John Lennon - The John Lennon Collection (1989)

John Lennon was brilliant. With Paul McCartney he was genius. What we see on this album is the genius that John was able to achieve without Paul (which makes some of us wish they had remained friends and co-writers).
Documenting the very best John Lennon solo songs from 1969 to 1980, this collection is nothing less than a must-have for any serious music or rock fan. Why? Because John had the knack for writing it all. Hard rock, soft rock, romantic rock, a touch of experimental, psychedelic rock...but he didn't call it any of those. It was just simply his music. John never liked to be labeled or classified in his life, and I think he would be happy that he is thought of as a great artist and musician and human, and not just a particular type.

"Give Peace a Chance" is what was once called a classic protest song. Yet it is a poignant reminder of what John stood for and how he died. Hard to listen to this song and not think of John.

"Instant Karma!" is another song of peace, and wonders why people spend so much time worrying about the unimportant things, and not enough time worrying about each other and the world we live in.

"Power to the People" is another song from the era of protests, getting right to the heart of John's belief that if all people banded together they could make the government do right.

"Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" is good rock and went to #1. Elton John jokingly bet John that this song would go to #1. If it went to #1 then John had to appear at one of Elton's concerts. The song did go to #1 and John appeared at an Elton concert in Madison Square Gardens, the last concert appearance by John Lennon.

"#9 Dream" is so very good. One of my favorite John Lennon songs. A very surreal and mellow song, bringing back memories of the psychedelic songs of the 60s. Ah! bowakawa pousse pousse.

Next is "Mind Games", a song about seeking answers in life. Of course the song says the answer is love, and anyone who looks beyond love has missed the answer. "Love" follows, a very simple song with minimal instrumentation that fits well with "Mind Games" given the essential theme of both.

"Happy Xmas (War is Over)" is another great song in the vein of protest songs. John was very anti-war, and many of his songs hold to the ideal that people have more important things to do than fight with each other.

Then comes "Imagine", once again a song about an ideal world, where the strife caused by religion and property and hate and greed and hunger are all gone, and we live together in harmony. This song will always be John Lennon's signature song.

From here the CD moves on to relationship songs. "Jealous Guy" is song about being jealous over his wife. John realizes that he broke with the very ideals he has espoused for so many years in his relationship with his wife. A great way to say "I'm sorry".

The next song is a fantastic cover of "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. A very classy song by a very classy guy.

"(Just Like) Starting Over" is one of several songs from the album "Double Fantasy". This song did very well in the charts and helped make "Double Fantasy" a huge selling album. Good solid rock love song, just like "Woman", the song that follows.

"I'm Losing You" takes a different tack on love, where the singer realizes that somehow he and his significant other have somehow lost what made their relationship, and the two are growing apart. There are some good riffs in this song.

"Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" is an ode to John's son Sean. A bit of whimsy and pride, and a pretty song.

"Watching the Wheels" would seem to be John's explanation for why he dropped out of the music business. At the end of the song he says simply:

No longer riding on the merry-go-round,
I just had to let it go.

"Dear Yoko" is a faster paced song, and there is no need to explain what it is about. "Move Over Ms. L" would seem to be written about a female Lennon, but I have it on good authority that the song was written for Keith Moon. I can't credit my source, so we'll leave it as a mystery.

"Cold Turkey" has got to be the most bizarre song on the collection, and just goes to show what happens on a bad trip, or perhaps from going cold turkey. A touch of progressive in this song.

Enough details. John Lennon was a great. This collection has his very best (unusual in a "greatest" collection). If you've been looking for the perfect John Lennon collection, this is it.

Tracklist:
1. Give Peace a Chance
2. Instant Karma!
3. Power to the People
4. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
5. #9 Dream
6. Mind Games
7. Love
8. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
9. Imagine
10. Jealous Guy
11. Stand by Me
12. (Just Like) Starting Over
13. Woman
14. I'm Losing You
15. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
16. Watching the Wheels
17. Dear Yoko
18. Move Over Ms. L.
19. Cold Turkey