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John Lennons solo career

pjoasisrulepjoasisrule Posts: 3,412
edited November 2008 in Other Music
With the exception of just a few songs, it was crap. Paul and George both had better solo careers.
Alpine Valley 2000
Summerfest 2006

"Why would they come to our concert just to boo us?" -Lisa Simpson
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Comments

  • Evacuation RulesEvacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    I agree. Lennon is way overrated in general. Paul is a far better musician, songwriter, and producer. But because Lennon is commonly viewed as the "cool" one, and Paul is the "geek", most people are ignorant to that fact.
  • Cropduster84Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    Same here......

    I've tried so hard to like his solo albums, but they just do nothing for me, they just sound so crass and dated.....

    Working Class Hero is a masterful song though.....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • fall by the waysidefall by the wayside Jericho, VT Posts: 757
    I disagree. I find Lennon's solo material to be the best of any of the Beatles. Imagine and Double Fantasy are both decent records. I find McCartney's to be very weak, with the exception of a couple songs. Harrison's was weak as well (except for the Traveling Wilburys!). To each their own though. I think we can all agree that they were much better as a group than as solo artists.
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  • Cropduster84Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    fall by the wayside wrote:
    I disagree. I find Lennon's solo material to be the best of any of the Beatles. Imagine and Double Fantasy are both decent records. I think we can all agree that they were much better as a group than as solo artists.

    Double Fantasy is vomit inducing, but Imagine's not a bad album.....

    But yeah, the Beatles were far superior together.....George Martin was also an integral part of the magic....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • lukin2006lukin2006 Posts: 9,087
    At least he wanted to challenge himself musically, all Paul wanted to do was write love songs, no doubt he had the better solo career he put more effort into, me personally I'd rather listen to John Lennon and I enjoy his music.
    I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin

    "Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
  • Evacuation RulesEvacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    lukin2006 wrote:
    At least he wanted to challenge himself musically, all Paul wanted to do was write love songs

    How exactly is Lennon musically challenging? And how many McCartney albums have you actually heard, to say that he only writes love songs? Nothing could be further from the truth. Lennon wrote just as many bad love songs as Paul did, and Paul has written many songs that rock harder than Lennon ever did. It's all pro-Lennon/anti-McCartney hogwash.
  • pjoasisrulepjoasisrule Posts: 3,412
    JWBusher wrote:
    How exactly is Lennon musically challenging? And how many McCartney albums have you actually heard, to say that he only writes love songs? Nothing could be further from the truth. Lennon wrote just as many bad love songs as Paul did, and Paul has written many songs that rock harder than Lennon ever did. It's all pro-Lennon/anti-McCartney hogwash.

    Completely true, Chaos and Creation and Band On The Run are my favorite McCartney records (neither are all love songs)
    Alpine Valley 2000
    Summerfest 2006

    "Why would they come to our concert just to boo us?" -Lisa Simpson
  • EdsHeadEdsHead Posts: 17
    I'm a big Lennon fan so I'm kinda biased in a way, but I always thought Paul's solo stuff were more pop songs and John had more depth, musically and lyrically. "Band On The Run" was a good conceptual album and was fun to listen to. Lennon's music moved me more, but he didn't right only love songs. His songs were actually heavier than Paul's, like "How Do You Sleep At Night" and"Going Down On Love". It might just be what I enjoy more , but he added more layers to the music.
  • wardenwarden Posts: 99
    I think McCartney's stuff is WEAK.

    Lennon could have been a damn good solo artist but he let Yoko influence him so much. He still has several great songs... Working Class Hero, Imagine, Gimme Some Truth. He has a lot of other good songs but I'm sure most people don't know them unless they really dig into his solo stuff.
  • elmerelmer Posts: 1,683
    apples and oranges...........the grass is green, the sky is blue...which is better?

    I think Lennon's solo career is probably the only one that could be enjoyed by someone who hates the Beatles. I've got Band on the Run on vinyl, never listened to it when my turntable was working.
  • josevolutionjosevolution Posts: 30,534
    i like Lennon way better , sir paul just sounded way to poppy for my taste and Harrison well yeah Harrison ....
    jesus greets me looks just like me ....
  • lukin2006lukin2006 Posts: 9,087
    JWBusher wrote:
    How exactly is Lennon musically challenging? And how many McCartney albums have you actually heard, to say that he only writes love songs? Nothing could be further from the truth. Lennon wrote just as many bad love songs as Paul did, and Paul has written many songs that rock harder than Lennon ever did. It's all pro-Lennon/anti-McCartney hogwash.
    It's no secret that the lennon/mccartney relationship was coming apart because John wanted to write more political songs and move away from the love songs, and want Paul wanted much the same as what they were writing.

