Mind GamesFrom Wikipedia: By the start of 1973, John Lennon began distancing himself from the political and social issues he had embraced in the previous 18 months. It was also around this time that he and his wife, Yoko Ono, were going through marital problems. As Ono was completing her fourth album, Feeling the Space, Lennon decided he also wanted to record a new album, and liked the studio musicians that their assistant and production coordinator May Pang had assembled for Ono's album. Shortly thereafter, he asked Pang to book them for his sessions. Wanting to produce an album that would be more accepted than his previous politically charged commercial flop Some Time in New York City, Lennon began writing and demoing a few songs for Mind Games in his Greenwich Village apartment. He began composing after a period of almost a year of not writing any material. Amid frequent court appearances battling to stay in the US, Lennon became stressed, a situation that was only worsened by constant surveillance by the FBI, due to his political activism. Lennon said "I just couldn't function, you know? I was so paranoid from them tappin' the phone and followin' me." All this combined made Lennon begin to feel emotionally withdrawn. Lennon put his suffering aside to write the songs for Mind Games, writing all the songs for it in a week.
Under the moniker of "The Plastic U.F.Ono Band", Lennon engaged the services of session drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist David Spinozza, Gordon Edwards on bass, Arthur Jenkins on percussion, Michael Brecker on saxophone, Ken Ascher on piano and organ, and the vocal backing of a group called Something Different. Difficulties between Lennon and Ono became more and more noticeable around this time. Just as the sessions were to get under way in June at New York's Record Plant Studios, John and Yoko separated. At Ono's urging, Pang became Lennon's companion and lover in what would become an 18-month relationship later renowned as Lennon's 'lost weekend'. Ends wikipedia.
01 Mind GamesThe opening track is a refreshing song. That is, it’s refreshing to hear John really in a solo album, without the annoying interference of Mrs Lennon. John is obviously still in his peace period (Chanting the mantra peace on earth), but it’s alright and the message is brought to us in a more, erm, peaceful way. John’s voice is alright, although he tends to kill his voice in the chorus (1.30 for instance). The song has a nice hook produced by the electric guitar.
There’s not really something building up in this song, despite a nice drumfill at 2.07. Later on in the song, John sounds as if he’s struggling to sing the song properly (3.20). Anomalie at 3.26 when John is starting to sing in the right ear (so keep on playing those), following on the other side with the rest of the chorus. Nice ending from 3.40.
The song sounds somewhat thin. It could be my headphones, but a bit more bass in the mix should be welcome. Not a bad song at all, but then it was started while John was still with the Beatles. Go figure.
02 Tight A$John doing a bit of 50’s rock ‘n roll. A throwaway really. An example of how quick John could pull off a rocker like this. Every decent band can produce a song like this and it’s nothing special. A filler. John’s long ‘Weeeellllll’ at the start of the verse is getting annoying after a while.
03 Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)This starts off as a nice blues ballad, meant to be an apology to Yoko. The song is somewhat reminiscent of John’s earlier work during Plastic Ono Band. Nice chord switch at 0.38. The middle eight starting at 2.09 is not the song’s best part, but it’s alright. Glad that John slips back into the verse at 2.30. The song becomes a bit boring a the start of the guitar solo (3.31), by this time my feeling goes towards an ending, but John goes on for another good minute. Overall, one of the better songs on the album.
04 One Day (At The Time)Completely sung in falsetto gives this song a feeling of ‘not take it too seriously’ and a lack of energy. That lack of energy is on overall feeling on almost the whole album, but is at its strongest in this song. The echo-delay on the snare drum is annoying and slows the song down further. Backing vocals are alright and gives this song something to remember. The little sax solo is a highlight. Another filler.
05 Bring On The Lucie (Freeda Peeple)The slide guitar makes it sound like a George Harrison songs during his solo efforts. Or better, a mix between George and John’s more popular songs. A simple verse followed by a singalong chorus, reminiscent of Power To The People. The chorus keeps the song alive, especially the backing vocals. There’s that annoying ‘Weeelllll’ again (3.08). Just alright.
06 Nutopian International AnthemThree seconds of silence. Probably has a deeper meaning, but still it’s three seconds of silence. Well, at least I’m happy that Yoko didn’t fill it up.
07 IntuitionI enjoyed this one, it sounds light and almost as if John is enjoying himself. This is a fairly simple song tho, and another one that is clearly written in half an hour or so. The honky tonk piano solo adds to the light feeling of the song. A pity John has a soft spot for sax solo’s: the sax at the end of the song kinda ruins it.
08 Out The BlueThe album’s most beautiful song, a nice ballad that shows that John can still write a decent song. Everything is adding to the atmosphere. Again great backing vocals. Good piano, also the solo towards to end. John finally lets his voice go (1.37). Plus a proper ending.
09 Only PeoplePlodding along, John tries to sound convincing and folky. Instead he produces another filler. It’s not bad as a song, but it goes nowhere. The fact that the fade out starts almost a minute before the song is really over, proves that. Only People has a somewhat Eurovision Song Contest-kind of hook and makes it a bit enjoyable.
10 I Know (I Know)The start is tense and promises a good song, but after the band joins in at 0.32, it’s obvious it’s another filler. John’s voice sounds alright in this song, the rest is forgettable.
11 You Are HereThe maracas are laughable, trying to give the song a Caribbean feeling or so. Slide guitar again, adding to the feeling that it’s a George Harrison album once more. And in my humble opinion, a lot of George’s albums are just more of the same trick. You Are Here is a nice song, but again nothing special. In fact the whole album is like that.
12 Meat CityWeeelllllllll. John adds another rocker and at least he’s putting some effort in it. And there’s a hidden message in it: after the first refrain of "Just gotta get me some rock and roll" there is a squeaky vocal which when played backwards has been deciphered as ‘f*** a pig’. Whatever. And aggresively played and sung song, which almost makes it an exception on the album.
OverallMind Games is not a bad album, it just lacks energy and outstanding songs. Most of the songs on the album are enjoyable AND forgettable.