Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon
By John Lennon
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Track listing
Show track credits
- 1 Imagine 3:04
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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The Flux Fiddlersperformer
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producer
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producer
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- 2 Instant Karma! 3:21
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songwriter
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performer
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performer
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producer
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- 3 Mother (Single Edit) 3:55
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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producer
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producer
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- 4 Jealous Guy 4:16
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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The Flux Fiddlersperformer
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producer
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producer
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- 5 Power to the People 3:19
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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producer
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producer
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- 6 Cold Turkey 5:01
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songwriter
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performer
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producer
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- 7 Love 3:23
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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producer
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producer
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- 8 Mind Games 4:13
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performer, songwriter, producer, arranger
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- 9 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night 3:21
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performer, songwriter, producer, arranger
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- 10 #9 Dream 4:48
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performer, songwriter, producer, arranger
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- 11 Stand by Me 3:28
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performer, producer, arranger
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songwriter
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songwriter
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songwriter
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- 12 (Just Like) Starting Over 3:56
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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producer
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- 13 Woman 3:28
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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producer
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- 14 Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) 4:01
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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producer
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- 15 Watching the Wheels 3:32
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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producer
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- 16 Nobody Told Me 3:35
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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- 17 Borrowed Time 4:31
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performer, songwriter
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producer
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- 18 Working Class Hero 3:51
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performer, songwriter
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performer
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producer
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producer
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- 19 Happy Xmas (War Is Over) 3:35
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performer
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performer
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performer, songwriter, producer
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producer
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- 20 Give Peace a Chance 4:51
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songwriter
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performer
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producer
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- Total length: 77:29
Rate/Catalog
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Review
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5 Issues
- Release view [combined information for all issues]
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Lennon Legend 33 rpm, Gatefold, Limited Edition
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Lennon Legend Bonus DVD, Limited Edition
29 Reviews
"It's up to you."
John Lennon, the more wordy half of the one of the most celebrated songwriting duos in the history of popular song. He's written songs that the majority of us know and love and he is without doubt one of the icons of the 20th Century. But was he that good?
This compilation covers Lennon's post-Beatles career with gusto, a single disc summary of what was in all honesty a distinctly patchy career. From the early singles released while he was still a part of the biggest pop band of all time, to the posthumous releases in the mid 80s, it's the best compilation of John Lennon's solo work to date.
For all the importance that people have tried to give Lennon's solo output, very few would disagree with the assessment that it could range from the sublime to the downright awful. Listening to this compilation, standalone singles like "Give Piece A Chance" and "Instant Karma!" stand among the strongest of his work, material from early albums like John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band and Imagine still stands up very well, but after that things start to go a little heywire. He was still capable of greatness, as tracks like "Mind Games", "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and the splendid cover of "Stand By Me" ably demonstrate, but his quality control was also suffering at this time. A period of time away from the studio raising his young son convinced many that he was taking time out to recharge his creative batteries, but the album that broke the five year creative silence was Double Fantasy a horribly twee and saccharine release. Sentimental songs like "Beautiful Boy" and "Woman" are just awful given this man's songwriting pedigree.
This leads me to John Lennon's most famous number and the song that Lennon fans hold up in evidence when in a debate over whether Lennon or Bob Dylan was the better songwriter, "Imagine". Although I can see why many hear it as a message of hope and unity, what most people forget is that this was a guy who enjoyed a quality of life that few people ever get to experience. While he was encouraging us to imagine no possessions, he was sat in a massive mansion with enough cash in the bank to ensure that he never had to do a days work ever again. He even had the gall to record a video for the song wandering around said property. To be honest these days it makes my teeth ache.
Lennon could be superb, but he was also amazingly self indulgent and self centered. Yes he was capable of greatness on his own, but he was never as good as he was with Paul McCartney.
"Trust me darling,
C'mon listen to me..."
John Lennon, the more wordy half of the one of the most celebrated songwriting duos in the history of popular song. He's written songs that the majority of us know and love and he is without doubt one of the icons of the 20th Century. But was he that good?
This compilation covers Lennon's post-Beatles career with gusto, a single disc summary of what was in all honesty a distinctly patchy career. From the early singles released while he was still a part of the biggest pop band of all time, to the posthumous releases in the mid 80s, it's the best compilation of John Lennon's solo work to date.