    Sorry whether you prefer John or Paul is just a matter of opinion anyways.
    I have certain rules I live by ... My First Rule ... I don't believe anything the government tells me ... George Carlin

    "Life Is What Happens To You When Your Busy Making Other Plans" John Lennon
  • FinsburyParkCarrotsFinsburyParkCarrots Seattle, WA Posts: 12,223
    John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band *****
    Imagine ****1/2
    Some Time in New York City - no stars
    Mind Games **1/2
    Walls and Bridges ***1/2
    Rock and Roll *1/2
    Double Fantasy ***
  • elmerelmer Posts: 1,683
    stellar classic Lennon off the of my head :Mind Games, Whatever Gets You Thru the Night, #9 Dream, Cold Turkey, Watching the Wheels, Woman, Nobody Told Me

    now McCartney: Live and Let Die, Ebony and Ivory(it's the melody ok)........that's all. As for Harrison, I've got My Sweet Lord and some single or ep called Govindaa or something which I need to listen to.

    yeah and I think Working Class Hero is honestly, like, a bit shit.
  • TrailerTrailer Posts: 1,431
    FinsburyParkCarrots wrote:
    John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band *****

    Yeah that's a great album! Personally I think Harrison had the greatest solo work outside of the Beatles. I could never get into anything by Wings.. I guess Chaos and Creation is okay, but not great, considering he had Nigel produce it.

    So my ranking of solo work would be Harrison->Lennon->McCartney
    Whoa, chill bro... you know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here.
  • DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,430
    I'd rather listen to Imagine, Jealous Guy, Instant Karma, Starting Over, God etc etc etc than Jet, Band On The Run, Maybe Im Amazed.

    The only George album I have given much time is Brainwashed, and while it's a great swan song, I am pretty confident it's probably one of his weaker affairs.
  • RolanBolanRolanBolan Posts: 36
    All of the members had their strengths as far as their songwriting was concerned. When they were in The Beatles, any weaknesses in their songwriting were covered up (for the most part) by another member's strength.

    John was pretty good at writing lyrics. Paul was an excellent songwriter in terms of music. That's what made them a good pair. But John's music was lacking in many of his solo attempts, whereas Paul's lyrics were (let's be honest) shit with very few exceptions. George held his own throughout his solo attempts in both his lyrics and his music. However, he wasn't perfect either.

    George > Paul and John > Ringo. But I like certain songs from all of their solo albums. If we are talking about John with Yoko, then Paul is better. If we are talking lyrics, John is definitely better. I think they are about tied.
  • EdsHeadEdsHead Posts: 17
    You have to give each member of The Beatles credit for trying to have solo career. I would think it would be very hard to have a seperate identity outside of that huge entity. It's not like thy had to, because I'm sure they could have just sat back and lived off their royalties forever, but they still created great music after the Beatles.
    I still liked John's the best.
    I think in 1974 they all shared the charts individually too....which was nice.
  • iamicaiamica Chicago Posts: 2,628
    I don't know if I would call any of their solo work crap. None of it was as good as Beatles music, but I hardly think it was crap.
    Chicago 2000 : Chicago 2003 : Chicago 2006 : Summerfest 2006 : Lollapalooza 2007 : Chicago 2009 : Noblesville (Indy) 2010 : PJ20 (East Troy) 2011 : Wrigley Field 2013 : Milwaukee (Yield) 2014 : Wrigley Field 2016
  • ZepZachZepZach Posts: 30
    Everyone needs to own Ram by Paul McCartney. I've always been partial to Paul, but this album is just awesome. Everyone go get it!
  • Hurley3038Hurley3038 Posts: 35
    I hate Imagine, very very boring stuff.
    George>Paul>John
  • Ved in the Head91Ved in the Head91 Posts: 70
    Plastic Ono Band is one of the rawest, most honest, and most beautiful albums ever constructed. What I love about it is the 3 -piece recording; it was John (on either piano or guitar) and just Klaus Voorman and Ringo as his rhythm section. It's great because it's sooooooooooo far away from what the Beatles were doing at the end with Abbey Road, which was like a layered orchestra of pop/rock. The song "God" gets me every single time I hear it, much like the rest of the album. I fucking love it.

    Imagine is also a pretty strong piece of work as well, just not a masterpiece. Pretty damn solid, though. Yes, the later stuff is sub-par (although I'll always love "Watching The Wheels"), but I don't know how hard he was trying - he knew he'd never top the Beatles, his 'rivalry' with Paul was over by the late 1970's, and he was much more focused on his family.

    As far as Paul, well, it's always going to be a matter of taste for everyone, but i personally never liked Paul's stuff at all. He has a good song here or there, but I always thought that it was never nearly as enduring as anything John wrote.

    A great comparison is their respective Christmas songs.
    John's "War Is Over" is one of the few Christmas songs I truly love and
    Paul's "Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time" is............well, you've all heard it. I don't need to elaborate further.
    What I Should Have Said...Was Nothing.
  • TrailerTrailer Posts: 1,431
    RolanBolan wrote:
    George > Paul and John > Ringo.

    Yeah I guess I would rate it this way too. Paul and John both equally had their moments.
    Whoa, chill bro... you know you can't raise your voice like that when the lion's here.
  • brain of cbrain of c Posts: 5,213
    richard starkey rocks.

    so do george and paul.

    john was too devoted to heroin.....but plastic ono band is the best record ever made.
    d'oh!!!!!!

    http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
  • Jeremy1012Jeremy1012 Posts: 7,170
    McCartney's solo stuff is as patchy, if not more so as the stuff he did in the latter half of the Beatles' existence and so is Lennon's, Lennon's just appeals more to me because I despise McCartney.

    That said, God is one of the most self-indulgent, ridiculously, trite songs I've ever heard.
    "I remember one night at Muzdalifa with nothing but the sky overhead, I lay awake amid sleeping Muslim brothers and I learned that pilgrims from every land — every colour, and class, and rank; high officials and the beggar alike — all snored in the same language"
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