Was hoping Walls and Bridges would be 1. Scared and number 9 dream were the tracks my brother listened to the most on that. A while back I went back and listened to Mind Games... and I gotta admit I liked it A LOT. Thanks Pete. More time well spent hanging out with ya!!
1. Plastic Ono Band 2. Double Fantasy 3. Imagine 4. Mind Games 5. Rock and Roll 6. Some Time in New York City 7. Walls and Bridges 8. Milk and Honey 9. Life with the Lions 10. Two Virgins 11. Wedding Album
Great episode Pete. The Beatles and John Lennon in particular were very important to my dad (Lennon was his favorite.) And he was the one who blessed me with the love of music. It always keeps his memory alive with me.
When I played side one of the Wedding Album for my mom, here's what she had to say about it - "It doesn't take any talent to anything like that but it sure takes a lot of nerve." My mom passed away in 1996 but I have never forgotten that.
I am 66 and agree about the bottom three, which I only read about. It was a mystery why they released them at the time. As a HS freshman/sophomore, I recall hearing Lennon daily on the bus radio twice daily. Working Class Hero, Instant Karma, and Power To The People. Those were great songs, which always remind me of the school bus. :-} People my age followed all the now ex Beatles simultaneously, automatically. Imagine came out when I was 15. It was what it was.
My fave Lennon albums: 1) Plastic Ono Band - Mother, what a knockout first song, harrowing. I Found Out, Isolation, Remember, Well Well Well, all big rockin' faves for me. The ballads are simply great too: Hold On, Love, Look At Me, all well done. Working Class Hero and God are artistic triumphs. Great bonus CD track: Power To The People. And a fun bonus CD track: Do The Oz. 2) Imagine - Also solid wall to wall, just not as artistic as POB. Almost a POB, part two. Imagine though is his best song, period, an anthem for the ages. Gimme Some Truth might be my favorite John solo song, fantastic wordplay, probably would have been on the next Beatles album after Abbey Road, if they had produced one. Really, every track here shines. 3) Walls And Bridges - His best production value album. #9 Dream is lush. WGYTTN is very Eltony. Steel And Glass, Bless You, and Scared are wonderfully haunting. 4) Mind Games - Title track might be his greatest solo song, in terms of songcraft. Bring On The Lucie, Intuition, Out The Blue, and Meat City are just fine. The other tracks, not as good. 5) Double Fantasy - Only the John songs are memorable: Starting Over, Watching The Wheels, Clean Up Time, Beautiful Boy, and Woman. Check out his take of I'm Losing You with Cheap Trick on the box set Anthology, blows the album version out of the water. 6) Rock And Roll - Got some fave covers here, Be Bop A Lula, Stand By Me, Rip It Up/Ready Teddy, Sweet Little Sixteen, and Slippin' And Slidin' really move. Angel Baby plods a bit.
I was eight when John was killed. I bought the single for Woman shortly after. Still have it and it still holds a special place on my heart. There was something really peaceful about the guy right before he died.
Thank you Pete , you have confirmed that I have enough John Lennon in my collection! It is incredibly rare that I come to this conclusion but this is quite refreshing!
I loved Lennon when I was a kid-- he was angry, passionate and my teachers considered him culturally unacceptable. Nixon said he was dangerous and Dad wanted to strangle him. We kids thought he was a genius. I was 10 when his first "proper" studio LP was released and what an impact -- "I don't believe in Jesus" and 2 "F" bombs thrown in for good measure (not to mention the blood curdling "Well, Well, Well" screams). That was my favorite John LP for years but its been replaced. 1. Mind Games 2. Walls & Bridges 3. John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band 4. Imagine 5. Rock & Roll 6. Menlove Avenue / Acoustic Lennon (demos & out-takes) 7. Live In NYC 1972 8. Sometime In NYC 9. Live Peace In Toronto 1969 10. Double Fantasy / Milk & Honey (...do the "Two Virgins / Wedding Album / Unfinished Music" LP's count?...Good Lord I hope not...) Thanks for the groovy ranking, Pete!
Here’s my ranking personally, love the video as always Pete! Life with the Lions - The fact that Two Minutes Silence is the best part of this record says a lot Two Virgins - The context behind the creation is cool but other than that it’s so obnoxious The Wedding Album - only put this one on top of the other two because the interview is kinda cool. Some Time in New York City - Honestly Woman Is The N!**er of the World is such a great song, great melody and some epic vocals and instrumentation. John Sinclair is also absolutely catchy af. Not a bad album. Mind Games - The title track is awesome. One Day At A Time is probably one of my favorite John Lennon solo songs. Pretty cool album. Milk And Honey - Johns songs on this record are fine, not a great fan of Yoko’s stuff as usual. Double Fantasy - Some of John’s best songs since the Imagine album. Yoko brings it down a bit for me but all of John’s songs are amazing. If you combine the Milk and Honey songs with this one and make just a full John album without Yoko, easily one of the greatest solo Beatles albums could have been made. Rock And Roll - Honestly I like it a lot. He does the covers a good justice, and it’s a lot of fun to listen to. Ain’t That A Shame and Stand By Me are the highlights here. Walls and Bridges - What You Got might be one of his most underrated songs. Whatever Gets You Through The Night is a classic. #9 Dream is beautiful. Imagine - The whole album is spectacular. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier brings it down a little bit for me since it does on for a little too long. Other than that obviously a great album. Oh Yoko is one of my favorite love songs from Lennon’s solo career. Plastic Ono Band - Love this record to death. Every single song on this record is amazing to me. Working Class Hero and God are some of his greatest songs.
Watching this reminds me of how much i missed John and what potential was lost with his passing. Pete, if you haven’t done a HVS show yet on the subject maybe you could do one where everyone lists their five artists that they could bring back if they could
“Plastic Ono Band” is John’s most complete album. It’s a work of art and a minimalist masterpiece. It’s even proto-Grunge at times. That said, love “Walls and Bridges”, “Imagine” and “Double Fantasy”
Plastic Ono Band is number one for me. Imagine and Walls and Bridges would be tied as my joint number two. Plastic Ono Band has great songs but the catharsis of Mother and God and Well Well Well does it for me
My favorite is also Walls and Bridges The Deluxe Double Fantasy where they strip down the album actually makes Yoko surprisingly listenable if you can believe that!🤪
My ranking 8. Sometime In New York City 7. Milk And Honey 6. Rock And Roll 5. Plastic Ono Band 4. Mind Games 3. Walls And Bridges 2. Double Fantasy 1. Imagine
I was watching MNF Dolphins v Patriots on the night he was killed. I was 13. I was devastated. Spent that Christmas Break wearing out Double Fantasy in a haze. No celebrity death ever affected me in the same way.
Cool show, thanks Pete! I’m a huge Beatles fan but so far I’ve only heard “Plastic Ono Band”. Definitely going to check out some more of his albums ASAP.
@@TonysMusic1974 Yeah, I grew up on The Beatles but didn’t check out much of their solo careers until pretty recently. No particular reason, just got into other stuff I guess.
The first 3 albums are only good for starting a fire with so my top 8 are.. 8 - Sometime In New York City 7 - Milk & Honey 6 - Double Fantasy 5 - Rock n Roll 4 - Mind Games 3 - Plastic Ono Band 2 - Imagine 1 - Walls & Bridges... Always my number 1 Lennon album & with Yoko out of the way the man really shines, Put all John's songs from DF & M&H on one album & it would be right up there!!! I am not a Yoko fan at all....
