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Four disc anthology of John Lennon's best post-Beatles work, presented in a brand new digital remaster. This set spans the full range of Lennon's work both as a solo artist and with Yoko Ono, from the timeless, popular classic Imagine to the angry, politically challenging Some Time in New York City.
Product Description
CD-1:1-Working Class Hero 2-Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) 3-Power To The People 4-God 5-I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna 6-Gimme Some Truth 7-Sunday Bloody Sunday 8-Steel And Glass 9-Meat City 10-I Don't Wanna Face It 11-Remember 12-Woman Is The Nigger Of The World 13-I Found Out 14-Isolation 15-Imagine 16-Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 17-Give Peace A Chance 18-Only People CD-2:1-Mother 2-Hold On 3-You Are Here 4-Well Well Well 5-Oh My Love 6-Oh Yoko! 7-Grow Old With Me 8-Love 9-Jealous Guy 10-Woman 11-Out The Blue 12-Bless You 13-Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out) 14-My Mummy's Dad 15-I'm Losing You 16-(Just Like)Starting Over 17-#9 Dream 18-Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) CD-3:1-Mind Games 2-Nobody Told Me 3-Cleanup Time 4-Crippled Inside 5-How Do You Sleep 6-How? 7-Intuition 8-I'm Stepping Out 9-Whatever Gets You Thru The Night 10-Old Dirt Road 11-Scared 12-What You Got 13-Cold Turkey 14-New York City 15-Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox) 16-Borrowed Time 17-Look At Me 18-Watching The Wheels CD-4:1-Be-Bop-A-Lula 2-You Can't Catch Me 3-Medley: Rip It Up/Ready Teddy 4-Tight AS 5-Ain't That A Shame 6-Sweet Little Sixteen 7-Do You Wanna Dance 8-Slippin' And Slidin' 9-Peggy Sue 10-Medley: Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some L 11-Yer Blues (Live) 12-Just Because 13-Bony Moronie 14-Beef Jerky 15-Ya Ya 16-Hound Dog (Live) 17-Stand By Me 18-Here We Go Again
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
For the average Beatles fan the past 18 months have echoed the words of William Wordsworth "Bliss was it that dawn to be alive". Last years complete box set showed that the Fabs music had hidden dimensions amongst the already taken for granted brilliance and at last the recording quality was something to admire than fret about. Now a year later a further smorgasbord of Beatles, Apple and solo releases are about to follow (detailed in a great list by Mark Barry on Amazon). Coinciding with what would have been his 70th birthday probably none are more special than the remastering of the albums of Dr Winston O Boogie, Mr John Lennon himself supported in parts by Yoko Ono, the Plastic Ono Band, Elton John and a cast of thousands.
There is little point here partaking again in that interminable debate about which Beatle had the best solo career. Neither do I particularly want to get into the discussion about what is or is not included. What is important is the chance to reassess this music in light of the remastering and ascertain whether this themed approach to presenting Lennon's music works over the 4 CDs of this mini box set which to be fair is excellently packaged, with a beautifully annotated booklet and card sleeves. The 4 themes contained here are - Working Class Hero (politics and controversy), Woman (love), Borrowed time (life episodes) and Roots (Rock n Roll)
The themes do broadly fit and such an approach has been applied to other major artists in the past but obviously in the last analysis it's the songs that are the clincher. What is fascinating about the remastering is how the underrated parts of Lennon's canon come to the fore. "Mind Games" which is the precursor to his infamous "lost weekend" always seemed to this reviewer to be "the bridesmaid but never the bride" in the evaluation of Lennon's work. This was not assisted by the fact that the production was shrouded in dense Dartmoor style fog. Listening therefore to the title track, "Out of the blue" "Intuition" and a viciously pristine "Cold Turkey" with Lennon's concluding detox agonies more pronounced than ever makes you realise what great songs they are. The choices here also stress a careful if pointed balance. Thus selections from the album length left wing harangue that was "Somewhere in New York City" are thankfully at a minimum although the absence of "John Sinclair" is a shame. Alternatively Lennon's masterpiece the troubled and unashamedly in your face the "Plastic Ono Band" is well represented. Lennon grappling with the demons of his youth is nowhere more apparent on "Mother" which remains a cruel heartbreaking lament; "Love" is so strong it could have happily appeared on any of the post 1968 Beatles albums and his list of "don't believes" in "God" are continuing evidence of the mans sheer audacity and bravery as he announces that the Beatles "dream is over".
