het een beetje saai en qua inhoud nogal zuur. 5/10

strong first half and the second was just meh, starts too early into every song, range!!! second half kinda meh

I love the Beatles but this album just feels like it is nothing. There’s a few amazing tracks but most of it is just uninteresting.

This one is fine. 3 stars.

Hmm. More than anything, this album feels like Lennon is trying his best to go "see! I'm a good guy! I love peace!" without much of an actual, impactful message. I'm happy the guy's found the love of his life, but... This is a self-aggrandizing album all right.

I find it hard to rate this album. The opinions of many people around me dictate that the work of any beatle should be of an exceptional quality. But having now listened to Harrison and Lennon's solo work I don't find myself agreeing. Imagine can be described as "baby's first protest song", its sentimentalities undermined by the scathing takedown of Paul McCartney in how do you sleep, detracting from the music with personal gossip. If you are invested in the Beatles and their story this might be considered a plus. Like the album, Lennon is a mixed bag, preaching peace and having conquered his past, but picking petty fights. Political but also shallow in its analysis. The blues songs are servicable and perhaps the most consistent contributions. I will keep preferring the Mad Season version of I don't wanna be a soldier mama.

What a lovely song about peace and understanding, I bet the fella who wrote it wasn't violent towards women, hold up

Okay, getting quite a different image of Lennon than I had reading some of these reviews. Getting wife beater, hypocrite vibes? News to me. Felt a kind of “meh”. Fairly good songs, with a steady gait, but nothing that blew me away, or felt particularly impactful. Even ‘How do you sleep?’ which could be hard hitting and raw, lacks any real punch, like most the album. So done by the end

If I could only listen to this record as if it were the first time... Perhaps it caught me in a bad mood, but the tracks beyond 'Imagine', 'Jealous Guy', 'How do you sleep?', and 'Oh my love' didn't quite blow my mind. Maybe it’s because the Beatles’ songwriting set the benchmark to such a high standard. Regardless, it remains a distinct, intimate album by one of the most influential pop songwriters of the 20th century.

La mitad de las canciones son buenas aunque ya estén muy quemadas para mí, el resto no me gustan.

No need to listen to this one. Heard it many times. Eh. 3 stars.

Man cant hear this album without thinking of forrest gump

Imagine is a pretty decent tune at the start, but the rest didn’t really excite me. It was thoroughly listenable though.

Besides Imagine it's pretty whatever. Nothing captured me.

It’s alright, imagine carried this album

Deprimente pensar que esse foi um dos últimos, justamente com sua mensagem tão positivamente utópica, admito que talvez seja um pouco mais fraquinho, mas não é ruim. Apenas imagine todas as pessoas.

millie bobby brown

3.5+

I haven't listened to this one in years. Not as great as I remember. 3/5

Hard to be negative about John Lennon, but this album doesn't grab me like one would if he were part of the Beatles. Sure, Imagine is a meaningful, classic song, but the rest of the album just doesn't give me anything but partial vibes, fuzzy musical landscapes, and OK lyrics. I may be off the mark--haven't read what everyone else posted here, just my take.

Imagine - 8/10: I like the instruments/beat (whatever you call it) a lot and the lyrics. Crippled Inside - 5/10: I don't really like the country undertones to this song. Jealous Guy - 6/10: I like the piano. It's So Hard - 6/10: I like the intro and drums. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier (Mama) - 5/10: It's really repetitive and kind of weird vibes. Gimme Some Truth - 6/10: I like the instruments/beat, but I'm not a huge fan of the vocals. Oh My Love - 6/10: I like the vocals, I'm just not a huge fan of slower songs. How Do You Sleep? - 6/10: I like the instruments/beat, especially the drums and guitar. I also liked the outro. How? - 7/10: I like the instruments/music a lot. Oh Yoko! - 6/10: I like the upbeat-ness of the song. Overall Score: 61/100 Overall Rating: 7/10 - It's not a terrible album, it just didn't wow me. The only song that I really, really liked was "Imagine". This is more my genre, but it just isn't my favorite. It's not bad though.

Makes me want to listen to 'Silly Love Songs' immediately ...

I hadn't listened to this album ever before, and I wish it stayed that way. The Beatles were legendary, but part of why that was is because the four of them together created something special - magic, as you can call it - but on their own, it didn't always go that way, especially for John Lennon. People rave about him like he's the best songwriter ever.. but honestly? I think he's quite overrated after listening to Imagine. The titular track is beautiful - albeit quite hypocritical coming from Lennon - and I did very much like Crippled Inside (even though it's a bit odd) and Jealous Guy. After those tracks, though, the album takes a nosedive and it becomes quite bland and generic, especially for one who is regarded as one of the best songwriters of all time. I even had to skip "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier, Mama", as it was just six minutes of the same lyric being repeated over and over again. Quite disappointed, and I don't understand why this album is on the "1001 albums you must hear before you die" list. 6 / 10, and that's me being generous.

1. Imagine - 10/10 2. Crippled Inside - 5/10 3. Jealous Guy - 7/10 4. It's So Hard - 7/10 5. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama - 5/10 6. Gimme Some Truth - 6/10 7. Oh My Love - 8/10 8. How Do You Sleep? - 8/10 9. How? - 7/10 10. Oh Yoko! - 7/10

ya

Imagine (the track) is the draw - the rest of it is so-so. Just not my cup of tea

A few great tracks. But like the McCartney solo stuff it’s just missing some of the magic. Is this the start of the diss track?

The digs at McCartney on this are ridiculous… “the only thing you done was Yesterday” Wo John, lad…don’t disrespect the frog song like that.

Meh

Honestly, kind of disappointing. You start off on the namesake megahit, then the tracks that follow are largely protest songs with some blues vibes here and there. I know that the Beatles and most of the British invasion artists were influenced by blues, but try to pep and spice this a little bit too you know?

Reminds me a little of the “party’s over” vibe of There’s a Riot Going On, released just two months after this: The door has been shut on the mad rush of The Beatles and the 60s are over, and there are recriminations and regrets; Lennon is older, wiser and more cynical, heroin has entered (and exited?) the picture, geopolitics are on his mind, and he’s got a marriage and a mortgage to pay, and it’s all so damn tiring. Lennon clearly has no interest in cashing in on his fame or aiming for the charts, so then what, exactly? I'm not sure this album really answers that. For all its surface idealism, the song “Imagine” conveys a kind of world-weary exasperation that feels especially pertinent today. “How Do You Sleep?” is a fascinating diss track, followed by a song in which he asks “How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing?” The album is interesting and has its moments, but it has a decidedly downcast feel that telegraphs Lennon’s mid-70s malaise pretty perfectly.