1. Imagine( songs so ring well for me as listening and the go to album) 2. Walls And Bridges( a 2nd go to album for me) 3. Mind Games( fine 3rd album to like for me) 4. Rock N' Roll( like my rock and roll covers from John) 5. Plastic Ono Band( pretty good stuff and songs that works) 6 Double Fantasy( could be higher at 4 on some days) 7. Milk and Honey ( a fair follow up album) 8. Sometime In New York City( a hoge poge of good things for the times when one needs cool stuff) The Rest we don't talk about having but. I do have Two Virgins cd and don't listen to after once I did but have as just a keep sake I guess)
Very nice job here Pete. I really enjoyed this video a lot. In the Beatles I always gravitated to the Lennon stuff. His lyrics were so amazing. And he had one of the greatest rock voices of all time. I would like to add to your description of the first 1970 Lennon Plastic Ono band album. He had just gone through Primal Scream therapy, and a lot of the angst was from that. Well Well Well song is a prime example of that as he screams louder as the song goes on. The song God where John is saying all the things he doesn’t believe in. He doesn’t believe in Elvis, or Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) & Beatles. He was jettisoning all that at that time to sort of start over with Yoko (Japanese ). And the f bombs in Working Class Hero are pretty early for a main line performer to put on a record. I believe this also reflects the time when The Beatles were working class and from Liverpool and looked down upon from London’s elite. Pete you did a wonderful job here …you made me laugh several times. And great descriptions. Pretty spot on rankings. A very memorable episode indeed Thanks very much !!!
This was a great episode, Pete. My first memories of interest in music were focused on the late 1960 - and, therefore, The Beatles. Their music has been a part of my life soundtrack from that time onward. And this week, I scratched an item on my bucket list and enjoyed an incredible show from Sir Paul McCartney in Seattle, WA. Early on, John Lennon's music in and out of the band was some of my favorite. But as I grew older, I have gravitated toward Paul's work in the Fab Four, Wings, and solo. But Lennon's music is still wrapped closely around my brainstem. Interestingly enough, my list is identical to yours except for two changes. I have "Imagine" as number one and "Walls and Bridges" as number two. The rest of the list is the same - and I included "Pussy Cats" (the album John did with Harry Nilsson alongside Lennon's "Rock and Roll"). And you are correct; there is little reason to listen to the bottom of the list. Thanks for doing this.
If I'm not mistaken I believe "scumbag" on STINYC is actually Zappa's "King Kong" from Uncle Meat. Zappa said Lennon just literally stole it. I think Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are two of the all time great albums. Good to see SOT reviewing this,whats next,rating the Dylan albums lol(I know,that's never gonna happen). This is a really good channel,especially love the prog topics(I'm really not too much of a Metal guy however). Keep up the great work!
My local second hand record store has had the Wedding album in stock for a couple of years, (an original copy)I told him he'd never sell it, two years on he still has it, :-) 1 Plastic Ono band 2 Imagine 3 Walls and Bridges 4 Double Fantasy 5 Mind Games 6 Rock and Roll 7 Milk and Honey 8 Sometime in New York City The others I don't have, Really appreciate this ranking Pete, thanks
01 Walls & Bridges 02 Imagine 03 Plastic Ono Band 04 Mind Games 05 Double Fantasy 06 Rock’n Roll 07 Milk & Honey 08 Some Time In New York 09 Two Virgins 10 Life With The Lions 11 Wedding Album
1. Imagine 2. Plastic Ono Band 3. Walls and Bridges 4. Mind Games 5. Double Fantasy 6. Some Time in New York City 7. Rock and Roll 8. Milk and Honey 9. Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (Side one only)
I miss John Lennon so much, he was definitely one of the all time greatests. For me personally I rank: 1. Plastic Ono Band 2. Imagine 3. Rock and Roll 4. Double Fantasy 5. Milk and Honey 6. Walls and Bridges 7. Mind Games 8. Some Time In New York City 9. The Wedding Album 10. Two Virgins 11. Life with The Lions
1) John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 2) Walls and Bridges 3) Imagine 4) Mind Games 5) Double Fantasy 6) Some Time in New York City 7) Milk and Honey 8) Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions 9) Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins 10) Wedding Album
The story, as I understand it, is that Elton John told Lennon that Whatever Gets You Through The Night was a hit, possibly even a #1 hit. Lennon disagreed and the two made a bet; if WGYTTN did reach #1, Lennon had to play it live on-stage with John. Well it did reach #1, and on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 28, 1974, Lennon joined John on stage at MSG to perform WGYTTN. This live performance can be heard on the extended version of Elton John’s live album Here And There. It is said to be the last live performance by John Lennon before his assassination, but there are reports of a single performance by Lennon after the gig at MSG with Elton John. Whatever the case, it is still a great story and a fantastic performance!
My rating: 1. "Imagine" 2. "Plastic Ono Band" 3. "Walls and Bridges" 4. " Mind Games" 5. "Some Time in New York City" 6. "Milk and Honey" 7. "Double Fantasy" 6. "Rock and Roll" I am not really a big fan of this album, as I don't think his vocals are as strong on it, with him lapsing into a kind of a whiney sound. I agree with your assessment that his albums are a bit uneven on the whole, with a few gems scattered amidst the good and the bad but later compilations like "Shaved Fish" kind of help to narrow down the range of quality to his big hits. Yoko's "Approximately Infinite Universe" album, produced around the same time as "Imagine" has much less of her distinctly unique approach to "singing" and is fairly straightforward singing, the album sharing some of the production sheen of "Imagine". I think that John played some of his best guitar when backing her songs, playing much more inventively and loosely than when penning and playing for big hits on his own.
Plastic Ono is a masterpiece. A soul searing emotionally wrenching unforgettable listen. No other major artist has put out an album that is so personal so vulnerable. Easily #1. Then Imagine, Walls and Bridges are both excellent. The rest is disappointing with a few highlights.
Good ranking. Funny when talking about the first three. Yes, Yoko is Japanese. Probably the most famous Japanese person other than Hirohito for the post-war generation.
I do love Lennon, but if I were advising someone who wants to get into him the only suggestion I would have is the Lennon Box Set. It's all you would ever need.
Hey Pete, The bottom 3 I couldn't agree more..I remember as a kid listening to the John & Yoko side of the The Wedding Album and only making it through 5 minutes and then taking it off the turntable never to be listened to again. It came in this fancy box set so I believed at the time this album was going to be great. It wasn't..Hear is how I ranked them 1. Plastic Ono Band 2. Imagine 3. Double Fantasy 4. Walls & Bridges 5. Mind Games 6. Milk & Honey 7. Rock N' Roll 8. Sometime In NY City 9-11 The Bottom Three..The Live Peace In Toronto is also really good at least the first side is the the second side has Yoko doing her thing over some great jamming with Alan White on Drums Eric Clapton on Guitar and Klaus Voorman on Bass...I love the songs Mother..#9 Dream..Old Dirt Road..Out of the Blue..Working Class Hero..there are so many really..
1. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band 2. Imagine 3. Walls and Bridges 4. Mind Games 5. Double Fantasy 6. Rock 'n' Roll 7. Milk and Honey 8. Some Time in New York City
Yes, he was one of the label's owner (along with Paul and the other Beatles) so could basically record and release anything he wanted. There was no one there to tell him "no"....
I believe the Rock n Roll album was released to satisfy a copyright lawsuit. He was sued for the line in Come Together “Here come old flat top” from a publisher that owned the rights to Chuck Berry’s catalogue.
1. Plastic Ono Band 2. Imagine 3. Walls and Bridges 4. Mind Games 5. Double Fantasy 6. Milk and Honey 7. Sometime in NY 8. Rock and Roll 9, 10, 11. the bottom 3
1. Imagine 2. Walls and bridges 3. Mind games 4. Double fantasy 5. Plastic Ono band 6. Milk and honey 7. Rock N' roll 8. Sometime in new york city 9. Unfinished music 10. Wedding album
My list would be very close to yours. I wouldn't have included he first three since they are just avant garde art and not music albums. My favorite John song is "Bless you" from Walls & Bridges, so I can't argue with that but if you just judge the John songs and not the Yoko, I would have had Double Fantasy higher. Good List.
