Reissues revisited

In 2000, Yoko and Capitol/EMI started to reissue each one of John's studio albums. When they finished the reissue process, they also released a cash-in (sorry, compilation) called Working Class Hero, which sold almost nothing because us fans already had all of the tracks in the albums, and casual listeners already had Lennon Legend... and the John Lennon Collection... and Shaved Fish... and Imagine: John Lennon, for that matter.

But I believe now it's the time to evaluate the process. Some of the reissues were really good, improving the presentation of the album and making it work in a better way... while some others were smash disasters with a complete lack of taste.

This is what I think about each. Feel free to add your own comments.

Imagine (reissued 2000)
Original album: It was one of his best. For many, the best of them all, and it features some of his best known and love tunes, and some other quite underrated gems. It's a pop masterpiece.
Reissue sound: To me this album is the one which benefitted the most from remixing. The songs sound magical, beautiful, like never before. When John sings "How", the voice comes from the same room as the listener's. And "Gimme Some Truth" appears to be shouting next to you. Great job!
Bonus tracks: There aren't any. I'm actually thankful there weren't. Imagine "Power to the People" ruining the feel of a great album... oh, you wouldn't have to wait too much for that. This time the bonus tracks could have ruined the flow of the album, and it's nice that it finishes with John's harmonica over "Oh Yoko".
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool. Has full lyrics, beautiful graphics, never-before seen photos, full credits. Nothing to complain here. Really improved the job.

Double Fantasy (reissued 2000)
Original album: While John's songs featured maturity and an amazing songwriting power still active, Yoko's songs were... well, Yoko's songs... I hardly listen to it anymore, because the radio tends to play the best songs from here.
Reissue sound: Couldn't notice much difference this time, really. Perhaps John's vocals on "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him" are more upfront, who knows. Could be a self-suggestion.
Bonus tracks: Really cool. Yoko's "Walking on Thin Ice" is better than almost anything of hers off the album, and John's "Help Me To Help Myself" is very touching. "Central Park Stroll" is a short pastiche that adds nothing to the mix, IMO.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool! Great pictures from the era, full lyrics.

Plastic Ono Band (reissued 2000)
Original album: My favorite of John's. Primal scream, sincere lyrics, you can almost hear John's heart beating through the songs.
Reissue sound: Improves a lot, mostly in the rockers, like "Well Well Well" and "I Found Out" which are much clearer, in my view. Also "Love" sounds softer but clearer.
Bonus tracks: Totally ruin the whole album, and I never listen to them anymore. "Power to the People", IMO, is one of John's worst songs (it's my least favorite of his), and "Do the Oz" isn't great either. Plus, they both have nothing TO DO whatsoever with the feel of the original album. They are recorded with big bands, a lot of noisy sounds, mess. Could have found a better place in Some Time in New York City. First mistake in the series of reissues.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Nice. John's handwritten lyrics are valuable, even though they do not coincide with what's actually being sung sometimes. Who cares. Nice pictures of the era, as well.

Milk and Honey (reissued 2001)
Original album: A half-baked Double Fantasy, Yoko's songs improve from Double Fantasy, and John uses a lot of leftovers, even though some of the rockers are fantastic.
Reissue sound: Once again, the original mix was really good. And they still can't fix "Grow Old With Me", to remove that awful drum machine that John used in the late 70's... Not much of a difference, IMHO.
Bonus tracks: Two demos ("I'm Stepping Out" and "I'm Moving On" - who would have guessed that a YOKO demo would have made it on here?) and a different mix of "Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him"... nothing to worry, really. What's really interesting is the 22 minutes-long interview, supposedly given out on December 8th, 1980, just hours before John's death. It's a pleasure to listen to him, and Yoko as well, in peace with themselves, with great views of what was to come... If only...
Reissue packaging/booklet: Similar to DF. Nice enough.

