On the heels of the success of the Beatles ANTHOLOGY albums in the mid-1990s, Capitol decided to give John Lennon's solo career similar treatment in 1998 by releasing a four disc box set of his previously unreleased, if widely bootlegged, songs and alternate takes. This CD is a single disc distillation of highlights from that box set.

Every phase of Lennon's solo career is here. The best tracks include an unplugged performance of "God" that is every bit as gripping as the version on PLASTIC ONO BAND. Take 1 of "Imagine," featuring a harmonium and lacking Phil Spector's strings, is quite beautiful in its own way. "God Save Oz" brims with Lennon's enthusiasm and wry wit. The alternate take of "I'm Losing You" rocks harder than the version on DOUBLE FANTASY. That song and "I Don't Wanna Face It" demonstrate that Lennon was still capable of making vital music at the age of 40. Both make one wonder about the great music he might have made later in the 1980s, had he not been taken from us so prematurely.

"Real Love" may be the song with the most emotional resonance. The liner notes don't say so, but it's a safe assumption that this is the demo that Yoko Ono gave to the three surviving Beatles, which they then overdubbed and turned into a "new" Beatle song in 1995. As embellished by Paul, George and Ringo, it was an exuberant and slightly speeded up song. But this demo, with John alone at the piano, is a much more somber piece.

There is something else about most of these recordings that is striking: John's voice sounds great. In his days with the Beatles he had a lot of success using studio tricks to distort his vocals on songs like "Tomorrow Never Knows," "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Come Together." Unfortunately, this technique spilled over into his solo career with mixed results. Perhaps it's no coincidence that his best solo albums (PLASTIC ONO BAND, IMAGINE and DOUBLE FANTASY) were also the ones on which he tended to let it all hang out vocally. Since most of the material on this album was recorded live in the studio with minimal production, John's voice shines through like nature intended.

The album contains some dross. The demo of "I Found Out" adds no new insight. "Serve Yourself," John's satirical rebuttal to Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody," had the potential to become a good song, but the demo is a little too goofy for its own good. "Baby Please Don't Go," an outtake from the IMAGINE sessions, probably should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

Yet even this album's lesser moments have their charms. WONSAPONATIME certainly offers an opportunity to dig deeper into the Lennon vault than most people would have thought possible. Essential listening for fans and even casual listeners will find much of it rewarding.

If you are like me and already have every other John Lennon album and a number of bootlegs most of this stuff is not new. On the other hand the quality of much of it is vastly improved. Buy it if only for the first track. CHEAP TRICK with Lennon on I'M LOSING YOU. Why this version wasn't used on the STRATING OVER album is a complete mystery to me (and Rick Neilson). This is Lennon rocking harder than he had in years. It'sworth the price of the CD just for this. Buy it used if you have to.

Didn't you always think that none of the Beatles came close to achieving the artistic beatitude of their group years on any of their solo disks? Sure, Lennon's first two albums were pretty good, but flawed, and the ones that came later were either marred by too much mediocrity or too much Yoko. He drank too much, used too many drugs, and it showed, unfortunately. If you're like me, you valued Lennon, but held back from fully embracing him because, in part, he didn't really seem like he was trying hard enough. If that's how you felt...Buy this album and begin to reappraise the man's work. Yoko has done a great job in creating a work that shows better than any of his individual solo records or even his best-of collections what he was trying to do. Some of this stuff corrects mistakes that were made in his solo career. The offhand jazz-folk version of "What You Got" turns a dull, overproduced album cut into a great chant. Versions of "Working Class Hero" and "Imagine" may not be better than the released verions, but stripped of production flourishes, they offer a rawer look at the performer at work. Boiling versions of "I'm Losing You" and "I Don't Want to Face It" make clear that the Double Fantasy sessions were hot ones. But most wondrous is the selection of love songs. You start thinking maybe Lennon was the greatest writer of love songs in pop history; "Oh My Love," "Real Love" and "Grow Old With Me" are penetratingly beautiful. I'm saving up for the Anthology, but til then, this record is...like having the Beatles back.

Twenty-one songs from "The John Lennon Anthology" are showcased here, with alternate tracks and rough demos from "Plastic Ono Band", "Imagine", "Some Time In New York City", "Walls And Bridges", "Rock 'n Roll", "Double Fantasy", and "Milk And Honey". One highlight is "Real Love", which the other three Beatles completed in 1995, as well as some home recordings. Some interesting material, some ho-hum, but definitely worth a look for Lennon fans.

This contains the major songs of Anthology in a single CD format. A lot of great songs on this and it often touches the heart. Even if you own the full Anthology, this is a CD you can put on random play and listen to again and again.