 "no mind games in terms of whether it's good or not" | 2008-07-05 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2582KMXLK2P06 |
Wow. People kept telling me to avoid John Lennon's Mind Games album, but I really am glad I didn't listen to any of them (no offense!)
The album cover is really great to me. I love it. I can sit there all day and look at just the cover alone, with the gigantic face looking straight up into the sky. A dreamy picture that one is. I've had dreams just like it, in fact.
Anyway, the music. The fantastic music! Obviously we won't find any songs as meaningful or powerful as "Imagine", but the title song, "Out the Blue", and Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" are really top notch quality songs. I have no idea why so many people love the title song while ignoring a good part of the rest of it, claiming it's just inferior to the music Lennon has done in the past, or Lennon was going through a stage where he wasn't coming up with enough creative ideas, or whatever.
Yeah, the stuff on here is *slightly* worse (and quite mellow in spots) but it's really a rather enjoyable listening experience overall and worth owning. |
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 "Mind Games" | 2008-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A276M3NSIY9B82 |
The quality of John Lennon's writing really began to slip with Mind Games. The only good songs here are "Mind Games" & "Meat City" which bracketed the original album. In between those two songs we are given nothing but filler. Of the filler the only decent songs are "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)", "Out the Blue", "Only People" & "I Know (I Know)". At this point in his career he sorely needed a co-writer, Paul McCartney, perhaps? It's true that Lennon had a lot of things going on in his life at this time but his career needed more attention. Lennon had always been respected as a writer, particularly his lyrics, but it didn't happen here.
In this edition of Mind Games we are treated to three bonus cuts that are home demos. As a songwriter & musician I can appreciate these, barely. As a fan they are a waste of time. There has got to be better things that a fan could be treated to. The sound quality is excellent. The booklet is okay, we get the lyrics & some crude drawings by Lennon. We also get a few photographs. This was a sad point in Lennon's career which, to be honest, didn't really improve. In some ways he was the most talented Beatle but it doesn't show here. |
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| "5 STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" | 2008-03-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: ANWZ9UJZ71CL7 |
| This is a very hot lp - cd you'll love the flow of it Thanks may ping. |
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 "A must for Lennon fans" | 2008-02-13 |
| - Reviewed By the_q_is_slient |
After his trouble with the U.S. government and the polarizing "Sometime in New York," Lennon probably needed to soften his edges or risk damnation. So while "Mind Games" isn't exactly a McCartney-esque collection of bubbly pop and love songs, it buries the intent of his tracks beneath "kinder" methods. There's a Spector-like sheen polished into the title track, interwoven humor on "Bring on the Lucie," and a handful of pretty ballads and pop rockers to grab the attention of the casual and/or suspicious listener.
However, of his really good records (this being his third and last), it's easily the least essential and at times as uneven as later releases like "Walls and Bridges" and "Double Fantasy." But there's still more than enough good stuff to warrant a listen; in fact, the casual Beatles fan would probably be best served starting here for Lennon's solo career since it makes a cleaner transition.
Best cuts: "One Day (At a Time)," "Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)," "Out the Blue," "Mind Games," "I Know (I Know)," "Meat City," "You Are Here," "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" |
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| "Some nice jams" | 2007-10-04 |
| - Reviewed By girlswanted7 |
| Again this album is good, not great. A lot of nice jams on it. He could have accomplished so much more if he wasn't shot in 1980. |
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| "Mind Boggler" | 2007-09-18 |
| - Reviewed By tbrough |
John Lennon must have been feeling some pressure after coming of his masterpiece "Imagine." This follow-up seems to strain at times to match the effortlessness of that album, and the comparative tracks come up short. The title track seems that John wanted to reach the ethereal peaks of his previous titular track, but it veers off into a thoroughly different direction. It's still a brilliant song, and it is the best thing about the remastered CD.
On the other hand, when John wrote the scathing "How Do You Sleep?" about his ex-Beatle pal, did his own ears start to burn as he recorded the trifling "One Day At a Time" for himself? And as socially astute as he often was, both the activist tunes "Bring On The Lucie" and "Only People" have not aged well. But you know what? Second tier John Lennon beats most wannabes 8 days a week.
So you skip the tracks that have lost their luster and home in on those that could have been cut last week. "Tight As" is the kind of Carl Perkins beaut that Lennon could knock out with ease. The original album closer (and "Mind Games" B-Side) "Meat City" could have come out of Seattle 1991. The shuffling "Intuition" has a charm to it that has stayed on the 34 years since the album originally came out. Finally, the title track is still one of the best things John Lennon ever did as a solo artist. While "Imagine" will always be that pinnacle of creativity and self-competitiveness, "Mind Games" is still a very good album in its own rite.