I understand the importance of the Beatles, but was never a "fan". My feeling about the beatles is like Dickens; I understand why Charles Dickens is important for the birth of the modern novel, but I dont wanna read Dickens now. So this Lennon record, I knew the title track and jealous guy. The rest did not stick. As a contrast, I listened to McCartneys RAM right after, since it was released the same year and was the second solo lp for each. Hate to say it but I thought Paul's was the better rexord.

حلو يمكن اعطيه فرصه ثانيه مستقبلا

(3) better than I thought before i listened to it!

oh lennon sweet lemon

ok

Has Imagine and Jealous guy on it Best tracks

Abgesehen vom Titeltrack hat mich das Album überraschend wenig überzeugt. Aber "Imagine" zieht das Album noch auf 3 Sterne hoch.

Ich war überrascht, wie kalt mich das Album gelassen hat. Einige by the numbers Rock 'n' Roll-Songs, eine ganz komisch-hallige Produktion auf "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama" und der Paul-Diss-Track "How Do You Sleep?"... musikalisch in Ordnung, textlich aber ziemlich peinlich. In der zweiten Hälfte gefällt mir die Platte aber deutlich besser, die zurückhaltenden Songs stehen ihm besser. Und der Titeltrack ist natürlich ein Klassiker.

Hat ir nicht ganz so gut gefallen wie das Album von George Harrison, aber war grundsolide und hat halt mit dem Titeltrack den Song überhaupt und allein dafür gibts einen Stern

I’ve never been a fan of John Lennon’s solo output save for a handful of songs and this is more of that feeling. Couple of good tracks but a lot of weak bluesy tracks that just don’t do it for me.

I don't quite know what to make of this album. Part of the challenge is separating the artist from the art. Certainly, earlier in his life John Lennon was a pretty poor human being. Does that invalidate the beauty of his poetry? Does the fact that he seems to have largely repented and tried to make amends makes his music more acceptable. In the end I think this is a middling work of art. I like the honesty of Jealous Guy but don't have much time for Imagine or Dear Yoko.

Liked Songs added to my 2025 playlist Imagine - imagine all of the people.... living for today

I love the 70s sound, and it’s another welcome glimpse into a great artist that was taken too soon. There are some great tracks here but also a few forgettable ones, that have a bit too much of a cynical edge to them. You can really feel him missing the levity of Paul’s additions to these songs. The perfect ying to his downbeat yang. An enjoyable listen but not an all-timer.

Eh. Lennon as a solo act has never done all that much for me, more of the same from this

Jealous Guy is a great song .. but I like the Roxy Music version more. Imagine is also a great song … but I feel like I’ve heard it too often. The album was fine, but I thought I’d like it more.

Another album from a titan of music. Another album that I found myself underwhelmed by

Pretty good! Imagine is amazing, but none of the other blew me away.

I hadn't heard the rest of this album but I always like Imagine. Some of the songs are too bluesy for me though. Some are good though.

aj Lenon lenon

Some sad and pretty songs - especially Oh Yoko - that remind me of Elliott Smith.

On balance …

2.5 rounded up i guess. not sure how often i would relisten to this but i see how it's here in terms of influence (though obviously can't hold a candle to the beatles' work as a whole). the paul diss track is surprisingly a favorite. i listen to this version of imagine less than the glee cast or the infamous pandemic video

Most everyone would recognize this artist and opening track, but can’t say I was familiar with a single other song on the album. Imagine is the obvious stand out, but I found How Do You Sleep and the drama behind it interesting to learn about.

One great song and som ok songs

3/5 Imagine is an all time track but the rest of the album was good too. I could definitely relisten to this one and bump it up but I enjoyed it for what it is.

I still like "Imagine" and its message despite it being played to death, and even realizing that John didn't live the ideals he espoused. I still think it takes balls to sing "no religion" and "no countries". The rest of the album is coffeeshop worthy - nice for background but not really gripping or mould-breaking.

Only a couple of days after getting Paul's solo album, we now get to explore John's. The titular opening track has been commercialized and memed to death so it's honestly lost a lot of luster. I'm sure when this album released, it's messaging felt very profound. However, we now know a lot about Lennon's abuse towards women, which makes a lot of the peace and love messaging lose its meaning. A song like Jealous Guy was probably intended to be a reflection of personal flaws, but it now comes across as a lazy excuse for poor behavior. From a musical perspective, it is nice to hear Lennon explore the blues and country that inspired a younger John. Some of the later songs feel very contemporary in their sound and production. You could place them in the modern age and some would maybe mistaken it for a Tame Impala track. So far, I think I'm giving the edge to McCartney. 3.5 Stars

It's fine. I am okay with this as background music.

I liked it more than I expected. It was competently made. I still really don't like John Lennon. The title track was pretty good.

Imagine är en så uttjatad låt att det inte går att tycka nåt om den längre, varken bra eller dåligt. Jag vet inte om det är så längre men i en herrans massa år var det världens mest spelade låt (det här var innan streamingens era så hur man mäter det idag känns oklart). Att recensera Imagine skulle vara som att recensera ljudsignalerna vid ett övergångsställe. Så vi tar det andra istället. Hela b-sidan tycker jag är bra utan att vara fantastisk, spretig kanske men överlag bra. A-sidan har större problem, men där finns å andra sidan Jealous guy, tveklöst skivans bästa spår. Det är bara det att när du hört Roxy Musics version vill du aldrig höra någon annan än den (köpte faktiskt den singeln idag). Lennon blandar och ger men alldeles för stabilt bra för att ge i från sig ett hafsverk, trean är klar

Så sönderspelad som Imagine är, är det lätt glömma att det faktiskt är en bra låt. Så även Jealous guy. På plussidan tycker jag även I dont want to be soldier mama, How can you sleep? och Oh Yoko! hamnar. Medan en del annat här är mer att betrakta som dussinlåtar i Lennon-katalogen.

I had to take a long hard look at myself and ask, if this hadn’t been made by a Beatle, would I think all that highly of it? And the answer is, no, not really. This is John approaching his most self-righteous and pretentious state (to be fully realized in Some Time in New York City), and the sound is too sappy and overproduced for my taste. The title track has always been wildly overrated. The melody’s nice, but there’s nothing too special about it and the lyrics scream of John’s self-importance more than they relate any deep message. (But maybe I’ve been poisoned by the Gal Gadot video back in 2020.) The album’s best moment happens when John abandons his delusions of being some kind of people’s poet and attacks his former best friend in a mean, nasty diss track. Probably more revealing than any of the peace-on-Earth stuff, which John was never the best at, no matter how much he wanted to be. His specialty was always mining negative emotions, providing the darkness to Paul’s light, so it’s only fitting that he fails by straying from the grim intimacy of Plastic Ono Band but strikes gold by mocking his old foil. So yeah, not John’s finest. It’s not bad, there’s good songs here, but it’s red meat for the haters in some ways. Best song: How Do You Sleep

3/5 - would give 3.5 if I could. I enjoyed the album overall, just not something I'd probably go back to listen to again. First couple of songs I really enjoyed, the rest were solid but not stuff I'd listen to.

