A Ranking of John Lennon’s Solo Records
I just finished watching the film Nowhere Boy which is a lovely movie about the early days of John Lennon (pre The Beatles). The movie, based off the book by his sister Julia Baird entitled, “Imagine This: Growing Up with My Brother John Lennon“, is a remarkably beautiful movie that shows the turmoil of Lennon’s upbringing. Delving into his relationship with his aunt and uncle and exploring a mother that so desperately wanted to be in his life. If you are a fan of John Lennon, The Beatles or just want to watch a phenomenal film please check this out.
The movie had me thinking nostalgically about what more he would have created had he not been gunned down on the streets of New York by Mark David Chapman. Before his death in 1980, Lennon released just 10 studio albums outside his works with The Beatles. Of those ten, three of those were “experimental records” made with wife Yoko Ono.
I am also going to include a half-live album and an all-covers LP into the fray. Plus, the posthumously released 1984 LP, Milk and Honey a sequel to 1980’s Double Fantasy comeback that he was working on before his life was cut short. In total I will be doing a Top 11 ranking from what I feel were his lesser efforts to the top album by John Lennon.
11. ‘Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions’ (1969)
This record is a compilation of audio scraps and recorded sounds from various experimentations by John and Yoko. Lennon said of the sound, “That’s just saying whatever you want it to say. It’s just us expressing ourselves without any words or format, not formalizing the sound we make to words or to make music or beat.” The entirety of Side B was recorded in a patient suite at London’s Queen Charlotte Hospital where Ono was admitted with pregnancy complications and ultimately lost a child. The sound and “music” you hear on the record is said to be the couple’s expression of love. It’s something.
10. ‘Wedding Album’ (1969)
The album released by Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969 includes the same sort of experimental pieces found on the two earlier ‘Unfinished Music’ records. Heartbeats, tape manipulation, interviews and various noises scattered together in two extended pieces that run about 50 minutes. With Wedding Album, Lennon and Ono created a snapshot of a reverberating cultural moment, with the atrocities of the Vietnam War as its central backdrop. The album is an avant-garde expression of the times, but it is just a little too messy for me.
9. ‘Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins’ (1969)
Lennon released three albums while the Beatles were still officially together. All of them were these experimental pieces with Yoko Ono at his side. “Two Virgins” is probably more well known for the album cover than the music itself. The album, which featured John and Yoko nude on the front and back covers, has been jokingly referred to over the years as the “most talked about album to have never been played.” The album was recorded in May 1968, supposedly during John and Yoko’s first night together, and features an amalgamation of oddly mixed random noise, primal screeching, reverse tape loops, and other “found sound.”
8. ‘Some Time in New York City’ (1972)
At this point in 1972 the couple knew that they were wielding power and had an audience that was listening to the messages that they were putting out through their music. They also realized that these themes no longer needed to be well placed poetic images, but rather they would deliver their political and societal ideals in force. The album lends to a preachy vibe and yet it does not have a lot of substance. They should have stuck with the more artistic approach when trying to get their point across.
7. ‘Walls and Bridges’ (1974)
Following the completion of the Mind Games album in September 1973, John Lennon separated from his wife Yoko and headed for Los Angeles to begin a period he later referred to as his “Lost Weekend.” At this point of John’s life, he was buried in depression and depravity riddled behavior. Not only that, but President Nixon was trying to have John deported. However, despite all that, his creativity seemed to thrive. Plus, it does not hurt to have Elton John join you on a record. John captures a lot of beauty in this album and the production is wonderful. The message of this record is more about love and loss and those feelings are more accessible to the listener.
6. ‘Milk and Honey’ (1984)
Milk and Honey was released just over three years after Lennon’s death in 1984. It is assembled from songs “leftover” from his Double Fantasy album as well as tracks he was working on after those sessions wrapped. I could have easily put this LP at #5 or even #6. This record is incredibly special to me as it was the first solo Lennon record that I ever purchased, and it made me want to know more about this John Lennon fellow. I wanted to understand more about this eccentric man outside of The Fab Four. “Nobody Told Me” is my favorite song on the album. I imagine Lennon standing in the middle of the street, looking around at the world and wondering how it all changed. His life has been drastically altered from the early days of Liverpool. From the lyrics, “Everybody’s smoking and no one’s getting high” to “Everybody’s making love and no one really cares” and “There’s UFOs over New York and I ain’t too surprised”, “Nobody Told Me” gives me the impression that maybe Lennon was finally coming to terms with everything in his life and just marveling at the existence of it all. Or he was being snarky and laughing at all of us. Either way, it is John being John.
5. ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll’ (1975)
Lennon started recording this collection of 1950s and ’60s covers before he even released Walls and Bridges. However, after producer Phil Spector skipped town with the master tapes (that is a whole other article), its release was delayed for a couple of years. Thus, making it his last released album before a five-year hiatus. This album was a tribute to all the music that John emulated as a youth. In the movie that I inspired this writing, John tells his aunt, “I’m gonna start a rock n’ roll band. I’m gonna be like Elvis.” Unfortunately, there are no Elvis covers that appeared on this album, but I like to think that they do exist somewhere. He was a massive Presley fan.
He croons a magnificent version of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” on the record. He channels all the emotion of losing his mother and you can hear him looking for someone to literally be in his corner. Even though this record is covers, Lennon certainly maintains his style and composes the chemistry of the music to match his being without compromising the intentions of the original artist.
4. ‘Mind Games’ (1973)
Another tough call on this one as I had put it at number three, but then thought differently about my choice. John Lennon’s brilliance once again shines through marital issues with Yoko that would lead to “the lost weekend”, the continuing battle with Nixon and the FBI over a potential deportation from the U.S. Yet, he comes off as “at peace” on the album. Mind Games may have been a conscious effort to transcend and attempt to grasp contentment from all the turmoil.
Some have speculated that the song “I Know” was an olive branch extended to former bandmate Paul McCartney towards the bands break up. The bottom line is you can shut your brain down and just listen to this album and your worries will fade into the background of the tunes.
3. ‘Double Fantasy’ (1980)
After a self-imposed five-year musical exile Lennon returned to the studio with Yoko and a track listing that exquisitely painted the couple’s personal relationship. The songs are a passionate portrait of domestic tranquility and a renewed enthusiasm for making records again. Sadly, just three weeks after the album’s release, Lennon was killed, lending an added level of poignancy to the regretful nostalgia surrounding Double Fantasy. I like to think that Lennon was just hitting his mark and this is just a taste of what was to come. He had found that voice and maybe he was finally free from the past. Those thoughts also make me incredibly sad because we will never know. Ironically the song ends with a track called, “The Hard Times Are Over”.
Double Fantasy’s songs are laid out as a dialogue between John and Yoko, and it is a fantastic concept that absolutely works. The juxtaposition between, “I’m Losing You” and “I’m Moving On” works artfully well, as does John’s beautiful “Woman,” one of his most breathtaking melodies, topped off with one of his most openly romantic lyrics.
2. ‘Imagine’ (1971)
I know you might be shocked to see that Imagine is not listed at the coveted number one spot. It’s a great album with a single that we all know and most love. Some chalk it up as hippie nonsense, but I feel that they are reading a little too heavy into the composition of it. John is not decreeing that we abandon our possessions or stating boldly that there is no heaven or hell; he is saying, “Look, let us pretend these things did not rule us. How would we act if that were so?” It is lyrically strong, yet there is still a lot to unpack and yes, imagine.
Don’t overlook that “Jealous Guy” is on this record as well. Once again, John maybe looking at Paul and pondering in wonderment about all those great songs that his friend had written and he wanted his piece as well. It is certainly not written in spite but rather a recognition of admittance. Honesty is the underlining theme to the LP. Joined by another bandmate and friend, George Harrison takes lead guitar on many of the songs.
1. ‘John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band’ (1970)
Minus those early experimental sounds of his first releases this is John’s principal launch as a solo artist. This is also John at his most vulnerable stage in his music career. He is absolutely stripped down and scrambling for a new identity and through scratched upon slices of notebook paper, cocktail napkins, and diary entries he creates something astounding. This record is like the building of the pyramids in Egypt. It seems unlikely and unworldly that this harsh starting point could culminate to sheer grandeur. This collection of raw and unfiltered songs portrays feelings of, amongst others, angst, pain, isolation, and longing. There is such strong self-reflection and a willingness to open up and let the audience in.
He finally had control with this record and was able to write, play, record and arrange in any fashion that he saw fit. “Working Class Hero” makes a passionate and well delivered point while not being overzealous of “having a message”.
However, the real take away is how much John loved his mother and how he longed to have more time with her. If there was ever any doubt that Julia Lennon’s absence loomed over her son long after her death, Plastic Ono Band’s bookend tracks surely confirm it. The record opens with the haunting track “Mother,” and closes with the resigned “My Mummy’s Dead”. Not hard to read into the emotional trauma that Lennon looks to investigate and come to terms with through his music.
Then there’s “God.” I know people tend to shy away when they hear Lennon speak on religion, but it is an absolutely stunning composition. Another ex-Beatle shows up on the album too. Ringo Starr’s drumming is excellent throughout the album, but he was particularly proud of his work on this piece, and rightfully so. As Lennon runs through the list of the icons that he has disavowed, the song builds in intensity, before its climactic declaration, “I don’t believe in BEATLES…”. Then there is a pause, and we wait. I am certain that initial listeners gasped during the break and waited for John to bash or disavow his time with the lads, but rather he sings:
I just believe in me
Yoko and me
That’s reality
And once again, it is just John finding his truth. This album is the closest we will ever come to truly knowing the man.