For all the importance that people have tried to give Lennon's solo output, very few would disagree with the assessment that it could range from the sublime to the downright awful. Listening to this compilation, standalone singles like "Give Piece A Chance" and "Instant Karma!" stand among the strongest of his work, material from early albums like John Lennon / Plastic Ono Band and Imagine still stands up very well, but after that things start to go a little heywire. He was still capable of greatness, as tracks like "Mind Games", "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and the splendid cover of "Stand By Me" ably demonstrate, but his quality control was also suffering at this time. A period of time away from the studio raising his young son convinced many that he was taking time out to recharge his creative batteries, but the album that broke the five year creative silence was Double Fantasy a horribly twee and saccharine release. Sentimental songs like "Beautiful Boy" and "Woman" are just awful given this man's songwriting pedigree.
This leads me to John Lennon's most famous number and the song that Lennon fans hold up in evidence when in a debate over whether Lennon or Bob Dylan was the better songwriter, "Imagine". Although I can see why many hear it as a message of hope and unity, what most people forget is that this was a guy who enjoyed a quality of life that few people ever get to experience. While he was encouraging us to imagine no possessions, he was sat in a massive mansion with enough cash in the bank to ensure that he never had to do a days work ever again. He even had the gall to record a video for the song wandering around said property. To be honest these days it makes my teeth ache.
Lennon could be superb, but he was also amazingly self indulgent and self centered. Yes he was capable of greatness on his own, but he was never as good as he was with Paul McCartney.
"Trust me darling,
C'mon listen to me..."
Published
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My grandma passed away very recently. Ever since, I feel like I have been grieving, if not wrong, then at the very least poorly. I usually have trouble with the grieving process but this one has especially felt strange. It hasn't felt like a major loss and this can possibly be due to the fact that she had Alzheimer's. A horrifying disease that affects you at varying intervals and with terrible randomness and completeness. Owing to the disease and its effects I witnessed as I grew up, at some point it seemed that she had already been dead or at the very least was nowhere near the person I once knew as a child. This progression softened the impact of the eventual death and has made it difficult to feel much of anything except for an abstract appreciation (my memory of when I was young is spotty and I really wish it was better so I could better remember how kind she was to me) for everything my grandma did for me.
One of the only memories I have of her when she was still herself involves this album. It involves this album a lot. We listened to Lennon Legend on the way to school, on the way to friend's houses, on the way to drop my uncle off at rehab (I remember him skipping cold turkey and I didn't know why for a while(I thought the song was actually about a turkey)), and elsewhere. Owing to this, this is the first album that burrowed itself into my brain. I love this album so much and this love extended to John Lennon himself. Lennon and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana was the second musical act I loved deeply) have become personal icons to me owing as much to their talent and personas (very leftist and non-conformist and incredibly funny) as to the tragic paths their lives took. Lennon means a lot to me. I think he is the best Beatle and I remember the joys of discovering his work in that group after growing up on this CD. I loved discovering Lennon's political action in the 70s. The way he lived and the stances he took are important to me. Unfortunately, he also was an idiot and was infamously difficult to Cynthia Lennon and at times Yoko Ono (and probably many more women). He was not a good father to his first son. It has been hard to reconcile the initial ideas I had of John Lennon as the peaceful, kind-hearted, dreamer and the difficult rocky path his life proved to be. Ultimately I conclude that Lennon was deeply flawed throughout his life but his heart and ideals were always in the right place. Near his death, in interviews he seems like a changed man. He expresses regret for how he treated Cynthia and speaks with deep reverence for the women who raised him. Before his return to music in 1980, he had been a house-husband for 5 years and raised Sean dutifully and attentively. He seemed like a man turning a new leaf. And then he was gunned down. Lennon's death bothers me, maybe moreso than any premature death. He finally had a chance to fully live up to the ideals he always aspired to and to fix the damage he had done throughout his life. And instead he was gunned down, leaving some of his legacy forever in doubt.
What can't be doubted though is his music. Be it the early post-Beatles singles (Instant Karma!, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (the best Christmas song), Power to the People), Plastic Ono Band--a raging, incredibly personal and political album from the biggest pop star in the world, Imagine--a song I dearly love and find it difficult to understand the hate of, and many other songs which have brought me joy (#9 Dream, Nobody Told Me, Watching the Wheels, Oh Yoko!, Stand By Me cover). I owe finding all of this to my amazing, kind grandma.