Some guy and a guitar who did pretty well. Strongest first song ever? It's gotta be up there. The rest is solid and polite. How Do You Sleep was great for something I hadn't heard before.

Pretty good, though inconsistent in my opinion considering who it's coming from. Contains one of the best diss tracks in history. Favorite track: Imagine

Quite enjoyed it, obviously Imagine is a fantastic song, but the others in the album I rather liked except Jealous guy.

Think he's in love with himself a little too much.

Curiously uneven but still a classic.

Some classic tunes

There's too much history about Lennon to review this unpassionately so focusing on the lesser known tracks I was a bit underwhelmed. That said its high points are high.

Lots of blues influence which was unexpected just knowing the hit single 'Imagine'. Second half seemed more like a vendetta tour when he was with The Beatles.

its aight

Great Songs: Jealous Guy Good Songs: Imagine, Crippled Inside, It’s So Hard, Oh My Love, How?, Oh Yoko! Mid Songs: I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama, How Do You Sleep? Bad Songs:

I know imagine more as a meme than a song. It's fine. A bit dull and a bit offensive for what it encourages in others compared to how it's author was living. As an album it's got some kind of message, but the tracks vary in quality. Gimmie some truth is pretty good even if the politics are very on the nose. Ultimately a 3 or 4.

A couple of hits and the rest missed

I’ve heard many of the songs through the years. And actually a song I hadn’t heard which was the Yoko song at the end. I thought that was sweet and kind of weird all at the same time. The mix on the album was very treble heavy, and I almost found it painful at times to listen. All right album. Didn’t change my life.

7/10

Doceniam wpływ jego twórczości na światową popkulturę i jednocześnie nie zgadzam się z treścią przekazu - moja uśredniona ocena 3

This is a good album, but I probably will only seek to listen to the song Imagine from it again.

Very out there. Packed the catchy melodies that McCartney brought to the Beatles.

I've never sat down and listened to this album in one go before. It's quite hard to come to a judgement about it for me. Imagine and Jealous Guy have been ubiquitous over the past 45 years but the rest of it, pretty much ignored. On balance, some good, some bad.

The song Imagine is an all time banger. The rest of it is fairly standard stuff. Decent, but not great.

Better than I expected.

6/10

Ok. Imagine is one of the best and most beloved songs of all time. But the rest of this? Not so much. John needed an editor and a therapist. There were lots of ideas here, but not much was fully developed. Feels a little slapped together. Phil Spector really pushed for catchy bits. But it doesn’t totally fit. I get why people hooked into this at the time. But, in the context of his entire body of work, this is kinda mid.

Slow, dreamy Lennon

Imagine is a great song, but the rest of the album is not great.

Day 20: Best tracks: Imagine, How Do You Sleep?, Gimme Some Truth … 7/10. Does it belong on the list? Yes.

You’re either a John person for the lyrics or a Paul person for the melody, and I’m a Paul guy. I think I expected better of the album going into it tbh. Imagine and Crippled Inside are the highlights.

Post John Lennon just doesn’t interest me much, most of it could have ended up on Let It Be. That said enough to keep you interested

Peaks at start but not the strongest album. Drifts throughout and never really caught me. Expected more

Didn't finish but was okay. I think I can extrapolate that this might have been one of Ben Folds' influences. I guess, being on the aro ace spectrum, it all sounds kinda whiny and self excusatory especially the "I'm just a jealous guy." ugh. But sound-wise I didn't hate it and I actually liked the 'Imagine', because I'd like to imagine that world too.

Super overrated, Imagine is the best song here but the rest are just ok. For all the crap John gave Paul over sappy love songs this album is sure full of em.

So, I know this one is controversial. I'm not actually sure how I feel about the guy. I was born the same year he died. I've done some reading and I'm still not sure about him. He doesn't seem like someone I'd like to know. However the album, to someone like me who doesn't know much about Lennon, is good. The music is good. It sounds nice. I can't give it a bad rating simply because half the world hates the guy. I'm rating the album only, not the person behind it. It's not perfect. It does get a bit boring after a while. But overall it's nice to listen to.

3.5

Heard songs from it before. My mom is #teamlennon so liking John is kind of a default for me. The album is actually cool, early Beatles solo albums are funny because you can hear what each member contributed to the band's sound. How Do You Sleep feels a bit uncomfortable, like listening to your divorced parents fighting or something 3/5

I know enough to understand this as an important piece of musical history. I think it is musically a good album but it is largely not to my own subjective sensibilities. Wikipedia labels this as a rock album. I think I need to do some digging into the roots of rock music. This is an album where I can kind of see how rock became the genre it is today.

A pantheon album and a few classic songs (title track, jealous guy, oh yoko!) but it can be patchy elsewhere (I don't want to be a soldier, crippled inside, it's so hard). On Rym it's a 3.5 for me, but the average songs bring the classics down here. It's not a vinyl I reach for often

Definitely felt like an eclectic collection of random unrelated songs than an album, but each Individual song was decent. Better than I was expecting.

Not my style. Crippled Inside had a nice melody.

Exactly what I expected. All in all a good album with some well known songs. I hate to admit it, but I really liked “Oh Yoko”. Album came out in 1971 a year after the Beatles broke up, and it seems like it was quickly slapped together and put out so fans could hear his solo stuff. Unlike Double Fantasy, which was four years after his previous album which shows most masterpieces take time. I don’t know if this album is a must listen. I’d download a song or two and that’s it.

I went into this album expecting not to be impressed. I was pretty much correct. I think Lennon is incredibly overrated, but Imagine as a whole wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Its got some catchy moments and some good grooves. Standouts were "Imagine" - I mean, its the only song on this album anyone knows - "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama " - although its about twice the length it needs to be - and "How Do You Sleep?" I probably wont re-listen to too much of this, but it was solid and I'm glad I finally gave it a listen through. 3/5

The reviews of this are so lopsided hes either the most brilliant musician ever, or a rapist wife beater. I think this album and the one before it is him literally grappling with those two dynamics in his life. How do you declare a flawed human a geneous and how do you demonize someone who is trying to be a better person, albeit someone who will inevitably slip back into his old habits once the drugs get to be too much? I don't know the answer. His first few albums with the beatles, his songs are unlistenable because of how shitty he is to his love interests, and I think Yoko is very much his inspiration to get better. I don't know if he would have lived as long as he did if it wasn't for her. especially after listening to this album. This album is very up and down. He is trying to be a lot more raw, but is a lot more subtle than the last album. It doesn't quite work. A good but ultimately flawed album. much like the creator.