Agree with you totally Pete. Strange that just a few days ago I was ruminating on how often solo albums by superstars, who were in brilliant bands, never manage to release any solo albums that are 100% satisfactory - and this goes for John Lennon AND the rest of the Beatles . Perhaps Band on the Run is the exception but I even feel the five star rated All things Must Pass is a five star single album , a four star double album and a two-and -a -half star triple album ! Let's be honest , the third album is rubbish! . So glad to hear you being totally honest in your review of the Lennon solo catalogue - much appreciated . .
I respect your opinion Alan, but i disagree. To me, Imagine and Plastic Ono Band are both 5 star classics - as good as the best Beatles albums. Same goes for Harrison's All Thing Must Pass (irrespective of the third disk, which I consider a bonus and not part of the official album) and McCartney's, Band on the Run and Ram. I could mention loads more, as they're just the obvious ones.
Thanks for ranking the John Lennon albums Pete. I was fascinated to learn that Mike Pinder from the Moody Blues (one of my favourite bands) was a guest on Imagine. I'm really looking forward to the Paul McCartney album ranking, Macca is my all time favourite musician!
Do you like Yoko’s solo material? She’s done some brilliant work. Remember, Yoko had legitimate avant-garde credentials. Highly experimental? Absolutely. But someone must push music forward. Beyond the same old pop music that John was bored with. Yoko was the artist that push him to take a risk. Together the challenged the establishment and wanted to break free. I salute her for having a unique vision of her own.
The sound of cats in heat does not push music forward. Yoko reminds me of the fine arts students I had to take classes with back in the day. They mastered no real art rendering skills and tried to pass off their non talent as something that should be respected just because it was experimental. She latched on to John to showcase her artsy notions. Yoko’s problem is that her desire to be an artist was far greater than her limited musical abilities. The Beatles were experimental and truly pushed music forward.
@@DCToonTime We will have to disagree. And that's cool. Yoko was an important addition to Lennon's understanding of music. In fact, she is the person who helped educate John about the possiblities of avant-garde music. It's one of the qualities John enjoyed; her knowledge and understanding of experimental music. Without Yoko, John Lennon (and the Fab) would not have been nearly as interesting. Yoko also faced a lot of ugly talk over the years because of the man she loved. And she held her head high. Her music is highly experimental and difficult. Most people will not appreciate the depth and quality of her music. And that's ok. (She is similar to Lou Reed in this regard). It doesn't change the fact that Yoko Ono is an important and ambitious artist with or without John Lennon. But it's good to disagree. Be well.
@@the-vinyl-dreamscape5084 We all hear things differently. What I label as experimental or pushing boundaries would be groups/musicians where I can tell there is a level of mastery of their instruments or vocals. While I do not like freeform jazz, I can tell the players really know their stuff. But that’s what the arts are all about. If you enjoy Yoko’s musical output or Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music then more power to you. You are passionate about music and that’s a-ok in my book!
" Please make it stop, please make it stop " lol I know what you mean Pete, Yoko could be tolerable or VERY intolerable, depends on the song I guess. I wasn't a fan of hers but John was great, lots of classics in his solo catalog.
1. Imagine 2. Plastic Ono Band 3. mIND gAMES 4. Double Fantasy 5. Rock and Roll 6. Walls and Bridges 7. Milk and Honey 8. Some Time in New York City 9. Life with the Lions 10. Two Virgins 11. Wedding Album
The thing I really hate about Yoko Ono more than anything is how her avant-garde sensibilities were rubbing off on John. That's what brought Revolution 9 into existence, and likewise is the same with those first few solo albums which is why no one has anything really nice to say about them.
Most Beatles fans don't see any validity in Yoko as an artist, but John clearly did. Not only was he influenced by her avant-garde sensibilities-- he positively *embraced, encouraged, and championed* those sensibilities. Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album would have been very different without Yoko's presence in his life. He also played scorching lead guitar on her Ono Band album.
@@christianman73 I don't know about her cred as an artist (not into Modern Art myself) but I think I know a little about rock music, and in that area I can't give Yoko much love. As to her actual effect on Lennon's music it seems pretty clear that there was lots. The real problem I have is when she makes actual "musical" contributions to the songs, that almost always goes south for me
@@wolf1977 I'm admittedly not into much of Yoko's more radically avant-garde, artsy stuff, but she does have several solo albums that are more conventionally rock-oriented, and I do like some of those albums. My favorite is the "Rising" album from '95, which goes from Slayer-like speed metal to funky rock songs to slower, haunting, but still intense songs. She does some screaming and wailing on the album, but there is also a good bit of rock singing from her that isn't really "out there" too. Sonic Youth, Cibo Matto, and other indie rock, punk, and alt-rock artists have championed Yoko for years.
I love Lennon but mainly for his work in The Beatles I don't have one that I like all of the way through. I'm going to include Shaved Fish because of the singles. I could make one great double album of all of his solo efforts. I think they are all uneven, each album (for me) has four amazing songs and the rest sound forced. No negativity, just my opinion. 1. Imagine 2. Mind Games 3. Plastic Ono Band 4. Shaved Fish 5. Sometime in New York City 6. Walls and Bridges 7. Double Fantasy 8. Rock and Roll 9. Milk and Honey.
@@seaoftranquilityprog I'm looking forward to the Paul list. But give Harrison a chance. Like John, there are some really strong albums such as All Things Must Pass and Living In The Material World. And there is a lot of uneven material with gems here and there (Cloud Nine, 33 and 1/3, Extra Texture, Somewhere In England, and Brainwashed).
@@DonHornsby The collection The Apple Years 1968-75 is tremendous too as well as The Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992, and Concert For Bangla Desh (I used to own the vinyl box set)
@@seaoftranquilityprogGeorge had some albums that are pretty good that stand out like Living in the Material World, 33&1/3, (Self Titled Album) George Harrison, Cloud Nine, and Brainwashed, - Dark Horse is Okay if it hadnt been that he sang sick with laryngitis.
I think you should do a George Harrison album ranking, I don’t know if you’ve heard all his albums but I’d think you’d like them, especially his more rockin albums like Thirty Three and 1/3 and Cloud Nine
@@seaoftranquilityprog follow up living in the material world is a really strong one too. I commented earlier but I was really surprised to see John Lennon come up and that you purchase some of his discography and actually enjoyed a lot of it. I remember when I did a Kofi coffee that had asked if you ever planned on ranking John Lennon that was about a year or so ago and you mentioned you hadn't had none of his solo stuff so that's cool
That would be a major ranking. I'd say start slow & do Ringo first ("you can pay him less, it's up to you...") which would be pretty easy. I think George Harrison was done not that long ago...? I've got at least 40 McCartney albums including live & Wings, and he outweighs the other three combined by 4:1 (in terms of the amount of music I own & like by each)
@@thekivster Yeah McCartney has a ton of albums. I know I'm missing at least 5-6 (including 5 classical albums that I have no interest in). If you check Wiki they list about 50 total including Live, Wings & Compilations, and I think they're also not 100% complete
Lennon's zenith was perhaps ironically on Ono's Plastic Ono Band masterpiece where she used Haden, Coleman, Blackwell and others. Who'd have predicted 50-55 yrs ago the best Beatles or Beatles related Lp would be one of Ono's?