The "Imagine" album selections needs no significant comment here other than the fact that Lennon's time in Ascot did represent a purple patch in terms of classic song writing up there with his Beatle years. Ironically despite all the album's idealism "How do you sleep" remains a scathing attack on McCartney and the vicious pun contained in the line "the only thing you done was yesterday" remains one of Lennon's most witheringly contemptuous comments. Finally let us tip a nod to the underrated "Rock n Roll" album where Lennon's cover of "Stand by Me" stands as one of the finest vocals of the rock canon by a man who almost single handed invented the genre, while "Just because" despite all the post Beatles angst remains priceless with its touching greeting to his Paul, George and Ringo.
The "Gimme some truth" campaign is fascinating and timely. Yoko Ono should be massively praised for her efforts not least in the role she has played in producing the stripped down version of "Double Fantasy". Lennon may have died 30 years ago but he remains in death one of the most intriguing cultural figures of the 20th century and on the massive evidence of all this remastered material one of the most vibrant and relevant recording artists of the 21st century.
There is little point here partaking again in that interminable debate about which Beatle had the best solo career. Neither do I particularly want to get into the discussion about what is or is not included. What is important is the chance to reassess this music in light of the remastering and ascertain whether this themed approach to presenting Lennon's music works over the 4 CDs of this mini box set which to be fair is excellently packaged, with a beautifully annotated booklet and card sleeves. The 4 themes contained here are - Working Class Hero (politics and controversy), Woman (love), Borrowed time (life episodes) and Roots (Rock n Roll)
The themes do broadly fit and such an approach has been applied to other major artists in the past but obviously in the last analysis it's the songs that are the clincher. What is fascinating about the remastering is how the underrated parts of Lennon's canon come to the fore. "Mind Games" which is the precursor to his infamous "lost weekend" always seemed to this reviewer to be "the bridesmaid but never the bride" in the evaluation of Lennon's work. This was not assisted by the fact that the production was shrouded in dense Dartmoor style fog. Listening therefore to the title track, "Out of the blue" "Intuition" and a viciously pristine "Cold Turkey" with Lennon's concluding detox agonies more pronounced than ever makes you realise what great songs they are. The choices here also stress a careful if pointed balance. Thus selections from the album length left wing harangue that was "Somewhere in New York City" are thankfully at a minimum although the absence of "John Sinclair" is a shame. Alternatively Lennon's masterpiece the troubled and unashamedly in your face the "Plastic Ono Band" is well represented. Lennon grappling with the demons of his youth is nowhere more apparent on "Mother" which remains a cruel heartbreaking lament; "Love" is so strong it could have happily appeared on any of the post 1968 Beatles albums and his list of "don't believes" in "God" are continuing evidence of the mans sheer audacity and bravery as he announces that the Beatles "dream is over".
The "Imagine" album selections needs no significant comment here other than the fact that Lennon's time in Ascot did represent a purple patch in terms of classic song writing up there with his Beatle years. Ironically despite all the album's idealism "How do you sleep" remains a scathing attack on McCartney and the vicious pun contained in the line "the only thing you done was yesterday" remains one of Lennon's most witheringly contemptuous comments. Finally let us tip a nod to the underrated "Rock n Roll" album where Lennon's cover of "Stand by Me" stands as one of the finest vocals of the rock canon by a man who almost single handed invented the genre, while "Just because" despite all the post Beatles angst remains priceless with its touching greeting to his Paul, George and Ringo.
