Anthology
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
The story The John Lennon Anthology tells--that of the questing former Beatle who took five years off to raise his son before returning with an album of peaceful reflections on the househusband life--isn't new, but for all its monumental status, it does help bring Lennon into focus again as a person and a musician. Since his murder in 1980, Lennon-the-man-of-peace has too often obscured the rocker, the dad, the flawed human being in the public consciousness. While this massive stack of odds and ends--studio outtakes and chatter, live and alternate versions, demos--is necessarily diffuse, it does a great service. It restores the iconic Lennon to normal size.
Some of the set's most striking moments come at its beginning, in eight previously unreleased takes of songs that filled most of 1970's Plastic Ono Band. One of rock's most uncompromised albums, it found him angry, sad, and reflective to bursting. The tapes included on Anthology, though, feature a Lennon who, if not happy, is fully in his element--making rock & roll. Even as he's making dry runs for exorcising demons, he's still the guy who fell for the music as a Liverpool teenager; on an early, shuffling version of "Hold On", he leads his guitar line into the main riff of Bill Doggett's "Honky Tonk".
Elsewhere, we get long looks at the fits and starts of Lennon's years as a solo artist and as part of a duo with Yoko Ono. He slips from the grace of "Imagine" and "It's So Hard" into the raw polemics and lousy rhymes of "John Sinclair" and "Attica State".
The honesty of Lennon's vocals throughout his career is often commented on, and they provide some of the greatest treasure here. Whether an alternate of the pained 1974 "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out", the joyfully full-on rocking of "Be Bop a Lula" and "Move Over Ms L", or a gorgeous "Be My Baby", it's the voice that's the window to this man's soul. We also see how pained he was at his temporary separation from Yoko, as he even inserts a line of "Jealous Guy" into the demo for the rollicking "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" and abashed pleads for "one more chance" on a similar tape of "Mind Games".
Finally, there are the many moments of good humour--the outlines of "I'm the Greatest" and "Goodnight Vienna" for Ringo, the loose-as-a-goose "Be Bop a Lula". Anthology is flawed, but its wide-ranging picture of Lennon's post-Beatles years is that of someone you'd love to have spent some time with. --Rickey Wright
Reviews
Not really worth going out to get
Review date: 2002-06-19 Rating: 4 out of 10
The first Lennon box set really was a "Best of", but that got withdrawn presumably to facilitate this release. This is really for the very, very hard core Lennon fan. I love the Beatles(got everything they made)I like John Lennon too and have his albums, but this is a step too far. It is just not something you could put on and sit back and listen to. Well if you did it would be only once. It is too disjointed and "cut up". Snips of alternate takes vie with bits of conversation and some live snippets(by in large not very memorable..Attica state and the political stuff). This really sums up the box set phenomenon,which is (a) lots of unreleased stuff, not much released hits (b) Lots of hits not much unreleased (C) A mixture of a and b. This falls into the (a) category and to be brutal you don't need it, it is not one to play to your friends.
Wow and wow again!
Review date: 2002-05-09 Rating: 10 out of 10
What more could a budding John Lennon fan ask for?
This large collection of Lennon's work seems to sum up perfectly what John Lennon was about to so many fans-A great songwriter that wrote a hell of a lot of good songs. I found the small but chunky book a useful insight into periods of Lennon's life and I also really appreciated the information about some of the previously unreleased Lennon home recordings!
My favourite CD out of the four has to be the Dakota CD. Not only was this period of his song writing my favourite, it was also his last. I thoughroughly enjoyed listening to alternative takes of my favourite Lennon songs like "I'm Losing You" and "Woman".
This collection of John Lennon's work is a real treat for all his fans and I would recommend it to everyone!
Such clarity............
Review date: 2000-07-18 Rating: 8 out of 10
When listening to a releases from ex-Beatles I think you should always ask yourself the following question: "would I even be listening to this if it wasn't by an ex-Beatle?". In the case of some of the Fab-fours solo outings the honest answer is no. Ringo aside I am thinking mainly of some of McCartneys 70's albums and unfortunatley Lennons 1980 comeback material. I have yet to hear a bad Harrison release, although his later albums are currently unavailable. During the early 70's Lennons solo records were on the whole superb albums. The let down was either the production, eg Mind Games or the Yoko involvement on Sometime in New York City. On this box set the Imagine/Plastic Ono Band tracks are excellent alternative versions. Why can't they re-master the original album to this quality? The late 70's tracks show that Lennon had lost none of his cynicism or wit and the home demos of some of the material are better than the released versions. As a music fan this is music you would have in your collection regardless of the artists previous group or status.
