John Lennon - Imagine (1971) (MFSL Gold 2003)
Imagine is John Lennon's second solo album and is considered the most popular of his solo works. Recorded and released in 1971, the album tended toward songs that were gentler, more commercial and less avant-garde than the ones he released on his more critically acclaimed previous album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The difference, he said, was that Imagine was "chocolate-coated for public consumption", in reference to the string sections prevalent throughout the album.
Basic tracks for the album were recorded in his home studio (Ascot Sound Studios in Tittenhurst Park) with strings overdubs added at the Record Plant in New York City. As on his last album, Phil Spector joined Lennon and Yoko Ono as co-producer on Imagine. Extensive footage of the sessions, showing the evolution of some of the songs, was compiled on a video documentary entitled Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine.
The title track "Imagine" became Lennon's signature tune and was written as a plea for world peace. "Jealous Guy" has also had enduring popularity and was originally composed as "Child of Nature" during the songwriting sessions in India in 1968 that led to The Beatles' double-album The Beatles. "Oh My Love" and the song "How?" were influenced by his experience with primal therapy: "How?" contains the questions he was facing while going through the changes produced in him during the ongoing process of primal therapy, while "Oh My Love" was written to communicate the joy and growth Lennon was experiencing as a result of the therapy.
Lennon also indulged his love of rock and roll with "Crippled Inside" and "It's So Hard." "Gimme Some Truth", originally heard in the Let It Be sessions, appears on the album with a new bridge. The politically-themed "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" closes the first half of Imagine in a cacophonous manner.
George Harrison guested on a few of Imagine's tracks, most infamously "How Do You Sleep?", Lennon's response to what he considered veiled remarks about him on Paul McCartney's then-current album Ram. Although Lennon softened his stance in the mid-70s and claimed he wrote the song about himself, he revealed in 1980, "I used my resentment against Paul... to create a song... not a terrible vicious horrible vendetta... I used my resentment and withdrawing from Paul and The Beatles, and the relationship with Paul, to write 'How Do You Sleep'. I don't really go 'round with those thoughts in my head all the time".
Early editions of the Imagine LP included a postcard featuring a photo of Lennon holding a pig in mockery of McCartney's similar pose with a sheep of the cover of Ram. At the end of the album is "Oh Yoko!", an ode to his wife complete with a Bob Dylan-style harmonica solo.
Upon release in September and October 1971, Imagine was warmly regarded by critics and promptly went to #1 worldwide and became an enduring seller, with the title track reaching #3 in the U.S. and #1 in the UK following Lennon's death. In 2000, Yoko Ono supervised the remixing of Imagine for its remastered reissue.
In 2003, Imagine was placed at #76 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time and reissued by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) on gold CD and on 180 gram half-speed mastered vinyl.
Imagine es el segundo álbum de estudio de John Lennon y es considerado como su trabajo más popular como solista. Grabado y publicado en 1971, el álbum contiene canciones más sofisticadas, más comerciales y menos vanguardistas que en sus anteriores proyectos, como John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. Según Lennon, la diferencia entre Imagine y sus trabajos previos era el "baño de chocolate para el consumo público" del primero, en referencia a los arreglos de cuerda que prevalecen durante todo el álbum.
Los temas básicos del álbum fueron grabados en el estudio personal de Lennon, en Tittenhurst Park, mientras los arreglos de cuerda serían añadidos en Record Plant, Nueva York. Al igual que en su anterior álbum, Phil Spector se uniría al proyecto como co-productor del álbum. Durante su grabación, sería filmado numeroso material videográfico para mostrar la evolución de las canciones, posteriormente recopilado en un documental titulado Gimme Some Truth: The Making of John Lennon's Imagine.
El tema que da título al álbum, "Imagine", supuso la firma personal en la carrera musical de Lennon y se mantiene como exponente e himno de la paz mundial. "Jealous Guy", originalmente titulada "Child of Nature" durante su composición en India en 1968, también obtendría gran popularidad dentro del catálogo de canciones de Lennon. Otros momentos importantes del álbum son los temas "Oh My Love", compuesto para Yoko Ono, y la contemplativa "How?", la cual, junto a la anterior, fueron influidas por la experiencia vivida por Lennon en la terapia primal. "How?" releva las preguntas realizadas por el músico durante los cambios producidos en el tiempo que duró la terapia, mientras "Oh My Love" comunica el Lennon jovial y maduro, resultado de la misma terapia.
Imagine también hace hincapié en el amor de Lennon por el rock'n'roll en los temas "Crippled Inside" e "It's So Hard", así como en la provocativa "Gimme Some Truth", la cual puede escucharse en las sesiones de grabación de Let It Be. "I Dont't Wanna Be A Soldier" cierra la primera parte de Imagine con una carga política en contra del activismo militar.
George Harrison sería invitado por Lennon para tocar en algunos temas de Imagine, especialmente en "How Do You Sleep?", el cual sirvió de plataforma para mofarse de su antiguo compañero en The Beatles, Paul McCartney, y para responder a las acusaciones vertidas por este en el álbum Ram (las primeras ediciones del álbum incluían una postal de Lennon sujetando las orejas de un cerdo, en un pose similar al de McCartney en la portada de Ram, quien sujeta a un carnero.)
Tras su publicación en septiembre de 1971, Imagine recibió buenas reseñas por parte de la crítica, alcanzando el primer puesto a nivel global y despuntando en el nivel de ventas. El tema "Imagine" alcanzaría el puesto #3 en las listas de Billboard y el #1 en las británicas tras la muerte de Lennon.
En 2000, Yoko Ono supervisaría la remezcla de Imagine para la reedición del álbum en formato CD.
En 2003, la revista musical Rolling Stone colocó Imagine en el puesto #76 de los 500 mejores álbumes de todos los tiempos.
Lista de canciones
1. Imagine - 3:01
2. Crippled Inside - 3:47
3. Jealous Guy - 4:14
4. It's So Hard - 2:25
5. I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama - 6:05
6. Gimme Some Truth - 3:16
7. Oh My Love - 2:44
8. How Do You Sleep? - 5:36
9. How? - 3:43
10. Oh Yoko! - 4:20
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Contraseña: By The Sacred Monster
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