🌶️ Hot Take: Mind Games is John's best album

I'll be honest here, I don't think it's the BEST album, but it is one of the best. In fact, I don't have a favorite John album, I like them all equally. Obviously, it will vary according to the person's taste, but let's be honest... Mind Games was well produced, but I feel that John "could have done better". So, I wouldn't blame him, because the moment he was in when he was recording Mind Games was not one of the best of his life. Even so, I think that what John delivered on this album was good, it represented his feelings at the time well.
 
The Ultimate Collection did a good job of making everyone in love with John's art.  But my favorite is *still* Walls And Bridges
Yes! I have the Walls and Bridges vinyl. My grandma gave it to me, I was so happy! ♡ She has the Rock 'N' Roll, Sometime in New York, Shaved Fish and the other two (Walls and Bridges and Imagine) she gave to me!
 
I love them all, but my favorite varies. While it’s easy to say Plastic Ono Band or Imagine, my personal sentimental favorites are Double Fantasy and Sometime In New York City. I have great memories with them all, including Live In New York City, Shaved Fish and other more obscure albums. He never did a bum album in my opinion, and his solo career was so relatively short, it’s easy for me to chronicle every album/year like a chapter in a book in my own mind.
 
I love them all, but my favorite varies. While it’s easy to say Plastic Ono Band or Imagine, my personal sentimental favorites are Double Fantasy and Sometime In New York City. I have great memories with them all, including Live In New York City, Shaved Fish and other more obscure albums. He never did a bum album in my opinion, and his solo career was so relatively short, it’s easy for me to chronicle every album/year like a chapter in a book in my own mind.
Good to see some SINYC love for here.
 
Good to see some SINYC love for here.
Absolutely! It’s their bravest album IMO…. You have the masterpieces like POB and Imagine, then later Mind Games and Walls and Bridges, which are beautiful albums in their own right. But right in the middle, you have STINYC, which has balls. They tackled all the tough subjects of the era, and amid that, they did concerts, they were on TV, they did rallies, all while fighting deportation and even struggling within their own lives. But they never backed down….
I am so glad to see they’re finally touching on this period, with 2 movies on the way. And I actually hope Sometime in NYC is the next box set. There’s such a wealth of material from that era. I’ll always wish for that until this stuff finally gets released. Hope I don’t have to wait too much longer!
 
Absolutely! It’s their bravest album IMO…. You have the masterpieces like POB and Imagine, then later Mind Games and Walls and Bridges, which are beautiful albums in their own right. But right in the middle, you have STINYC, which has balls. They tackled all the tough subjects of the era, and amid that, they did concerts, they were on TV, they did rallies, all while fighting deportation and even struggling within their own lives. But they never backed down….
I am so glad to see they’re finally touching on this period, with 2 movies on the way. And I actually hope Sometime in NYC is the next box set. There’s such a wealth of material from that era. I’ll always wish for that until this stuff finally gets released. Hope I don’t have to wait too much longer!
And I don’t want to leave out Double Fantasy. In its own way, it’s just as brave. To come back after 5 years and be brave enough to just say, “I’m finally happy, where I am right now”… no anthems, no deep subjects, just domestic bliss… glad this is the first album I heard by them.
 
Sesame Street Popcorn GIF by Muppet Wiki
 
I love them all, but my favorite varies. While it’s easy to say Plastic Ono Band or Imagine, my personal sentimental favorites are Double Fantasy and Sometime In New York City. I have great memories with them all, including Live In New York City, Shaved Fish and other more obscure albums. He never did a bum album in my opinion, and his solo career was so relatively short, it’s easy for me to chronicle every album/year like a chapter in a book in my own mind.
Love the NYC rep!! There’s some REALLY underrated gems on that one! (Attica State & Sunday Bloody Sunday 😎)
 
The Ultimate set dramatically boosted Mind Games in my estimation. I'd always considered it lower-tier, one of the weaker albums (despite having multiple songs that I absolutely love). Now though, yeah, it's right up there at the top. I still have to say Plastic Ono Band is #1, though. Finding that album as a moody teen really kind of blew my mind.
 
The Ultimate set dramatically boosted Mind Games in my estimation. I'd always considered it lower-tier, one of the weaker albums (despite having multiple songs that I absolutely love). Now though, yeah, it's right up there at the top. I still have to say Plastic Ono Band is #1, though. Finding that album as a moody teen really kind of blew my mind.
Hearing Working Class Hero as a teenager somehow stuck with me, that whole album is pure magic ✨
 
To each their own! 😂 It’s in my top three, but I feel a more personal connection to Walls & Bridges.

MY hot take: Intuition is the best track on Mind Games 👀

Not to worry, it's no hot take, you're absolutely right! 'Intuition' is my absolute favorite on there too!

The fact he was able to edify his outlook on life and be so self-aware in such a short, sweet song is endlessly brilliant. That special thing he has to take a deep and wide feeling, such as his personal philosophy and approach to life, and translate it into easy-to-understand pop lyrics which simplify without reducing any of the impact...it's amazing to behold.

And even further than that, to have gone through everything he went through (including the chaos surrounding him up to that very moment) and be able to come out so positive and jubilant about life and the future... I admire his personal resilience so much, and 'Intuition' just seems to be the perfect mission statement and a testament to his inner strength.

Anyways, where were we? 😂
 
I couldn't agree more about Mind Games being John's best album. I always loved this album but for me was lacking something. In this Ultimate Collection, I found everything I missed on the original album. The rawness and the emotions that some songs needed finally was there. So, thankfully, it became my top 1 favorite.
 
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