There were some unexpected groovy/funky songs on here. It was a decent listen, not something I would reach for again.

You May Say I'm A Dreamer 1001 Albums Generator 152 (10/31/2025) "Man if we didn't have religion, there would be nothing to kill or die for" - guy who lived in the secular century that included the biggest atrocities ever committed by humanity. John Lennon was a retarded communist, but he can write a tune, and the songs outside the title track have lyrics that range from fine to good. How Do You Sleep? is one that I had not heard before that I really enjoyed. The cringe factor of the title track is off the charts and some of the experiments here don't work great, but it's a serviceable album. Paul and George both had better solo albums than this. 3/5. Favs: Crippled Inside Jealous Guy How Do You Sleep? Least Fav: Imagine

Sure

3 Stars (8/15)

I don’t like John Lennon but songs are good

One hit wonder, with several ok.

I liked a couple of the songs (Oh my love, and How?) but other than that the album is quite weak

Surprisingly enjoyable. Was not looking forward to listening but was not actually what I was expecting. Thought it would just be a Beatles esque sound but got some classic 70s rock type vibes. I could revisit this

The songwriting and arrangements on this album are top notch (great strings). Terrific team of musicians, includining some fine slide guitar from George Harrison. A musically pleasing album However, while John's first solo album was powerful and authentic, this just sounds like complaining. The songs are strong. John's performance is heartfelt. But the self-centered bitterness of this album removes any enjoyment I might receive from listening to it. John's "How Do You Sleep" scorched earth attack on Paul just comes off as unnecessarily cruel. Not all therapy sessions need to be broadcasted. Favorite Song: "Oh My Love" it's the beautiful, shining moment of this album.

Didn't know most of the songs in the album, and it was just ok. Of course, the two bests know songs do bring the album higher. 7/10

mediocre British blues music

Too many blues jams

3.5

I don't remember the first half, but I think that I enjoyed it

That is too many people to imagine

This was SO much better than "Plastic Ono Band", good lord that one was awful. This album is very boring by comparison, and in this case that's a good thing. Hard to listen to imagine these days without thinking of Gal Gadot.

Imagine must be one of the most overplayed tracks of all time. Album ok but nothing to write home about. Best tracks Jealous Guy I don't want to be a Soldier Mama and How do you Sleep

Not a big fan of this album. Double Fantasy is so much better.

Perfectly fine! Not a fan of the title track but there are several other decent tracks here.

On Imagine's Wikipedia page, I saw that Ben Gerson of Rolling Stone said that it had a substantial portion of good music but he liked Lennon's first LP more and that, i agree with. This is a pretty solid album and definitely up there as one of Lennon's better works. I thought that all the songs no matter what vibe they had, be they soft and melodic or catchy and upbeat, worked well on this album. Lennon's vocals also were pretty good on this record as they portrayed each vibe on this album well. Granted, there are a few awkward moments on some of the songs but i don't think any of them were bad. This is a solid listen but i still prefer his earlier LP. Best Song: Imagine Worst Song: I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama

I loved these songs as a teenager and still it’s John Lennon and everything but as an adult I had surprisingly little sympathy for his relentless self pity and the navel gazing at his trauma. I know he was damaged goods and his childhood was fucked up, but Christ you were a beatle for ten years John, how bad can it fucking BE?

Nice to check out the non-singles.

I enjoyed this album more than I was anticipating, definitely better than his first release, Plastic Ono Band. I've always been pretty indifferent to the endlessly overplayed title track, "Imagine," and even Lennon considered it a sugar-coated anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic song. However, I'm not entirely sure, outside of a couple of tracks, if anything on here launches this into the stratosphere of greatness.

Honestly, all I hear is a lost Beatles album when I listen to this. It's not as vibrant and layered as a regular Beatles album. It's more subdued. It's stylistically similar, but you definitely notice the repetitive sounds and lyrical themes and the glaring absence of the others.

Well this is a difficult, musically he is a legend, but an asshole of a person, there is some good in here but a lot of what feels like rejected Beatles songs

Reviewing anything Beatles or adjacent is like being on the jury for celebrity trial. How can one be impartial? The instinct will either be to slam it for sake of preserving some intellectual hipster credibility that doesn’t exist. Or even worse, crawling up John Lennon’s ass because no one’s rectum will ever feel as good as his. I’ve always cherry picked his catalog and never listened to his solo albums straight through. That being said the two most boring songs bookend the beginning and end of this album. In my youth, I used to think “Imagine” was a truly profound artistic statement. Now, especially after that awful Covid celeb montage, it’s become this trite juvenile pseudo-intellectual anthem. Yeah I can imagine just about anything, what the fuck else about it? The piano sound still remains one of the best ever captured on record though. This whole thing sounds like an artist very unsure of his future and sometimes, that uncertainty/leads to some great moments. Jealous Guy and Oh My Love are probably among the best songs on the record. The piano compliments the vocal and melody so well on each. Really delicate and beautiful pieces of music. They seem honest and genuine expressions of real emotions, which was a new thing for pop stars shedding pre-fabrications of Brill Building showbiz. Crippled Inside as well is solid nice tune. How do you Sleep has a great gritty vocal and swampy groove behind it It’s not a bad album with pockets of greatness. Then that fucking harmonica at the end “Oh Yoko” comes and shits in the punchbowl. Then they had the audacity to pan that bullshit from left to right in the headphones. Unacceptable behavior

I did not grow up with a love for The Beatles because my Gen X parents thought they sucked, to be honest, so there was no Beatles songs or solo Beatles music in the house at all. It wasn't until Rockback 4 came out with the keyboard controller and the song "Imagine" as a playable option that I began my journey with them. Because that was my first introduction, naturally my first favorite Beatle was John. As I grew up, I learned about the man he really was and he is no longer my favorite Beatle - so it is hard to review this without thinking of the man behind the music, but I will do my best. "Imagine" is a really lovely sentiment about a utopian paradise but as I grew up and started to understand the message he was trying to tell, as well as begin to understand the world around me, I found myself becoming increasingly turned off by the lyrics. I know his intended targets were the politicians of the world, but I think the way the lyrics have been weaponized in the 50 plus years since (which he doesn't have control over because he isn't alive, I know that) have soured the song. - Sonically, I have always thought it was a gorgeous track and I still do. The chord choices are great, and the sound of the piano almost fades in and out like a dream or like a warped vinyl record. The addition of strings and the tucked drums really drive the track forward. I also really like "Jealous Guy", musically. Another great piano opening with some classic Lennon melodies to paint the picture of the story. The lyrics also scare me a little though lmaoooo. As the album progresses, it is clear that Lennon has a vision for some real cool soundscapes. "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier Mama" has such a unique sound scape and that is due, in part, to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound on full blast here. George Harrison features on guitar on this track and knows EXACTLY what to do and where. And the saxophone part?!?! COOL. I probably enjoy this track the most because of the sonic journey it takes you on. "Oh My Love" is another sonically beautiful track. Lyrically, I also think it is a sweet ode to Yoko. I think you really get a throwback to the half of the Voltron he was in The Beatles on this track. It makes me want to listen to "Because".