Mind Games is a terrific album, vastly underappreciated. I'd put it in #1, right next Plastic Ono Band. I find Walls and Bridges heavily overproduced. The stripped down versions of several of the songs found in one side of the Menlove Avenue album are superior and really intense. I had the bad luck of listening to Menlove before Walls, so when I listened to Walls and found those songs cobbled with arrangements, my perception was tainted, lol. Dream #9 is an unbelievable song. I might put Walls and Bridges in the #1 spot solely for that song. Double Fantasy has an amazing Yoko song I doubt she write it on her own: Every man has a woman who loves him. There Tony Levin's bass shines brightly. 1. Mind Games 2. Plastic Ono Band 3. Double Fantasy 4. Menlove avenue (posthumous album of demos and live songs). 5. Imagine 6. Rock and Roll 7. Walls and Bridges 8. Milk and Honey Then the rest.
Love the Yoko Ono band album and Mind games along with Imagine. How essential are Rock n Roll , Sometime in NYC and Walls n Bridges in the JL catalogue in terms of go gets ? and what are the live albums worth listening/possessing ?
I don't like RnR much but "Stand By Me" is tremendous. There's a package called Acoustic you might like, John unplugged with just an acoustic. a lot of his live stuff was pretty raw, his backing band Elephants Memory was somewhat unpolished, kinda like Janis Joplin's early band Big Brother. I like Walls & Sometime
The bottom three were meant, at the time, to be audio diaries. I understand there existence and why they were released at the time. What I don't get is why they were ever rereleased on compact disc. The vinyl versions are collectable. One half of Live Peace in Toronto is a great live performance. Another posthumous album, Menlove Avenue, has some really good early versions of Walls and Bridges songs. Edit. I think you were more fair to Yoko than most on UA-cam.
1) Plastic Ono Band - the line in God "Don't believe in Beatles" is devastating 2) Imagine 3) Milk and Honey 4) Double Fantasy The Lennon songs on those two could be better as a whole that my numbers one and two. Yoko makes it difficult to rank them higher but she sort of grows on me. Double Fantasy is lower since it is 2 x Yoko 5) Walls and Bridges 6) Mind Games 7) Rock and Roll - I believe he issued this because he got sued for plagarism to part of a Chuck Berry song as part of the song Come Together. Not sure I ever saw the connection
I have the Plastic Ono Band album & a Greatest Hits album (which I rarely buy). I think I'm good to go...although Live At The Fillmore with Zappa & The Mothers is tempting. Some of those "pieces" Pete described sound like somebody was checking out John Cage. Some Avant Garde is mere "performance art"... maybe a nice way of saying BS. To each his own, right?
I will comment on Mind Games. When we hear that term we think of psychological warfare. But (never begins a sentence I was taught ... who makes these rules?) it was an idea really that Mind Games everybody should dream peace and it will happen.
yes walls bridges my fav lennon album 9 dream is best solo song lennon was a better artist when yoko was not around would like pete to have given a shout out live peace in toronto 69 and live in new york city 1986
I remember being maybe 15 or 16, a Beatles fan thanks to my Mom, and a McCartney fan as well. I heard a couple songs from Double Fantasy and decided to buy it. I opened it up, put it on the turntable and began to listen. Starting Over up first, great song, I'd heard it before and liked it a lot, ok, good, song two... What fresh Hell is this? This is awful. Why is this on here? Sweet christ that was bad. Ok. Phew. It's over. Another John song. All is well. Song 3. Wait. What??? No. No no no no no Ono. I stopped it. I looked at the label. Every other song was an Ono composition. God dammit. This should have a warning label. "Half of this record is unlistenable due to excessive Yoko Ono." The guy at the record store wouldn't take it back. I learned my lesson though. I was terrified to buy other Lennon albums. I had to research them all first. My favorite Lennon listening experience is the Live In New York City album. It's ramshackle, loose, gritty, and Yoko is almost completely silent, as she should be on any recording of music.
His death leaves many "what-if" questions open but honestly without being a moptop first it's hard to fathom general public caring about him. Imagine is #1, self-titled pretty overbearing (basically John saying how bad things have been except for his wife; the opposite was actually truer). Double fantasy remains a scam though better than 1972 through retirement hack-jobs. At least number 9 dream is a keeper; other songs from that strange decade are usually worth a listen. Watching the wheels + nobody told me definitely hinted at something greater once the mtv "we hate real music" era began. Liked rankings here aside from one switch: walls for his most classic album. It's got four great cuts in a row in between lethargic "soldier" + tuneful-enough closer about Oh no! Paul ruled post-breakup followed by george, with ringo admittedly in last place. However, sometimes those disposable semi-gems from especially '73 are better than mind games & the like. Finally, that double album is horrendous and have never heard three pre-1970 releases nor like toronto festival concert. Doors, Alice, Berry...much better on that day.
Was hoping Walls and Bridges would be 1. Scared and number 9 dream were the tracks my brother listened to the most on that. A while back I went back and listened to Mind Games... and I gotta admit I liked it A LOT.
Thanks Pete. More time well spent hanging out with ya!!
1. Plastic Ono Band
2. Double Fantasy
3. Imagine
4. Mind Games
5. Rock and Roll
6. Some Time in New York City
7. Walls and Bridges
8. Milk and Honey
9. Life with the Lions
10. Two Virgins
11. Wedding Album
"Yoko screeching up a storm" freaking hilarious loved watching this just to hear Pete completely trash the bottom 3
Couldn't believe he actually mentioned those. Hilarious.
Great episode Pete. The Beatles and John Lennon in particular were very important to my dad (Lennon was his favorite.) And he was the one who blessed me with the love of music. It always keeps his memory alive with me.
When I played side one of the Wedding Album for my mom, here's what she had to say about it - "It doesn't take any talent to anything like that but it sure takes a lot of nerve." My mom passed away in 1996 but I have never forgotten that.
I am 66 and agree about the bottom three, which I only read about. It was a mystery why they released them at the time. As a HS freshman/sophomore, I recall hearing Lennon daily on the bus radio twice daily. Working Class Hero, Instant Karma, and Power To The People. Those were great songs, which always remind me of the school bus. :-} People my age followed all the now ex Beatles simultaneously, automatically. Imagine came out when I was 15. It was what it was.
My fave Lennon albums:
1) Plastic Ono Band - Mother, what a knockout first song, harrowing. I Found Out, Isolation, Remember, Well Well Well, all big rockin' faves for me. The ballads are simply great too: Hold On, Love, Look At Me, all well done. Working Class Hero and God are artistic triumphs. Great bonus CD track: Power To The People. And a fun bonus CD track: Do The Oz.
2) Imagine - Also solid wall to wall, just not as artistic as POB. Almost a POB, part two. Imagine though is his best song, period, an anthem for the ages. Gimme Some Truth might be my favorite John solo song, fantastic wordplay, probably would have been on the next Beatles album after Abbey Road, if they had produced one. Really, every track here shines.
3) Walls And Bridges - His best production value album. #9 Dream is lush. WGYTTN is very Eltony. Steel And Glass, Bless You, and Scared are wonderfully haunting.
4) Mind Games - Title track might be his greatest solo song, in terms of songcraft. Bring On The Lucie, Intuition, Out The Blue, and Meat City are just fine. The other tracks, not as good.
5) Double Fantasy - Only the John songs are memorable: Starting Over, Watching The Wheels, Clean Up Time, Beautiful Boy, and Woman. Check out his take of I'm Losing You with Cheap Trick on the box set Anthology, blows the album version out of the water.
6) Rock And Roll - Got some fave covers here, Be Bop A Lula, Stand By Me, Rip It Up/Ready Teddy, Sweet Little Sixteen, and Slippin' And Slidin' really move. Angel Baby plods a bit.
I was eight when John was killed. I bought the single for Woman shortly after. Still have it and it still holds a special place on my heart. There was something really peaceful about the guy right before he died.
