Customer Reviews

Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Beware: Some songs have been re-mixed. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night has had the drums mixed out leaving only handclaps for an example.

Also, the track list on the back of the CD case does not indicate alternate versions are used on some songs or indicate that at least one song is a duet.

Also, the booklet is lacking. It would have been nice to have at least a short essay to put the different periods in Johns' life in perspective relating to when the albums were recorded. IE: the Primal Scream era, the "Lost Weekend", and the House Husband era to name a few. It is not like these are all cheerful love songs, so to put them in order would focus more on where he was at the time and why some are so bitter and biting.

A listing of who was in the various bands listed would be cool as well.

Additionally, evidently the songs have been re-copyrighted because the copyright dates listed in the booklet are about 30 years later than when the songs were recorded. Not asking for the Billboard charting history, but some background and actual recording dates would be nice for someone experiencing John for the first time.

My nephew would probably get a kick out of this CD and this information would be cool for a 13 year old.

I agree with other commentors that chronological order would be better. Come on Yoko. Quit criticizing Paul, and focus on Johns' history and promote his legacy.

5 stars for the music.

How do you figure this one? Five years ago, finally, Lennon's catalog was getting remastered...I thought. Capital/EMI released a remixed/remastered Plastic Ono Band on October 10, 2000. Great, I thought, sounds great, can't wait for the rest of the albums to get the treatment. Shouldn't be long, I thought. After all, we're getting up there in age. Not a lot of time left...

Well, here it is five years later, and there still putzing around with Lennon's catalog. Two of Lennon's albums STILL haven't got the remix/remaster treatment (Sometime In NYC & Walls & Bridges). Sometime certainly wasn't John's finest moment, but it still deserves the same treatment as the rest of the catalog gets, and Walls & Bridges...well, the wait is just ridiculous.

Instead, we get this. What, I'm supposed to buy this fourth or fifth rehash of a Lennon "best of" because it's got remixes of some of the non-album singles or for the remixed Walls & Bridges cuts? You bastards!!!! You haven't sucked enough money out of the Beatles' music? And I don't even mind you sucking the money, but can't you give us some decent product in return?

I'm pissed about the handling of Lennon's catalog, Harrison's catalog and the Beatles' catalog. That's it. For 4 human beings who had some integrity when this music was orginally recorded, well, this is not very fitting to their memory, I guarantee. There is so much that could be done (for the fans, the ones who will continue to spend money on this product) that is not being done, and so much that is being done that needn't be done. Sad, very sad.

Well, today is John Lennon's birthday: a perfect day to write a review of Working Class Hero. First, I have to say, I just won this cd this very morning on our working class hero's birthday, from a Beatles' radio program (Breakfast with the Beatles on KSYM in San Antonio)!

That being said, with not a little gloating, I have all of John's albums, including several compilations. The tracks on WCH do a great job of covering his solo career. Every song is a Lennon gem. Of course, there are many great songs not here, but that can't be avoided. The only perfect compilation would be a boxed set with every single album! Otherwise, this collection is a great intro for the newbie as well as being a nice addition to any old fan's Lennon library.

Yes, the songs are not in chronological order, but as it is, it's a great mix cd. John's musical life is well documented here with this super-sized collection. It's a must-have and a great gift for parents, grandparents, children, friends, and everybody else!

Happy Birthday John

...and thank you for the music

Up until now, the definitive collection of John Lennon's solo material was 1998's "Lennon Legend", which was a single cd with 20 songs. It was not perfect, but it was a more than servicable compilation.

Faadt forward to 2005. 25 years after his death and 65 years after his birth, Capitol Records has released "Working Class Hero: The Definitve Lennon", a two disc 38 song collection, digitally remastered and remixed. How does it hold up? Read on for my review.

Positives:
-This is, quite simply, the greatest Lennon collection ever. Just about everything you need is on here, including "(Just Like) Starting Over", "Imagine", "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)", "Nobody Told Me", "# 9 Dream" and just about every other big Lennon solo hit has been included.
-A lot of underrated gems have been included as well.
-The sound quality is fantastic. These songs have never ever sounded better.
-Easy to locate.

