At 33 years old, John Lennon released one of his strongest solo albums, 1973’s Mind Games, which was a recovery from his chaotic Some Time in New York City and just before he went deeper into his personal life of misery during his impersonation of Ray Milland on Walls & Bridges. This album was filled with some of the best studio musicians, including Jim Keltner/dr, Dave Spinozzag, Ken Ascher/p, Gordon Edwards/b, “Sneaky “ Peter Kleinow/psg, Michael Brecker/ts, Rick Marotta/dr and backing vocalists Jocelyn Brown, Christine Wiltshire, Angel Coakely and Kathy Mull. The result was Lennon bringing some of his strongest songs together in a way that were interpreted with style and grace.
As far as the actual music goes, you get gorgeous and intimate ballads (one of Lennon’s strengths) with “Out of The Blue” and “One Day (At A Time)” and the confessional “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry) while Lennon hints at his upcoming rock and roll album with Phil Spector with “Meat City” and “ Tight A$”. You also get “Imagine”-styled themes such as “Nutopian International Anthem” and “Bring On The Lucie (Freda People)”, so in other words, you get the complete color palate of Lennon at a time when his life was going in the same number of directions.
This “Ultimate Collection” set has 6 cds and 2 Blu-Rays. You get to hear and see the album in a plethora of ways. There’s the originally restored version, the stripped down/acoustic version, the REALLY stripped down version, the Raw Studio Mixes and the Out-Takes. Some have Lennon’s voice in the middle of the mix, and some are right there in your face. You get to hear the evolution of each song and how each one came to fruition, in documentary form. Everyone will have their favorite version, especially if they want to learn them on piano, bass or guitar. The Blu-Ray allows for various listening experiences for taking in the music as an environmental journey.
As with many great artists, Lennon was most creative when tormented and stimulated. These were the Nixon 1970s after all, and Lennon, being on the president’s “Enemy’s List” had enough stimulation to go around for 4 artists. This album sometimes gets overlooked, but it’s definitely worth a revisit, and this visit includes a mansion of many rooms.