Customer Reviews

Imagine (Original Soundtrack)

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I never truly appreciated the genius of John Lennon as a solo artist until I bought this CD. This is a great introduction to Lennon's music, combining a number of true Beatles classics along with some amazing Lennon solo tracks. The fact that several of the Beatles songs are not the group's more famous ones is an added plus. The very familiar Twist and Shout and Help! are great, but these songs are only an oldies' station away most of the time. The psychedelic Strawberry Fields Forever is great fun, the hard-riffing Revolution packs a punch, and Sgt. Pepper's A Day in the Life highlights Lennon's singular contribution to rock music. I was most thrilled, however, to find A Day in the Life in this collection-it may not immediately come to mind when you think of Beatles classics, but I think it is the Fab Four's most poignant song. The slow, sentimental sound of the White Album's Julia and the frenetic, catchy delivery of The Ballad of John and Yoko help set the stage for the Lennon solo tracks. Naturally, the song Imagine is the highlight of Lennon's solo career, earning a short rehearsal track along with the original in this collection. For me, Woman is the quintessential Lennon track, bursting with emotion and beauty. Then there is the controversial God; I really like the song, especially Lennon's list of things and people he doesn't believe in (which includes "beatles"); the song certainly reflects Lennon's personal philosophy, and this will doubtless flavor some listeners' regard for the track. The remaining songs were less familiar to me, but songs like Jealous Guy and (Just Like) Starting Over encompass the variety, genius, and easy listenability of this great artist's unique music.

This album offers the listener a great sampling of Lennon's entire discography. Certainly, arguments can be made about songs that should or should not have been included, but this collection represents a noble and much-appreciated effort to keep alive the memory, music, and genius of an artist struck down much too soon. Imagine what could have been, but enjoy and appreciate what was.

This album has been available on CD since it's original release in 1988. It's funny reading the reviews here because they appear to be very recent and apparently written by people who've never seen the "Imagine: John Lennon" film or heard "Real Love" before the Beatles reformed & did it for their Anthology series. Why include this acoustic version you may ask instead of the "other demo"? Well watch the opening of the film and you'll hear this simple and beautiful performance as we "skim the tree tops of Ascot", England. This is the soundtrack to that film...it's not designed to be yet another Beatles/Lennon compilation but instead includes some rather amazing & influential musical highlights from the film.
The selection of Lennon's Beatles work is quite illuminating. With "Twist & Shout" as the only nod to the "Beatlemania" years, the rest of these tracks stem (mostly) from their post '65 period. John's lyrics had evolved and become personal & /or autobiographical (Help!/In My Life/Julia/Ballad Of John & Yoko/Don't Let Me Down), creative (Strawberry Field Forever/A Day In The Life) & socially conscious (Revolution).
This links very well to John's solo work which seems to concentrate on his early 1970/71 "Plastic Ono Band/Imagine" period & his later "Double Fantasy" stuff but has very little in between. In fact their isn't a more stark or dramatic contrast that between John's "God" where he excorsises his personal demons while disowning what was once important to him (Elvis, Beatles, Dylan..), and his simple but hopefully optimistic "Imagine", a song that has stood as an "ode for world peace" for the last 30+ years. The inclusion of the rehearsal version of "Imagine" is very interesting as a pointer to the finished work. "Stand By Me", from his "Rock & Roll" LP is the solitary representation of his "Peace Activism" & Lost Weekend" stages thus "Sometime In New York City", "Mind Games" & "Wall & Bridges" LP's are not represented at all. The "Double Fantasy" period features "Woman", "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" & "(Just Like) Starting Over".
At the time there may have also been a conscious effort to keep this album down to a single CD (I think it was originally a Double vinyl LP - I might be wrong). However whatever the reason, this album is quite an enjoyable experience and highly recommended, even as an abridged intro to both The Beatles & John Lennon. At the same time it could also be the soundtrack to many of our lives..it is for mine.

Well if you want insight into the man and the music of John Lennon, this is a good one CD purchase. I know most everybody has all the pieces on the CD BUT you don't have them all on one representing John's life. When I feel I need to remember this man and his work this is the CD that I put on. It also reminds what happens to a man's work that is left behind. If you listen to REAL LOVE on this CD you will understand that the remake of it for the anthology was totally off the original concept by John. I think this is a good compilation of music of his life.