This boxset is amazing!
Review date: 2000-02-12 Rating: 10 out of 10
The set spans John's years as a solo artist from 1970 to 1980. I've always felt John's solo albums were over-produced by himself and Phil Spector, John's voice seemed to get lost in the recordings, however in this set his voice is to the fore and the songs sound 10 times better than than do on his albums. Disc 1 ASCOT: (the best) revolves about his first two solo albums, Plastic Ono Band and Imagine. Disc 2 NEW YORK CITY: John's political phase with Sometime In New York City and Mind Games.
Disc 3 THE LOST WEEKEND: John's famous "Lost Weekend" which features Walls And Bridges and Rock N'Roll. And finally Disc 4 DAKOTA: which features many rare demos as well as his Double Fantasy and Milk & Honey albums. However I should state this set is probably only for hardcore fans of Lennon, but true fans will cherish listening to John singing Real Love on his own, a diffrent version of Imagine, a live Come Together from Madison Square Garden and John chatting with Sean at the Dakota.
Product Details/Specifications
Artist(s):
John Lennon
Recording label: Parlophone
Manufacturer: Parlophone
EAN: 0724383061426
Binding: Audio CD
Format: Box set,
Release date: 1998-11-02
Universal product code (UPC): 724383061426
Number of discs: 4
Disc 1 Tracks:
1. Working Class Hero
2. God
3. I Found Out
4. Hold On
5. Isolation
6. Love
7. Mother
8. Remember
9. Imagine
10. Fortunately
11. Baby Please Don't Go
12. Oh My Love
13. Jealous Guy
14. Maggie Mae
15. How Do You Sleep
16. God Save Oz
17. Do The Oz
18. I Don't Want To Be A Soldier
19. Give Peace A Chance
20. Look At Me Look At Me
21. Long Lost John
22. New York City
23. Attica State
24. Imagine (2)
25. Bring On The Lucie (Freda People)
26. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World
27. Geraldo Rivera
28. Woman Is The Nigger Of The World (2)
29. It's So Hard
30. Come Together
31. Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
32. Luck Of The Irish
33. John Sinclair
34. Mind Games (I Promise)
35. Mind Games (Make Love Not War)
36. One Day (At A Time)
37. I Know (I Know)
38. I'm The Greatest
39. Goodnight Vienna
40. Jerry Lewis Telethon
41. Kiss Is Just A Kiss
42. Real Love
43. You Are Here
44. What You Got
45. Nobody Loves You When You're Down And Out
46. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night
47. Whatever Gets You Thru The Night (2)
48. Yesterday
49. Be Bop A Lula
50. Rip It Up/Ready Teddy
51. Scared
52. Steel And Glass
53. Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)
54. Bless You
55. Going Down On Love
56. Move Over Ms L
57. Ain't She Sweet
58. Slippin' And Slidin'
59. Peggy Sue
60. Bring It On Home To Me/Send Me Some Lovin'
61. Phil And John 1
62. Phil And John 2
63. Phil And John 3
64. When In Doubt Fuck It
65. Be My Baby
66. Stranger's Room
67. Old Dirt Road
68. I'm Losing You
69. Sean's Little Help
70. Serve Yourself
71. My Life
72. Nobody Told Me
73. Life Begins At 40
74. I Don't Wanna Face It
75. Woman
76. Dear Yoko
77. Watching The Wheels
78. I'm Stepping Out
79. Borrowed Time
80. Rishi Kesh Song
81. Sean's Loud
82. Beautiful Boy
83. Mr Hyde's Gone Don't Be Afraid
84. Grow Old With Me
85. Dear John Something More
86. Great Wok
87. Mucho Mungo
88. Satire 1
89. Satire 2
90. Satire 3
91. Sean's In The Sky
92. It's Real
Publishers: Parlophone
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