It’s weird how much of the myth of the man gets shattered by reality. Songs of love and compassion, while being a shitty father, partner, and friend. That’s the cognitive dissonance that hangs over Imagine. It’s gorgeous, idealistic, peaceful, but it’s hard not to hear the hypocrisy bleeding through. “Imagine no possessions” from a man living in a mansion. “Give Peace a Chance” from someone who couldn’t make peace at home. Still, it’s one of those records that transcends its creator’s flaws. The melodies are hauntingly simple, the production has this ethereal warmth, and for a brief moment, you can believe in the dream he’s selling - even if he couldn’t live it himself.

Imagine is an amazing single. The rest of the album left by bored. Did I like it? Kinda. Did I hate it? No. Would I listen again? No.

Second Beatles solo album, second disappointment. Jealous Guy is very good, Crippled Inside is good, Imagine is very preachy from a man who beat his first wife, and the rest is bollocks saved only by his voice and the strong session players. Come Together is the last great Beatles song John wrote, maybe it's the last great song he wrote all together...

ну норм, но многовато жанров и зачем злобу свою записывать…

It’s No Beatles album but it was decent

This album feels a lot like an extension of The Beatles, at least compared to the post-Beatles McCartney albums I’ve heard. George Harrison played guitar on some of it, so that probably helped. If you’re a Beatles fan, this one might be for you! I’m glad the whole album doesn’t demand the same gravitas as the title track, but putting “Imagine” first kinda starts things on a somber note. I’m sure John made that choice because he wanted people to hear his important thesis first; that’s SO John. I know it’s supposed to be hopeful, but I’ve always found that song to be kind of a bummer and would rather hear it at the end of the record. He also included a Paul McCartney diss track (“How Do You Sleep?”), which is definitely not weird at all! I don’t think I’ll be seeking out a vinyl copy, but this was fine.

It was somewhat enjoyable

Has one massive hit, but the rest is forgettable.

never really took to the whole Yoko years with John. while there are some great songs here the overall outcome is poor

Just okay IMO.

There are some great songs on this album. But then the rest is quite wishy washy. And most of them just go on too long, they could all be a minute shorter at least. Just shut up, John. 3.0/5.0 Best Song: Jealous Guy

Imagine us the most saccharine wanky song of all time, but the rest of the album is fine. It’s not got a lot of highlights or lowlights it’s just fine

FINE

hm ach

Bon, comme pour McCartney, l’oeuvre post-Beatles de Lennon ne me fait pas tripper des bulles. Il y a quelques bonnes tounes (comme How Do You Sleep, une distrack (!) particulièrement entrainante musicalement) et quelques tounes pas trop trop intéressantes. Des fois, je les sens (Paul et John, chacun de leur côté) un peu en perte de vitesse à devoir travailler seuls. Je vais devoir revenir aux textes de la première toune (How?) qui me semble décrire mon état depuis que j’ai ouvert les yeux face à mon enfance.

Lenon is a genius, but his songs are too 70's for my taste.

A perfectly pleasant album but it seems like a regression given the Beatles’ exploration of experimental approaches.

As a Beatles fan I thought I would like this album more. Aside from Imagine I couldn’t really get into any of the songs in any real way. Not great considering the artist.

3.5

It’s fine. Legendary track or 3. But the slow songs plod along. I also don’t care for the Phil Spectre production.

The songwriting is brilliant. I just can't get past Lennon's hippy egomania and the annoying personality cult around it.

It's not terrible, not great. Expected a little better tbh.

Better than I expected it to be

I haven't really got anything witty to say about this one. It's brilliant in patches (the opener in particular is a generational statement, maybe even an all-timer), but much of the album from therein ranges from being decent to decidedly average - it hits a real lull towards the middle, and I never need to hear "Oh Yoko" again. It's John Lennon so of course it was going to find its way into this list, I'm not averse to it being on here but the multitude of other Beatles related selections does call into question how many albums truly are vital listening.

On enchaine un peu entre les hauts et les bas, et je crois que les sons que je préfère sont ceux les plus « Beatles-esque »

mooie muziek

Overall I liked it. Imagine is iconic, but my favorite song is "jealous guy". There's some hits and some misses, but too me not as good as a full beatles album (the whole being greater than the sum of the parts). Good instrumentation.

This has always been a strange album for me. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Beatles. This album has some absolute highs and some skippers for sure. Overall its OK. I own it on both vinyl and cd though it rarely gets played.

A bit overrated. Hinges on the song Imagine... which is overrated.

Wel een mooie plaat waar de kracht van Lennon echt wel naar voren komt. Vind echter dat hij wel wat te vrij is gelaten. Is het misschien het ontbreken van McCartney of iemand anders die hem durft te beperken? Weinig mensen zullen dat gedurfd hebben. De nummers zijn namelijk wel erg divers. De overgang van Imagine naar de tweede song is erg groot, en het geheel voelt dan ook niet zo. De klasse van Lennon had iets meer sturing mogen/moeten hebben in mijn opinie. 7,5/10 Highlights Jealous Guy

Eu adoro Beatles e o John sempre foi meu favorito, mas este é um disco bem desbalanceado. Não chega nem perto de ser meu favorito da carreira solo de Lennon, acho que ele possui muitas falhas. Pra começar, acredito que seu primeiro lado seja bem entediante. Claro, temos a icônica e infame canção titular do disco, Imagine. Eu nunca gostei dessa música, sempre a achei hipócrita, tosca, esdrúxula, e representa um lado do John que eu prefiro esquecer, passar pano. Seu pêndulo político pessoal sempre foi confuso e desnorteado, mas nessa canção ele estava indo em uma direção completamente desconexa e brega. E infelizmente, não há muito conteúdo melhor no primeiro lado deste álbum, é tudo bem maçante de se ouvir. Mas vou te dizer, não desista do disco na sua primeira metade. Seu segundo lado consegue animar e desprender esse álbum do tar grudento de sua outra face. Gimme Some Truth, How Do You Sleep, How, Oh Yoko, várias canções boas e memoráveis, e sempre com o tom sardônico que esperamos de Lennon. Se o disco inteiro fosse assim, seria um dos meus favoritos de sua discografia. Uma pena que não é o caso, mas ainda sim, é um álbum OK. 3.5/5

One thought provoking, timeless track, the others not so.

