I never truly appreciated the genius of John Lennon as a solo artist until I bought this CD. This is a great introduction to Lennon's music, combining a number of true Beatles classics along with some amazing Lennon solo tracks. The fact that several of the Beatles songs are not the group's more famous ones is an added plus. The very familiar Twist and Shout and Help! are great, but these songs are only an oldies' station away most of the time. The psychedelic Strawberry Fields Forever is great fun, the hard-riffing Revolution packs a punch, and Sgt. Pepper's A Day in the Life highlights Lennon's singular contribution to rock music. I was most thrilled, however, to find A Day in the Life in this collection-it may not immediately come to mind when you think of Beatles classics, but I think it is the Fab Four's most poignant song. The slow, sentimental sound of the White Album's Julia and the frenetic, catchy delivery of The Ballad of John and Yoko help set the stage for the Lennon solo tracks. Naturally, the song Imagine is the highlight of Lennon's solo career, earning a short rehearsal track along with the original in this collection. For me, Woman is the quintessential Lennon track, bursting with emotion and beauty. Then there is the controversial God; I really like the song, especially Lennon's list of things and people he doesn't believe in (which includes "beatles"); the song certainly reflects Lennon's personal philosophy, and this will doubtless flavor some listeners' regard for the track. The remaining songs were less familiar to me, but songs like Jealous Guy and (Just Like) Starting Over encompass the variety, genius, and easy listenability of this great artist's unique music.

This album offers the listener a great sampling of Lennon's entire discography. Certainly, arguments can be made about songs that should or should not have been included, but this collection represents a noble and much-appreciated effort to keep alive the memory, music, and genius of an artist struck down much too soon. Imagine what could have been, but enjoy and appreciate what was.

Unlike other anthologies of John Lennon's work, this CD encompasses many of his songs from a group he used to belong to, The Beatles. By including these songs with his better known solo efforts, a listener can appreciate his evolution as a recording artist that reflected his chameleon-like personality.

Included in the better know studio recordings are a demo of Real Love that outclasses the Threetles version on Anthology 2, a live performance of Mother that is less harrowing that the POB version, an a studio rehearsal of Imagine that sheds some light on the creative process.

Oh, and the audio quality of the tracks is superb. At the price of a single CD you get almost a double album's worth of Beatles and John Lennon music.

imagine is the best cd john lennon has ever came out with including the cds with the beatles. truly an item every fan should have and probably does.

This album has been available on CD since it's original release in 1988. It's funny reading the reviews here because they appear to be very recent and apparently written by people who've never seen the "Imagine: John Lennon" film or heard "Real Love" before the Beatles reformed & did it for their Anthology series. Why include this acoustic version you may ask instead of the "other demo"? Well watch the opening of the film and you'll hear this simple and beautiful performance as we "skim the tree tops of Ascot", England. This is the soundtrack to that film...it's not designed to be yet another Beatles/Lennon compilation but instead includes some rather amazing & influential musical highlights from the film.
The selection of Lennon's Beatles work is quite illuminating. With "Twist & Shout" as the only nod to the "Beatlemania" years, the rest of these tracks stem (mostly) from their post '65 period. John's lyrics had evolved and become personal & /or autobiographical (Help!/In My Life/Julia/Ballad Of John & Yoko/Don't Let Me Down), creative (Strawberry Field Forever/A Day In The Life) & socially conscious (Revolution).
This links very well to John's solo work which seems to concentrate on his early 1970/71 "Plastic Ono Band/Imagine" period & his later "Double Fantasy" stuff but has very little in between. In fact their isn't a more stark or dramatic contrast that between John's "God" where he excorsises his personal demons while disowning what was once important to him (Elvis, Beatles, Dylan..), and his simple but hopefully optimistic "Imagine", a song that has stood as an "ode for world peace" for the last 30+ years. The inclusion of the rehearsal version of "Imagine" is very interesting as a pointer to the finished work. "Stand By Me", from his "Rock & Roll" LP is the solitary representation of his "Peace Activism" & Lost Weekend" stages thus "Sometime In New York City", "Mind Games" & "Wall & Bridges" LP's are not represented at all. The "Double Fantasy" period features "Woman", "Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)" & "(Just Like) Starting Over".
At the time there may have also been a conscious effort to keep this album down to a single CD (I think it was originally a Double vinyl LP - I might be wrong). However whatever the reason, this album is quite an enjoyable experience and highly recommended, even as an abridged intro to both The Beatles & John Lennon. At the same time it could also be the soundtrack to many of our lives..it is for mine.

Well if you want insight into the man and the music of John Lennon, this is a good one CD purchase. I know most everybody has all the pieces on the CD BUT you don't have them all on one representing John's life. When I feel I need to remember this man and his work this is the CD that I put on. It also reminds what happens to a man's work that is left behind. If you listen to REAL LOVE on this CD you will understand that the remake of it for the anthology was totally off the original concept by John. I think this is a good compilation of music of his life.