Review Summary: A slight return to form that’s another beautiful and heartfelt reminder to make love, not war.
After two outstanding albums back to back with “Plastic Ono Band” and “Imagine”, and then the less than stellar “Some Time in New York City” he did with his wife a year after “Imagine”, there was no clear path the legendary former Beatle would end up taking. Would he learn from what didn’t work with the politically driven and on the nose “STiNYC”? Or would he continue to get worse with each release? Thankfully, it would be the former instead of the latter, as this album is an absolute delight. Not one of his absolute best—as the aforementioned “Plastic Ono Band” and “Imagine” are still a little better, but not by much, as this is easily one of his most underrated. This very well might be his most sincere and poignant album he’s ever made, as it is rife with heart and emotion. That’s not to say any of his albums didn’t have any by any means, but this album takes it a step further, and while it’s not perfect, it’s still something really special.
This album was mostly a reflection on the relationship between Lennon and Ono at the time. At this point, I’m sure we’re all aware that Lennon was a pretty flawed individual. I won’t get into the specifics for the purposes of the review, but Ono’s impact on Lennon was far more immeasurable than what even he thought at the time. So much so, that when they separated, he became a complete mess, and the music here shows that. Songs like the iconic title track, the beautiful and sweeping “Aisumasen (I’m Sorry)” and “Out the Blue”, the pleasant and very creative “One Day (At a Time)”, the down to earth “I Know (I Know)”, and the beautiful and sweet “You Are Here” all show just how much Ono meant to the legendary former Beatle. And they’re all so well written, that they manage to not be overly depressing. They’re definitely poignant, but they have enough maturity, memorability, and heart to all be minor classics in their own way without feeling too mushy.
That’s not to say the whole album is like that, as there are still times where Lennon still delves into other topics, like the very underrated “Bring On the Lucie (Freda People)”, which is another political song, and one that’s better than anything on “STiNYC” in my opinion. Other examples being the rockin’ and ‘50s inspired “Tight A$”, hopeful and bouncy “Intuition”, inclusive and fun “Only People” (which is sort of a politically driven song, too), and the boisterous and zany “Meat City”. And just like the songs about Ono, these are all well written, too. None of the songs mentioned here (with the exception of “Bring On the Lucie (Freda People)” are quite as deep as anything off of “Imagine” or “Plastic Ono Band”, but they’re still fun, and add some necessary flair to this album thanks to their memorable hooks and creative writing.
At this point, the album seems like another masterwork, and a complete winner with no bad songs on it (not counting “Nutopian International Anthem”, as that’s literally just a 5 second clip of silence). And, it almost is, but not quite. While all of the songs are good—most of them being great, there’s an apparent lack of direction, here. It’s an album that struggles to figure out what kind of rock album it wants to be. You can tell Lennon was broken after him and Ono split—not just from the songs, but the focus, too. What’s interesting is that the album, itself, seems focused and well put together. But, the music isn’t. It seemed that Lennon tried to replicate what worked with “Imagine”, what with that album having a ton of diversity and heart. And while this one has both of those things, too, it’s not done as tastefully, as the album fails to fully feel complete. In other words, it feels less like a complete album, but more like two EPs (fantastic ones, to be fair) carefully put together. To be fair, that’s a bit understandable considering the circumstances, but still worth noting.
Aside from that, there’s really not much else I can complain about. At it’s core, “Mind Games” is an excellent album that’s every bit as heartfelt and creative as it is strange (in a good way). While it’s a bit uneven, everything else about it is rock solid. The composition is superb, the production is excellent, the structuring and pacing is good, and the writing is as good as you’d hope for from the legendary former Beatle. It’s lacking some cohesion here and there, but the heart and maturity on display here, on top of there not being an ounce of filler to be heard here helps this album immensely. So, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and play some mind games with this album, as it, regardless if you are here or in meat city, is a 1973 classic that came out the blue, and one that gets better one day at a time.