Goddamn hippies make me wanna hate John Lennon and especially the title track but it's damn good. Buncha dull tracks on side B but then he closes with a stunner. Have to count three obvious perfect tracks: "Imagine", "Jealous Guy" and "Oh Yoko!" But so much of what is left I never need to hear again that I think I have to average this out to a 3.

Ok

Not too bad, fine to listen to. Few duds towards the end of the album.

Saved from 2 stars on the title track alone

Ofcourse John Lennon is a musical genius, and you hear his brilliance shining through some of the songs. But this album has one big issue for me: a lot songs feel like straight out of a time capsule - which ofcourse isn't far from the truth. That makes songs like I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama sound a bit outdated.

Some really dark lyrics even with happier sounding music. I hear some Rolling Stones similarities. Not something I’d listen to, but it’s a decent album.

Imagine is and always will be a great song. Jealous guy is another that I like but I didn’t really care for the remainder of the songs. They don’t stand up with the time or era.

Some nice moments. 2/3 stars

'Imagine' carries this album. The rest range from mid to decent.

i mean it's a beatles album without the beatles refinement. i have to confess, jealous guy still fucks as a song. liked: jealous guy, it's really hard, oh my love.

do you remember the covid celeb video

A few good mentions include "How do you sleep" and "how?" But Oh Yoko is not a good song in my opinion. I don't see myself really revisiting this album.

The title track is a good song- the rest is largely Beatles filler- ok, but not memorable.

3.5

It’s good. Some great… like Imagine.

- it was fine - I liked how and how do you sleep - a lot of it I zoned out to tbh

I had no idea how much some people hate John Lennon until reading the reviews. I don't hate him that much. But I do think Phil Spector made this a record that you can enjoy, until you start thinking too much about it.

Hey guys what if world peace? 😎 - John Lennon, ett geni

Ett par ordentliga bangers, i övrigt varvat mellan helt okej o tråkigt. Nästbästa beatlen?

Ten years ago I might have listened to this, seeking to understand the genius behind it. Today I find it not really noteworthy, not really outside the zeitgeist of its time. Mere mortals, all of us.

It was okay.

Some nice songs here, with my favorite being Crippled Inside. Otherwise I wasn't really grabbed all that much.

While a questionable human being, John Lennon was certainly musical a genius. I just wish he had used more of that genius on this record. Also, I’ve always been (and still am) a Paul guy.

Further proof that P-Mac was the better songwriter. A couple good tunes on here but it’s mostly average at best. The last few seconds bumped John up a few notches on my list of worst harmonica players ever (he’s giving Bob Dylan a run for his money).

Much as I love Lennon’s solo work, and famous as the title track is, this is probably one of my least favourite of his records - Walls and Bridges, and Mind Games are my own faves and this one just doesn’t come close to them. He was in a pretty bitter and angry place when he recorded it and it shows in its disjointedness - it just doesn’t hang together as well as many of his other records. I find him and his life story endlessly fascinating though, so I know it’s a record I’ll always come back to.

I'm a massive Beatles fan. I love a lot of Paul and George's solo work (sorry Ringo, I haven't listened to yours yet), but over the years I've learned I just don't care much for John Lennon without the other three. A couple of good songs here, but I found most of them to be just okay.

Enjoyed it, but nothing crazy

I think we all recognize that the Beatles are one of the great bands of all time. But this is the second time I’ve had a post Beatles album from one of the band members that I have been disappointed with. Imagine is a great, great song, but the next few on this album are really subpar. It’s not until I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama that this album picks back up. After that, it’s better but still far from great. I did think How Do You Sleep was excellent and I actually somewhat enjoyed Oh Yoko. However, that was counterbalanced by Oh My Love, which is about as elementary a song as I’ve heard in a while, which is saying something given the amount of shitty not-even-a-hit-in-the-UK English bands that I have heard on this 1,001 album list. Overall, this record was not terribly inspired other than Imagine and the few politically driven tracks. It is, at best, average for me.

"Imagine", a música mais escutada deste álbum, contém um viés comunista de um "mundo ideal". A maioria das músicas possui uma melodia repetitiva. As músicas que eu mais gostei foram: "Oh, my love" e "Oh Yoko!".

Great songwriting. Boring music.

Imagine is of course one of the best songs of all time. Crippled Inside was also a great song, which I hadn't heard before. Obvious political texts of that time.

Not a big Beatles guy. Album's fine I guess, but nothing really stuck out to me afterwards. Favorite's probably "Gimme Some Truth".

6/10

3/5

Quebecois Review : Pas aussi bon que les Beatles. Translation : Not as good as Beatles

Each song is a really strong statement in both sound and lyrics but they get so boring and tedious so fast. The repeating melody and lyrics line. I got bored of these songs a few years ago and I still can’t listen to them without getting bored

problem z tym albumem jest taki ze przyjemna jest jakos co druga piosenka wiec niestety polowa do wyjebania

Other than Imagine nothing else really stood out to me.

An archetype of a 7 out of ten. Imagine and Jealous Man are your classics, the rest of the album isn't bad but not up to the standard of these. Nice string arrangements and solid songwriting as you'd expect from an ex-Beatle, but nothing incredible.

One song wonder

This should be on the list. Imagine is a great song and so too is How do you sleep? The rest of the album sounds good but nothing stands out.

Seemed like it was going to get carried by Imagine for the first few songs. While I’m sure the lyrics were edgy at the time, he really didn’t say that much. But the longer I listened I did feel I got into a grove of the album. The Yoko song was wired

Might be blasphemous, but Lennon is an inspired lyricist, but the actual tunes here are pretty slight.

What an odd collection. In some respects, it feels a bit skin deep, the exposing of every last little thing that was happening in Lennon’s private and public life at the time. But, like most great art, it’s finding universality from personal stories that elevates most of these songs (oh and having some of the best musicianship of the 20th century at your disposal). It’ll always be a bit tough for me, a fan who just wants to see a band get along in some impossible ideal of sharing/creation/performance, watching the Beatles hash it out over several records in the early 1970s. I can’t imagine how petty that must’ve looked at the time - not as ridiculous as the Gallagher brothers but not far from it. Pusha subtweeting or outright (reasonably) hating on Kanye, etc. But today and when I first heard How Do You Sleep? I just find it so cheap and it will always be lingering in the back of my subconscious every New Year’s Eve when they fire up Imagine as some sort of world-uniting song of peace from the guy who (at least on paper) was as vicious as they come. And that spineless sap George throwing in. I’m not even that big a Paul fan but if the stories are even half true, he was carrying a junkie and a malcontent (and also Ringo) for several years there after the 1-2 of Rubber Soul and Revolver. Meanwhile in John and Yoko land there’s Oh Yoko! one of the best slices of love ever committed to music. And then the flip of that elsewhere with John meditating on his jealous streak, something I definitely related to at one point. The rest of the album, like a lot of Lennon solo work, is unfortunately full of filler, from Crippled Inside and It’s So Hard’s rote blues band backing his acidic commentary to an interesting, but mostly half-assed John the society crier man back burner I Don’t Wanna Be a Soldier Mama and Gimme Some Truth. Right on man.

