Imagine

For many years Imagine was my favourite Lennon solo album but these days I find it far too commercial - especially the simplistic title track which is weighted down by forty years of adoration. It's a global peace anthem sure enough but it is rather twee. Still Imagine remains an excellent album even if it doesn't quite reach the heights of Plastic Ono Band.

There are several excellent tracks on this album that share a kinship with Plastic Ono Band - the angry Gimme Some Truth for one  and the furious, How do you Sleep, for another but this time around the bile is diluted by the syrup. Out of the love songs, and there are several, perhaps Jealous Guy is the best and Oh Yoko the worse. It's not that Oh Yoko is a bad song but it's kinda indulgent to force it onto the audience.

Still there will always be those who rate Imagine as the best Lennon album and there's nothing wrong with that - it's certainly the most commercial and accessible of all the solo albums.

"It's working class hero with sugar on it," was Lennon's pretty accurate assessment.