Negatives:
-The liner notes are severely lacking. Seriously, someone like Lennon deserves a decent essay on his life.
-Some of the songs are remixes, but the differences are slight if noticable.
-Very highly priced. I found it for a little under $ 30.

Overall, this is an excellent compilation that all beginning fans should snap up immediately. And hardcore Lennon fans should get it because it's perfect for the car.

If you dont have any Lennon in your collection, get this. This is the best compilation available in the market..so far. If you have bought Shaved Fish, The lennon Collection, Once upon a time, Lennon Legend, I got bad news for you: here is yet another compilation. How long before we get the "Ultimate Lennon" or "Gold Lennon" is anybody guess. The only thing I dislike about this is the sequence of the tracks. They should have put them in Chronological order. The order makes no sense at all. You may want to get this and burn the tracks in the proper order to get a better understanding of Lennon career. No tracks from the Toronto album. It could be better.

Let's get right down to it...if you don't own all of his solo albums, you should. They're hardly an easy listen, the man did like to challenge his audience, but with the Abbey Road remix and remastering team on board, John's solo stuff is getting the aural clean-up it deserves.
I'm not going to analyze the songs. I bought it today for the remixes, and they're there alright, with varied results. "Instant Karma" is in gorgeous stereo, much clearer mix, but the vocal is still distorted, just like Phil intended. "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" seems to have lost some of punch, but there are some nice lead guitar lines and string parts that were previously impossible to pick out. John's vocal is clearer, and technically, his singing is unbelievable on this track. "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" sounds amazing as well, with great separation of the instruments which wasn't the case before. "#9 Dream" should have been left alone - the original mix was perfect, and hearing the balance changed is pretty unnerving - someone messed up the EQ on Keltner's toms, and now they sound out of place. "Bless You" sounds great, like it was recorded yesterday. "Nobody Loves You" also suffers from too much clean-up on John's vocal - it no longer sounds gruff, deep and down and out. Someone pulled all of that out of the mix, now it's very trebly. Still, the band and strings sound incredible on that and all of the remixed "Walls & Bridges" tracks.
Now, will the Abbey Road staff and Apple PLEASE get it together and start remixing and remastering The Beatles catalog for 24-bit in 5.1 sound???

Why another compilation? Well, given that John Lennon's catalogue is still in print and continuing to sell, this set gives those potential buyers another option. And in my opinion it's a good one. Two CDs with 38 mostly essential tracks (and missing a few such as "Crippled Inside," but of course there's no single perfect track lineup that will please everybody).

This is definitely the best Lennon anthology out there, at the very least because it has twice as much material than any of the existing single-disc CDs, and has up-to-date remastering. I never could get into the idea that Lennon's solo career could be adequately captured on one disc. Two discs are more reasonable. Anyone who doesn't have the time or money to pick up all of the individual albums should seriously consider this set.

WORKING CLASS HERO has the key post-Beatles singles ("Cold Turkey," "Instant Karma," etc.), five tracks from John's most highly-acclaimed album (1970's PLASTIC ONO BAND), another five from the popular disc IMAGINE (1971), and so on. Maybe a couple more from POB could have bumped a couple of this collection's less-essential moments, but all-in-all the tracks are well-chosen.

The music isn't in chronological order, which is an important factor for fans who recognize many of the tracks have a connection to the period in which they were recorded (e.g., the "primal scream" period of POB, the 1980 "comeback," etc.). But that alone shouldn't discourage any potential buyers from picking up this almost-definitive collection.

