To reiterate the wealth of information already known about John Lennon would be pedestrian and futile; his childhood, the Beatles and his premature death have been recounted time and again. However, these are cold facts and have little to say about the artist as a man or human being. Whether through the ink on a page or in the image of a photo as seen by an objective lense, the icon remains removed from his public. This is where the genius of "The John Lennon Anthology" comes into play; Through a series of four CDs, the listener grows acquainted with Lennon the family man; Lennon the studio technician; Lennon the political activist; Lennon the angry iconoclast. It is the intimate portrait of a legend as told through his widow, his music and the artist himself. Each CD is broken down into specific time periods in Lennon's life. The first, labeled "Ascot", begins with several outtakes and alternative versions of songs found on his first solo album, 1970's masterpiece, "Plastic Ono Band", which had been recorded as a result of undergoing primal scream therapy. The songs are simple and unadorned of Phil Spector's eventual accompaniment; they move from the emotional introspection of "God" and "Isolation" to the growing political consciousness of songs like "I Don't Want To Be A Soldier" and "Give Peace A Chance". Disc 2,New York City, begins in 1972 and fleshes out Lennon's social awareness with startling, blistering live versions of "Attica State"and "John Sinclair". It also contains alternative versions of protest songs "Bring on the Lucie", "Woman is the Nigger of the World" and "Happy XMas (War is Over)". Disc 3, titled The Lost Weekend, covers the year and a half Lennon spent separated from his wife. Prior to this period, Ono's daughter had been kidnapped, he had been arrested for drug possession, and the FBI had been building a file on him because of his political views. The resulting music, much of it eventually included on "Walls and Bridges", is stark and ghostly, speaking of isolation and abandonment. Songs like "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out", "Scared" and "Stranger's Room" are presented as frightening insight into Lennon's state of mind. Disc 4, Dakota, takes a look at Lennon's life during 1979 and 1980, before his tragic end. Though the required songs are all here ("Nobody Told Me", "Woman", "Watching the Wheels" and "I'm Stepping Out"), the real interest can be found in the recorded conversations between Lennon and his young son Sean, and the scathingly satirical Dylan impersonations included near the end of the disc. Obviously, the scope of this box set feels immense (though it covers only 10 years) and it takes a few listens to find the complete picture. Having done so, however, the listener is finally introduced to Lennon the man. It's been a long time coming. Personal Favorites: Disc One: the bare-bones vehemence of "Working Class Hero"; Disc Two: the frenzied passion in Lennon's performance of "Attica State" at the Apollo Theater; Disc Three: the haunting "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out"; Disc Four: the frenetic, heavily-accented "Serve Yourself". Representative Lyrics: "God is a concept/ by which we measure our pain" ("God"); "If you had the luck of the Irish/ You'd be sorry and wish you were dead/ You should have the luck of the Irish/ And you'd wish you was English instead!" ("Luck of the Irish"); "Grow old along with me/ Two branches of one tree/ Face the setting sun/ When the day is done/ God bless our love." ("Grow Old With Me")

At first glance, The John Lennon Anthology appears to be another box set with hit best known songs along with a few live performances and outtakes. But the set is actually made up entirely of alternate versions of his best known songs with some live songs and outtakes sprinkled in. The results are interesting and intriguing. Many of the songs are featured in stripped down, bare-bones forms, with just a piano or guitar and you get an inside look at the creative process of a legend. The Plastic Ono Band songs like "Working Class Hero", "God" and "Mother" are even starker and rawer than their released versions. You get to hear some of his highly politically charged live concerts from the early 70's like the Free John Sinclair shows. Some of the more interesting songs include his original demo of "Real Love" which later was re-recorded by the three remaining Beatles for the Anthology series, songs from the Mind Game sessions and his later Double Fantasy work like "Nobody Told Me" and a stripped down, guitar and drum machine take of "Woman" which is absolutely breathtaking. The last disk contains some great moments like Mr. Lennon goofing around with Beatles songs (lightly mocking Paul McCartney in some) and his young son Sean is featured singing as well. The four cd's are broken up in chronological order and the entire package is well done. Each cd is encased in a beautiful package containing artwork by Mr. Lennon and the set's booklet contains more art and great photos. This set is for John Lennon fanatics of every age and well worth the price.

