John Lennon's Solo Career

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DevilsShoes

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What do people think about his solo stuff?

Very often it seems as if his whole career after The Beatles has been morphed into Imagine, which is a shame since he actually produced a fair few gems from 70-80.

Plastic Ono Band: This is probably Lennon at his peak, he was rarely this inspired again. Primal Scream therapy left him pretty raw and this is reflected in the songs, practically all of which are brilliant but extremely pained. This is Lennon at his most honest and his most scary. Working Class Hero features some of his most incisive and cynical lyrics and, for me, is the albums high point.

Imagine: Excellent follow up. Far more commercial and accessible, it lacks Plastic Ono Bands sharp edge, but is a much easier listen. Jealous Guy, Its So Hard and How? are all superb and How Do You Sleep shows that even now they were no longer song-writing partners, Lennon still felt the need to compete with McCartney.

Sometime In New York City: His first real solo failure, and almost completely forgotten about today. Although often accused of being naive and ill-concieved, the album does include New York City which captures Lennon's exuberance for the city and his very own Sunday Bloody Sunday (yeah U2's is still better), plus Luck Of The Irish, which has some extremely gullible lyrics but does feature a gorgeous vocal from Lennon.

Mind Games: This is Lennon treading water. Probably his most uninspired solo effort, he was being pursued by the FBI and his relationship with Yoko was on the rocks, so writing songs probably was probably the last thing on his mind. I think this album is trying to be Imagine Part Two, even down to the sequencing. Still Mind Games has a certain spark and Out The Blue is strangely moving.

Walls And Bridges: Lennon sounds energised again, teaming up with Elton John for his first solo number one Whatever Gets You Through The Night and in the midst of his relationship with May Pang which produced Surprise, Surprise (great little number), but he's still writing about his demons, particuarly on Nobody Loves You When You Down And Out (which basically describes that whole Lost Weekend period) and What You Got which includes one of Lennon's most passionate vocal performances since Plastic Ono Band.

Double Fantasy: This was criticised heavily at the time for being far too soft and commercial, some critics even said that Yoko's offering were better than Lennon's and he certainly sounds more content than ever, but overall its only really I'm Losing You and Watching The Wheels which recapture former glories.

Overall, erratic but interspersed by glimmers of brilliance, much like the man himself then.
 
I always felt that John Lennon's solo career was very bi-polar, it was either gold or shit, very little in between. Even within the albums it was this way, which from what I've read his life post-Beatles was like this so it makes sense, he went from one extreme to another.
 
Plastic Ono Band
Walls and Bridges is quite underrated-especially #9 Dream
 
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