From what I witnessed and have heard since she passed, she was incredibly kind throughout life. She used to volunteer at my school and everyone loved her. My mom has described her as "like a saint" multiple times. She used to tell me stories whenever I'd ask. She absolutely adored Rod Stewart. She worked at a company called Suzie's Zoo which is now shut down. Suzie's Zoo was a brand that made cute animal characters which were made into plushies and stickers and the like. Suzie herself was an adorable duck with a red bowtie. My grandma treated me tremendously all the time. And sadly for all this she received one of the worst diseases a human being can get. She was much more than the disease though and I believe she improved many lives while she was here.
Recent research has shown that Alzheimer's is a genetic disease. It can get passed down and if your brain is treated poorly enough throughout life you're more susceptible to it than you would be otherwise. I understand this and yet, often I have difficult treating my brain nicely. I don't eat enough and I feel stress almost constantly. One of the last things that leaves you when you have Alzheimer's is the memory of music. Lennon Legend could be one of my first memories and one of my last.
Thank you John. I love you Mimi.
One of the only memories I have of her when she was still herself involves this album. It involves this album a lot. We listened to Lennon Legend on the way to school, on the way to friend's houses, on the way to drop my uncle off at rehab (I remember him skipping cold turkey and I didn't know why for a while(I thought the song was actually about a turkey)), and elsewhere. Owing to this, this is the first album that burrowed itself into my brain. I love this album so much and this love extended to John Lennon himself. Lennon and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana was the second musical act I loved deeply) have become personal icons to me owing as much to their talent and personas (very leftist and non-conformist and incredibly funny) as to the tragic paths their lives took. Lennon means a lot to me. I think he is the best Beatle and I remember the joys of discovering his work in that group after growing up on this CD. I loved discovering Lennon's political action in the 70s. The way he lived and the stances he took are important to me. Unfortunately, he also was an idiot and was infamously difficult to Cynthia Lennon and at times Yoko Ono (and probably many more women). He was not a good father to his first son. It has been hard to reconcile the initial ideas I had of John Lennon as the peaceful, kind-hearted, dreamer and the difficult rocky path his life proved to be. Ultimately I conclude that Lennon was deeply flawed throughout his life but his heart and ideals were always in the right place. Near his death, in interviews he seems like a changed man. He expresses regret for how he treated Cynthia and speaks with deep reverence for the women who raised him. Before his return to music in 1980, he had been a house-husband for 5 years and raised Sean dutifully and attentively. He seemed like a man turning a new leaf. And then he was gunned down. Lennon's death bothers me, maybe moreso than any premature death. He finally had a chance to fully live up to the ideals he always aspired to and to fix the damage he had done throughout his life. And instead he was gunned down, leaving some of his legacy forever in doubt.
What can't be doubted though is his music. Be it the early post-Beatles singles (Instant Karma!, Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (the best Christmas song), Power to the People), Plastic Ono Band--a raging, incredibly personal and political album from the biggest pop star in the world, Imagine--a song I dearly love and find it difficult to understand the hate of, and many other songs which have brought me joy (#9 Dream, Nobody Told Me, Watching the Wheels, Oh Yoko!, Stand By Me cover). I owe finding all of this to my amazing, kind grandma.
From what I witnessed and have heard since she passed, she was incredibly kind throughout life. She used to volunteer at my school and everyone loved her. My mom has described her as "like a saint" multiple times. She used to tell me stories whenever I'd ask. She absolutely adored Rod Stewart. She worked at a company called Suzie's Zoo which is now shut down. Suzie's Zoo was a brand that made cute animal characters which were made into plushies and stickers and the like. Suzie herself was an adorable duck with a red bowtie. My grandma treated me tremendously all the time. And sadly for all this she received one of the worst diseases a human being can get. She was much more than the disease though and I believe she improved many lives while she was here.
Recent research has shown that Alzheimer's is a genetic disease. It can get passed down and if your brain is treated poorly enough throughout life you're more susceptible to it than you would be otherwise. I understand this and yet, often I have difficult treating my brain nicely. I don't eat enough and I feel stress almost constantly. One of the last things that leaves you when you have Alzheimer's is the memory of music. Lennon Legend could be one of my first memories and one of my last.