The "Gimme some truth" campaign is fascinating and timely. Yoko Ono should be massively praised for her efforts not least in the role she has played in producing the stripped down version of "Double Fantasy". Lennon may have died 30 years ago but he remains in death one of the most intriguing cultural figures of the 20th century and on the massive evidence of all this remastered material one of the most vibrant and relevant recording artists of the 21st century.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Even before his shocking, violent and untimely death John Lennon was always regarded as a much more enigmatic and fascinating figure than Paul McCartney. One reason for this was to do with his personality, but he was also far less prolific. As a solo artist Lennon only released seven studio albums in ten years, and one of these was an album of covers. There was also a five year gap between the Rock and Roll album and the final album Double Fantasy. So in the second half of the seventies he actually only released two albums. Okay there was the posthumous Milk and Honey and of course a few non album singles which artist regularly released in those days, but this is still far from prolific. In that same period McCartney issued about ten albums and many more since. Of course there is no knowing if Lennon would have gone on to become more prolific once again had he lived.
A fascinating game for rock fans is to estimate whether either of the main Beatles would have been regarded as the great geniuses they are considered to be had they been measured on their solo work only. As this is a Lennon review I will just concentrate on his work. Whether he has produced better solo music than McCartney is difficult to compare, however I think because he wasn't so prolific he was usually at least more interesting. I also believe both produced their fair share of rubbish, more so Macca simply because he was more prolific. Certainly the almost immaculate quality control exercised by the Beatles throughout their career (perhaps with the help of George Martin) was no longer evident in either of Lennon-McCartney solo careers.
I compiled a list of truly great Beatles songs composed by Lennon: Hard Days Night, If I Fell, Help, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, In My Life, I'm Only Sleeping, Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In The Sky, A Day In The Life. There probably aren't that many more great ones, although of course there are loads more good songs. I would suggest Macca had about as many great songs. However it is noticeable that most of Lennon's best songs come in the first half of the Beatles career; only the last three coming after 66 and none after 67, whereas McCartney's classics were spread more evenly throughout the Beatles career, and by the end there was little doubt he'd surpassed Lennon as a composer. Lennon's supporters would argue that this was because Johnny had lost interest in the Fabs, so it is from this point we come to his solo career.
If we are to list his truly classic solo songs as I did with his Beatles work then what do we have? Imagine, definitely but then what else? I would suggest Jealous Guy and Mind Games, both of which I believe actually have better tunes than Imagine, but it is the lyrics of Imagine as much as the music which have helped it achieve classic status. I would also add Happy Xmas War Is Over (one of the best Christmas Songs ever written) to the list, but after that we are struggling. Instant Karma, Power To The People, Whatever Gets You Thru The Night, No 9 Dream, Starting Over and Watching The Wheels are all good singles, but I wouldn't call any of them truly classic songs; whilst I've never liked the tune of Woman, which I've always thought a bit of a bland dirge, only achieving the huge success it did because of its time of release. I actually much prefer Beautiful Boy which is a lovely tune and not far off being included in his list of classics. I do like Cold Turkey, but it's not a classic song, nor even a good single, whilst Give Peace a Chance is a great sentiment and can be moving in certain circumstances, but it's not even a good song. Moving on to the album tracks, How Do You Sleep, the notorious attack on McCartney, is actually a good song, although some people might be put off by the lyrics. I also particularly like Crippled Inside and You Are Here, and both God and Working Class Hero are at least interesting.
This is the first definitive box set of Lennon's released solo work. There was the earlier four disc set, but that contained much unreleased stuff. This set contains virtually all the solo Lennon most people would want and is an excellent compromise between the skimpy fifteen track hits disc and the overpriced Signature box of all the albums which have been released simultaneously. However if you really only want the truly best solo Lennon you'd be better sticking with the earlier two disc Working Class Hero.
So what do you get here?
You get all of Plastic Ono Band; all of Imagine apart from one track, (It's So Hard, which is actually a good bluesy track); just three tracks from the heavily criticised Sometime In New York City - the two most famous songs New York City (a good rocker) and the controversial Woman is the Nigger of the World (as bad as it sounds). There is also Sunday Bloody Sunday which I'd never heard properly before. The verses of this make a good rock song, but the chorus is irritating and the lyrics would annoy and even antagonise many English people, showing Lennon at his worst. More than half of Mind Games and nearly all of Walls and Bridges are included. There is also most of Double Fantasy and the best tracks from Milk and Honey, whilst the entire Rock and Roll album is featured.
