#do i wanna make slowed instrumental piano audios

[gremlinanalyst]

who will grem be tonight?

that’s the question-

[the-world-is-treating-me-bad]

Thoughts and First Impressions on the Beatles Discography: With The Beatles

It has been some time, but welcome back to: "Misery listens to Beatles albums on repeat for a really long time and then gives his opinions on them"! This listening episode was With The Beatles!

Compared to when i listened to Please Please Me, I've had this one on repeat for a lot longer, and idk if that's me liking it more or if I just needed more time to formulate my opinions lol

It Won't Be Long: Starting the album off with a bang! Love the guitar riffs. Also the little background "yeah!"s are charming. Love the backing vocals on this in general. Got a good groove to it altogether. I like how it's more intense instrumentally on the chorus and then pulls back on the verse, it's a good ebb and flow. Also like that oooo harmony at the end.

All I've Got To Do: LOVE this one! I love how sparse the instrumentation is at points so that part of the song is also just the silence. Vocals are lovely. Really like the solid light drumming on the verse. The hum over the instrumental into the fadeout is gorgeous.

All My Loving: It's this one! I'd heard this one before when I watched AHDN. Harmonies are nice. It's got a good consistent groove to it. The bit where it pulls back and it's vocals with the "Ooo"s is really lovely.

Don't Bother Me: George song!!!!! Made me laugh that his first released song was just "leave me alone", very George of him. Claves are fun! The tambourine is cute. Guitar is groovy. Good vibes good vibes. Melody is nice. Unique in just having lead vocals. The tom on the fadeout is cool!

Little Child: HARMONICA!!!!! SHE'S BACK! This one is fun and groovy. Very dancey. The yelling and then going ham on the harmonica makes me smile.

Till There Was You: Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful!!!! I said "oh Paul..." with a dreamy grin on my face the first time i listened to this. HOWEVER my brain is meme poisoned and when he sang "I never saur them winging" my brain just played the tiktok H2O just add water "aur naur cleo the condensation" audio and i did start laughing. HOWEVER HOWEVER this is genuinely gorgeous and i love the guitars and the bongos and Paul's voice. Beautiful Gorgeous, and one I'd listen to on repeat alone. Probably my favourite track.

Please Mister Postman: Tiktok also poisoned my brain for this one a bit but it's really fun! I love the "wait a minute"s, they're good vibes. I was bobbing my head. Just really nice. Good vocals all around. the bit where it's just John singing and the handclaps and the drums? Gorgeous.

Roll Over Beethoven: The stereo mix... was not made for men like me... I did not enjoy having handclaps every second blasted into my right ear, I'm not gonna lie. Otherwise it's very good technically instrumentally, George did very good on the vocals and I like his little "woo"s and the way that he pronounces Tchaikovsky. Good vibes if not for the goddamn handclaps.

Hold Me Tight: Ohhhh the vibes are fantastic. I love Paul's voice so much, I really do. Vocals in general are fab. Guitar is fun and good. Another very danceable one.

You Really Got A Hold On Me: Good slow groove! I like the drums, with the sus cymbal. Also the "hold me"s are lovely. Nice high notes! Piano is good.

I Wanna Be Your Man: RINGO TIME BAYBEE!!!!! Just a fun good time. The guitar is great! Apparently there's organ on this? I can't super hear it individually, but I can feel it supporting the other instruments, and the glissando is audible. I actually fucking love how (so far) Ringo's songs just devolve into him screaming. Fantastic. Good Vibes. Ringo I Love You.

Devil In Her Heart: Groovy! I like the maracas. The backing vocals are lovely. Good drum groove. The bass is actually audible in the mix for once! Guitar is nice, and I like the closing chord.

Not A Second Time: Piano!!! I love how percussive it is. Great. It's interesting to hear the other instruments take more of a backseat in the mix.

Money (That's What I Want): More groovy piano! Enjoy how for the second album in a row we have John closing it out and just YELLING. I would also like some money! Again with the sparser instrumentation leaving the vocals a bit more isolated. John Lennon Yells At You To Give Him Money ASMR.

Aaaaand that's the album! Gave similar vibes to Please Please Me tbh, and I know this one was about a third covers as well. I really liked it though, it was a good listen. Idk if this is just something i noticed in this album because i was listening more, so it might be a thing with PPM as well, but the bass was really quiet in the mix. Anyways, yeah! My Opinions! Onto the next set of non-album singles, and then AHDN! As always if you like my opinions feel free to follow or chat!

[oneletterelliot]

Don’t Call Me (SHINee) - liveblog reaction

I’m finally sinking my teeth into the new SHINee album. For the title track, this is doubling as an MV reaction too.

Don’t Call Me - I’ve never seen a SHINee music video before! Concept is immediately intriguing, like what’s the story here? Oh, the vibe of the music is unexpected. I like this styling that reminds me of a raven. I really like the beat. I hope there’s a dance practice video, because I like the choreography and want to see more of it. I’m sure this set is mostly CG but I LOVE it. Kinda reminds me of the five minutes of Bioshock that I played. Creepy masks remind me of NCT 127′s “Simon Says” MV. I think my least favorite part of the song, musically, is the repeated “Don’t call me, don’t call me,” chant during the chorus? I do quite like Onew’s voice. Okay, I really like this shot of the phone submerged underwater. Holy shit this piano??? LOVE IT. Taemin’s voice is also very strong. Oh, I like the typography subbing a 7 in for the apostrophe on “don’t” because it’s their 7th album.

Rest of the album below the cut because long post:

Heart Attack - The very opening instrumental reminded me of “First Love” by NCT 127, but once the vocals started, the whole vibe shifted. It’s smooth but driving. And I like it. Makes me want to dance. The bassline makes me very happy. Oh hey, I think I’ve reached the point where I can distinguish Taemin’s voice from the others. (Makes sense since I’ve listened to a few of his solo songs and also SuperM.) Wow, the ending snuck up on me.

Marry You - Funky. I really like this bassline, but I don’t care for the lyrics “Girl, I just want to marry you, right here, here now.” I mean, it’s about what I was expecting based off the title, but it’s just not my thing. Another pretty smooth song. It’s fine, but not doing much for me, musically. I guess I appreciate the harmony in the chorus. Voice at the 2:44 mark is nice. (Edit: I looked it up, and it’s Onew. I have been somewhat prone to his voice in the past, so that checks out.)

CØDE - Just based off the title alone, if this song doesn’t go hard, I’m going to be disappointed. Promising start. The synthy instrumental is doing things for me. Oooh, a very driving beat. Someone at the 0:42 mark has a head voice. (Edit: Looked it up, and it’s Key, which is unexpected to me for whatever reason.) Okay, this song doesn’t go that hard, but I’m still digging it. Really into the instrumental, honestly. Holy head voice at 1:24. If it isn’t the same person as before, color me impressed. (Edit: It’s Onew. Huh.) The “let’s crack the code!” beginning of the chorus reminds me one of “Hitchhiking.” Actually, I bet someone with better audio-editing skills than me could make a really compelling mashup of “Hitchhiking” and this song.

I Really Want You - I like the opening instrumental a lot. Less sold on this spoken vocals. This has a kind of old school vibe. I’m into the little guitar backing riff during the verses. Very peppy, you know. It’s a nice enough song, but I doubt it’s one I’m going to come back to. Around 2:50, it just hit me that this “I really wantcha, ooh, babe” bit really reminds of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’” by Michael Jackson.

Kiss Kiss - I think I’m going to this like based off the bassline and opening harmony, but we’ll see. Oh, it’s smoother than I was expecting. Loving the harmonies, yes. Laugh at 1:38 mark, yes. (Edit: Minho, maybe? If it is, I think this is the first time I’ve specifically reacted to something from him haha.) The chorus makes me wanna dance. I may never get over how much I like these harmonies, actually, wow.

Body Rhythm - Okay, I think this song has been like a fancam meme on twitter, or something? Big fan of this beat. It’s like a slow samba. Oh man, whoever sings “Won’t you follow my body rhythm? Come on, follow my body rhythm,” at 0:47... good sir, your voice and delivery is immaculate. (Edit: Wait, it’s Taemin? And after I claimed that I thought I could recognize his voice now lmao. Damn, he sounds so good. I misread the color-coded lyrics video, and it’s actually Key singing this part. Thank you @subtextread for the correction, and thank you, Key, for your amazing voice.) This song REALLY makes me want to dance. Specifically, it makes me want to choreograph. Singer of the chorus at 1:45, I don’t think it’s the same person as before, and I don’t like it quite as much, but it’s still very nice. (Edit: It’s Onew, which is funny, because I’ve tended to like his voice a lot.) A strong contender for favorite song on the album.

Attention - Why does the intro make me think of “0 Mile” by NCT 127? Like, not to be a NCT fanboy on main (lol), but the cadence of it is very similar, despite the songs have very different vibes. Mr. Head Voice is back at 0:42. (Edit: So actually it’s Taemin, which means it’s *checks notes* a different Mr. Head Voice than the other two I’ve already mentioned, so. Welp.) Actually, this song also reminds me of one of the songs off NCT 127′s Neo Zone, but fuck, which one? Oh my god, I’m going to have to relisten to a slew off Neo Zone that I don’t otherwise listen to in order to figure this out, because otherwise, it will bother me forever. (Edit: I was thinking of “FOOL,” which is... not off Neo Zone. Oops.) Wow, sorry that so much of my reaction to this song was just me thinking about NCT 127 songs.

Kind - Interesting, unexpected vibe. Okay wait, does SHINee really end every album with a ballad-y song? Brb, checking my other SHINee liveblogs. *Magic 8 ball voice* All signs point to yes. This song is fine, but not likely one I’ll come back to. The harmonies are nice, classic SHINee. Gah, what is the name of this vocal effect used at 3:05 (and also at the very beginning)? I’ve heard it used in other songs, but what is it??

[gayoongles]

I was tagged by @yooniegf uwu thank u💕💘😔

nickname: umm I mean my name is a nickname in itself but I've called myself ‘lex’ and ‘a’ before, and my best friend calls me gumdrop n honey sometimes which r cute :(( 

height: 4′11 (150cm) i’m a tiny boy hh

time: 12:45 pm

fave band/artist: bts 10000%

song stuck in my head: tbh ?? hfdshf this is gonna b weird but it’s the classical piece I just played like. an hour ago it’s the 3rd movement of Chopin’s sonata in g minor op 65 hhhh the whole piece is rly pretty if any of u wanna listen to it tho idk 😶

last movie i saw: I don’t rly watch movies that often but im like 80% sure it was Ready Player One 

other blogs: oof I have a lot but I have my sideblogs listed here and then I also have my aes blog @/93trivia

do i get asks: every once in a while like . maybe like 5 times a year fhdghi 

why i chose this username: um . i’m gay, yoongi gives of big lgbt vibes, and yoongles is a cute ass nickname (also gayoongi was already taken fjkdh) 

following: like how many ppl im following?? 462 😊

what im wearing: jeans n a walk the moon sweatshirt 

dream job: audio engineer!!! or producer, idk I just wanna work in a recording studio n make music 

dream trip: ngl I wanna go all around the world but I think I've always mostly wanna go to European and Asian countries!! also Australia bc my best friend lives there so like ?? im tryina get there asap so we can meet ??

fave food: pasta! and just Italian food in general tbh

play any instrument: I play cello n im trying to teach myself guitar and piano but it’s v slow going bc I have no motivation 

hair colour: naturally it’s light brown but rn the roots r red and the rest has faded to blonde so I need to redye it soonnn

languages i speak: English and limited Italian, but im trying to relearn Italian and learn Korean 

most iconic song: ddaeng

random fact: idk uhfdsifhids I'm a rly boring person tbh

describe yourself as aesthetic things: umm I mean if u go to my aes blog that’s literally me, like dark and demons and night time/the moon n like.. the city at night when it’s all lit up n pretty n stuff hfjdh idk

n im gonna taggg @cutieyeosanggie @slutyoon @2oongi and @jkstears but only if u want to!!

[godforbidfate]

how i imagine the reputation stadium tour...

the lights cut out and then we start hearing snippets of old interviews

FETUS TAYLOR MAKES AN APPEARANCE as the screens start flashing through time and we hear her talk about her life and the people she’s dated

maybe we just hear interviewers and reporters going off about taylor swift’s reputation and “taylor swift is over” and all the typical headlines

the little creepy voices stop on someone saying “taylor swift has been MIA for months. what happened to her reputation?”

the big electronic sounds of ready for it go off and everyone shrieks

she pops up on stage right before the little throat clearing and we all scream and she has to pause and smile at us, and then to get going she clears her throat and then GOES OFF

baby let the games begin plays and then she goes into “i see how this is gonna go” again and she stops on “no one has to know...” and she does one of her instrumental breaks where she says something like “well hello there. *screams* my name is taylor. you may think you know me, but you don’t. you just know my reputation.”

*BOOM* IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIIIIIIIIGHT

straight into I WANNA BE YOUR END GAME

then she does a bunch of body rolls during BIG REPUTATION BIG REPUTATION

she’s either gonna bring future and ed along on tour OR she’ll have some other people to help her rap the verses or she’s just gonna go off and rap the verses herself (or itll get cut)

i got some big enemies HEY!

I SWEAR I DON’T LOVE THE DRAMA (IT LOVES ME!!!)

imagine all the male backup dancers during EYES ARE LIQUOR ITS LIKE YOUR BODY’S GOLD

*taylor monologues on her reputation and how she’s a serial dater*

suddenly the notes of our favorite serial dater come in and everyone’s cheering bc BOYS ONLYW ANT LOVE IF ITS TORTURE

except it isn’t the blank space we grew to love - this one is darker, maybe minor keyed, maybe more electronic than pop

cut to creepy video clips of taylor being crazy and seductive and intense

no one knows what’s happening but we’re all REALLY FREAKED OUT

then echoes of something start to play, and as it gets louder you can tell it’s a slowed down version of the RADADADADADADADADA DA DA DJAH DJAH....DJAH

SCREAMING

i did something bad starts and tay walks out in a new intense cloak kinda like the RFI video

she says “SHIT” kinda like a seductive harsh yell and everyone GOES OFF

before the bridge she goes into an instrumental segment as they set the tone

she appears center stage and starts chanting “THEYRE BURNING ALL THE WITCHES EVEN IF YOU AREN’T ONE”

little bits of pyro are used throughout the song but during each “LIGHT ME UP” they get bigger and more intense and the last one has taylor SCREAMING INTO THE MIC and she pulls one of her typical high notes and whips off the cloak and is wearing a super sexy red dress get-up and then she goes on to finish out the song with lots of pyro

which goes straight into don’t blame me and she basically just cat-walks around the stages and the male back-up dancers are going hard like when she did IKYWT

I GET SO HIGH OH! is harsh and gravely again

the back-up singers all go hard during this song to make it sound like a choir in the background and everyone’s sobbing bc taylor just took us to church

and of course

we’re all waiting for it

USING FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH

DO-IN IT RIGHT NO

taylor gets all giggly and runs off stage and the back-up singers go into the full out choir section to keep DBM going while taylor changes

the screen cuts once again to footage of old interviews and reporters speculating on taylor’s dating life

we see footage of paparazzi swarming her and her old boyfriends

we circulate through years of hell and trauma as we relive the first joe, taylor squared, haylor, hiddleswift, the dearest john

and then the footage fizzles out and cuts to iphone footage of taylor laughing about something (clearly filmed by joe)

then taylor appears on stage and starts “THIS AINT FOR THE BEST”

and everyone breaks down into tears

after delicate taylor gives a little speech about relationships and reputations and she ends with “so it goes, i guess...”

and the beat comes in for so it goes and she’s wearing a black dress and she gets super sultry with all her dancers

the audio engineers give her autotune on her mic and she starts doing serious dancing

catwalks that’s all i’m saying

maybe some booty drops?

but honestly baby who’s counting...*pause*

*screams*

1 2 3!

come here DRESSED IN BLACK NOW!

cut to black

footage on screen of taylor and calv*n and reporters yelling about rumors of them breaking up and stuff

then james comes on the speakers and goes “GORGEOUS” and everyone loses it

taylor pops up on stage wearing her new normal - a comfy shirt & pants & cute sneakers

guess i’ll just stumble on home to my cats...*crowd screaming alone* ALONE...unless you wanna come along? *pause* taylor looks at the crowd, we all scream, *DING* she goes to her really high OHHHHH

taylor monologues on fancying someone else and wanting to be a good person but needing to break up with someone

“i guess that’s why they say nothing good starts in a getaway car”

the last song before the swap to the bstage(s?)

taylor gets to the bstage and starts being all cute and talking about how she’s so happy and free now

*plays surprise song*

*plays call it what you want acoustically*

*monologues about love*

starts to play king of my heart on acoustic guitar - transitions into full out song

BABY ALL AT ONCE THIS IS ENOUGH - then it goes into the chorus again KING OF MY HEART LET ME SEE YOU JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP

I’LL NEVER LET YOU GOOO!

the ending instrumental goes on while tay disappears to change

cut to black again

more headlines and reporters going off about taylor & joe

a black piano rises to the stage and taylor sits there in a party dress and starts talking about life and love and being happy and how even though you want to be someone’s midnight kiss you also should want to give that person advil on new years day

alternatively: a monologue on memories and how she loves us so much

CRYING AND SCREAMING AND RIP ME

and then you hear the creepy beginning notes of dancing with our hands tied

piano mashup with i don’t wanna live forever? OR I KNOW PLACES?

the beat comes in at the chorus and everyone goes hard and i’m sobbing

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH OH YEAH WE WERE DANCING

FIRST TIME

FIRST TIME!

OHHH

again cut to black, but this time the reporters are all talking about KIMYE and the trial and her bad blood and her squad and literally everything

and then WOOOOOOOHOOOOO

taylor’s back on stage in party clothes

TIWWCHNT

HERES A TOAST TO MY REAL FRIENDS!

cuz forgiveness is a nice thing to do...*pause* *screaming* taylor whispers into the mic “I can’t say it with a straight face”

THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE! THINGS!

everyone’s screaming and cheering and toasting and HERES TO MY REAL FRIENDS

transition into dress

SAY MY NAME AND EVERYTHING JUST *STOPS* *pause* *cheering & screams* *taylor smiles* I DON’T WANT YOU LIKE A BEST FRIEND

cut to black, more reporters, more iphone videos of taylor

the beginning of LWYMMD fades in

*screaming*

taylor walks out in a super sexy black getup and we all go hard for one last song

IM SORRY THE OLD TAYLOR CANT COME TO THE PHONE RIGHT NOW...WHY?...OH...CUZ SHE’S DEAD!!!!

[kaneisdead]

THE THERAPY I SEEK BY JOEY C.M. (OR TL;DR VOLUME 46: DELUXE EDITION)

I'd rather make you laugh than to tell you how much I hurt. To be honest, I am hurting. The drinking heavy part is now explained. Let's just leave it alone and one day I will be ok again. Anyone who knows me well enough knows a few things. 1. I have no real belief in anything. 2. I hate myself. 3. I really hate life and 4. I'm a musical maniac. With all that said; at first I absolutely hated this band. It wasn't because of the vocals or the instrumentals or anything like that. I think I hated the band mostly because that's what boys do. I mean seriously, you wanna look cool right? I was no exception. Then 2005 came around, I was at Zia Record Exchange and I was looking at the rock section. Under the new releases I saw the bands 3rd(official) album and I decided "fuck my friends" and picked it up. I would listen to it through a few times over that weekend and marvel at the artwork within in(lyrically and the album art which was rather amazing). I would later buy the remaining discography and I have been hooked since. The band I speak of is Coheed and Cambria. On the surface to most people, they will see an emo band with a man with a girly voice. To the many legions of fans, we see the last really great rock band. They have released an abundance of records but I really want to focus on the first 4. See at the time a lot of us were uninformed about the real meaning behind the music was until one day upon further inspection we realized that the music was the narrative of a really advanced story that one needs time to really study on. It's mostly told through comics apart from the albums and it details an inevitably sad science fiction story involving the Kilgannon Family and the impure bastards that threaten their existence. There are good people with the story but most are vengeful pricks who prey. I love to sit back or lay down and just play album after album and just interpret the song in my own ways. I still keep the characters in my mind but at the same time I'm playing out every scenario but keeping the beginning and end the same. See on Second Stage Turbine Blade there's a song called "God Send Conspirator" that always gets me. It's an amazing track and on the surface it is no more the rock anthem that you can really sing along to but within the innerverse that is the 'heed, it details one of the absolutely saddest points in the record. To this day the fact that I can see "Your dreams can't last forever" really makes me want to weep, in fact I have wept a lot to this bands music. Through break ups, hatred and even death the bands music has helped me. "In Keeping Secrets Of Silent Earth: 3" has the same effect. "A Favor House Atlantic" is such a pop friendly song but in reality it is probably one of the bands most incredibly violent songs. The song called "The light and the glass" is a really sad track which ends in tragedy of losing someone close. It ends with a sad piano track and then leads into the hidden song. The first 4 have hidden tracks which I find oddly funny. I remember one instance of crying through out the last 4 songs on "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV Volume I: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness" but not because I was in particularly sad but mostly because it just started to happen. I couldn't control how emotional the music made me. Then of course on "Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV Volume 2: No World For Tomorrow" where the story was believed to have ended, makes me sad for simply that reason. I honestly thought that the band was going to end there...little did I know I was wrong. I really have to thank them alot for that because from my memory, I don't believe there ever was a band that had this power over me. I remember seeing them in 2017 and although I enjoyed the set and all, I got turned down badly by a woman I am madly in love with...needless to say when songs like "Wake up" played I started to cry while most assholes had their lady friends with them and they were all kissing while my lonely ass wept. Well, if anything, the song isn't really that romantic if you really listen to it. Either way. I loved the way that show ended with Claudio Sanchez bringing out a portrait painted of him from someone down here in Arizona, to which Claudio said he liked it albeit freaking him out when he sees it at night. It's nice to know that the band is not at all that serious in real life. One thing I've always found hilarious about the band is the fact that Claudio is really bad at keeping a straight face. During the slower songs or slow parts of songs, Claudio looks into the crowds and I assume he sees an overly passionate fan singing along(probably me) and he'll flat out laugh. I remember when they were doing the song "Everything Evil" and during the Jesse parts, he kept laughing. Along with that Travis Stever likes to make goofy faces when Claudio's voice used to get ungodly high. Speaking of live, the first 4 albums were recorded live one majestic summer. They were then pressed up for a very limited box set titled "Neverender: Children of the Fence Edition". To the very few who own it, I hate you but then again it's my fault for sleeping on it...as a matter of fact, that was a year I didn't listen to the band. Which I find hilarious that I chose not to listen to the band at all. Another odd memory was when I got the "Live at the Starland Ballroom" record and would listen to it religously. Yeah it was pretty unclean audio wise but at the same time it gave it some charm. Claudio doing an Acoustic version of "The Light and the Glass" was fantastic. This also was the first time I heard men yell out to the band that they "want to have your children" and it definitely isn't the last which always makes me laugh. In spite of being what most plebs say, I don't believe them to be an emo band. The music can be emotional though and that's pretty much any band whoever wrote a song about pain. The reason for me writing this? Because I don't ever express how I really feel about anything anymore. I hate myself and life too much and I absolutely have no trust in anyone. Everyone to me is a traitor in waiting and they are all waiting for that moment I slip even the slightest. I mean sure I talk a lot of shit online but that's just it; shit talking. I hate everything and especially myself. I threaten sucide a lot but at this point in time it's almost like a chic thing to say. I'm trying to remain fabulous and hateful all at the same time. Regardless, the band is an amzing quartet and a huge influence on me and they are basically my therapy. I cannot praise them enough. I just wish they weren't coming to town when I'm gonna be dead broke.

[aion-rsa]

Imagine: The Ultimate Collection Review: John Lennon's Dreams Wake Up

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John Lennon's dreams mix with personal nightmares as Imagine: The Ultimate Collection bares its tracks.

Books

John Lennon's Imagine, which just saw the release of an Ultimate Collection spread across four CDs and two Blu-ray discs, is best known for its title song. "Imagine" envisioned an anti-authoritarian nutopia, without the need of heaven, hell, countries or border walls. Critics blasted Lennon's soft anthem as soft politics and the singer an armchair liberal who sent his protests via limousine. Elvis Costello chided "was it a millionaire who said imagine no possessions?" on his song "The Other Side of Summer."

Most of this is true. Lennon practically invented armchair liberalism, possibly inspired by Elvis Presley's Pink Cadillac tour of England, where the rock and roll legend sent only his prized automobile in lieu of personal appearances. The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger went to the student protests. Lennon sent his MBE, the coveted piece of leather with a cardboard string given to The Beatles for their million dollar exports, back to Buckingham Palace via limo in protest of Britain's support of Vietnam, involvement in Biafra and his heroin withdrawal pang "Cold Turkey" slipping down the charts. Ineffective, in the long run, but funny, in that patented "witty Beatle" way. Sometimes Lennon wasn't even an armchair protester, he and Yoko Ono barely got out of bed for their wedding anniversary hotel peace tour.

Further reading: The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour Could Have Been a Great Prog Rock Classic

Lennon himself called "Imagine" "'Working Class Hero' for conservatives," referencing his autobiographically acoustic take on the social divide that included the word "fuck" twice for working class emphasis. But the Imagine album itself cuts much deeper than the peaceful dreams of an artist wanting to make a difference. Lennon takes aim at government in "Gimme Some Truth," with blaring, sneering slide guitars by George Harrison, who also aims his strings at Paul McCartney in the bitter rant "How Do You Sleep." He mocks the conscience-afflicted wealthy class in "Crippled Inside," and fuels the fear and anger behind righteous rage with propulsive and massive drums in "I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama I don't Want to Die." He also goes out on a limb in some of his most personal love songs and revealing snatches of self-consciousness. Lennon is as hard on himself as he is on the body politic in songs like "Jealous Guy."

Imagine was released in September 1971. Lennon recorded three solo experimental noise and spoken word albums with Yoko Ono while Beatle were still together: Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins, Wedding Album and Unfinished Music No. 2: Life With the Lions, which all came out in  1969. None of them reached the artistic heights of "Revolution 9" off The Beatles album, better known as The White Album. The biggest controversy coming from a nude cover that record stores had to hide under a brown paper bag. John Lennon and the original Plastic Ono Band, which included Klaus Voorman, who drew the cover of The Beatles' Revolver album, on bass, Alan White on drums, and slow hand guitar master Eric Clapton on guitar, also released the moldy oldie set they performed live at the Toronto Peace Festival. Lennon recorded his Plastic Ono Band album in its purest form, which must have driven producer Phil Spector, renowned for his Wall of Sound, to distraction. But Lennon was in the throes of Primal Therapy and was undeterred in letting it all hang out.

Spector put strings on the Plastic Ono Band sentiment to make Imagine Lennon's first solo record to hit number one. The album is seen as the rhythm guitar and mouth organ player’s return to conventional pop. To fans of the Fab Four, Imagine almost sounded like a Beatles album.

Further reading: The Beatles: In Defense of Revolution 9

Phil Spector was known for his reverberating over-saturation which he also employed for George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass album. The live studio performances are stripped as raw as most of Lennon's vocals. The raw takes show a band with a purpose, the studio chatter, caught in the fourth CD, finds playful ways to inspire serious playing. The Raw Studio mixes are presented in 5.1 surround sound with Lennon in front and the band playing all around and behind. Highlights are the extended renditions of "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna Die," "How Do You Sleep?" and "Oh Yoko!" “It’s So Hard” features a beautiful sax track by the legendary King Curtis, who also blasts “I Don’t Wanna Be A Soldier Mama I Don’t Wanna Die” into another dimension.

The new expanded edition of the album brings the intimacy to the forefront, especially in the Raw Studio Mixes disk that captures Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band bashing through their performances live without overdub, echo or other studio affects. The album proper has been cleaned up for the Ultimate Mixes to allow for deeper definition and clarity, and the Quadrasonic Album Mix gives four speakers equal time for the first time in nearly fifty years.

Imagine - The Ultimate Collection also collects the singles which propelled the album to the top slot. They include "Power to the People," which opens with the line "You say you want a revolution," harking back to The Beatles' non-committal protest song "Revolution," and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." The now-holiday staple began as an anti-war song, recorded at the Record Plant in New York with session musicians and the Harlem Community Choir.

Also putting in an official appearance is the little-known single "Do the Oz," which was written to support the underground Oz magazine which had been hit with an obscenity charge, and the hitherto unknown "God Save us," two versions, one with a guest vocalist. The accompanying book is informative, and nicely packaged. It almost makes up for the missing postcard and poster which came with the original release.

The disc In The Studio and Deeper Listening features both surround sound and stereo mixes, along with Elliot Mintz's 29-minute compilation os interviews with John and Yoko. The Elements Mixes includes strings-only versions of "Imagine" and "How?," "Oh My Love" stripped of everything but the voice, and the piano, bass, and drums instrumentation for "Jealous Guy." The Evolution Documentary tells the full story of each song, presenting a fly-on-the wall take from the first writing and demo sessions to the final co-production with Spector. We hear tidbits like how Spector experimented with having Hopkins play the same lines on the same piano as Lennon, but on a higher octave.

Lennon began work on Imagine in February 1971, gathering Voormann, White, George Harrison and pianist Nicky Hopkins to house with him and Spector at Lennon's Georgian country home, Tittenhurst Park, in Berkshire, England, long enough to create a unified audio experience. The songs are diverse, as are the instrumentations. “Crippled Inside,” which has a wonderful dobro performance by Harrison, is a mocking retro-country stomp that could almost be a Skiffle song.

“Oh My Love” is such a straightforward romantic outpouring of devotional love, it is a wonder it isn't played at more weddings. Lennon is at his naturalistic best, lyrically appreciating the trees and skies for the first time through his lover's eyes. He is so lost in the newness of love, several years after meeting Yoko, he also includes the monogamously celebratory "Oh Yoko!" which closes on a positively giddly Bob Dylan style harmonica. But Lennon gives in to existential doubts for the song  “How,” where he asks “How can I go forward when I don’t know which way I’m facing?”

Further reading: Original Imagine Demo by John Lennon Surfaces

Lennon's personal blues usually start with a shade of green. "Jealous Guy” is a somber wake up call to the guy who sang "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man" on the Rubber Soul album song “Run for Your Life.” For such an emotional confession Lennon brought in extra support from friendly musicians, like Mike Pinder from The Moody Blues who he'd known since the Hamburg days. Pinder came in to do a Mellotron part, but the instrument acted up and he banged on a tambourine instead. Lennon also called on Joey Molland and Tom Evans of the Apple band Badfinger. They would also provide soft acoustic backing for Harrison, both on records and in the Concert for Banga Desh. The strings were done by members of the New York Philharmonic, who Lennon dubbed "the Flux Fiddlers." The song was famously, or infamously, covered by Roxy Music, but it doesn't touch Lennon's tortured vocals or baleful, though tuneful, whistling.

The term rock and roll began as a euphemism for sex and "It's So Hard" is pure rock and roll. It's got the I-IV-V twelve bar blues structure of the classics that drew Lennon to the genre, and it's got the sweaty beats to drive it against the wall. Lennon told Rolling Stone magazine that the Beatles first number one hit in England, "Please, Please Me," was about oral sex. The BBC banned the song “Happiness is a Warm Gun” from airplay in the United Kingdom because the singer was "going down." Lennon would at one point be busted for displaying erotic artwork of his lingual enjoyment of Yoko. Here he proclaims whether it's good, whether he's worried, or when things get really hard, sometimes he just feels like going down. He doesn't mince words.

Lennon's wordplay comes to the forefront when he takes on the hypocrisy of the Nixon administration in “Gimme Some Truth.” Tricky Dick hated the song so much he had his people try to deport Lennon and Ono in 1972. Lennon takes down everyone from tight-lipped, condescending, mama’s little chauvinists to schizophrenic-egocentric-paranoic-prima donnas in a proto-punk protest classic backed by the band at full-throttle and Harrison's slide set on incisive insinuation. The two guitarists paired again to pile on another inside threat.

Further reading: John Lennon's 'How Do You Sleep?' Footage Reveals Unrest

McCartney's second solo album Ram, which came out earlier in 1971, opened with the song “Too Many People” which included the line "Too many people preaching practices." Lennon caught the subtle dig and responded by posing while holding a pig by the ears in the postcard insert, and a blistering moment of classic rock for the needle. “How Do You Sleep” begins with an orchestra tuning up like Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Clubs Band before Lennon, the dreamer of the song "Imagine" shatters that illusion with how the album took the melodic bassist by surprise. Lennon sets his lyrics on pun for lines like “the only thing you done was yesterday.” He references McCartney's more recent single "Another Day," by alluding to Harrison's charge that McCartney overplayed the bass part on "Something" and mocks the cute Beatle for his pretty face. “How Do You Sleep” is supposedly a character assassination of Paul McCartney, but Lennon also admits he was writing about himself. He knows he would also "jump when your mama tell you anything.”

Further reading: Original Imagine Demo by John Lennon Surfaces

This brings us to the title song. "Imagine" began life as the song "Child of Nature," which he wrote when the Beatles went to India in 1968. John Lennon composed the song in one session, sitting at the iconic white grand piano featured in a poster that came with the original album. The new collection includes a sparse home recording of Lennon on piano and vocal. Lennon revels in the naiveté of the dreamer as he imagined something that seemed unimaginable in a world made bitter after incidents like the Ohio National Guard troops killing four protesting students at Kent State University. The lyrics were inspired by Ono's "event scores" in her 1964 book Grapefruit. Lennon later admitted to writer David Sheff the song should have been credited to Lennon-Ono. “Imagine" has been labeled communist, anti-American, anti-British, anti-establishment and atheistic. But Lennon also cited a Christian prayer book given to him by comedian and activist Dick Gregory as inspiration.

The song has gone on to be a universal anthem that touches all generations and has been transcribed to all genres. Liza Minnelli, Stevie Wonder, Neil Young, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Diana Ross, Herbie Hancock, Joan Baez, Avril Lavigne and Chris Cornell have performed it.

The John Lennon/Plastic One Band album is considered Lennon's most naked and raw. His lyrics are direct, without the psychedelic wordplay of his Beatles works. His solutions as primal as the therapy he was shouting. Imagine isn't as spontaneous as Plastic Ono Band, but it is equally revealing. The new discs reveal even more. Imagine - The Ultimate Collection is available now.

Culture Editor Tony Sokol cut his teeth on the wire services and also wrote and produced New York City's Vampyr Theatre and the rock opera AssassiNation: We Killed JFK. Read more of his work here or find him on Twitter @tsokol.

Read and download the Den of Geek NYCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine right here!

5/5

Music

John Lennon

The Beatles

Review Tony Sokol

Oct 5, 2018

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