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 all the obvious tracks June 23, 2010
Red Rose (GB)
There are a good few collection CDs on offer for this artist, but on balance this is probably the best so far. All the commercial tracks are here, backed up with other popular tracks from past albums.
For the Lennon fans, almost a 'must have'.
 The whole was greater than the sum of the parts. November 13, 2006
dynamitekid156 (Notts)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The fact is, no Beatle was ever going to be as good as The Beatles. Even on songs written by just Lennon, the rest of the band would add something to it just in the performance, or even George Martin could give an idea or two. And, as good as some of the material by solo Beatles is and was, they just weren't as good apart as they were together.
Lennon, somewhat predictably, probably fared the best, despite his career being a bit wobbly in places. This compilation takes in 4 songs from his career-defining John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, 2 from the poppier Imagine, the title track from 1973's Mind Games, 3 songs from the Lost Weekend's Walls and Bridges and Rock 'n' Roll, 4 songs from 1980's Double Fantasy and two from the posthumous release of 1980s outtakes Milk And Honey. The remaining five tracks are the dangling carrot, which I will get to later. Somewhat wisely, it includes nothing from the three Unfinished Music noise experiments of 1968 and 1969, nothing from 1969's dubious live album, and nothing from 1972's ill-advised protest record Some Time In New York City.
As such, this album, while not disjointed, is a bit uneven. Double Fantasy was a fine return for Lennon, boasting the wonderful Beatley pop song (and that is not its only merit) of 'Woman,' a lovestruck tribute to Yoko Ono. However, it does not deserve to outnumber songs from Imagine, and Milk And Honey doesn't deserve to equal it. The fact that Ono chose these songs is somewhat obvious, though thankfully she didn't include any of her own songs from either of those two albums.
Ah, 'Imagine,' that title track which, heartfelt though it was, introduced the irony of a man who never needed to work another day in his life telling us to imagine having no posessions. Even if you hate that track, there are plenty of worthwhile tunes here. His proper solo debut, 1970's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band fares best, giving us the enthralling 'Working Class Hero' and the aching 'Mother.' The blissful '#9 Dream' and 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night' are also uncharacteristically upbeat, poppy, enjoyable numbers, as well as 'Stand By Me,' a passable cover.
However, the real interest here - which makes this otherwise merely serviceable compilation positively essential for passing Lennon fans and obsessives - is in the five single cuts, unavailable anywhere else. 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' isn't great, but 'Instant Karma!,' 'Give Peace A Chance,' 'Power To The People' and the blistering rocker 'Cold Turkey,' many of which were released in the closing overs of the Beatles' career, are some of his very best songs, and every one is deserving of a place on this compilation.
For non-committed fans, the one last gripe is the production here. This may not be something that will be noticed by those with less of a music connoisseur's ear, but as someone only planning to buy one Lennon compilation but also with an ear for mixing and production, Lennon's insistence on drenching all of his vocals (excluding a couple of merciful tracks) in delay is incessantly annoying and unnecessary. Also, the drums on the hard rocker 'Cold Turkey' are far too mannered.
Outside of that, this is absolutely worth buying, confused and muddled though it is, for the five singles - or even just 'Instant Karma!' - alone.
Decent compilation March 1, 2006
Laurence Upton (Wilts, UK)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
It seemed those days would never end. John Lennon was the most idiosyncratic and perhaps the most musically and culturally interesting Beatle, but his solo work quickly showed how much the Beatles were greater than the sum of their parts. His serious creative decline is masked on this collection by presenting the tracks in non-chronological order, but I notice that although he died in 1980, 10 of the 20 tracks here were made between 1969 and 1971. They include the great early singles with the Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance, Cold Turkey, Instant Karma - but unfortunately without the B-sides that featured Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band, with John Lennon on guitar, and which are mostly unavailable on CD. Move Over Ms L, the uptempo non-album flipside of Stand By Me, is also missed.
Nobody Told Me, a powerful recording from 1980, released posthumously as a single in 1984, reminds us that he lived through the punk era, outliving Marc Bolan, and indicates that he might have been starting to buck the trend of his baking bread years.
 John Lennon at his best July 21, 2005
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
This album is great my favourite songs have 2 be imagine,instant
karma,mother,cold turkey merry xmas,give peace a chance and power 2 the people if your a bealtles or John lennon fan this is a album you should get.
What a Brilliant Collection - Jamie Black 12 year old February 22, 2005
JB (Scotland)
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is a brilliant Collection. And I would reccomend it to any one. It has got all the faves like Imagine, Mother, Jealous Guy, Give peace a chance, Woman, Just like starting over, and so many more. You also don't have to buy this cd you can buy the albums. That is what I am thinking of doing. But if you can't take a chance buy this cd Lennon Legend.
If you buy this you will never regret it beacause John Lennon is one of the greatest song writers of all time and he was a member of the Beatles. So if I were you BUY IT.
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