Glad to see Pete and SoT giving love to Lennon. Thank you
Thank you Pete , you have confirmed that I have enough John Lennon in my collection! It is incredibly rare that I come to this conclusion but this is quite refreshing!
8: Rock ‘n’ Roll
7: Milk And Honey
6: Some Time in New York City
5: Mind Games
4: Double Fantasy
3: Imagine
2: Walls And Bridges
1: Plastic Ono Band
Walls and Bridges is one of his best for me. It's got a nice bluesy feel with some of the tracks.
I loved Lennon when I was a kid-- he was angry, passionate and my teachers considered him culturally unacceptable. Nixon said he was dangerous and Dad wanted to strangle him. We kids thought he was a genius. I was 10 when his first "proper" studio LP was released and what an impact -- "I don't believe in Jesus" and 2 "F" bombs thrown in for good measure (not to mention the blood curdling "Well, Well, Well" screams). That was my favorite John LP for years but its been replaced.
1. Mind Games
2. Walls & Bridges
3. John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band
4. Imagine
5. Rock & Roll
6. Menlove Avenue / Acoustic Lennon (demos & out-takes)
7. Live In NYC 1972
8. Sometime In NYC
9. Live Peace In Toronto 1969
10. Double Fantasy / Milk & Honey
(...do the "Two Virgins / Wedding Album / Unfinished Music" LP's count?...Good Lord I hope not...)
Thanks for the groovy ranking, Pete!
Thumbs up!!! 'Walls and Bridges' is my favourite album by John as well. Never considered 'Plastic Ono Band' so huge as other people think
RIP John , one of my music hero’s , I have the word “Imagine” tattooed on my arm, he was a genius song writer, and is sorely missed 🤘
Here’s my ranking personally, love the video as always Pete!
Life with the Lions - The fact that Two Minutes Silence is the best part of this record says a lot
Two Virgins - The context behind the creation is cool but other than that it’s so obnoxious
The Wedding Album - only put this one on top of the other two because the interview is kinda cool.
Some Time in New York City - Honestly Woman Is The N!**er of the World is such a great song, great melody and some epic vocals and instrumentation. John Sinclair is also absolutely catchy af. Not a bad album.
Mind Games - The title track is awesome. One Day At A Time is probably one of my favorite John Lennon solo songs. Pretty cool album.
Milk And Honey - Johns songs on this record are fine, not a great fan of Yoko’s stuff as usual.
Double Fantasy - Some of John’s best songs since the Imagine album. Yoko brings it down a bit for me but all of John’s songs are amazing. If you combine the Milk and Honey songs with this one and make just a full John album without Yoko, easily one of the greatest solo Beatles albums could have been made.
Rock And Roll - Honestly I like it a lot. He does the covers a good justice, and it’s a lot of fun to listen to. Ain’t That A Shame and Stand By Me are the highlights here.
Walls and Bridges - What You Got might be one of his most underrated songs. Whatever Gets You Through The Night is a classic. #9 Dream is beautiful.
Imagine - The whole album is spectacular. I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier brings it down a little bit for me since it does on for a little too long. Other than that obviously a great album. Oh Yoko is one of my favorite love songs from Lennon’s solo career.
Plastic Ono Band - Love this record to death. Every single song on this record is amazing to me. Working Class Hero and God are some of his greatest songs.
Plastic ono is a masterpiece
Watching this reminds me of how much i missed John and what potential was lost with his passing. Pete, if you haven’t done a HVS show yet on the subject maybe you could do one where everyone lists their five artists that they could bring back if they could
“Plastic Ono Band” is John’s most complete album. It’s a work of art and a minimalist masterpiece. It’s even proto-Grunge at times. That said, love “Walls and Bridges”, “Imagine” and “Double Fantasy”
Plastic Ono Band is number one for me. Imagine and Walls and Bridges would be tied as my joint number two. Plastic Ono Band has great songs but the catharsis of Mother and God and Well Well Well does it for me
Can't believe you included "The Wedding Album" and the "Unfinished Music" albums in your ranking .. you're so professional !!!
and I'll now never get that time back unfortunately...
My favorite is also Walls and Bridges
The Deluxe Double Fantasy where they strip down the album actually makes Yoko surprisingly listenable if you can believe that!🤪
My ranking
8. Sometime In New York City
7. Milk And Honey
6. Rock And Roll
5. Plastic Ono Band
4. Mind Games
3. Walls And Bridges
2. Double Fantasy
1. Imagine
I was watching MNF Dolphins v Patriots on the night he was killed. I was 13. I was devastated. Spent that Christmas Break wearing out Double Fantasy in a haze. No celebrity death ever affected me in the same way.
Cool show, thanks Pete!
I’m a huge Beatles fan but so far I’ve only heard “Plastic Ono Band”. Definitely going to check out some more of his albums ASAP.
You're a "huge beatles fan" but haven't listened to John's solo work? No better time than the present! :-)
@@TonysMusic1974 Yeah, I grew up on The Beatles but didn’t check out much of their solo careers until pretty recently. No particular reason, just got into other stuff I guess.
The first 3 albums are only good for starting a fire with so my top 8 are..
8 - Sometime In New York City
7 - Milk & Honey
6 - Double Fantasy
5 - Rock n Roll
4 - Mind Games
3 - Plastic Ono Band
2 - Imagine
1 - Walls & Bridges...
Always my number 1 Lennon album & with Yoko out of the way the man really shines, Put all John's songs from DF & M&H on one album & it would be right up there!!! I am not a Yoko fan at all....
1. Imagine( songs so ring well for me as listening and the go to album)
2. Walls And Bridges( a 2nd go to album for me)
3. Mind Games( fine 3rd album to like for me)
4. Rock N' Roll( like my rock and roll covers from John)
5. Plastic Ono Band( pretty good stuff and songs that works)
6 Double Fantasy( could be higher at 4 on some days)
7. Milk and Honey ( a fair follow up album)
8. Sometime In New York City( a hoge poge of good things for the times when one needs cool stuff)
The Rest we don't talk about having but. I do have Two Virgins cd and don't listen to after once I did but have as just a keep sake I guess)
nothing tops 'Imagine' in my book!!! Great from start to finish!
Very nice job here Pete. I really enjoyed this video a lot. In the Beatles I always gravitated to the Lennon stuff. His lyrics were so amazing. And he had one of the greatest rock voices of all time.
I would like to add to your description of the first 1970 Lennon Plastic Ono band album. He had just gone through Primal Scream therapy, and a lot of the angst was from that. Well Well Well song is a prime example of that as he screams louder as the song goes on.
The song God where John is saying all the things he doesn’t believe in. He doesn’t believe in Elvis, or Zimmerman (Bob Dylan) & Beatles. He was jettisoning all that at that time to sort of start over with Yoko (Japanese ).
And the f bombs in Working Class Hero are pretty early for a main line performer to put on a record. I believe this also reflects the time when The Beatles were working class and from Liverpool and looked down upon from London’s elite.
Pete you did a wonderful job here …you made me laugh several times. And great descriptions. Pretty spot on rankings.
A very memorable episode indeed
Thanks very much !!!
This was a great episode, Pete. My first memories of interest in music were focused on the late 1960 - and, therefore, The Beatles. Their music has been a part of my life soundtrack from that time onward. And this week, I scratched an item on my bucket list and enjoyed an incredible show from Sir Paul McCartney in Seattle, WA.
Early on, John Lennon's music in and out of the band was some of my favorite. But as I grew older, I have gravitated toward Paul's work in the Fab Four, Wings, and solo. But Lennon's music is still wrapped closely around my brainstem.
