Mind Games

John Lennon

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: November 2, 1973
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Capitol
• ASIN: B000002UD1
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #84,927 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mind Games

2. Tight A$

3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)

4. One Day (At a Time)

5. Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)

6. Nutopian International Anthem

7. Intuition

8. Out the Blue

9. Only People

10. I Know (I Know)

11. You Are Here

12. Meat City

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Released in 1973 after the dismal musical detour that was Sometime in New York City, Mind Games showed John Lennon returning to the emotional pop sounds of Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. But while the glorious title track (the album's only hit) was every inch a worthy successor to "Imagine," the rest of the songs were written off by most critics as half-baked experiments. In retrospect, most of them, while not classic stuff, are still better than the bulk of what passed for rock music in the early 1970s. "You Are Here" and "Out of the Blue" are definitely on par with Lennon's best solo work, while "Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)" couches its political barbs in silly good humor. Even better is "Meat City," a rocker as wild and surreal as the "White Album"'s "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey." --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars better than everyone thinks!, January 17, 2001

By	"znej" (belgium) - See all my reviews

"Mind Games" is a great album! I've got a vinyl 1984-reissue, and I can play it over and over and over again...

"Mind Games" got a lot of critisism. But why? Just listen to "Some Time In NY City". Is "Mind Games" not an enormous improvement? Firtst of all, there's no Yoko Ono. I certainly don't hate her (some of her songs like "Who Has Seen The Wind" are very nice) but John Lennon on a record should be just John Lennon and no one else. Secondly, the instrumentation is great on "Mind Games": no folksy guitars like on "Some Time" and no 'wall of sound' like on "Imagine" but wonderful and well-produced instruments, backing vocals, choirs... Then there are Lennon's compositions. "I Know (I Know)" is one of Lennon's most beautiful songs ever. (Though, I prefer the "Anthology"-version.) But just listen to it. IT'S MUCH, MUCH BETTER THAN "IMAGINE"!!! "Out The Blue" is very beautiful too. "Only People" is a great tune, and so is "Freeda Peeple (Bring In The Lucie)". And of course, "Mind Games" is a true gem. "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" has got a great piano bit, but it is - just like the 'throwaways' "Intuition", "Tight A$" and "You Are Here" - a weak, but acceptable song. The only really 'bad' song on "Mind Games" is "One Day At A Time". But what the heck! When you buy this record, you get 5 wonderful - great - fantastic songs!!! And who cares about the rest... Critics judged this album on the lyrics, that are - I agree - below Lennon's level. But that doesn't give them the right to turn the whole album into some piece of junk! Is "Walls And Bridges" so much better? Certainly not, but critics just like EVERY album with so called 'intellectual' song titles like "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)"...

So, all I am saying is "give mind games a chance"! ;-)

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Four great songs justifies this muddy-sounding collection, December 18, 1999

By	Kevin Poynter (Las Vegas, NV.) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'd actually give Mind Games two and a half stars if I could. This disk is worth buying, if only because "Mind Games", "Out the Blue", "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)", and "I Know (I Know)" rank up there with Lennon's greatest songs. The rest is an occasionally harsh, muddy-sounding curiosity(the cover is also garish and unappealing). Drugs and drinking, as well as John and Yoko's personal problems, were taking their toll, and the result was this overproduced album dominated by weak songs. "Freda Peeple (Bring on the Lucie)" is not only a dumb title, but it had one of John's most inane choruses ("Free da people nooooowwww/ Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it noooow")and is only partly saved by some good slide-guitar work. "Intuition", "Only People" etc., are barely recognizable as John Lennon songs, considering his classic work of the then-recent past (see "Imagine" 2 years earlier). Overall, a disappointment, but worth it if only to have those 4 great songs mentioned at the top of this review.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You've got to try this !!!, August 25, 2005

By	Moondog "Moondog" (Maryland) - See all my reviews

Being a longtime Beatle fan, like most I find it a shame the band broke up when it did. Lennon himself said that for all those who still want the Beatles, just get their solo albums and play a song from each back to back.

Well one of the best listening pleasures I have ever found, and I could just listen to continuously... and if you have a cd player with a 3-disc changer you have got to try it.

McCartney's Red Rose Speedway, Lennon's Mindgames, Harrison's Living in the Material World cds in a 3 disc changer on shuffle play! All three discs are from 1973 and almost sound as if they were made to fit together... they are albums a bit more obscure (than say Imagine, or Band on the Run for example) and seem fresher because of it. But these 3 discs fit together so well it really is amazing! By this time, the 3 of them were acheiving their own individual sound and style musically and lyrically (the Paul songs are very Paul, George songs are very George, and Lennon's are very Lennon), but the songs are also still Beatle-esque in their own way.

It is like having a new triple CD of the Beatles from 1973... has enough top quality hits like Mindgames, Hi Hi Hi, Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth), and My Love. And has some great songs that would be given more weight if Beatle records, to add to the arsenal such as Meat City, That Is All, You Are Here, Mess (Live), Out The Blue, Hold Me Tight/Lazy Dynamite, Be Here Now, Only People, When The Night, Get on the Right Thing, The Light That Has Lighted The World ...

It is just so awesome... with the shuffle play you never know what is coming next. The songs sound great together, and hearing a John song, followed by a Paul, then a George makes them sound even so much better and fresh.