So the only Lennon cd I own is Lennon Legend. I really enjoy some of it, other parts, not so much. Anyway, here's a rundown of how I feel about the songs I've heard:

Great:
Imagine
Instant Karma
Jealous Guy
Love
Mind Games
Stand By Me
(Just Like) Starting Over
Watching The Wheels
Working Class Hero
Give Peace A Chance

Good:
Mother
Cold Turkey
Whatever Gets You Through the Night
Woman
Nobody Told Me
Happy Christmas (War is Over)

Not So Much:
Power To The People
#9 Dream
Beautiful Boy
Borrowed Time

Also, I'm not a fan of Yoko's voice. I don't know if she sings on any of the songs or not.

I know she sings on "Happy Christmas" with the choir of kids. Other than that, no clue.

"Working Class Hero" is one fucking excellent song.

#9 Dream is incredible.

Anybody heard Green Day's remake of Working Class Hero?
Some songs just shouldn't be covered...I swear the first time I heard GD's version it I thought the drums would kick in Stairway to Heaven style...sho' nuff.

i really don't think anyone is...

some of the artsy and psuedo intellectuals like to pretend that they do though

pick up imagine and plastic ono band.

The Imagine soundtrack is a good one. It has beatles songs on it, too. And John Lennon 'acoustic' is worth checking out. It's more for hard core fans. It's a mix of demos and live performances, including an acoustic version of Imagine.

this is definitely the one i've listened to the most in the past 12 months or so.

Yeah, I really like it, too. It's such a good album. I like the "new" song 'what you got'. But my absolute favorites are the last 4 songs(not including the last track); watching the wheels, dear yoko, real love, and imagine. I didn't know he'd ever played imagine on guitar before. And I get 'John Sinclair' stuck in my head sometimes. "It ain't fair, John Sinclair"....

Edit: I just picked up 'sometime in new york city' a couple of weeks ago. There are several songs on here I've never heard before. I haven't listened to it yet, though. I've always wondered about sunday bloody sunday, born in a prison, and attica state. Maybe I'll listen to them now....

I can't listen to a John Lennon compilation; it just feels awkward. I have to listen to the actual album the song came from, in it's entirety. I can't say that about too many artists, but it's true for Lennon's solo work for me.

denis leary steals bill hicks' act and becomes famous yet bill dies of cancer. explain that.

Happy Xmas is the only christmas song I can listen to year round.

I hold most of John's solo work up with any beatles record.

At best Lennon had a mediocre solo career... he was a wife beater and a bad father, at least to Julian.

The two points you made in your post have absolutely no correlation whatsoever. And the first one is just ridiculous.

The first one is not ridiculous. Lennon's solo career, by most accounts, was disappointing. He spent far too much time with straight-forward rock n roll and many of his post-Beatles lyrics suffered from directness. He did not fulfill his promise of greatness as a solo artist. In terms of quality his career certainly ranked behind George and Paul.


And he was a bad person.

No way. I'll give you George, but Paul's post-Beatle work is absolute shit. Plastic Ono Band is a brilliant album; just because it doesn't have that Beatles feel doesn't mean it's not good in it's own right (All Things Must Pass, the best solo album of all 4 ex-Beatles, also sounds nothing like the Beatles).




I don't know enough about the man to comment on this, so I'll take your word for it.

i'm not sure about the wife-beating thing, at least post-Cynthia, because he acknowledged that he has been "a hitter" in several post-Beatles interviews, which doesn't excuse his previous behaviour but certainly works on par with the bluntness of his early solo work where he wasn't afraid of exposing his ugly side, something that few of us are able to do, let alone in a public context. but the guy escapes easy definitions anyway - i really doubt he was "an asshole" or "a saint", but something like a complex human being living a very odd life. those harsh judgements about Lennon are probably the downside of his "peace and love activism". although i'm interrested in great r'n'r figures' private lives to a certain extent, the message in Imagine remains much more important than what he did on his lost weekend or whatever.
and imo, Plastic Ono Band is the greatest post-Beatles album by a Beatle, followed closely by Ram and All Things Must Pass.
Mind Games is a hit-or-miss album but it has some very sweet tunes such as "Out Of The Blue" and the title track.

Shaved fish is a good compilation, and an even better one is Menlove Ave. weird title. The second on is full of rarites and awesome alternate take, as good as any of his beatle stuff. Also, Mind Games and Walls and Bridges have some good moments.

Plastic ono is most peoples favourite.

Steer clear of his first three - they are all yoko/lennon experimental compilations. HArrison one ups all three with 'electronic sounds' before they both started putting songs on thier albums. Songs like dont worry kyoko mommys only looking for her hand in the snow and no bed for beatle john, are kind of cool and ok once in a while, but probably not actually.