Interestingly enough, my list is identical to yours except for two changes. I have "Imagine" as number one and "Walls and Bridges" as number two. The rest of the list is the same - and I included "Pussy Cats" (the album John did with Harry Nilsson alongside Lennon's "Rock and Roll"). And you are correct; there is little reason to listen to the bottom of the list. Thanks for doing this.
If I'm not mistaken I believe "scumbag" on STINYC is actually Zappa's "King Kong" from Uncle Meat. Zappa said Lennon just literally stole it. I think Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are two of the all time great albums. Good to see SOT reviewing this,whats next,rating the Dylan albums lol(I know,that's never gonna happen). This is a really good channel,especially love the prog topics(I'm really not too much of a Metal guy however). Keep up the great work!
My favorite John's Album will always be "Mind Games" every song is a gem!
My local second hand record store has had the Wedding album in stock for a couple of years, (an original copy)I told him he'd never sell it, two years on he still has it, :-)
1 Plastic Ono band
2 Imagine
3 Walls and Bridges
4 Double Fantasy
5 Mind Games
6 Rock and Roll
7 Milk and Honey
8 Sometime in New York City
The others I don't have,
Really appreciate this ranking Pete, thanks
01 Walls & Bridges
02 Imagine
03 Plastic Ono Band
04 Mind Games
05 Double Fantasy
06 Rock’n Roll
07 Milk & Honey
08 Some Time In New York
09 Two Virgins
10 Life With The Lions
11 Wedding Album
Double Fantasy for me. I just really enjoyed the domesticated Lennon era and Ono was restrained which was a plus
Love the double Fantasy outtakes album "Milk and Honey." I think Ono's songs are stronger than on Double Fantasy but i enjoy both albums.
1. Imagine
2. Plastic Ono Band
3. Walls and Bridges
4. Mind Games
5. Double Fantasy
6. Some Time in New York City
7. Rock and Roll
8. Milk and Honey
9. Live Peace in Toronto 1969 (Side one only)
I miss John Lennon so much, he was definitely one of the all time greatests. For me personally I rank:
1. Plastic Ono Band
2. Imagine
3. Rock and Roll
4. Double Fantasy
5. Milk and Honey
6. Walls and Bridges
7. Mind Games
8. Some Time In New York City
9. The Wedding Album
10. Two Virgins
11. Life with The Lions
1) John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
2) Walls and Bridges
3) Imagine
4) Mind Games
5) Double Fantasy
6) Some Time in New York City
7) Milk and Honey
8) Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions
9) Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins
10) Wedding Album
Combine the John tracks from Double Fantasy with his tracks from Milk and Honey and you have a rock solid Lennon album.
I have always thought that!
Amazing, Yoko turning 90 next February..
The story, as I understand it, is that Elton John told Lennon that Whatever Gets You Through The Night was a hit, possibly even a #1 hit. Lennon disagreed and the two made a bet; if WGYTTN did reach #1, Lennon had to play it live on-stage with John.
Well it did reach #1, and on Thanksgiving Day Nov. 28, 1974, Lennon joined John on stage at MSG to perform WGYTTN. This live performance can be heard on the extended version of Elton John’s live album Here And There. It is said to be the last live performance by John Lennon before his assassination, but there are reports of a single performance by Lennon after the gig at MSG with Elton John.
Whatever the case, it is still a great story and a fantastic performance!
My rating:
1. "Imagine"
2. "Plastic Ono Band"
3. "Walls and Bridges"
4. " Mind Games"
5. "Some Time in New York City"
6. "Milk and Honey"
7. "Double Fantasy"
6. "Rock and Roll" I am not really a big fan of this album, as I don't think his vocals are as strong on it, with him lapsing into a kind of a whiney sound. I agree with your assessment that his albums are a bit uneven on the whole, with a few gems scattered amidst the good and the bad but later compilations like "Shaved Fish" kind of help to narrow down the range of quality to his big hits. Yoko's "Approximately Infinite Universe" album, produced around the same time as "Imagine" has much less of her distinctly unique approach to "singing" and is fairly straightforward singing, the album sharing some of the production sheen of "Imagine". I think that John played some of his best guitar when backing her songs, playing much more inventively and loosely than when penning and playing for big hits on his own.
1: Plastic Ono Band
2: Imagine
3: Double Fantasy
4: Walls and Bridges
5: Mind Games
Elliot Roberts just had an excellent 90 min video ranking Lennon’s albums
Plastic Ono is a masterpiece. A soul searing emotionally wrenching unforgettable listen. No other major artist has put out an album that is so personal so vulnerable. Easily #1. Then Imagine, Walls and Bridges are both excellent. The rest is disappointing with a few highlights.
Agree.
I wouldn't say disappointed!! There is legendary stuff on all the albums even the albums yoko is on!
Agree except Double Fantasy Lennon songs are almost all gems
Good ranking. Funny when talking about the first three. Yes, Yoko is Japanese. Probably the most famous Japanese person other than Hirohito for the post-war generation.
I'm good with his first 2 solo albums and a best of. Albums after that are spotty and I still got most of them.
I do love Lennon, but if I were advising someone who wants to get into him the only suggestion I would have is the Lennon Box Set. It's all you would ever need.
Hey Pete, The bottom 3 I couldn't agree more..I remember as a kid listening to the John & Yoko side of the The Wedding Album and only making it through 5 minutes and then taking it off the turntable never to be listened to again. It came in this fancy box set so I believed at the time this album was going to be great. It wasn't..Hear is how I ranked them 1. Plastic Ono Band 2. Imagine 3. Double Fantasy 4. Walls & Bridges 5. Mind Games 6. Milk & Honey 7. Rock N' Roll 8. Sometime In NY City 9-11 The Bottom Three..The Live Peace In Toronto is also really good at least the first side is the the second side has Yoko doing her thing over some great jamming with Alan White on Drums Eric Clapton on Guitar and Klaus Voorman on Bass...I love the songs Mother..#9 Dream..Old Dirt Road..Out of the Blue..Working Class Hero..there are so many really..
"Mind Games" is my favorite by the late Lennon!!
1. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
2. Imagine
3. Walls and Bridges
4. Mind Games
5. Double Fantasy
6. Rock 'n' Roll
7. Milk and Honey
8. Some Time in New York City
You forgot "Live Peace in Toronto 1969" which would be 9. Great live versions of Cold Turkey and Yer Blues with Eric Clapton.
"Why would anyone release this?"
Because who would actually tell John Lennon no in 1969?
Weren’t they also on Apple, the Beatles own label.
Yes, he was one of the label's owner (along with Paul and the other Beatles) so could basically record and release anything he wanted. There was no one there to tell him "no"....
My favorite are
1. Imagine
2.Plastic Ono Band
3. Double Fantasy
4. Live in New York City
5.Mind Games
I believe the Rock n Roll album was released to satisfy a copyright lawsuit. He was sued for the line in Come Together “Here come old flat top” from a publisher that owned the rights to Chuck Berry’s catalogue.
1. Plastic Ono Band
2. Imagine
3. Walls and Bridges
4. Mind Games
5. Double Fantasy
6. Milk and Honey
7. Sometime in NY
8. Rock and Roll
9, 10, 11. the bottom 3
listening to you rant about the bottom 3 was hilarious
1. Imagine
2. Double Fantasy
3. Walls and Bridges
4. Mind Games
5. Some Time in NYC
6. Milk and Honey
7. Rock ‘n’ Roll
1. Imagine
2. Walls and bridges
3. Mind games
4. Double fantasy
5. Plastic Ono band
6. Milk and honey
7. Rock N' roll
8. Sometime in new york city
9. Unfinished music
10. Wedding album
My top five: 1. Walls and Bridges 2. Plastic Ono Band 3. Imagine 4. Double Fantasy 5. Mind Games.