As I listened to this set the first time, I was struck by the clarity and quality of the remixes. Every track sounds better than ever! Next - the selection and sequence began to remind me of Paul McCartney's "Wingspan" (will the parallels between these two men ever end?). Even though Yoko was responsible for this, you had a sense of it being a near mirror-image of Paul's effort. One big similarity stands out: the self-indulgence of some of the deep-cut selections. As Paul includes a lot of his cutesy album cuts ("Bip-bop", "Waterfalls", "Tomorrow", "Backseat of my Car",) that only he would like, so Yoko selects the most gag-me Yoko this, Yoko that cuts. "You Are Here", and "Oh Yoko" for instance, could have given way to "How Do You Sleep", "Crippled Inside", "Old Dirt Road", "Remember", and "You Can't Catch Me". But really, I'm not complaining - I'm pretty sure John would have wanted the Yoko cuts in there. As a fan of both John and Paul, I have to say that hearing their selections does tell us a little more about them (in this case Yoko), and either way. I enjoy it.

But CD2 . . . oh baby! First we get this delicious alternate cut of "I'm Losing You". That alone makes this "yet another" greatest hots package worth it. But as I progressed further down the track list on CD2, I wondered what I was going to get when "Real Love" played (I do not have the John Lennon Anthology). Would it be the home-made scratch demo of the Imagine soundtrack? NO - it was the final arrangement of the song, a wonderful, beautiful rendition featuring John and the piano. I was thrilled to hear that the Beatles Anothology version was not the Threetles spinning of John's concept. All they did was layer instruments and background vocals onto a completed product. What a thrill to learn that the introduction and breaks are all John. John writes beautiful melodies with massive hooks, without Paul - and sometimes it is so good that even Paul will not mess with it!

But that's not all . . .

Again, with "Grow Old With Me", I wondered what I would be getting. The version that I know already, is the scratch demo from Milk and Honey, a syrupy, almost affected sappy thing that I thought John wrote to show how timeless and classic his love for Yoko was (more John and Yoko blah blah blah). I could picture John quickly writing it at the Dakota some afternoon, in between folding laundry and watching soaps.

But wait! Produced by George Martin? I dared to hope that it would sound good! And indeed - like "Good Night" on the White Album, this is definitely a Beatles-era George Martin production. And what a way to end this mega-set!

Did I sense some ice thawing? A George Martin production on a John Lennon album? A first-time (almost) release of essentially a Beatles song, on a Lennon album? Folks, this arrangement is so beautiful musically, that when you realize that Yoko is tipping her hat to the Beatles and Martin, with the closing song of this set, it almost seems like a missing track from the Anthology. And it shows what can happen to a John Lennon composition when someone other than himself or Phil Spector gets a ahold of it!

Grow Old With Me is like a little Beatles reunion, in a sense. I just love the way it closes out this anthology!

These three tracks gave me my money's worth.

And now - I am wondering how many other Beatles or near-Beatles songs are STILL hidden away down in some vault?

To call this 38-track collection definitive is a bit presumptuous, but it is the most thorough anthology currently available. My only complaint is the short shrift given to Lennon's rockers like "Well Well Well" or "Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)" and non-album B-sides like "Move Over Ms. L." But overall this is a rewarding collection of songs. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the shooting of John Lennon. I was never really familiar with his music beyond the mega hits `Imagine' and `Woman' (which I've always loved and always wanted to own) so when this collection came out, I felt it would make for a great introduction.

It sure is. With touching lyrics that range from social issues, to his love for his family. I much prefer his delicate ballads which are timeless and beat current stuff hands down. Besides the above mentioned two classics, there's the folk clap-along Vietnam protest number `Give peace a chance', a message still needed today. `God' is a ballad declaring his disbelief in practically everything and everyone besides Yoko and himself. Touching!

There is a brilliant acoustic ballad version of `Real love' (released later by The Beatles - Paul, Ringo and George), the tender `Beautiful boy (darling boy)' which I suspect was written for his then young son Sean, `Scared', `#9 dream', `Intuition', and I just love `Happy Christmas (war is over)'.

I feel his musical influences can be felt in acts like Oasis to Robbie Williams.

As I stated in the title of my review, this was the day the music died, not the songs, mind you (these live forever), but the man.