Beatles solo stuff is basically a hit or dud for me. This could be played with a lot of skips. I’d rather have their greatest hits than individual albums.

It’s a fine, all be it a bit depressing, little album. The Beatles, for me anyway, were always greater than the sum of their individual parts, and most of their solo works tend to be hit or miss for me. Being more of a Paul guy, I found this to be about what I expected. The hits are great, the rest is filler for me. Still solid for filler 3.5⭐️

Imagine is an incredible song. Rest of album was ‘meh’

A very solid 3, but ultimately drifted into the background rather than holding my attention

I used to love this album. What seemed profound as a teenager now just seems sanctimonious. Underwhelming

A lot better than I was expecting. Nice Spector production.

IMO. Not as great as some people make out.

Despite Ethan Hawke’s “Black Album” concept, in which he entwined post-Beatles solo tracks into a compilation to simulate a Beatles record, those solo recordings never held a candle to the Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starr team at their finest, in my opinion. However, I feel the songs “Imagine” and “Gimme Some Truth” on this Lennon album outshine most Beatles songs. If only all ten tracks of this record were as brilliant as these two; however, I find the balance middling and lacking the staying power of the opening tracks of each side. It’s always hard to listen to a recording separated from its era and give a contemporary analysis; if I were a teenager or young adult in 1971, I may have felt differently about this record and may now have some nostalgia toward it. But as it stands in 2025, I can’t say I would ever listen to this album in its entirety again.

Spank my monkey, it’s John

Good but not great. RIP.

Imagine criticising Paul for writing bland tracks while doing Oh Yoko... John Lennon was a flawed individual that liked to lash it out, but couldn't stand when there was some pushback. How Do You Sleep? still bangs tho and I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama follows the path set by former Beatles track I want You (She's So Heavy). 3/5

all 10 songs have wikipedia articles

7/10 Should’ve imagined no Snub-Nosed Charter Arms .38 Special revolvers

Album inégal. J’ai bien aimé la seconde moitié, moins la première. Commencer avec Imagine me semble étrange, c’est clairement une chanson de fin d’album. It’s so hard, I don’t wanna be a soldier mama: meh Pas contre la 2e moitié, bien meilleure. Gimme some truth, how do you sleep? Oh yoko!… toute des hits!

I was expecting not to like this. I've always disliked the title track (disingenuous, overplayed). In the end it was not as bad as I expected, even enjoyable at times, so I will give it a generous 3 stars (although the harmonica at the end nearly brought it down to a 2).

Tough to rate. Coming off the Plastic Ono Band album, this seems like a step down. Imagine is great (if WAY overplayed), and Jealous Guy is one of Lennon's best ever, including the Beatles. But I am conflicted about How Do You Sleep? It comes off as overly mean from John and George, even if Macca 'started it'. And then to put the sappiest Macca-like ballad directly after it...idk. Oh Yoko is a nice song to end the album though. I'm struggling between 3 and 4 stars, as this is the ultimate 3.5 star album for me.

Another day another 3. Maybe it's just the older styles we've been getting. I don't hate them, but most of them haven't really pulled me into them. I even tried listening a couple of times in the evening and morning after and felt the same. 1 - would not listen to again 2 - if some one played it, I'd probably just zone it out 3 - didn't hate it, didn't love it 4 - saved some songs from the album 5 - would buy the album or already own it

I dont know. How to you rate this? Last time I gave it a 4 but knowing more about Lennon this time and honestly it just didnt grab me as much as it did on the orginal run. Knocking it down a star.

I think the only song that really stuck with me was "I Don't Wanna Be A Solider Mama". The production of that song really feels like something much later, late 70s. From the wailing saxophone, pure keyboard sounds, and crunchy guitar, it feels very in place in even the 80s. No surprise, Phil Spector. I do think this album was a bit ahead of it's time. Up there in that regards with something like Nilsson Schmilsson or Hunky Dory.

As I get older, I realize I'm much more of a George guy

First two songs were great, there are a lot of references to Yoko/their relationship in this which was interesting.

I found it half excellent and half hit and miss. "Imagine", "Jealous Guy" are amazing, but I struggled with some of the rest.

I am trying to separate the person (or his wife) from the music otherwise I'd be sitting here pointing out endless contradictions. I am more familiar with "Best of the Beatles" and the big ones (frog chorus obviously). I don't Wanna be a soldier while the lyrics were simple I loved the tone of it like walking into the bar from Roadhouse (the original). As with most of the songs I preferred the instrumentals vs lyrics, case and point Oh, Yoko!. Side note, if you've not seen Chuck Berry reacting to Yoko screaming during a performance before they muted her mic, then watch it.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Not meaning the album itself)

*Some hits and misses. *Fave track - Imagine RATING - 6.5/10

Varied musically with splashes of the Beatles all around, but feels like it relies too heavily on Imagine.

I always want to like this album but find it a bit overrated. I think the second half of this album is much stronger than the first half. Imagine is basically a cliche at this point which hurts it I think. Standouts include: Oh My Love and How Do You Sleep?

3.5 - second half of the album is a solid 4/5, I enjoyed this. Standout tracks: - Imagine: OBVIOUSLY 4.5/5 - Oh My Love: 4/5 - How?: 5/5 - Oh Yoko!: 3.5/5

Ranking of the best Beatles: 1. George Harrison 2. Ringo Starr/Paul McCartney (tie) 47. John Lennon This album wasn't bad, but there's a missing magic the other Beatles brought to the table John just doesn't have by himself. He was very lucky to have the other three members as contributors ⭐⭐⭐

First I listened to McCartney’s Wings album and now I guess it’s time for ol’ Johnny. I know very little about Beatles lore, though I’ve picked up in passing that John was the creative spirit of the band and the rest of his crew were the ones holding him in place. I’m curious to see how Lennon fares on his own. While I didn’t like Band on the Run save for one track, Imagine is pretty alright from start to finish. You can’t go wrong with an album comprised almost entirely of piano ballads and subdued instrumentals. The title track is subversive, communist liberalbabble, though I can’t deny that it’s a good song – the best on the album. The piano is paired beautifully with the backing strings and the lyrics work very well from a songwriting perspective. Oh My Love is another good tune. Very reminiscent of Julia from the White Album, though I can’t complain. The song is very pleasing, and the addition of the piano goes a long way in differentiating the track from its predecessor. The fragile sound of it is beautiful. How? has a soft sound which I enjoy, especially as a follow-up to the more intense How Do You Sleep? I care much less about the tracks that I've left unmentioned, but overall this was a pretty worthwhile listen. Can't knock this inclusion.

wow, an album by the third best Beatle! (fight me) Look, I'm not going to say this isn't good. It's John, it's categorically very good. But...not really for me. I'm more of a Beatles guy than any of them solo, but that's a product of my musical upbringing more than anything. Imagine is an important song, I've heard it a zillion times, I've sung it in concerts before (shoutout Harmony Project), and I watched a video of a zionist pig singing it during Covid. Stands the test of time that it is still amazing even after Gal Gadot ruined it. Jealous Guy is great, I've heard a better cover it it tbqh. Oh My Love is a wonderful song, beautiful in it's simplicity. Etc. Wish this shit at half ratings because this would be a great 3.5 for me. Just depends on which side of that I want to go on. Nvm he ended with a song about Yoko, fuck this. 3

--Imagine...cheesy? cliche? overplayed? overrated? I understand why someone may feel these things about this song. I think it's timeless --Crippled Inside...a fun groove with cynical lyrics. Not one of his best but still classic Lennon --Jealous Guy...kind of sluggish but it works somehow --It's So Hard...sounds like one of his pre-Beatles rockabilly obsessions. meh --I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama...not a good enough song for it to be the bold statement he wants it to be --Gimme Some Truth...subtle as a sledgehammer. I want my Lennon anger counterbalanced with some dry British wit. There's no wit here --Oh My Love...sappy but nice --How Do You Sleep?...mean-spirited song from a mean-spirited man --How?...more sap but nice production --Oh Yoko!...a total delight. Saves the back half from being a slog

Wow people really have strong opinions about this album lol. I found it okay. Kinda depressing and woe is me, but also funky. Odd juxtaposition.

I didn’t think much about it besides liking it as a Beatles-esque album. None of the songs were bangers upon first listen. Imagine frustrates me so much, ugh. 3/5 because I like the style, but I don’t see adding it to my rotation.

the celebrities’ version of imagine during covid ruined forever john lennon music to me 3,5/5 🪳

Better than I expected, worse than its level of praise. Sometimes an excellent pop record sometimes boring droning bullshit.

Has classics like 'Imagine', but John Lennon (as a solo artist) isn't quite for me

I mean, Imagine's a good song. But it's not my bag, baby. Rest of the album's fine, but still not my bag. Feels like heresy, but 3* is all I'm giving it. Sorry, Dave.

3.5

Classic

While I've heard the title song a bunch of times, I never listened to the album before and you know what? I didn't miss a lot. For diehard fans, I think.

The song Imagine is beautiful, if naive. The rest is largely forgettable.

I'm not a fan of the Beatles and particularly John Lennon. I knew a guy in college who was way too into JL, so much so, he posed with his fingers touching the Imagine sign in Strawberry Fields, New York. He was also wearing his round, JL sunglasses to perfect the look. It's as douchebag as you would think. I hope he ended up in a cubicle farm. So my opinion was primed to be a contrarian, but I kinda liked much of this album. "I Don't Want to be a Soldier" and "How Do You Sleep?" were my favorites. "Oh Yoko" was doofy but weirdly sweet. The production is fantastic but it better be with Phil Spector at the helm. I don't like "Imagine" but I'm not into hating it either. It's naïve, hippie BS that doesn't need much thought because no thoughts went into the lyrics. Now... "Jealous Guy". This song is insufferable and everyone should he ashamed. JL is clearly playing the "Baby I'm sorry I punched you in the face, but you have to understand how I feel" card. It's gross. Just say you're a jerk and you will work to be better person. I cannot stand ppl who identify and know their flaws, and then turn around and use those flaws as the excuse to not be responsible for their actions.

he's real whiney

Está guapo. Ahora puesto en contexto me da pena que la canción más famosa sea Imagine, porque hay muchas canciones chulas en este disco. Por cierto que he descubierto que el bajista de este disco es el artista alemán Klaus Voormann, que además de bajista es responsable de hacer las portadas de algunos discos de los Beatles.

some indelible songs here. Imagine has become fairly trite,and it's not so good a piece of music even if I agree philosophically with the direction of the sentiment. Gimmie Some Truth is the killer cut here, with its vitriol being still appropriate 50 years on. the rest of the album is nothing awful, nothing special. it's better than a lot of his 70s solo stuff that would follow, not as good as the beatles or even the plastic ono band that preceeded it.

Imagine (the song) was way better than I remembered, so I was really disappointed that the rest of this album wasn't very good. Thankfully, it was fairly short, so the good parts made up a not-insignificant portion of it. Overall, sort of in the middle I guess?

Yeah John Lennon makes some cool stuff, just a nice and consistent album :)

Exactly what I expected from John Lennon. A bit imaginative and a bit vibey. Although it didn’t stick in my opinion. I understand why he is so popular but this album just isn’t for me. Imagine is a still a phenomenal song.

A mid tier album with an incredible song.

Cool hearing him on his own.

i do not really care for his voice or his vibe but this is pretty good. some duds and some good ones

i did

Pretty by the numbers as far as john lennon solo stuff goes. Some ok songs but overall a pretty boring album. 6/10 Favourite: Imagine Least Favourite: I Dont Want to Be A Soldier

I know the title track from John Lennon’s Imagine but that is it. I didn’t really like the country vibes on Crippled Inside and Jealous Guy was an okay song. It started to bore me a little by the end. But then Imagine started to pick up for me on song 4, It’s So Hard. And Gimme Some Truth was the highlight of the album with How Do You Sleep? being a close second. I do wish it would’ve ended with How? because I didn’t care for the closing track Oh Yoko! Pretty cheesy. Overall, I enjoyed most of this album. I don’t know what it is but I didn’t like the ballads as much. They bored me. This is a strong 3 for my rating. 3/5

Hey! I've always wanted to hear this one! As a Beatles fan I've always been curious about the members' solo work. Only song I know is "Imagine". Let's see... Post listen: Right... Definitely enjoyed the second half more. Seemed like he was going for a more "poppy" sound in the first half. Second half had some funky (literally) stuff going on for it. That was cool, I guess. However, I have to agree with the sentiment that the songwriting is just NOT on par with what the Beatles created together. There must've been something in that collection of people... IDK, maybe it's just the nostalgia talking. Anyway, I'm even more excited to get to listen and review some Beatles records again after this; to see whether or not I'm right about them being better...

me and this man would have been enemies.... he loved Yoko DOWN tho and i support him for that