Thank you John. I love you Mimi.
Published
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Almost all of Lennon's best work in solo.
Published
Third Johnny Rebel Comp in my Beatles collection-Legend is for those Rabbits who want a complete portrait of Lennon's life and art.
He lived for rock & roll-every day that goes by since that terrible December day-12/8/80 that he was murdered outside his Manhattan apartment the Dakota "As the New York sunset disappeared!" sang his good Friend Post Beatle Elton John in Eighties hit Empty Garden in which Elton cried "Hey Hey Johnny!/Can't you come out to play?"-fighting back tears Elton cried "I Hear Your Name!"
Here then is a rock & roll picture of Johnny Rebel's Rock Brilliance-Highlights-Imagine, Power to the People, Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Through the Night, Number 9 Dream, Stand by Me, Beautiful Boy, Nobody Told Me, Working Class Hero and Give Peace a Chance.
I Recommend Legend to Anyone who cares deeply and gives a damn about rock & roll-John Lennon will always be a Dreamer who Dared to Imagine a world where Rock lives forever. I will always Remember Johnny Rebel!
Knock It Back!
He lived for rock & roll-every day that goes by since that terrible December day-12/8/80 that he was murdered outside his Manhattan apartment the Dakota "As the New York sunset disappeared!" sang his good Friend Post Beatle Elton John in Eighties hit Empty Garden in which Elton cried "Hey Hey Johnny!/Can't you come out to play?"-fighting back tears Elton cried "I Hear Your Name!"
Here then is a rock & roll picture of Johnny Rebel's Rock Brilliance-Highlights-Imagine, Power to the People, Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Through the Night, Number 9 Dream, Stand by Me, Beautiful Boy, Nobody Told Me, Working Class Hero and Give Peace a Chance.
I Recommend Legend to Anyone who cares deeply and gives a damn about rock & roll-John Lennon will always be a Dreamer who Dared to Imagine a world where Rock lives forever. I will always Remember Johnny Rebel!
Knock It Back!
Published
Lets face it, any Lennon Best of compiliation is going to score highly, the man is as close to a deity as you get when it come to popular music. This has a lot of his finest moments but unfortunately includes the likes of "Beautiful Boy" and "Borrowed Time" while leaving out tracks like "Gimme Some Truth". Really? The fact that the rest of the record is comprised of close to perfect tracks gives it a high score. Recommended.
Published
It's probably the most cohesive John Lennon Best of.
20 songs and a duration over 70'.
Nearly the essential ones are here except "Gimme Some Truth" and "Oh My Love" which are badly missing. However Lennon's lame cover of "Stand by Me" has nothing to do here, even if it was a hit.
Recommended over all other Lennon compilations not as complete as that one.
20 songs and a duration over 70'.
Nearly the essential ones are here except "Gimme Some Truth" and "Oh My Love" which are badly missing. However Lennon's lame cover of "Stand by Me" has nothing to do here, even if it was a hit.
Recommended over all other Lennon compilations not as complete as that one.
Published
Yes, he is a legend.
Published
Lennon Legend is missing a few highly notable Lennon tracks, i.e. "Give Me Some Truth"... but it's a great compilation of classics nonetheless.
Published
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Catalog
27 Jan 2024
1 Jan 2024
2 Dec 2023
27 Nov 2023
26 Nov 2023
24 Nov 2023
20 Nov 2023
18 Oct 2023
8 Oct 2023
4 Oct 2023
2 Oct 2023
14 Sep 2023
1 Sep 2023
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1 Imagine
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2 Instant Karma!
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3 Mother (Single Edit)
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4
Jealous Guy
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5 Power to the People
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6 Cold Turkey
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7 Love
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8
Mind Games
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9 Whatever Gets You Thru the Night
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10 #9 Dream
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11 Stand by Me
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12 (Just Like) Starting Over
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13
Woman
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14 Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
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15 Watching the Wheels
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16 Nobody Told Me
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17 Borrowed Time
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18 Working Class Hero
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19 Happy Xmas (War Is Over)
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20 Give Peace a Chance
31 Aug 2023
19 Aug 2023
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