ALBUM REVIEW: John Lennon - Walls and Bridges

    How hard it must be to be a Lennon album that isn't Imagine or Plastic Ono Band—to stand in the shadows of two giants, to be a David surrounded by two Goliaths. Every other album looks small in comparison, and how could they not? Nevertheless, allow me to take just a bit of your time to make a case for a third giant to stand alongside them. The year is 1974, and John Lennon is smack-dab in the midst of his Lost Weekend. At this point Mind Games has been released, the eventual Rock 'n' Roll album is effectively in limbo after sessions with Phil Spector had gone off the rails (ending with Spector stealing the tapes), and Lennon had found himself engaged in what he called various "one night stands" with other artists, writing and producing for musicians ranging from David Bowie to Mick Jagger to Harry Nilsson. The latter of these projects, Nilsson's Pussy Cats album, was driven by pure debauchery and a vocally destroyed Harry, and before the album finished production, Lennon had sobered up enough to return to New York, where he both finished Pussy Cats and began work on his fifth solo record proper. Walls and Bridges, although born out of the same isolation and separation from Yoko as its predecessor Mind Games, proves itself a far more worthy snapshot of Lennon's Lost Weekend. It's a cinematic masterclass of an album, brilliantly painted in sepia tones and dark hues as we see Lennon rise and fall through ecstatic highs and depressive lows as he copes with fear, jubilation, lust, and loneliness. It builds on the sound and themes of its predecessor in nearly every way possible, and the result is handily one of the greatest albums Lennon has ever lent his name to.

    Much like Mind Games, Lennon chose to produce Walls and Bridges entirely on his own, not seeking out the help of the likes of Spector for this project (although given the Rock 'n' Roll sessions, that's not entirely surprising). Unlike its predecessor, though, which often felt more icy cold and sparse than anything, Walls and Bridges is a full, brilliant sounding record. It's amazing that in spite of such melancholy on a song like "Bless You", the arrangements are warm and complex, backed with layers of percussion and a soft electric piano, rising before gently sinking. This liveliness is, in part helped by the increased sharpness of Lennon's army of back musicians, calling in yet again the help of seasoned drummer Jim Keltner, saxophone maestro Bobby Keys, old friend and bassist Klaus Voorman, pianist Nicky Hopkins, and Taj Mahal guitarist Jesse Ed Davis. The end result is a band that is, frankly, much better than The Plastic U.F.Ono Band from Mind Games, and it's evident in the music; listen to Voorman's fantastic basswork on this album's chart-topping "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night", which flies and bounces under one of Lennon's greatest pop hooks of his entire career; listen to Lennon's dueling guitar work with Davis on the funky instrumental "Beef Jerky", spiked in with hints of "Savoy Truffle" from The Beatles and lifting a riff from McCartney's own "Let Me Roll It". Undoubtedly, Lennon's band sounds fantastic here, and they do wonders in shaping the spectacular, cinematic flow of the album; "Going Down on Love" the opening credits, "Scared" the abyss of our hero's journey, "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" the somber conclusion of our old Western film. In some ways, it may be Lennon's most cohesive project.

    That is all without mentioning the actual quality of the material, wherein Lennon effortlessly delivers. There's little doubt in my mind that Walls and Bridges is Lennon's most accessible, immediately catchy album of his entire career. Perhaps this era of growing acceptance of his time with The Beatles is responsible for this—Lennon had jammed with Paul in LA back in '74, and the two had apparently picked up their friendship as if nothing had happened—but either way, much of Walls and Bridges is backed with fantastic melodies and hooks, especially from a songwriter who always felt he wasn't very good at melodies. "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night" and "#9 Dream" were rightful top 10 hits in the US, with the former even becoming Lennon's only proper number 1 in the US during his lifetime, but there's plenty more where that came from. Side B's "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" is backed with a fantastic riff, a building Lennon vocal performance, and some of his most purely hedonistic lyrics ever put to pen; the ending "sweet sweet, sweet sweet love!" holler a brilliant callback to "Drive My Car", might I add. "What You Got" is Lennon's best rock and roll song since "Gimme Some Truth" on Imagine, and his best larynx-tearing singing since the days of Plastic Ono Band, if not even earlier. The mysterious and slicing "Steel and Glass", described as Lennon as "son of 'How Do You Sleep?'", is often seen as a takedown of former Beatles manager Allen Klein, but is every bit as effective when seen as a self-directed jab at himself, if not moreso. This is all without mentioning many of the slower, atmospheric moments throughout the album, like the gentle walk down the "Old Dirt Road", or the more aggressive paranoia of "Scared" that ends off the first half of the album. It all builds up wonderfully to the climactic "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)", the final lament of sorrow and loneliness; the Lost Weekend's final soliloquy.

    For all intensive purposes, this was Lennon's last proper solo output until 1980—eventually, the Rock 'n' Roll tapes were recovered in 1974, and the album was finally shoved out in 1975. By '75, Lennon had not only reunited with Ono, but the birth of his second child, Sean, effectively saw him willingly step out of the limelight for five years to raise him. It's a real shame, then, that initial reception to Walls and Bridges was so mixed, and in some ways remains so fifty years later; nobody loves you until you're old and grey, I suppose. For as many who are willing to call this album lackluster or sometimes nonsensical, I stand in opposition to all of it. Nay, this is a creative triumph; a soul-bearing expression of loneliness that bares the greatest traits of his previous works, all mashed up into an immediate, catchy mid-70s rock package. Even if Lennon never put out another album after this one, I'd argue that Walls and Bridges cemented his legacy as a one of a kind artist. It's a wholly unique piece in his catalog, not anywhere near the highly political early work, a world away from the comfortable domesticism of Double Fantasy, and so distinct from Mind Games that it almost makes the former look lesser by comparison. In many ways, Walls and Bridges is Lennon's third triumphing accomplishment in his solo career, and has every right to stand as a third Goliath next to Imagine and Plastic Ono Band. Sweet as the smell of success if ever there was one.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Walls and Bridges.