Mind Games (reissued 2002)
Original album: One of John's weakest. Features some nice ballads, and a couple of terrific rockers, but the overall feel is quite underwhelming.
Reissue sound: Great job. Some songs recover their lost mystery... especially noteworthy when one hears the Hammond organ present on the title track. Mind you, I hadn't noticed it in the original mix.
Bonus tracks: The demos for "Meat City" and "Bring on the Lucie" were previously unheard anywhere (cool!) and "Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)" is a nice version as well. Nice choices.
Reissue packaging/booklet: To me, this is the example of how a booklet for a reissue MUST be done. It has full album lyrics, some of them handwritten by John, pictures of the era, drawings, chart info, complete personnel info, related newspaper/magazine material... all to give the listener/reader the full context of the work of art. One of the big advantages of seeing these albums reissued is to have the opportunity of having upgraded booklets like these. Great, great job.

Rock'n'Roll (reissued 2004)
Original album: A nice collection of oldies featuring odd arrangements, but an enjoyable listening experience nonetheless.
Reissue sound: Yes, it does improve. It will not blow your mind necessarily, though.
Bonus tracks: I'm especially fond of the alternative version of "Just Because", but I'm afraid it's because of the nod he gives to his ex-pals. The other bonus tracks from the sessions are cool as well... I bet they could form a complete second disc with all the material recorded... but of course they never will. Also, where's "Move Over Ms. L"?
Reissue packaging/booklet: To me, this is the example of how a booklet for a reissue must NOT be done. The sticker in the cover says "includes original drawings". They are on the in-tray, and they are not too impressive. The "booklet" is really small, it barely has the songwriting credits (no words about playing credits or lyrics or pictures, or the story of the album...)... they could have made a Mind Games-like booklet, with the full story of the Roots-Rock'n'Roll issue, but they chose to reissue this thing, even with the "copy-protected" sticker added to the actual cover (and not to the jewel case), so that it is now part of the picture. A shame.

Some Time in New York City (reissued 2004)
Haven't bought it yet. But I'm not crazy about the idea of taking off the whole "Live Jam" except for "Baby Please Don't Go" and adding the unrelated "Happy Xmas" and "Listen the Snow Is Falling" as bonus tracks...

Walls and Bridges (reissued 2005)
Original album: My second favorite from John, I love his experiments in power pop, funk rock and sad ballads. It is a cry-for-help album, and I love its sincerity.
Reissue sound: Why not remixing the whole blessed thing? You can actually note, without trained ears, which tracks have been remixing and which ones just stayed "remastered". That, of course, makes one lose the idea of a connected album, and makes you stay with the concept of a group of loose, unrelated songs. It might be a silly detail, but heck, I noticed it, without even sesing which tunes had the asterisks (*) in the tracklisting.
Bonus tracks: The version of "Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out" appears to be a reduction of one of the takes in Anthology... there's John's vocal and guitar, but you can also hear some drumming from behind. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" live with Elton was a smart choice. John's speech in the end was not. I've heard much better interviews from the era in bootlegs. One in particular, that I remember, was when John presented the complete album, reading the tracklisting song by song and making some funny comments. This interview adds almost nothing to the matter, even though he comments on some of the musicians who helped him in the instrumentation.
Reissue packaging/booklet: It all comes down to one question: WHY DID YOU CHANGE THE COVER? I know having John's original cool back cover with different fold-outs to form different faces must have been difficult, but there must have been a reason why John wanted that drawing in the cover, and not hidden in the booklet.

Interesting thread. I can only comment from experience towards Imagine and there I agree with you. The overall sound has improved and shows again the beauty of polishing up the original recordings.

As for Sometime In NYC - it's a favorite to me and for some reason I just do not like the idea of Happy Xmas and Listen The Snow Is Falling added to it. Taking off the Live Jam, well I hardly play anything other than Baby Please Don't Go anyways, but to take them off is like making a new album out of it which is a pity.

So basically Imagine and Plastic Ono are worth getting and maybe Mind Games?
I'm still amazed that Yoko actually left tracks off of Sometime in NYC.Kind of accepting it wasn't that good!
If she was a historian she'd be accused of being revisionist.