This 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 infamous "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 those 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.

John Lennon said in one or two interviews that the best performances the Beatles ever gave went unrecorded. By the same token, the outtakes, rehearsals and demos which make up most of the JOHN LENNON ANTHOLOGY are more to the point than almost any of the official solo recordings released during his lifetime.
This four-disc powerhouse set demonstrates what John Lennon could do when he didn't have to polish his work. When he was laying down a rehearsal track or a demo he was singing for himself. The horn-section which drowns the ROCK 'N' ROLL album is not heard on the outtakes of "Bring It On Home To Me" and "Rip It Up." They rock, and that's something the finished ROCK 'N' ROLL album did not.
"I'm Losing You," in its rehearsal stage, with guitars and drums tuned to a high temperature, blows away the timorous version which made it onto DOUBLE FANTASY.
The JOHN LENNON ANTHOLOGY is not merely better than the so-called finished product; it's more sincere. The best moment might be a live performance of "Imagine" at the Apollo. It's with a guitar instead of a piano and it's in front of an audience Lennon couldn't help but respect. There's not a hint of disappointment in his voice.
I think Lennon hated a finished product. In rehearsal he could be boisterous, humorous and impassioned. He could gauge a live audience instantly. He could be himself in rehearsal and he was in command in front of an audience. Because this boxed set is made up of live performances and unvarnished tracks, an unusually relaxed and confident Lennon is revealed.

This is one of the best box sets ever. Not only is the design first class - the accompanying booklet and the 4 discs are housed in excellent cardboard digipak fashion - the sound quality of the recordings is very, very good reflecting an excellent remastering job.

This album is very aptly called "Anthology" as that is just what this is: a loving history of the brains of the Beatles from the start of his solo years to his untimely death. As such, much of the material here is "unpolished" and intentionally done so to the extent that we get many outtakes and alternative takes of the various hits that never made it to the final original albums that eventually went on sale over the years.

Still, the overall effect is a very personal aural experience for the listener who gets to know the real John Lennon. I'm deeply moved listening to the banter between him and his son Sean especially the outtake where John reveals his great love for his son, wanting to please him and you can almost hear the disappointment in his voice when he had to tell him that he couldn't raise the volume of the guitar amp any louder as requested by Sean. Anyone who's ever been a father can empathise with a man who just desperately wants to please his son.

If you are looking for an album of John Lennon's greatest hits, this is not it; you'll have to go get the latest album release by that name but if you are looking to understand the man and to get that rare glimpse of his personality, his essence and what he really was about, this is the essential listening experience that you need to get.

You get to see his traumatic inner psyche on disc 1 with "Mother", "God", "Jealous Guy" and "Long Lost John". You get to see his altruistic, bon homie side on disc 2 with "John Sinclair", "Luck of the Irish", "Attica State" where John shows his "political" side, doing all he can to help the underdog and downtrodden.

You get to see his independent and paradoxically also his very dependent nature on disc 3 with "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" among other tracks and finally on disc 4 you get to see his acceptance of himself as a loving father/husband about to enter into his 4th decade of life expressing his great love for his family on "Woman", "Life Begins at 40", "Dear Yoko", "Beautiful Boy", "Grow Old With Me" and eerily predicting his own death on "Borrowed Time". We also get to see his brilliant, witty, sense of humour on the inspired "The Great Wok" and the three tracks satirising Bob Dylan.

Listening to this album in its entirety at one sitting is a very touching and moving experience for any fan and it never fails to affect me every time I listen to it. If you thought you knew John Lennon before you've heard this, you're in for a big surprise.

All credit to his widow Yoko for putting together a wonderful portrait of John and for so generously sharing with us all a glimpse of the true nature of the great man that only a soul mate can describe as she does so brilliantly here on this work of art. Very, very highly recommended.