The set is structured thematically rather than chronologically. I prefer the latter, but the thematic approach works quite well here. The Rock and Roll album is given one disc, however it doesn't follow the running order of the original album and has many other tracks interspersed. As I bought the original vinyl album not long after it was originally released, it being one of my most played albums for years, I was incredibly familiar with the original running order, and to have it disrupted now sounds weird.
The set comes in a small cardboard slip case - the kind associated with budget releases - although there is a booklet with pictures and liner notes. To be honest these aren't brilliant, and it's annoying that, although full publishing credits are given, it doesn't tell you which album each song comes from, nor even the year of release; the box set does have a low budget feel even though it is full price. Furthermore the cardboard slip cases that house the individual discs have a tendency to scratch them if you're not careful.
As I say this is ultimately all the solo Lennon most listeners would want, and if they'd have added a fifth disc it would have virtually included all the originally released material. Providing you're not bothered about original artwork and the integrity of the original running order then this is certainly worth buying rather than the original albums.
Finally, it is easy to forget that even if he wasn't quite a genius songwriter as a solo artist, John Lennon was probably the greatest rock and roll singer Britain has ever produced.
A fascinating game for rock fans is to estimate whether either of the main Beatles would have been regarded as the great geniuses they are considered to be had they been measured on their solo work only. As this is a Lennon review I will just concentrate on his work. Whether he has produced better solo music than McCartney is difficult to compare, however I think because he wasn't so prolific he was usually at least more interesting. I also believe both produced their fair share of rubbish, more so Macca simply because he was more prolific. Certainly the almost immaculate quality control exercised by the Beatles throughout their career (perhaps with the help of George Martin) was no longer evident in either of Lennon-McCartney solo careers.
I compiled a list of truly great Beatles songs composed by Lennon: Hard Days Night, If I Fell, Help, Norwegian Wood, Nowhere Man, Girl, In My Life, I'm Only Sleeping, Strawberry Fields Forever, Lucy In The Sky, A Day In The Life. There probably aren't that many more great ones, although of course there are loads more good songs. I would suggest Macca had about as many great songs. However it is noticeable that most of Lennon's best songs come in the first half of the Beatles career; only the last three coming after 66 and none after 67, whereas McCartney's classics were spread more evenly throughout the Beatles career, and by the end there was little doubt he'd surpassed Lennon as a composer. Lennon's supporters would argue that this was because Johnny had lost interest in the Fabs, so it is from this point we come to his solo career.
If we are to list his truly classic solo songs as I did with his Beatles work then what do we have? Imagine, definitely but then what else? I would suggest Jealous Guy and Mind Games, both of which I believe actually have better tunes than Imagine, but it is the lyrics of Imagine as much as the music which have helped it achieve classic status. I would also add Happy Xmas War Is Over (one of the best Christmas Songs ever written) to the list, but after that we are struggling. Instant Karma, Power To The People, Whatever Gets You Thru The Night, No 9 Dream, Starting Over and Watching The Wheels are all good singles, but I wouldn't call any of them truly classic songs; whilst I've never liked the tune of Woman, which I've always thought a bit of a bland dirge, only achieving the huge success it did because of its time of release. I actually much prefer Beautiful Boy which is a lovely tune and not far off being included in his list of classics. I do like Cold Turkey, but it's not a classic song, nor even a good single, whilst Give Peace a Chance is a great sentiment and can be moving in certain circumstances, but it's not even a good song. Moving on to the album tracks, How Do You Sleep, the notorious attack on McCartney, is actually a good song, although some people might be put off by the lyrics. I also particularly like Crippled Inside and You Are Here, and both God and Working Class Hero are at least interesting.
This is the first definitive box set of Lennon's released solo work. There was the earlier four disc set, but that contained much unreleased stuff. This set contains virtually all the solo Lennon most people would want and is an excellent compromise between the skimpy fifteen track hits disc and the overpriced Signature box of all the albums which have been released simultaneously. However if you really only want the truly best solo Lennon you'd be better sticking with the earlier two disc Working Class Hero.
So what do you get here?
