John Lennon Mind Games LP. What's wrong with it

I dunno . . . this seems to be Lennon proving he was just as capable of producing that hated "granny music" as Paul . . .

 

I wonder what he felt. I think I read once where he liked the idea of putting a song out immediately after it was recorded (had that been possible). I can't say I find anything wrong with Mind Games.

 

I can agree with the idea that it doesn't quite hold together but I've come to really love Mind Games. You have to be a die-hard, forgivable fan though. Like I love "Only People" which gets a lot of criticism and "Bring On The Lucie" which really has some of the laziest lyrics of his career. But "Out The Blue" and "I Know" are great Beatle-worthy type melodies, and "Aisumasen" is a fine stately Lennon progression. I will say "One Day At Time" might be one of the only John tunes I really can't stand, the verse & chorus sound like two different songs and neither work for me. Then again, I love Sometime in NYC way more than I'm supposed to, Yoko's tunes included, so

 

Indeed, but maybe this is why I enjoy the album. There shouldn't be shame in granny music if it's good granny music. McCartney, Nilsson, Freddie Mercury, Monkees (including Nez) had a gift for it.

 

At least Lennon's material on STINYC had balls and a sense of purpose, misguided but still...

 

I actually like Sometime in New York City. Another album with songs so catchy that it could be on Sesame Street.

 

I like it.

 

For me, time has been kind to this album. I like it more now than I did when they released it.

 

Me either, not at all.

 

Apologies I disagree, the filler for me is Surprise Surprise, Beef Jerky, Ya Ya (pointless) What You Got, and Going Down on Love.
Steel and Glass is a great song, nasty and top quality Lennon.
Also when it comes to the Rock n Roll covers albums I always have thought McCartney's 2 were way better.
I find the strongest element of all post Imagine albums is his voice rather than his song writing.

 

No offense but how is "Going Down On Love" filler?

 

The song has never really done anything for me and I am struggling to hum it while I type. The 2 singles from the album are great pop and if I recall correctly did well chart wise in the UK.

 

Look, I'm not disputin' ya, it's that John used that term in a derisive manner when speaking of what 'Macca' was turning out. But you "soitenly" (to quote a certain Stooge) would have a point in the longer picture . . .

 

Lennon only used the term twice (in reference to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" and "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da") and he seemed to intend it to mean something more specific than simply "music that does not rock." So although there is nothing on Mind Games that really rocks convincingly, there also is nothing that I would say could be described as granny music.

 

Regarding cds of Mind Games I believe there are 4 basic versions.
1. original mix Parlophone cd 1987.
2. Yoko authorised mix and remaster 2000 or 2002. Mobile Fidelity then used this mix.
3. 2010 remaster of original mix.
4. sacd, platinum and hr cutting cds from Japan using the original mix.
I believe all of John's cds up to Rock n Roll fit the above 4 basic versions.

Then there is the recent vinyl both as a stand alone and in the box.
Is that correct near enough?
I think MFSL did vinyls of their Lennon cds but I don't have any of them.

I did just play Going Down on Love from W&B but no overall change in my feelings for the song.

 

I guess you mean the original vinyl record compared to the new vinyl release. I suppose that means they have done a good mastering/cutting job on the new edition.
Sorry just read your later post. Good to know that the new vinyls have been very well done. I have originals but they have travelled and been played on lots of different record decks some of which would frighten the life out of some forum members.

 

Weak songwriting. I'm also a huge fan. But I came to the conclusion, that I love the man more, than the songwriter. Lennon needed Paul as an corrective/competitor/songwriting partner, more than Paul needed John.

 

Imagine riff is done and being played as heard on Fly on the Wall part of Let it Be Naked

 

LOVE:
Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)
I Know (I Know)
Bring on the Lucie (Freda People)
You Are Here

LIKE:
Tight A$
Out the Blue
Meat City

Good enough for me! It's not groundbreaking, but I enjoy the record a lot.

 

If Meat City doesn't rock convincingly I don't know what does!

 

My favorite Lennon record. Nothing wrong with it, period.

 

No. Freeda People is Lennon gold.

 

I like it and listen to it fairly often.
However, since you've got me thinking in this direction, it seems to me that Mind Games has less of a story behind it for me than John's other albums do. I know of fewer anecdotes associated with the recording of it, I don't characterize it in a particular way or associate it to a particular event in John's life (POB = post-Beatles statement, primal scream therapy; Imagine = feud with McCartney, plus the making of the album has been well-documented; Sometime in NYC = deportation, news of the day; Walls and Bridges = lost weekend; Rock and Roll = Chuck Berry lawsuit; Double Fantasy = comeback). I don't know what sparked the recording of Mind Games, beyond perhaps a feeling from John that it was time to record an album.

 

The songs, performance and production. Worst thing being that he just sounds uninspired on most of this, nothing that a remix is gonna fix.

If you can find the "Mind Games"/"Meat City" 45, you're set.

 

The thing with "Mind Games" is that the two solo albums that came before it are so good. I really love both the original and the "Yoko remix" very much! It's the John Lennon album I listen to the most!