SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN LENNON – MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION (SUPER DELUXE BOX SET)

JOHN LENNON
MIND GAMES – THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION (SUPER DELUXE BOX SET)
UNIVERSAL MUSIC

John Lennon’s Mind Games came at a rather turbulent time in his life. It had been three years since The Beatles had split and the spectre of the band was still quite strong, he was in the process of separating from Yoko Ono (with whom he had been with since 1968), he was still fighting with U.S. Immigration, Apple was having some legal problems, and he was losing his manager, Allen Klein. His musical career was not doing as well as his former bandmates. Mind Games, as good as it is was, was not the album to put him back on the top of the charts. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the album, Sean Ono Lennon has assembled a monster of a box set of the album.

To these ears, Mind Games has always been a brilliant and in some ways underrated album. It never had the same reputation as Imagine, but it is its equal. Perhaps if it had had more hit singles, things would have been different. But it is one of those albums that is seldom discussed and seems to have been lost in the years. Again, this is a shame, because it is jammed full of well written, well produced (Lennon’s first solo production credit) and well played album. This re-release may draw the attention the album has always deserved.

The album itself has never sounded better. This is called ‘The Ultimate Mix’, and it does sound sharper, and Lennon’s vocals are stronger than ever. Sean has done an excellent job (with help from Paul Hicks, Sam Gannon, Rob Stevens and Simon Hilton). This is not the first time the album has been re-released or remixed, but it is the best remixed/remastered version. For my money Mind Games may be the purest albums Lennon ever made. He didn’t work with a co-producer, there was no co-writers.

The end result is a beautiful album showing Lennon’s beautiful sentimental side (“I Know (I Know)” and “Out The Blue” are two of Lennon’s most beautiful melodies), and his hard rocking side. Lennon never rocked as hard before or since on songs such as “Meat City”. The title track, although written before “Imagine” is almost “Imagine Part Two” full of wonderful imagery and peaceful expressions. Elsewhere on the album he even dips his toes in country with songs “Only People” and “Tight A$” (a song he sent to Waylon Jennings to cover).

The new reissue comes in various formats. There is a six CD, two Blu-ray box set which features different remixes of the songs, and a CD of previously unreleased out-takes. These out-takes show that Lennon really worked on the songs for the album. “One Day (At A Time) (Take 18)” shows there were a number of attempts to this song. The same with the other songs on the album. Given the length of CDs, it would have been nice to have more unreleased material, but look out for Easter Eggs on the Blu-rays for even more, not to mention some very cool music videos. Of course, there is the huge box set, which includes a bonus EP of material and so much more.

This new set shows how great this Mind Games was and how it was overlooked when first released. It also proved that Lennon could not only write but produce. His production on the album is timeless and allows for the news mixes available on the set. Lennon may have been going through a lot during the recording of this album, but instead of making a weak album, he put his energy and emotion into this brilliant album. Besides the bonus material, these anniversary releases allow music buffs the opportunity to re-evaluate the albums and may even gain a new audience.

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