If anyone ever bothered to ask me who my favorite Beatle was (I'd probably have to reincarnate in a time-warp as a 14 year old girl back in 1963 for it to happen), I'd say unquestionably, John. John Lennon was the most important poet in English in the second half of the twentieth century (including Bob Dylan, Mick Jaggar, Dylan Thomas, Bukowski, Seamus Heany, whoever), hands down. His "greatest hits" collections read like synopses of every issue central to the age. No poet is more topical, deeper feeling, more essential on the things that count most. His musical genius still resonates within us - indisputably - but many of the lyrics are immortal. I've felt at times that should humanity still be around a couple of centuries hence, much of rock & roll, as a phenomenon, will be regarded as a footnote to the work of Lennon. I make this claim based of the fact that for humanity to survive, the world is, necessarily, going to have to look like what John envisages in his crowning masterpiece "Imagine". The soundtrack to the film made about him bearing the title of that wonderful song is my favorite collection in short format and belongs in every home, if not for you, then for your descendents, as a reminder of what the best of this age was, and what we could have been, had everyone been able to listen.

This album is the perfect epidemy of anything a person could ever ask for in a CD. Anything you could possibly want is on this album. Easy listening music, insightful lyrics, decent Voorman guitar, the works! It's all here! Flawless album.

This soundtrack should have been two CD's. Having said that however, it is the only best of compilation that has Both Beatles and solo material from Lennon on it. The lost weekend period from 73-75 is very much skipped over with Stand By Me being only song from the period and that is a shame. The demo to Real Love which is found only here is a treasure to have and is worth the purchase of the CD. Songs that are missing are Watching the Wheels, Nobody Told Me, Mind Games, Power To the People, Cold Turkey, and Come Together to name but a few. If you are new to Lennon's music however, this CD is certainly the place to begin.

Add Cold Turkey (single version), Instant Karma, and a half-dozen others and this could have been THE definitive JL Best-Of collection.

Real Love on this CD is NOT the one that was used for the new "Beatles" single.

Unlike other anthologies of John Lennon's work, this CD encompasses many of his songs from a group he used to belong to, The Beatles. By including these songs with his better known solo efforts, a listener can appreciate his evolution as a recording artist that reflected his chameleon-like personality.

Included in the better know studio recordings are a demo of Real Love that outclasses the Threetles version on Anthology 2, a live performance of Mother that is less harrowing that the POB version, an a studio rehearsal of Imagine that sheds some light on the creative process.

Oh, and the audio quality of the tracks is superb. At the price of a single CD you get almost a double album's worth of Beatles and John Lennon music.

When you buy the soundtrack to the DVD chronicling Lennon's life, you can expect to get the best when it comes to Lennon's music. This includes about an equal mix of John's Beatles and solo tunes, which really allows for Lennon's best to come forward. Notably, it starts out with "Real Love," which began as a solo John track but later (in the 90's during anthology taping) got the full band treatment and became a Beatles tune. I prefer this to "Free As A Bird," and although I like both tunes, I'm glad they chose to include "Real Love" instead of "Free As A Bird." The sountrack continues starting with a cover song from his Beatle days, "Twist and Shout," although one for which he was well known for his raucous singing.

Many of Lennon's hit original tunes from his Beatle days are predictably included here, with "Help!", "In My Life," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "A Day In The Life," "Revolution," "The Ballad of John and Yoko," "Julia," and "Don't Let Me Down" all included. These songs show off the many angles of John Lennon.

Then, several Plastic Ono Band and solo Lennon songs are included on the second half of the soundtrack. "Give Peace A Chance," "How?", "Imagine," "God," "Mother," "Stand By Me," "Jealous Guy," "Woman," "Beautiful Boy," and "(Just Like) Starting Over," are the tracks chosen from Lennon's solo years. All of them are strong tracks. "Imagine" is a rehearsal version, which gives a fresh look at the song by not including the version released on other Lennon CD's. "Stand By Me" is, of course, a cover from his 'Rock 'n' Roll' album, a 1975 release that consisted of all cover songs from the good old days of Rock 'n' Roll. Again, this selection of songs shows off the many sides of John Lennon.

Most importantly, 'Imagine' the soundtrack shows Lennon's superior songwriting ability and shows why he has attained such high status in rock music and music in general. He had a knack for it, and he did it throughout his life. If only his career had been allowed to continue, we would have even more material and more ingenious pop songs and pop records from Lennon. Unfortunately, we must hold onto what we have and take from it what we may. We must not wish for the impossible, and we must accept what we cannot change.

This 21-song disc makes an admirable effort at compressing John Lennon's entire remarkable carreer onto a single album. All the way from the early Beatles rendition of "Twist & Shout" through classics like "In My Life", "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Revolution" to his later solo work, this album gives a quick overview of the high-points of Lennon's musical carreer. There are also two previously unreleased tracks included: an early rehearsal version of "Imagine" and the original acoustic "Real Love". If you've seen the film however, you'll notice the absence of "All You Need Is Love" which was used quite well in the film. "Across The Universe" also appeared in the film and is notably absent here. Everyone probably owns those tracks already of course, but it's still a pity they didn't make it onto this album.