The "bonus tracks" are, as usual, forgettable. Lennon playing into a cassette deck on songs that matured later is interesting once. Otherwise, unnecessary. |
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| "CRANK IT UP!" | 2007-06-22 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1S8YHL9REO2ZT |
Wow, what a great sounding and FUN album!
Meat City almost knocked me off my sofa! After hundreds of listenings, I'm hearing tons of new harmonies, keyboard accents, great bass notes and crisp and clean sound altogether. Alright, this has always been a favorite John album of mine. I bought it new and grew to love it. This remastered version put the Plastic Ono Band IN my living room.
Out The Blue, sung with great gusto and feeling, is an unknown classic, give it a listen. John's attitude is relaxed and seemingly content, especially in Freeda People (Bring on The Lucy).
I know (I know) has great vocals displaying Lennon's 50s infulence.
You Are Here featues great harmonies and keyboard by Ken Ascher...I thought it was Nicky Hopkins playing.
Back to Meat City....what a lost A-side, in my opinion. Fun lyrics and a sizzling lead guitar. I'll always love this record..uhhh CD. God, I miss John Lennon...it really was the end of the innocence in life for me.. |
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 "A mixed bag" | 2007-06-20 |
| - Reviewed By radioactiveman12 |
| I'm looking at some of these lyrics here, and for the most part I'm not all that impressed. Which is sad, because John's supposed to be good at writing lyrics. You wouldn't know by listening to songs like "Tight A$", "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)", "Intuition", or "Meat City", though. Musically, there are also a couple bad ideas (an enormous choir on "One Day (At a Time)", pedal steel on "You Are Here"). So the best songs are the good ol' fashioned revolutionary ones: "Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People)", the wonderful title song; "Only People". And a couple of the above poorly-written songs have some merit: "Intuition" has a bouncy melody and interesting keyboards; "Tight A$", a slide guitar. And I do like the gentle, sensitive "Out of the Blue" and the almost Macca-like "I Know (I Know)". This is no better than Plastic Ono Band or even Imagine and Double Fantasy- it is a jumble of an album, after all. Just a moderately enjoyable one. |
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| "Remixed Magic" | 2007-04-21 |
| - Reviewed By bdpgseb2 |
Wow! Wait until you hear this remixed and remastered Mind Games CD. You will not believe your ears. Mind Games was always a favorite Lennon album for me, even on vinyl. But I always felt some of the tracks sounded "muffled", especially "Mind Games" and the classic rocker, "Meat City". Well, crank up your stereos!! Now all these wonderful tracks sound crisp, clear and loud. You hear instruments and vocals that were lost in the original mixes - they were there all along, we just could not distinquish or seperate. Now the songs are full of wonderful sounds and harmonies - and in real stereo. I went back to the orignal CD issue to compare, and indeed many of the tracks sound like they were recorded in mono the seperation was so poor and volume so low.
This is a great Lennon CD and Peter Cobbin (Re-mix Engineer) at Abbey Road Studios has worked his magic once again (he also re-mixed the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine CD's). Just Fabulous! |
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| "Playing the Mind Guerilla" | 2007-04-20 |
| - Reviewed By jasongilbert |
This mediocre but likable record by my favorite artist illustrates pretty handily the production crisis Lennon fell into after the 'Imagine' album, and which he never really got himself out of. On 'Plastic Ono Band' and 'Imagine' he conjured up a powerful, proto-grunge sound for the rock numbers and, for the ballads, an extremely effective conservatory-hall austerity. One wonders why he would ever trade this in for what came later. His rock'n'roll grew denser but more conventional; his ballads grew sweeter, slicker. Lennon's mid-70s albums verge on sounding producty.
But then, years after his death, albums like 'Menlove Ave.' and the 'Anthology' boxed set--as well as the bonus tracks on reissues like this one--began showing up. And they demonstrated a rather startling fact: after 1971, nearly every one of Lennon's songs sounds better as an alternate take or in demo form than it did as an official release. In the cases of some songs--like "One Day at a Time" and "Bring on the Lucie," not to mention a good half of 'Walls and Bridges'--the improvements are revelatory.
Of course, the subpar quality of 'Mind Games' and its immediate follow-ups is not entirely a matter of production. The ideas here are not as urgent as they were a few years earlier, after the trauma of the Beatles' breakup and the ecstasy of John's immersion in Yoko, so the lyrics are a touch more vague, sometimes a bit rote (this album includes his worst-ever couplet, "Like a UFO you came to me/And blew away life's misery"-- now there's a mid-70s line for you).
But, as always, this most serious of artists was searching. There's no shame in "failures" such as this album. (And there are at least two songs that require no apology--the soaring title track and the great-in-any-form "Meat City.") |
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