Mind Games (1973) 


 

  1. Mind Games
  2. Tight AS
  3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)
  4. One Day (At a Time)
  5. Bring on the Luci (Freda Peeple)
  6. Nutopian International Anthem 
     (three seconds of silence)
  7. Intuition
  8. Out the Blue
  9. Only People
  10. I Know (I Know)
  11.You Are Here
  12.Meat City

 

This is probably Lennon's most "normal" album. This was a relief after the disatrous Some Time in New York City which was much more known (in a bad way) for its overt political overtones and less for its music. Lennon is back to being a singer and songwriter, and this album has a much more pleasant feel.

Although he's not with Phil Spector, this album sounds very Spector-ish. The leadoff title track is a bit evident of the feel of the entire album, yet there's plenty of variety in terms of music style. This album has a much more upbeat feel to it, which is not to say it's necessarily a heavy album. Songs such as Meat City and Tight As turn up the notch in the energy department, and he does manage to get slightly political on the wonderful Bring on the Lucie (Freeda People).

Not to sound mean, but it's nice to not have Yoko Ono anywhere on this album. No song titles refer to her and her presence is thankfully absent in the studio. Yes, that is a large Yoko "head" on the cover of this surreal album, but that's about it. Not that John shouldn't be allowed to sing about his beloved, as he does extremely wonderful on the sweet Out the Blue, it's just nice that he leaves his songs open enough to where virtually anyone can sing along to anybody else - what a good love song should do.

To be quite fair, the whole album is a bit too unremarkable and therefore never really takes off that well. It might be an instance of John just playing it safe, so other than a song or two, the whole thing is not really remembered all that much. In other words, if this album had been recorded and released by anyone other than John Lennon, it may have been quickly forgotten shortly after the public had time to digest it.

There are a couple of bright spots, though.

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