Walls & Bridges - JOHN LENNON***

Going Down On Love/Whatever Gets You Thru The Night/Old Dirt Road/What You Got/Bless You/Scared/#9 Dream/Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)/Steel & Glass/Beef Jerky/Nobody Loves You (When You're Down & Out)/Ya Ya

Walls & Bridges was another uneven album from John Lennon and would be his last release of original material for five years. Features the US No. 1 hit Whatever Gets You Thru The Night and #9 Dream which peaked at No. 9. (US:1 UK:6)

“His post-Imagine albums are practically impossible to listen to in one sitting because of the combination of his apparent histrionic personality disorder, his growing deficit of melodies and original ideas, which he tries to reconcile by throwing as many strings and horns into the mix as he can find, ultimately forcing the music into sounding like a cheesy mid-70s soul album.”

“Boring, uneventful, pop-rock is the perfect way to describe this album. Some good song sprinkled throughout, but nothing that will floor you aside from maybe Nobody Loves You. Lots of piano driven songs combined with some horns and you get a pretty average album.”

“Whatever Gets You Through The Night was his only solo number one and for good reason, its one of his best. #9 Dream is the album’s highest peak, with beautiful vocals and weird lyrical phrasings that only Lennon could create”.

“John sounds tired in this last album before he removed himself from the public eye to be a father and husband. He was capable of haunting melodies, soulful insight into the human condition and just plain fun music. He well deserved a rest for the next five years."

“The sound is very mid-70s: lushly arranged, at times overproduced, very much a period piece, but now that it has gathered some patina, it doesn't look too bad.”

“While a bit uneven with some forgettable material and an explicitly 70s sound, Walls & Bridges is well worth tracking down. It's not close to his best work, but like everything he did a thoroughly emotional and gripping effort.”

“While Walls & Bridges doesn't measure up to Lennon's first two solo albums, it more than compensates with melodic, rich songs that feature some of the most interesting arrangements from his solo career. While the music is a bit inconsistent, the best tracks here compare well to his best material as a solo artist.”