My top 5 John albums are:
1.Plastic Ono Band
2.Imagine
3.Mind Games
4.Some Time In NYC
5.Double Fantasy
My list would be very close to yours. I wouldn't have included he first three since they are just avant garde art and not music albums. My favorite John song is "Bless you" from Walls & Bridges, so I can't argue with that but if you just judge the John songs and not the Yoko, I would have had Double Fantasy higher. Good List.
Agree with you totally Pete. Strange that just a few days ago I was ruminating on how often solo albums by superstars, who were in brilliant bands, never manage to release any solo albums that are 100% satisfactory - and this goes for John Lennon AND the rest of the Beatles . Perhaps Band on the Run is the exception but I even feel the five star rated All things Must Pass is a five star single album , a four star double album and a two-and -a -half star triple album ! Let's be honest , the third album is rubbish! . So glad to hear you being totally honest in your review of the Lennon solo catalogue - much appreciated . .
I respect your opinion Alan, but i disagree. To me, Imagine and Plastic Ono Band are both 5 star classics - as good as the best Beatles albums. Same goes for Harrison's All Thing Must Pass (irrespective of the third disk, which I consider a bonus and not part of the official album) and McCartney's, Band on the Run and Ram. I could mention loads more, as they're just the obvious ones.
@@zsatsfm All good . That's what is wonderful about music and about sharing other people's opinions.
Thanks for ranking the John Lennon albums Pete. I was fascinated to learn that Mike Pinder from the Moody Blues (one of my favourite bands) was a guest on Imagine. I'm really looking forward to the Paul McCartney album ranking, Macca is my all time favourite musician!
he had all kinds of people on imagine
Take a look at the Wikipedia page for imagine the look up the personnel
Macca is my favorite too! Still thinking about seeing him perform this past Monday night in Seattle, WA. What a show.
@@truckerkevthepaidtourist I know, I did that. I just mentioned Pinder specifically because he was in one of my favourite bands.
@@DonHornsby Yeah. I saw him in late 2017 in Perth, WA. Like you said, what a show!
Do you like Yoko’s solo material? She’s done some brilliant work. Remember, Yoko had legitimate avant-garde credentials. Highly experimental? Absolutely. But someone must push music forward. Beyond the same old pop music that John was bored with. Yoko was the artist that push him to take a risk. Together the challenged the establishment and wanted to break free. I salute her for having a unique vision of her own.
The sound of cats in heat does not push music forward. Yoko reminds me of the fine arts students I had to take classes with back in the day. They mastered no real art rendering skills and tried to pass off their non talent as something that should be respected just because it was experimental. She latched on to John to showcase her artsy notions. Yoko’s problem is that her desire to be an artist was far greater than her limited musical abilities.
The Beatles were experimental and truly pushed music forward.
Whenever I hear Yoko I don’t think “this is an important artist pushing the boundaries of music forward, this is truly progressive”
I think “Yikes”
@@DCToonTime We will have to disagree. And that's cool. Yoko was an important addition to Lennon's understanding of music. In fact, she is the person who helped educate John about the possiblities of avant-garde music. It's one of the qualities John enjoyed; her knowledge and understanding of experimental music. Without Yoko, John Lennon (and the Fab) would not have been nearly as interesting. Yoko also faced a lot of ugly talk over the years because of the man she loved. And she held her head high. Her music is highly experimental and difficult. Most people will not appreciate the depth and quality of her music. And that's ok. (She is similar to Lou Reed in this regard). It doesn't change the fact that Yoko Ono is an important and ambitious artist with or without John Lennon. But it's good to disagree. Be well.
@@the-vinyl-dreamscape5084 We all hear things differently. What I label as experimental or pushing boundaries would be groups/musicians where I can tell there is a level of mastery of their instruments or vocals. While I do not like freeform jazz, I can tell the players really know their stuff. But that’s what the arts are all about. If you enjoy Yoko’s musical output or Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music then more power to you. You are passionate about music and that’s a-ok in my book!
Never heard her stuff outside of John's albums...and I have no interest to be honest.
" Please make it stop, please make it stop " lol I know what you mean Pete, Yoko could be tolerable or VERY intolerable, depends on the song I guess. I wasn't a fan of hers but John was great, lots of classics in his solo catalog.
Sad thing ...he was killed at 40 . How many albums (descent or greats) he could put in 80 and 90 ' ? Sad loss for rock in general .
I thought Imagine might have been number 1. Anyway, thank you for doing a ranking the albums show. I enjoy watching those.
1. Imagine
2. Plastic Ono Band
3. mIND gAMES
4. Double Fantasy
5. Rock and Roll
6. Walls and Bridges
7. Milk and Honey
8. Some Time in New York City
9. Life with the Lions
10. Two Virgins
11. Wedding Album
The thing I really hate about Yoko Ono more than anything is how her avant-garde sensibilities were rubbing off on John. That's what brought Revolution 9 into existence, and likewise is the same with those first few solo albums which is why no one has anything really nice to say about them.
Most Beatles fans don't see any validity in Yoko as an artist, but John clearly did. Not only was he influenced by her avant-garde sensibilities-- he positively *embraced, encouraged, and championed* those sensibilities. Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album would have been very different without Yoko's presence in his life. He also played scorching lead guitar on her Ono Band album.
@@christianman73 I don't know about her cred as an artist (not into Modern Art myself) but I think I know a little about rock music, and in that area I can't give Yoko much love. As to her actual effect on Lennon's music it seems pretty clear that there was lots. The real problem I have is when she makes actual "musical" contributions to the songs, that almost always goes south for me
@@wolf1977 I'm admittedly not into much of Yoko's more radically avant-garde, artsy stuff, but she does have several solo albums that are more conventionally rock-oriented, and I do like some of those albums. My favorite is the "Rising" album from '95, which goes from Slayer-like speed metal to funky rock songs to slower, haunting, but still intense songs. She does some screaming and wailing on the album, but there is also a good bit of rock singing from her that isn't really "out there" too. Sonic Youth, Cibo Matto, and other indie rock, punk, and alt-rock artists have championed Yoko for years.
Working Class Hero, one of my favorites.
Wonsaponatime is my favourite
‘Imagine’ if John released those first 3 albums in the age of social media.
I love Lennon but mainly for his work in The Beatles I don't have one that I like all of the way through. I'm going to include Shaved Fish because of the singles. I could make one great double album of all of his solo efforts. I think they are all uneven, each album (for me) has four amazing songs and the rest sound forced. No negativity, just my opinion.
1. Imagine
2. Mind Games
3. Plastic Ono Band
4. Shaved Fish
5. Sometime in New York City
6. Walls and Bridges
7. Double Fantasy
8. Rock and Roll
9. Milk and Honey.
Cool! You should really do George and Paul too!!
Paul will come. George...not so much. I love All Things Must Pass, the rest, meh...
@@seaoftranquilityprog I agree
@@seaoftranquilityprog I'm looking forward to the Paul list. But give Harrison a chance. Like John, there are some really strong albums such as All Things Must Pass and Living In The Material World. And there is a lot of uneven material with gems here and there (Cloud Nine, 33 and 1/3, Extra Texture, Somewhere In England, and Brainwashed).
@@DonHornsby The collection The Apple Years 1968-75 is tremendous too as well as The Dark Horse Years 1976 - 1992, and Concert For Bangla Desh (I used to own the vinyl box set)
@@seaoftranquilityprogGeorge had some albums that are pretty good that stand out like Living in the Material World, 33&1/3, (Self Titled Album) George Harrison, Cloud Nine, and Brainwashed, - Dark Horse is Okay if it hadnt been that he sang sick with laryngitis.
