Whoa, there! This album isn't nearly that bad. In fact, here's a rundown of why any self-repecting John Lennon fan cannot be without this album:

"Side 1" consists of five outtakes from the Rock'n'Roll/Walls and Bridges era, so this is the only place you'll find 'Here We Go Again', Rock and Roll People (which he gave to Johnny Winter), To Know Her Is To Love Her, and Since My Baby Left Me. Angel Baby was later released on the Lennon box, and is the only other place to find that cut. While I'm not saying that these are lost John Lennon classics, they've all got a rock and roll heart and are featured in pristine sound. They stand with the material on Rock'n'Roll, and are remastered much better.

But it is "Side 2" that really shines. These are stripped-down, magnificent sounding outtakes of songs that were released on Walls and Bridges. Like many of the similar outtakes that would surface on Anthology, I much prefer these versions to the 'produced' versions that grace the actual Walls and Bridges album. Every nuance of every sound is captured here. John's voice is frightfully real and close.

If you dig John Lennon, for God's sake, don't miss this album. It's one of the greatest unexpected pleasures in his catalog. Thanks, Yoko and Capital/EMI for releasing this. One gripe: how about a better package design and some liner notes?

"Menlove Avenue" is a collection of outtakes and demos from the "Lost Weekend" phase of John's life. Some good moments (especially on the "Walls and Bridges" demo section), but hardly essential, and this set is inferior to the material from the same era found in the "Anthology" box.

A wonderful collection of songs, some very dark, that let us into John's musical and psychological space. No Lennon collection is complete without "Steel and Glass." "Rock and Roll People" and "Since My Baby Left Me" are just good ol' rock and roll, with John at his joyous best.

This appears to be a collection of outakes from the Rock and Roll album and demos for Walls and Bridges. The Phil Spector-produced Angel Baby is supposed to have been cut and pasted to make it artificially longer. It seems to just plod along, lumbering here and there, never really hitting that GROOVE. No wonder it was an outake from the Rock and Roll album. The demo versions are intresting glimpses of songs in the making. All the demos seem slower than the final versions that mostly appeared on Walls and Bridges. I guess that's to be expected till the songs were learned by everyone and finalized.

In 1973 and 1974, Lennon released some of his shakiest albums, "Mind Games," "Walls and Bridges" and "Rock and Roll." This was during his "Lost Weekend" phase, and he resembles Paul McCartney more than himself on these somewhat overproduced but affecting records. "Menlove" presents early, stripped down versions of songs from "Rock and Roll" and "Walls and Bridges." The "Walls and Bridges" section is amazing, harrowing. The original versions which seemed a distant memory come to life, like "Scared" and "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out." "Menlove Ave." is a short precursor to the superior 1998 box "John Lennon Anthology."