You get all of Plastic Ono Band; all of Imagine apart from one track, (It's So Hard, which is actually a good bluesy track); just three tracks from the heavily criticised Sometime In New York City - the two most famous songs New York City (a good rocker) and the controversial Woman is the Nigger of the World (as bad as it sounds). There is also Sunday Bloody Sunday which I'd never heard properly before. The verses of this make a good rock song, but the chorus is irritating and the lyrics would annoy and even antagonise many English people, showing Lennon at his worst. More than half of Mind Games and nearly all of Walls and Bridges are included. There is also most of Double Fantasy and the best tracks from Milk and Honey, whilst the entire Rock and Roll album is featured.
The set is structured thematically rather than chronologically. I prefer the latter, but the thematic approach works quite well here. The Rock and Roll album is given one disc, however it doesn't follow the running order of the original album and has many other tracks interspersed. As I bought the original vinyl album not long after it was originally released, it being one of my most played albums for years, I was incredibly familiar with the original running order, and to have it disrupted now sounds weird.
The set comes in a small cardboard slip case - the kind associated with budget releases - although there is a booklet with pictures and liner notes. To be honest these aren't brilliant, and it's annoying that, although full publishing credits are given, it doesn't tell you which album each song comes from, nor even the year of release; the box set does have a low budget feel even though it is full price. Furthermore the cardboard slip cases that house the individual discs have a tendency to scratch them if you're not careful.
As I say this is ultimately all the solo Lennon most listeners would want, and if they'd have added a fifth disc it would have virtually included all the originally released material. Providing you're not bothered about original artwork and the integrity of the original running order then this is certainly worth buying rather than the original albums.
Finally, it is easy to forget that even if he wasn't quite a genius songwriter as a solo artist, John Lennon was probably the greatest rock and roll singer Britain has ever produced.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This is an excellent box set of some really great music from John Lennon.
Some of his albums are completely included on this set. i.e. The Rock and Roll album. Others almost complete and some reviewers have complained that they are not in the original order of the albums, but if you can look past that, you will find that it is a great collection of his songs.
The only complaint I had with it, and it's a small one, was that when I unwrapped it, I found that the complete list of the albums and their tracks that I could see through the cellophane was actually only printed on a loose piece of paper and not on the cover as it had seemed.
I know the titles are on each cover inside, but the printed list that came with it should have been printed on the outside and not on a flimsy piece of paper.
But that's just a small complaint which does'nt take away from this being a terrific buy for a reasonable price.
Some of his albums are completely included on this set. i.e. The Rock and Roll album. Others almost complete and some reviewers have complained that they are not in the original order of the albums, but if you can look past that, you will find that it is a great collection of his songs.
The only complaint I had with it, and it's a small one, was that when I unwrapped it, I found that the complete list of the albums and their tracks that I could see through the cellophane was actually only printed on a loose piece of paper and not on the cover as it had seemed.
I know the titles are on each cover inside, but the printed list that came with it should have been printed on the outside and not on a flimsy piece of paper.
But that's just a small complaint which does'nt take away from this being a terrific buy for a reasonable price.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
He really mean it
I spent my youth buying the solo albums of John Lennon, and so these songs have been in my consciousness for a long time, and there is nothing new here for me. Read more
Published 5 months ago by BrynG
Clarity of sound clarity of message
I took on board the comments on the 70th box set and the price of the Mont Blanc pens !! So if you are not an old curmudgeon like myself get this for a great mix of tunes. Read more
Published 18 months ago by NW Dave
Nice price, strange running order
It's perfectly fine releasing a box set with themed discs, especially at budget price, but personally I prefer listening to the original albums, with the original running order of... Read more
Published 18 months ago by F. Jensen
Interesting item
Most interesting item for somebody who doesn't want to collect the music of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, but like to have the most important work of them. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Vandecappelle Ludwig
Here we go again!
To my mind, this is a pretty cheap way of picking up the best tracks from Lennon's solo years. There are 72 songs here, which is more than enough for all but the most die-hard... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Theolonious
The best and the worst
The entire spectrum of the Beatles/ex Beatles is too broad a church to criticise.Though critics have never been far away from the Beatles right from Day 1 through Magical Mystery... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Richard
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