Lennon box set brings his music back in glory
Imagine there’s no … vinyl?
Luckily, John Lennon/Beatles fans and vinyl buffs don’t have to contend with that scenario.
On Tuesday, Capitol Records released a nine-LP, 180-gram vinyl box set simply titled “Lennon” that includes all eight studio albums that Lennon recorded and released after he left The Beatles.
The set was created from the original analog masters made and supervised by Lennon himself when he originally recorded the albums between 1970 and 1980 and retails for about $199.99 ($179.99 on Amazon).The albums also will be available to purchase separately beginning this August.
Sean Magee from Abbey Road Studios, who also worked on the recent Beatles stereo and mono CD and vinyl box sets, cut this new vinyl collection from the 24bit/96k HD digital transfers used in 2010 to make the CD version of this set, “John Lennon Signature Box.”
“Lennon” includes the following landmark albums: “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” “Imagine,” “Sometime in New York City” (a two-LP set done with Yoko Ono), “Mind Games,” “Walls and Bridges,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Double Fantasy” and “Milk and Honey” (the last two albums also with Ono).
In the early 2000s, Ono released most of Lennon’s albums in remixed form, which, although it made the albums clearer and less cluttered-sounding, it took away some of the sonic characteristics that made these albums what they were. This new vinyl set, fortunately, features these albums in their original glory, with all mixes created by Lennon himself.
The set also includes lovingly created replicas of the first edition United Kingdom versions of these LPs, including all jackets, inner sleeves, posters and labels, which look just as they did when these albums first came out. Although some Lennon aficionados may be angered that this new vinyl set isn’t being made totally in the analog realm like last year’s vinyl set “The Beatles in Mono,” they should not be disappointed with how this set sounds. From the mournful bell that opens the song “Mother” on the “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band” LP to the more cheerful chime that welcomes the song “(Just Like) Starting Over” from 1980’s “Double Fantasy,” the new vinyl versions of these albums sound great.
Although Lennon’s original mixes tend to sound muddied at times due to his love of the “Wall of Sound”-type of production originated by Phil Spector, who co-produced some of these albums, these new LPs compare quite favorably to the original vinyl pressings. “John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band,” in particular, still retains all of its harrowing aural punch, with Ringo Starr’s drumming bounding out of the speakers and highlighting the album’s stark production.
My personal favorite, “Walls and Bridges” from 1974, also sounds quite wonderful. The bass sounds especially nice on this version of the album, and the smooth, clean and crisp sound really makes this album a joyful listen.
By: James Grant
Source: The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne)
