John Lennon Album: «Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon»
John Lennon Album: «Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon»
- Customers rating: (4.3 of 5)
- Title:Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon
- Release date:2005-10-04
- Type:Audio CD
- Label:Capitol
- UPC:094634039123
- 1 - 1 (Just Like) Starting Overimg 4:01
- 1 - 2 Imagineimg 3:54
- 1 - 3 Watching The Wheels John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 3:32
- 1 - 4 Jealous Guy John Lennon and Plastic Ono Bandimg 4:16
- 1 - 5 Instant Karma!img 3:35
- 1 - 6 Stand By Meimg 3:34
- 1 - 7 Working Class Heroimg 3:48
- 1 - 8 Power To The People John Lennon and Plastic Ono Bandimg 3:23
- 1 - 9 Oh My Loveimg 2:47
- 1 - 10 Oh Yoko!img 4:19
- 1 - 11 Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out)img 5:12
- 1 - 12 Nobody Told Me John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 3:35
- 1 - 13 Bless Youimg 4:40
- 1 - 14 Come Togetherimg 4:01
- 1 - 15 New York City John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Bandimg 4:32
- 1 - 16 I'm Stepping Out John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 4:08
- 1 - 17 You Are Hereimg 4:02
- 1 - 18 Borrowed Time John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 4:32
- 1 - 19 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 3:38
- 2 - 1 Womanimg 3:34
- 2 - 2 Mind Gamesimg 4:15
- 2 - 3Out of the Blue
- 2 - 4 Whatever Gets You Thru The Nightimg 3:37
- 2 - 5 Loveimg 3:21
- 2 - 6 Motherimg 5:38
- 2 - 7 Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)img 4:06
- 2 - 8 Woman is the Nigger of the Worldimg 6:02
- 2 - 9 Godimg 4:12
- 2 - 10 Scared John Lennon and Little Big Hornsimg 4:42
- 2 - 11 #9 Dream John Lennon and The 44th Street Fairiesimg 4:47
- 2 - 12I'm Losing You - (Anthology Version)
- 2 - 13 Isolationimg 2:53
- 2 - 14 Cold Turkeyimg 5:45
- 2 - 15 Intuitionimg 3:07
- 2 - 16 Gimme Some Truth John Lennon, Plastic Ono Band and Flux Fiddlersimg 3:15
- 2 - 17 Give Peace a Chance John Lennon and Plastic Ono Bandimg 4:56
- 2 - 18 Real Loveimg 4:57
- 2 - 19 Grow Old With Me John Lennon and Yoko Onoimg 3:10
Instead, the former Beatles leader and endlessly complex rock icon remains forever frozen in time, basking in the warm reception of his 1980 return to recording after a long, self-imposed exile from the music business. But this two-disc, 38-track collection does more than merely commemorate the landmark birthday Lennon tragically never celebrated; it's arguably the best compact overview of his often conflicted post-Fabs career. Considering he spent fully half the decade chronicled here in semi-retirement, it's a remarkably robust and diverse body of work, whether focused on sloganeering agit-prop ("Power to the People," "Woman is the Nigger of the World," "Give Peace a Chance," "Working Class Hero"), semi-autobiographical musings that ranged from the harrowing ("Cold Turkey," "Mother") to the unabashedly sentimental ("Oh Yoko!," "Watching the Wheels," "Starting Over"). "Imagine" and "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" may showcase one of the era's most wide-eyed idealists, but the range of emotions cataloged in much of his other work argue that John Lennon was a bundle of emotional and philosophical complexities. As Yoko One once noted, "People have wanted to box him in..But he was a very human, three-dimensional person... Sometimes he was angry, sometimes he was sad, sometimes he was very vulnerable and sweet. All of that was going on in every period of his life." This set never sidesteps those complications; indeed, the songs collected here thrive on them. --Jerry McCulley
Beware: Some songs have been re-mixed. Whatever Gets You Thru the Night has had the drums mixed out leaving only handclaps for an example.
