John Lennon
Acoustic
(Capitol)
First Appeared in The Music Box, December 2004, Volume 11, #12
Written by John Metzger
Featuring a hodgepodge of demos, song snippets, home recordings, and live
performances, Acoustic culls together nine previously released tracks and
fuses them to seven recently unearthed selections. While the end result isn’t
exactly revelatory, groundbreaking, or essential, the compilation prevails as a
remarkably compelling endeavor, nonetheless. In particular, it’s John Lennon’s
voice that rises above the primitive, stripped-down arrangements, conveying both
his spirit and his genius in the process. For example, the manner in which he
sings Cold Turkey uncomfortably captures the writhing, quaking uneasiness
of heroin withdrawal; the easy-going gentility of Watching the Wheels
offers a fitting response to those who were pushing for Lennon’s return to the
music business; and an early attempt at God highlights the tune’s
gospel-soul roots. Granted, the sound quality of Acoustic is occasionally
ramshackle and suspect, and not surprisingly, the various renditions are vastly
inferior to their finished counterparts. Still, stripping away the polish and
perfection places Lennon’s compositions within an entirely different
context; that is: it exposes them to be not the work of a godlike former Beatle,
but of a singer, a songwriter, and a fallible human being. Indeed, it’s here
within his stumbling experimentation that Acoustic finds its heart and
soul. With a full slate of transcribed lyrics and guitar chords, the collection
ultimately is designed to persuade others to unite in song, thereby allowing
Lennon’s legacy to find a new life within the voices of a million like-minded
troubadours preaching on stages and street corners around the globe. Given the
world has changed only superficially in the past 30-plus years — people are
still being harassed and jailed for their political views; true equality remains
an illusion; and international unity is, perhaps, more in jeopardy than ever
before — well, that’s all the more reason a personal and intimate set such as
Acoustic makes sense, if only because it strives to alter the course of
history by spurring those armed only with a guitar and a pen to take action in
an attempt to craft a better tomorrow out of the broken pieces of today. 
Acoustic is available from
Barnes & Noble. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2004 The Music Box