I wish that they'd accidentally edit out Yoko's voice from "Baby Please Don't Go".

Great overview darkhorse. Overall I think these remasters are done in a great way, often with beautiful extra material in the form of songs and expanded booklets. With an inprovment in sound in most cases. Thankfully these re-releases were released when they did in the early 00's, and not now in the age were everything has to be mastered as loud and compressed as posible. Macca's "Memory almost full" being one example. Not fond of the Traveling Wilbury remasters either. However I have kept most of my original Lennon cd's for the original mixes.

Imagine (reissued 2000)
Original album: One of John's best indeed. Tho John himself though it was a bit sugar coated the songs are still very direct with biting lyrics. Not just "How do you sleep". Spector doesn't go overboard with his production here, and what he ads is done very tastefully. "How" and "Oh My Love" are two of my favourite John ballads and belongs to the most beautiful songs ever written.
Reissue sound: The new release brings out the beauty of the album even more. Good job done here. I picked up the MFSL version hoping it had the original mixes, but it's the same as the remastered version.
Bonus tracks: I agree that not having any is a good thing in this case. You are just hearing the original album in the best way posible.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool. Has full lyrics, beautiful graphics, never-before seen photos, full credits. Nothing to complain here. Really improved the job. (Nothing to add here, so I just leave the quote alone)

Double Fantasy (reissued 2000)
Original album: To hear the full story being told you must listen to this one as a whole, not just John's songs. Yoko answers John's "I am losing you" with "I am moving on", and it's very powerful hearing that back to back. An emotional conversation between the two with ups and downs. Tho I understand it's hard for some people to overcome Yoko's singing, or whatever she does with her voice. But some of her material here is really good. A welcome return from Lennon with "Woman" and "I am losing you" being my favourites. I am also fond of the somewhat unknown gem "Cleanup Time". All John's songs are great tho.
Reissue sound:
I don't have the original cd anymore, but I didn't recall that the new release sounded dramaticly different.
Bonus tracks: I agree some nice extra's. Yoko's "Walking on Thin Ice" is a good song and John's "Help Me To Help Myself" is very moving. "Central Park Stroll" is a short pastiche that adds nothing to the mix, IMO also. (Agreed for the most part, just added and removed some words from DH's original post)
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool! Great pictures from the era, full lyrics.
(Nothing to add)

Plastic Ono Band (reissued 2000)
Original album: Fantastic raw album. Some great rocking songs and the beautiful gentle "Love". "You can almost hear John's heart beating through the songs."
Reissue sound: Again i have kept the original issue for the mixes, but the sound has improved on this issue.
Bonus tracks: I never understood why "Power to the People" had to be included here since it was part of different compilation albums already. I agree that they don't sit along well with the original album. A total different feel, like you're abrupted with what you were doing. Not that fond on "Do the Oz" either, and isn't that one included on the Anthology?
Reissue packaging/booklet: Nice with some never before, at least by my eyes, seen photo's. " John's handwritten lyrics are valuable, even though they do not coincide with what's actually being sung sometimes. Who cares. "

Milk and Honey (reissued 2001)
Original album: I don't think this worked as well as "Double Fantasy". But John wasn't given the chance to finish his songs. However the plus side of that is you get a somewhat live feel, at least a feel that you're with John and the band in the studio, when you can still hear John giving instructions on some songs. I don't agree with the word leftovers. John had intended to release two albums from the material they were playing. Tho ofcourse it meant that the songs they couldn't finish ontime for Double Fantasy, but were considerd good enough, were set aside for "Milk and Honey". "You're The One" is actually one of my favourite's from the album.
Reissue sound: I do think the sound overall is better then the original and very old polydor release. Since I don't have it anymore I can't give it a re-listen, but it never stood out at being very good the reisue in my mind sound much better. I don't agree that they should remove the drum machine from the song, it is part of the original recording, wheter we like it or not is verse two but it belongs there. What annoys me tho is that you can hear a digital click on "Grow Old With Me" that wasn't on the polydor version. It almost made me reconsider selling the polydor cd.
Bonus tracks: I like the bonus tracks, and they fit with the original album.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Again really good.

