Dean's favourite albums #4 - Imagine - John Lennon

So you are a member of the biggest band in the world. It breaks up, you release a debut solo album that is critically received. What then to do with the next year. Release another great album of course!

 

Imagine, the song, is very well known, and yeah, it’s a good song, but there are lots of other tracks that I really enjoy. “Jealous Guy” (today’s link) in my opinion is a stunning piece of songwriting and the highlight on the album. I love the country rock of “Crippled Inside” , it just provides such a toe-tapping feel to it. I have never really been a fan of Yoko Ono, but gee John wrote some great songs about her, and “Oh Yoko” is a wonderful example, lovely light pop.  The protest song “Gimme Some Truth” is amazing as well. Perhaps the  most intriguing moment on the album is “How Do you Sleep?”, a vitriolic criticism of Paul McCartney, which feels at odds with the sentiments that John sung about in the title track. Despite this, it’s a fine song. When John’s relationship with Paul later improved he sort of stepped away from the song and gave an unconvincing explanation that it was more about himself than Paul – I don’t believe that for a moment, but I guess that’s the thing with writing a song, you convey your feelings at a point in time and then could potentially spend the rest of your life singing that song over and over.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giN6m-sfzng

 

Coming up at #3 – a supergroup!