So-called “ultimate” editions of John Lennon’s first two solo albums, 1970’s John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and 1971’s Imagine, appeared in 2021 and 2018, respectively. Now we have a similarly fashioned box devoted to his fourth LP, Mind Games, which originally surfaced in 1973. (Lennon’s third release, Some Time in New York City, received some scathing reviews and sold relatively poorly. It has not received the “ultimate” treatment and probably never will.)
The Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection releases, which arrived on July 19, 2024, are available from the John Lennon Estate and Capitol/UMe, in a variety or formats, ranging from digital and 2-CD (U.K. here) and 2-LP versions to a Deluxe box set featuring 6-CDs and 2 Blu-ray discs.
In an interview with journalist Frances Schoenberger that appears in this reviewer’s book Lennon on Lennon; Conversations with John Lennon, the ex-Beatle calls Mind Games “an interim record between being a manic political lunatic to back to being a musician again. And Mind Games is like the cross between them…I had enough of this trying to be deep…Why can’t I have some fun?”
John Lennon Mind Games Super Deluxe Box
The singer’s “fun” produced an LP that wasn’t quite on par with its two knockout predecessors—which is probably why it has been underappreciated. It lacks the head-turning raw emotion of Lennon’s solo debut, includes a bit of filler, and doesn’t contain a classic anthem like the second LP’s title track. That said, Mind Games’ title cut is likable enough to have made it into the top 20 on Billboard’s singles chart, and it’s not the best song on this self-penned album.
Like Lennon’s earlier LPs, this one mingles the political with the personal. In the former camp are standouts such as the catchy “Bring on the Lucie (Freda Peeple),” which is less strident than the diatribes on Some Time in New York City and features guitar that sounds like it could be the work of George Harrison (but isn’t). The latter group includes several love songs to Yoko Ono, including “Out the Blue,” “You Are Here” and “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry),” which mentions her by name.
Somewhere between the two groups is the title cut, which mingles a Yoko-derived mindset (“Yes is the answer”) with tired cliches. (“I want you to make love, not war,” sings Lennon, before adding, “I know you’ve heard it before.”)
The new Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection, which Lennon’s son Sean produced, follows the same format as its two boxed predecessors. Like them, it features six CDs, two Blu-rays and a hardcover book. You can also buy smaller, lower-priced digital and vinyl configurations as well as a “super deluxe” limited edition that throws in everything but Lennon’s kitchen sink, including vinyl picture discs, reproductions of memorabilia, I-Ching coins, an ultraviolet flashlight and much more.
This ad for the “Mind Games” single appeared in the Oct. 27, 1973, issue of Record World
While that edition clearly targets Lennon fanatics, the standard eight-disc Ultimate Collection isn’t exactly designed for casual fans. Unlike the “ultimate” edition of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, which includes lots of completely fresh material, the Mind Games box mostly delivers multiple copies of the original album that have been newly manipulated for this release. The first CD features a remixed, remastered copy of the original album while another disc offers “Elements Mixes” intended to “isolate and bring forth certain instruments from the multitrack recordings to highlight playing previously buried in the original mix.” A third CD, labeled “Raw Studio Mixes,” strips out vocal effects, tape delays and reverbs, while a fourth, called “Elemental Mixes,” removes drums and some instruments and makes John’s voice more prominent.
More interesting are the two remaining CDs, which embrace previously unheard material. One contains outtakes of each Mind Games track, some of which differ markedly from the familiar versions. The other, called “Evolution Documentary,” offers audio snippets of each track’s various stages, as it evolved from early demos to the final version.
The box’s lavishly illustrated 132-page hardcover book, another highlight of the box, includes a brief preface by Yoko, reminiscences about the sessions by many of Lennon’s accompanists, song lyrics and comments about each tune by John, Yoko and assorted other musicians and observers. There are also extremely detailed track notes, indicating, for example, how many takes were done of each song and what instrument is captured on each of its 16 tracks.
But perhaps the biggest carrots for potential buyers are the Blu-rays, which offer multiple high-resolution versions of the box’s musical contents, including a DTS-HD Master Audio surround-sound mix and a Dolby Atmos mix. Mind Games has never sounded better than it does here.
Related: Another point of view on Mind Games
A top editor at leading consumer and trade magazines for more than 40 years, Jeff has interviewed dozens of musical luminaries, including Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Roger McGuinn, John Sebastian, Wolfman Jack, Tommy James, Tom Waits, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan.
1 Comment so far
Jump into a conversationNot my favorite Lennon album and I think what kind of ruined it for me was the Bass Player– he overplayed on just about every track and always played too high and played runs that just didnt fit the songs– I know he was a jazz and New York session guy, but in my opinion not the right Bass player for these sessions