Mind Games (reissued 2002)
Original album: One of John's most underrated albums. With some great rockers like "Tight As" "Bring on the lucie" the title track and tho it's nothing briliant "Meat City" is a great rocking song as well. It also includes another favourite ballad "Out the blue". With so much great material I refuse to agree that it's John's weekest.
Reissue sound: I can only quote darkhorse hear. I am actually hoping that due to the new mix more people will come to like the album. "Great job. Some songs recover their lost mystery... especially noteworthy when one hears the Hammond organ present on the title track. Mind you, I hadn't noticed it in the original mix."
Bonus tracks: I agree, some good choises here. The demos for "Meat City" and "Bring on the Lucie" were previously unheard and are a welcome adition to te collection.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Maybe the best of the reissues. A very expanded booklet, with pictures of single sleeves, nice little extra's lyrics etc. "Great, great job."

Rock'n'Roll (reissued 2004)
Original album: I rarely listen to this one, tho John does some nice covers. My favourite is actually one of the slower songs "Stand by me" which John makes his own, who remembers the original?
Reissue sound: Improved I guess, I hardly listened to the original as well. It's one of the few I sold at a second hand record shop. Why do I need two versions of an album I don't listen to.
Bonus tracks: Some nice extra's I hardly listen to. The nod he gave to his ex-pals was nice to hear tho, the one time I heard it. "Move Over Ms L." could have been included here since it's one of the more rare John tracks.
Reissue packaging/booklet: I remember coming home after I bought the cd, and looking forward browsing through the booklet, hoping to find notes of the sessions some nice pictures etc. A disapointment it was, I really thought is this all?

Some Time in New York City (reissued 2004)
Original album: Also a bit underated, but honestly it's not really good overall, tho it contains some great tracks like "New York City". I can also listen to "We're all water" for the first three minutes. A raw and political album which was a bit hard to take,but it was what John was about. A song against the situation in northern Ireland, to help set someone free. All stuff John felt deeply about.
Bonus tracks:
I really don't think there is a need to include "Happy Xmas" it's on every John and christmas compilation and then some more. Tho I find it nice to have Yoko's song, which I think is beautiful, I don't think it warrants the exclusion of material that was originally on the album. Not a very good move. The albums should be presented the way the were released originally. That was what you put out as an artist, that's what you signed for. Doesn't really matter if you think the material isn't any good now.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Not that special, the same as the original for the most part. Actually the original booklet is better, the reisue looks like a copy.


Walls and Bridges (reissued 2005)
Original album: Another great album which contains my favourite Lennon song #9 dream, and my least favourite "Whatever gets you through the night".
Reissue sound: Got to be honest here, I haven't noticed which songs were remixed or remasterd. Haven't listened to the album for awhile and when I do it's still for some reason the old version of the album.
Bonus tracks: By now it's save to say that apart from the bonus tracks on "Plastic Ono Band" the bonus tracks are great to have and fits the original albums.
Reissue packaging/booklet: A miss in various ways. The change of cover, a picture on the disc with Yoko that belongs from a different era. And tho it ads one "new" close up of John's face, it leaves out other pictures that was included originally, making the original booklet more complete.

Cool topic! I'm not really going to comment on sound quality since the only one I have the original release to compare to is Walls and Bridges. Basically all the reissues sound fine, and while I would prefer straightforward remastering I honestly don't know what's been remixed and what's not.

