"Walls and Bridges" by John Lennon – ****

First released: 1974

Though not the popular consensus, this is my favorite Lennon solo album. It contains my favorite solo Lennon tune of all time ("#9 Dream"), and also some fine tracks like "Going Down on Love", "Whatever Gets You Through the Night", "What You Got" and "Beef Jerky". It’s a very funky album filled with more “soul” than usually found in a Lennon album, yet there are always reviews by people saying things like this is lightweight Lennon and the like.

I also like "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" and "Imagine", but I find the former a bit harsh and the latter has a couple of ponderous songs ("I Don’t Want to Be a Soldier Mama" and "Oh Yoko") that keep them from being my favorite, but they are strong runners up.

It was issued on CD and remastered and reissued in 2005 with the bonus tracks of "Whatever Gets You Through the Night (Live)", a demo of "Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out)" and a "John Interview" from 1974. Both CD issues contain cover art that varies slightly (in the original CD issue) to completely different (the CD reissue).