Also, the track list on the back of the CD case does not indicate alternate versions are used on some songs or indicate that at least one song is a duet.
Also, the booklet is lacking. It would have been nice to have at least a short essay to put the different periods in Johns' life in perspective relating to when the albums were recorded. IE: the Primal Scream era, the "Lost Weekend", and the House Husband era to name a few. It is not like these are all cheerful love songs, so to put them in order would focus more on where he was at the time and why some are so bitter and biting.
A listing of who was in the various bands listed would be cool as well.
Additionally, evidently the songs have been re-copyrighted because the copyright dates listed in the booklet are about 30 years later than when the songs were recorded. Not asking for the Billboard charting history, but some background and actual recording dates would be nice for someone experiencing John for the first time.
My nephew would probably get a kick out of this CD and this information would be cool for a 13 year old.
I agree with other commentors that chronological order would be better. Come on Yoko. Quit criticizing Paul, and focus on Johns' history and promote his legacy.
5 stars for the music.
Well, today is John Lennon's birthday: a perfect day to write a review of Working Class Hero. First, I have to say, I just won this cd this very morning on our working class hero's birthday, from a Beatles' radio program (Breakfast with the Beatles on KSYM in San Antonio)!
That being said, with not a little gloating, I have all of John's albums, including several compilations. The tracks on WCH do a great job of covering his solo career. Every song is a Lennon gem. Of course, there are many great songs not here, but that can't be avoided. The only perfect compilation would be a boxed set with every single album! Otherwise, this collection is a great intro for the newbie as well as being a nice addition to any old fan's Lennon library.
Yes, the songs are not in chronological order, but as it is, it's a great mix cd. John's musical life is well documented here with this super-sized collection. It's a must-have and a great gift for parents, grandparents, children, friends, and everybody else!
Happy Birthday John
...and thank you for the music
If you dont have any Lennon in your collection, get this. This is the best compilation available in the market..so far. If you have bought Shaved Fish, The lennon Collection, Once upon a time, Lennon Legend, I got bad news for you: here is yet another compilation. How long before we get the "Ultimate Lennon" or "Gold Lennon" is anybody guess. The only thing I dislike about this is the sequence of the tracks. They should have put them in Chronological order. The order makes no sense at all. You may want to get this and burn the tracks in the proper order to get a better understanding of Lennon career. No tracks from the Toronto album. It could be better.
Why another compilation? Well, given that John Lennon's catalogue is still in print and continuing to sell, this set gives those potential buyers another option. And in my opinion it's a good one. Two CDs with 38 mostly essential tracks (and missing a few such as "Crippled Inside," but of course there's no single perfect track lineup that will please everybody).
This is definitely the best Lennon anthology out there, at the very least because it has twice as much material than any of the existing single-disc CDs, and has up-to-date remastering. I never could get into the idea that Lennon's solo career could be adequately captured on one disc. Two discs are more reasonable. Anyone who doesn't have the time or money to pick up all of the individual albums should seriously consider this set.
WORKING CLASS HERO has the key post-Beatles singles ("Cold Turkey," "Instant Karma," etc.), five tracks from John's most highly-acclaimed album (1970's PLASTIC ONO BAND), another five from the popular disc IMAGINE (1971), and so on. Maybe a couple more from POB could have bumped a couple of this collection's less-essential moments, but all-in-all the tracks are well-chosen.
The music isn't in chronological order, which is an important factor for fans who recognize many of the tracks have a connection to the period in which they were recorded (e.g., the "primal scream" period of POB, the 1980 "comeback," etc.). But that alone shouldn't discourage any potential buyers from picking up this almost-definitive collection.
To call this 38-track collection definitive is a bit presumptuous, but it is the most thorough anthology currently available. My only complaint is the short shrift given to Lennon's rockers like "Well Well Well" or "Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)" and non-album B-sides like "Move Over Ms. L." But overall this is a rewarding collection of songs. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED