Rating: - Lennon at his darkest
Walls and Bridges is not a classic CD like the Beatle's Revolver, Abbey Road or the White Album. Walls and Bridges is also not as consistant as Lennon's own Plastic Ono Band and Imagine are. Walls and Bridges is however a very good CD. Like Mind Games, the biggest flaw of Walls and Bridges is that Lennon did not hire an outside producer to help him edit the bad songs out of the project. And like Mind Games, Walls and Bridges suffers from not having some of the songs properly arranged and flavored. But also like Mind Games, Walls and Bridges has some classic songs on it. #9 Dream is a outstanding single and was one of Lennon's biggest solo hits(#9 on the charts). Old Dirt Road is one of those high quality yet forgotten Lennon solo songs. Whatever Gets You Through the Night was a number one single that Lennon recorded with Elton John. When Menlove Avenue was released in 1986, it contained early versions of many songs from Walls and Bridges. When heard without the big arrangements from Walls and Bridges, these songs are stronger on Menlove Avenue than what was released on Walls and Brides in 1974. Still, if you are a John Lennon fan and you are wanting to dig a little deeper into his catalog than his greatest hits, Plastic Ono Band or Imagine, then this is a fine purchase.
Rating: - Lennon at His Best
"Walls and Bridges" (1974) captures the essence of John Lennon better than any of his solo efforts, with the exception of "Imagine." The harshness of "Plastic Ono Band" still can be found in memorable tracks such as "Steel and Glass" and "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" -- two of Lennon's most underrated songs. The CD also features the hit singles "Whatever Gets You Through the Night" and "#9 Dream," which showcase Lennon's mastery of popular-music composition. Other surprises include John's collaboration with Harry Nilsson, "Old Dirt Road," and a funky instrumental titled "Beef Jerky." For years, music critics have considered "Walls and Bridges" a water-treading work from an artist in decline. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unlike "Mind Games" and "Double Fantasy," this integral Lennon recording has stood the test of time.
Rating: - John Lennon's last original album before his "retirement"
"Walls and Bridges" is the album John Lennon recorded when he was holed up in California during a separation from Yoko Ono. That fact along allows anyone with a passing knowledge of Freudian psychology to find insights into pretty much every song on the album, which is a pretty schizophrenic collection of songs. On the one hand we have the ethereal "#9 Dream" and the raw emotion of "Going Down on Love" and "Steel and Glass." You even have Lennon's first #1 hit as a solo artist, "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," a frenetic duet with Elton John. There is also "Old Dirt Road," co-written with Harry Nilsson, which as a song is almost as memorable as when Lennon and Nilsson went down to the Troubadour and heckled the Smothers Brothers and ended up in a fight. But then there are songs that were just not worth the vinyl, namely "Beef Jerky" and "Ya Ya"; I mean, the titles give it away on that pair. This 1974 effort was the last album of original songs Lennon would record before his "retirement" (the 1975 album "Rock 'n' Roll" was a collection of cover songs). But in 1980 there was going to be "Double Fantasy" and Mark David Chapman, which makes listening to "Walls and Bridges" a mixed blessing.
- Lennon at his darkest
- Lennon at His Best