I think you should do a George Harrison album ranking, I don’t know if you’ve heard all his albums but I’d think you’d like them, especially his more rockin albums like Thirty Three and 1/3 and Cloud Nine
Only have All Things Must Pass...don't really care much for a lot of the other stuff I've heard, and he has a lot of albums.
@@seaoftranquilityprog follow up living in the material world is a really strong one too.
I commented earlier but I was really surprised to see John Lennon come up and that you purchase some of his discography and actually enjoyed a lot of it.
I remember when I did a Kofi coffee that had asked if you ever planned on ranking John Lennon that was about a year or so ago and you mentioned you hadn't had none of his solo stuff so that's cool
@@seaoftranquilityprogshame. You have poor taste.
Hope you can do the Paul ones (not including Wings) next.
That would be a major ranking. I'd say start slow & do Ringo first ("you can pay him less, it's up to you...") which would be pretty easy. I think George Harrison was done not that long ago...? I've got at least 40 McCartney albums including live & Wings, and he outweighs the other three combined by 4:1 (in terms of the amount of music I own & like by each)
@@wolf1977 didn’t know there was that many
@@thekivster Yeah McCartney has a ton of albums. I know I'm missing at least 5-6 (including 5 classical albums that I have no interest in). If you check Wiki they list about 50 total including Live, Wings & Compilations, and I think they're also not 100% complete
Lennon's zenith was perhaps ironically on Ono's Plastic Ono Band masterpiece where she used Haden, Coleman, Blackwell and others. Who'd have predicted 50-55 yrs ago the best Beatles or Beatles related Lp would be one of Ono's?
Mind Games is a terrific album, vastly underappreciated. I'd put it in #1, right next Plastic Ono Band.
I find Walls and Bridges heavily overproduced. The stripped down versions of several of the songs found in one side of the Menlove Avenue album are superior and really intense. I had the bad luck of listening to Menlove before Walls, so when I listened to Walls and found those songs cobbled with arrangements, my perception was tainted, lol. Dream #9 is an unbelievable song. I might put Walls and Bridges in the #1 spot solely for that song.
Double Fantasy has an amazing Yoko song I doubt she write it on her own: Every man has a woman who loves him.
There Tony Levin's bass shines brightly.
1. Mind Games
2. Plastic Ono Band
3. Double Fantasy
4. Menlove avenue (posthumous album of demos and live songs).
5. Imagine
6. Rock and Roll
7. Walls and Bridges
8. Milk and Honey
Then the rest.
John Lennon/POB is the finest self-portrait album in Rock n' Roll. Bar-none. It is also the best Beatles solo album.
I'm really surprised about the nr. 1...but it's a great album. Like it too!
Love the Yoko Ono band album and Mind games along with Imagine. How essential are Rock n Roll , Sometime in NYC and Walls n Bridges in the JL catalogue in terms of go gets ? and what are the live albums worth listening/possessing ?
I don't like RnR much but "Stand By Me" is tremendous. There's a package called Acoustic you might like, John unplugged with just an acoustic. a lot of his live stuff was pretty raw, his backing band Elephants Memory was somewhat unpolished, kinda like Janis Joplin's early band Big Brother. I like Walls & Sometime
On February 22, 1975, the song "No. 9 Dream" went & got as high as # 9 on Billboard Hot 100 or Top 40!!!
The bottom three were meant, at the time, to be audio diaries. I understand there existence and why they were released at the time. What I don't get is why they were ever rereleased on compact disc. The vinyl versions are collectable. One half of Live Peace in Toronto is a great live performance. Another posthumous album, Menlove Avenue, has some really good early versions of Walls and Bridges songs. Edit. I think you were more fair to Yoko than most on UA-cam.
Plastic Ono Band is the perfect album to listen to when you're depressed. Because it's so depressing you just gotta cheer up after!!
one of the funnier solo SoT-episodes
1) Plastic Ono Band - the line in God "Don't believe in Beatles" is devastating
2) Imagine
3) Milk and Honey
4) Double Fantasy
The Lennon songs on those two could be better as a whole that my numbers one and two.
Yoko makes it difficult to rank them higher but she sort of grows on me. Double Fantasy is lower since it is 2 x Yoko
5) Walls and Bridges
6) Mind Games
7) Rock and Roll - I believe he issued this because he got sued for plagarism to part of a Chuck Berry song as part of the song Come Together. Not sure I ever saw the connection
"God" isn't a great composition, but the lyrics are devastating.
I've never recognized an album cover on your wall before, but now I see a Sting in the Tail
Yes indeed!
In the song "No. 9 Dream" "Ahh bowel coward a simple Sam" which I thought John sang (laughs). That song peaked at # 9 on Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.
I like Yokos singing on Fantasy. I heard she was not the singer on Number 9 Dream. The voice that says "john"
Its not, thats May Pang.
I have the Plastic Ono Band album & a Greatest Hits album (which I rarely buy). I think I'm good to go...although Live At The Fillmore with Zappa & The Mothers is tempting.
Some of those "pieces" Pete described sound like somebody was checking out John Cage.
Some Avant Garde is mere "performance art"... maybe a nice way of saying BS. To each his own, right?
Plastic Ono Band is my favorite John Lennon album with Imagine a close second.
I really like POB a lot too, great lineup & the first real music album Lennon released post-Beatles
I will comment on Mind Games. When we hear that term we think of psychological warfare. But (never begins a sentence I was taught ... who makes these rules?) it was an idea really that Mind Games everybody should dream peace and it will happen.
yes walls bridges my fav lennon album 9 dream is best solo song lennon was a better artist when yoko was not around would like pete to have given a shout out live peace in toronto 69 and live in new york city 1986
11, 10 and 9 lol. Screeching up a storm. Unfinished music was exactly that.
I remember being maybe 15 or 16, a Beatles fan thanks to my Mom, and a McCartney fan as well. I heard a couple songs from Double Fantasy and decided to buy it. I opened it up, put it on the turntable and began to listen. Starting Over up first, great song, I'd heard it before and liked it a lot, ok, good, song two...
What fresh Hell is this? This is awful. Why is this on here? Sweet christ that was bad. Ok. Phew. It's over. Another John song. All is well. Song 3. Wait. What??? No. No no no no no Ono. I stopped it. I looked at the label. Every other song was an Ono composition. God dammit. This should have a warning label. "Half of this record is unlistenable due to excessive Yoko Ono." The guy at the record store wouldn't take it back. I learned my lesson though. I was terrified to buy other Lennon albums. I had to research them all first. My favorite Lennon listening experience is the Live In New York City album. It's ramshackle, loose, gritty, and Yoko is almost completely silent, as she should be on any recording of music.
What about Black Crowes? I think it's time for rank them. Greetings from Argentina. By the way Pete, do you know some bands from here?
I think J&Y stole the concept for their "John, Yoko" track from Stan Freberg's classic comedy/novelty record "John and Marsha".
Ha. I forgot about that one.
His death leaves many "what-if" questions open but honestly without being a moptop first it's hard to fathom general public caring about him. Imagine is #1, self-titled pretty overbearing (basically John saying how bad things have been except for his wife; the opposite was actually truer). Double fantasy remains a scam though better than 1972 through retirement hack-jobs. At least number 9 dream is a keeper; other songs from that strange decade are usually worth a listen. Watching the wheels + nobody told me definitely hinted at something greater once the mtv "we hate real music" era began. Liked rankings here aside from one switch: walls for his most classic album. It's got four great cuts in a row in between lethargic "soldier" + tuneful-enough closer about Oh no! Paul ruled post-breakup followed by george, with ringo admittedly in last place. However, sometimes those disposable semi-gems from especially '73 are better than mind games & the like. Finally, that double album is horrendous and have never heard three pre-1970 releases nor like toronto festival concert. Doors, Alice, Berry...much better on that day.