John Lennon - Power ToThe People

Thu 11th Nov, 2010 in Music Reviews

Thirty years after his death, a 2010 remaster of John Lennon’s work has been released through a new collection aptly titled, Power to the People: The Hits. And while it’s all well and good that we have yet another remastering of classics, game changing songs, there are flaws in this compilation of songs from one the world’s most loved and missed musicians.

The problem with this new release is that there isn’t anything truly remarkable. Rather, in order to continue to reach new audiences, the many great pieces of John Lennon’s works have been painstakingly digitally remastered, much like The Beatles remasters released earlier this year.

The compilation itself has been carefully arranged and structured to feature tracks from releases from 1969 up to 1981, with the remastering allowing for more clean cut sound. Imagine is an obvious highlight to this release, and so are the remasters of Gimme Some Truth and Jealous Guy. However, for an album of greatest hits and fan favourites, Nobody Told Me is oddly missing from this particular release. The posthumously released single Watching The Wheels is also included in the collection, along with anti-war anthem Give Peace a Chance.

Lennon’s music has touched music lovers in so many different ways. His murder impacted the world in ways not even imaginable, and no doubt changed the course of history. You can’t help but wonder what music would be like had he not been killed.

Die hard Lennon fans will be pleased, and other listeners should enjoy the release for what it is; a tribute to one of our greatest. It honestly would have been nice if one or two unreleased or demo tracks were also on offer here, just to bring something new to the table. Special mention to the albums artwork, which emulates Lennon’s drawing style. A nice touch to the way in which the compilation is presented.