ALBUM REVIEW: John Lennon - Mind Games

    Even with a certifiable dud release on Some Time In New York City, Lennon was still on top—after releasing Plastic Ono Band and Imagine back to back, John Lennon had effectively managed the impossible and stepped outside of the shadow of The Beatles. Still, Lennon was increasingly withdrawn due to a variety of issues ranging from a nearly year-long bout of writer's block to repeated court battles to stay in the US to an increasingly strained relationship with Yoko Ono. By the start of 1973, however, something began to change; Lennon had broken out of his writer's block, writing an entire album's worth of material in a week and prepping for sessions at New York's famous Record Plant. Just as things were getting on track again, John Lennon and Yoko Ono separated; thus began Lennon's lost weekend. Of the three album trilogy that the lost weekend yielded, Mind Games is the most bare bones. Much of it sticks close to Imagine in a musical sense, and it doesn't bare as much of the heartbreak, disillusionment, or even wasted aspect of the two albums that would follow it. Even if that does leave Mind Games lacking in some identity, it doesn't necessarily hinder the album's quality, especially as Lennon pens some of his most approachable and catchy material yet. The resulting album is a somewhat cold, isolating listen of solitude, not unlike the empty field that Lennon finds himself alone in on the front cover.

     There are two types of songs on Mind Games, and likewise I will cover them accordingly. The first of these songs are the slower moments—these songs are the more introspective, regretful, and even heartbroken side of Lennon. The album opens with one of these moments, the title track "Mind Games", which immediately sets the album's tone. Its lyrics are strange and less direct than his earlier political messages, and moments like his falsetto on the line "Yes is surrender" feel almost self-directed. There are plenty more where that came from, and it's not long after that when we're met with "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)", perhaps the song most directly connected to the lost weekend on this album. Lyrically, it's a direct communication for forgiveness—Aisumasen, Yoko—for his hurtful actions and how he'll never do it again. He's just a jealous guy. What's that? Wrong song? Facetiousness aside, it's a solid enough moment, made all the better by an assured guitar solo from David Spinozza. Even better, though, is the immediate following number "One Day (At a Time)" which, despite some almost childishly simple lyrics, is backed up with a genuine heart and loneliness over the collapse of his relationship with marriage, and it's further saved by a wonderful arrangement, complete with subtle organ, clean slide guitar, and crisp backing vocals from the Something Else vocal group. Perhaps the sharpest of the slower numbers, however, is the brilliantly cozy "You Are Here", the album's penultimate moment. Even in the face of an all-time classic song, "You Are Here" manages to be the album's shining moment of self-identity, a song of connection and unity amidst vast distance. It's arrangement is beautiful, Lennon's vocal is sensitive and honest, and it carries the album's sharpest melody. Undoubtedly one to be proud of.

    Then there's the other breed of song on Mind Games: the lively ones; the heavy-hitters; the rock and roll. They are also the album's more inconsistent moments. At their best, Lennon manages to let it rip as good as he ever did with little effort—the album's closer, the almost surreal "Meat City" is backed with a driving riff, unusual rhythm changes, and a real bit to it that helps round out the album nicely. Lennon hardly needs to bust a gut to bring it home, and it helps that the rhythm section is assuredly on fire, backed by the thumping drive of Gordon Edwards' bass playing and Rick Marotta's galvanized drumming. It's only fitting that the only other song that bares Marotta's drumming, the Side A closer "Bring On the Lucie (Freda People)" carries a similar power, even if the song itself ends up playing like a slower, less biting version of "Gimme Some Truth". More punchy and immediate, much less political, and a whole lot stranger is the second song "Tight A$", a sort of 1958 throwback to the good ol' days of Carl Perkins and rockabilly. Admittedly, I'm quite fond of this song, and it brings some much needed lighthearted fun to an otherwise fairly dower album. Really, the second half of the album carries more of these upbeat rockers, even if the quality does dip a bit—"Intuition" is crippled by being too repetitive, "I Know (I Know)" sounds too much like "Out the Blue" which is literally two tracks prior, and "Only People" has a similar issue, while also managing to be the album's nadir of quality. Really, the melody is quite repulsive. It's moments like these that make me glad that John Lennon eventually stepped away from politics entirely on future releases—I wouldn't want to hear him sing about how much Reagan sucks shit or whatever on Double Fantasy, and neither would you.

    Perhaps the fact that this is John Lennon's first self-produced album will not surprise you at all given these metrics. For as much as I would love to sit here and criticize Phil Spector until the cows come home (and who knows, maybe I will someday), he at least helped to ground John's work. Mind Games is not necessarily a work lacking in focus, but it is a work lacking in some identity. Virtually everything that Lennon does on Mind Games is done better on an album that proceeds or secedes it. Perhaps the real uniqueness of Mind Games is the fact that it is so raw and unfiltered. It shows two sides of John Lennon; one side is finding his footing again, and the other has had his world swept away from him in an instance. Maybe Mind Games is a transitional album, representative of his move away from political leanings back to being a rock and roll musician first and foremost, but it's hard to say with certainty. Still, this album remains beloved, and a recent 2024 "Ultimate Collection" set helps to showcase more than a few gems from this period of Lennon's life, including a couple outtakes (always a treat). My verdict on the new mixes is that they make the album sound too polished and clean, almost like they're actively trying to make it sound more like Imagine than it already does sometimes. My verdict on the album, however, remains the same.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Mind Games.