John Lennon

The Lennon estate have hardly put a foot wrong when it has come to giving the deluxe treatment to the albums in the John Lennon discography. Sean has taken the lead and we, as fans, can hardly criticise the wealth of material that has been included in each deluxe release. Along with sensitive remixing of the original LP’s we have been provided with additional song variants that present the journey each song has made from early demo’s, alternative mixes and outtakes through to its final release. By peeling back the layers of songs which have been familiar over the years it has enabled us to appreciate to an even greater extent the genius of Lennon the songwriter and musician. So, Sean has utilised a pretty extensive and unique marketing campaign to herald the release of the sometimes dismissed ‘Mind Games’.

Following on the heels of ‘Sometime In New York City’, John released ‘Mind Games’ as a return to “form” though in commercial terms it failed to meet expectations. The critics also considered it a failure, at the time considering it falling well short of the earlier ‘Plastic Ono Band’ and ‘Imagine’ LP’s. Prior to this release, from my own perspective, I would not place it higher than those initial albums or indeed over ‘Walls And Bridges’ or ‘Double Fantasy’. That is not to say that I don’t enjoy it, I always have, but this deluxe release doesn’t really change my perspective of the quality of songs on the album. We don’t see as full a range of song styles and intensity as on other albums and perhaps John was playing “safe” after the gamble that was ‘Sometime In New York City’. That is entirely understandable, and what John did deliver was an album that is a comfortable and easy listen with songs that are played beautifully by John and the ensemble cast of top quality musicians that contribute to the LP. The remix of the album on CD 1 is considerate of the initial production while removing some of the veneer and offering clarity to the soundscape of the songs.

John’s production of the original LP has been criticised for being too “muddy” and wrapping the songs in an unnecessary layer of sound that obscured the beauty of the songs and in particular subduing Lennon’s vocals that we know he had a particular lack of confidence in. The second disc in the 6 CD version presents the ‘Elemental’ mixes that strip bare every song to just a core musical element or two. This highlights where John’s voice was so strong and the musicianship shines. The title track and ‘Intuition’ in particular sound fabulous given this treatment, with the later having a lilting reggae vibe. ‘Your Are Here’ with the south sea island sounding steel guitar wafts gently along. Marvellous.

From the Elements CD, ‘Mind Games’ offers just the church like organ contribution from the track. ‘Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple)’ consists of the funky bass and bongo duo interspersed with the backing vocalists and is fun to absorb.

The ‘Evolution’ CD combines various demo’s and outtakes that illustrate John and band working through each song and is a fascinating insight into their studio working practices. Hearing the studio chatter is so revealing and you can hear that band are “as one” in their approach. The ‘Raw Studio Mixes’ present the no-frills foundation of each track while bringing John’s “naked” vocal performance to the fore. This further adds texture to the story of the songs and the album as a whole.

The packaging of the 6 x CD / 2 Blu Ray package incorporates a fantastic book detailing the full ‘Mind Games’ story from those involved with a mass of memorabilia and photographs from the time and matches similar releases. Sean has embellished the ‘Games’ aspect of the release and the package has clues and codes that point to additional / hidden tracks that supplement the official track listing. I suspect sales of UV torches has hit new highs over recent weeks. It’s format and size matches the others in the series, and while this may be a small thing, for some of us the size and consistency matters when on the shelf.

There is sooo much to explore in this marvellous package, and there are other surprises still undiscovered I’m sure, regardless this is the definitive statement on the LP and I have enjoyed every minute of exploration to date. I have seen some criticism of Sean and the team for revising history in terms of the musical treatment and the John & Yoko story in particular.

Surely Sean has presented us with all the evidence available and it up to us to listen and read and come to our own conclusions. In my case, I still love this album and have a greater appreciation for it. Does it elevate it in terms of my ranking? I don’t think it does actually but I’ve enjoyed the ride in coming to that conclusion.

By Gwyn Jenkins.