Imagine (Remastered)

iTunes Review

John Lennon’s first solo album, Plastic Ono Band, stripped the music to its core and unleashed his confessions on the world. His follow-up, 1971’s Imagine, continued the self-analysis and Lennon’s constant struggle with his anger and insecurities, but it was set to music that was more lush and easily accessible than the primal minimalism of the solo debut. The piano-based title track has become a utopian anthem the world over, but Imagine offers many points of entry, from Lennon’s gnashing tirade “Give Me Some Truth,” his anti-war polemic “I Don’t Want To Be a Soldier,” and his attack on old bandmate Paul McCartney “How Do You Sleep?” to the love songs “Oh Yoko,” “Oh My Love,” and the gorgeously orchestrated “Jealous Guy” (which had circulated around the time of The Beatles’ White Album as “Child of Nature”). The album lacks the shock factor of Plastic Ono Band, but its overall sound (produced by Phil Spector, who used a light touch) is soothing without losing its edge. Lennon would spend the rest of his solo career seeking and sometimes deliberately avoiding that balance.