Imagine (reissued 2000)
Original album: As DH and Legs have said, fantastic album--every track here, including the unfairly maligned "It's So Hard" and "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" is solid. I prefer the feel of Plastic Ono Band, but pound for pound this is his strongest release.
Bonus tracks: Yeah, none were necessary. Wouldn't totally mind a demo of some sort but I'm not complaining.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool. Has full lyrics, beautiful graphics, never-before seen photos, full credits. Nothing to complain here. Really improved the job. (Nothing to add here, so I just leave the quote alone) (Ditto)

Double Fantasy (reissued 2000)
Original album: To be honest, I really haven't listened to most of Yoko's tracks more than two or three times. All of John's songs are excellent though.
Bonus tracks: "Central Park Stroll" is worthless, but "Help Me to Help Myself" is fantastic, and John's guitar makes "Walking on Thin Ice" great too.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Cool! Great pictures from the era, full lyrics.
(Nothing to add) (Ditto)

Plastic Ono Band (reissued 2000)
Original album: Best Lennon solo album IMHO. A bit moody and the primal scream stuff might not work for everyone, but there are some great songs here.
Bonus tracks: Both are pretty weak, and that's not even comparing them to the rest of John's catalog. "Do the Oz" was already included on Anthology, and nobody who didn't buy that would have any remote interest in it, so it shouldn't be there, period. And "Power to the People" is almost as bad.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Nice with some never before, at least by my eyes, seen photo's. " John's handwritten lyrics are valuable, even though they do not coincide with what's actually being sung sometimes. Who cares. " (Ditto)

Milk and Honey (reissued 2001)
Original album: It's ok. I love one of Yoko's songs ("Let Me Count the Ways"). The John stuff has potential but the unfinished nature does sort of give the cash-in vibe.
Bonus tracks: Good stuff here, I love the interview.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Again really good. (Ditto)

Mind Games (reissued 2002)
Original album: Much better than most people make it out to be. "I Know (I Know)," "Intuition," "Out the Blue"...great stuff.
Reissue sound: I will add here that I think "Intuition" in particular sounds amazing, the instrumentation really comes out in the mix.
Bonus tracks: The "Aisumasen" demo is probably my favorite bonus track from any of the reissues, and I prefer it to the album version.
Reissue packaging/booklet: Absolutely the best, no contest.

Rock'n'Roll (reissued 2004)
Original album: Uh...it's ok I guess. Most of the songs just sound the same (not as the original recordings, but as the rest of the album).
Bonus tracks: I like the "Just Because" reprise, but the other stuff included (and the lack of "Move Over Ms. L") is a waste--granted, Menlove Ave. was a total cash-in that should be spread about and absorbed into other packages, but why include only two of that album's three Rock 'n' Roll-related cuts here?
Reissue packaging/booklet: Terrible. A bunch of familiar pictures, song credits, and not much else. Like DH said, this album has an incredible story behind it--why no essay on that?

Some Time in New York City (reissued 2004)
Original album: Heh, I just realized, I never bought the 2-disc set because I was waiting for the reissue and I never bought the reissue because it wasn't a 2-disc set, so I've never actually legally heard this album. I have heard it though, and it's not quite as bad as it's made out to be, but it is the weakest besides RNR. I'll buy an old copy on eBay eventually. The way this one was handled still kind of disgusts me.

Walls and Bridges (reissued 2005)
Original album: It used to be my favorite John album but it's moved down to #3. Still, it's always been one of his most popular, so I do have to wonder why Yoko waited so long to reissue it. I have my assumption, but who knows...
Bonus tracks: Good stuff, although I'm not a big fan of the alternate "Nobody Loves You."
Reissue packaging/booklet: I was very reluctant to buy this one because of the revisionist packaging. I would've loved to see the flipping cover, but I understand why they couldn't. But they should have maintained the cover. The disc art with the johnandyoko morph is ridiculous since she had nothing to do with this album.

Still waiting for a Live Peace in Toronto reissue--I know it came out in '95 but it's long out of print.

Another great overview. More people must have bought the re-isues so I am curious what they think.

I found this forum while researching this very topic!
Thanks for the HELPful information.

Rock on!
Gus

I finally managed to buy the Some Time in New York City reissue (2004), so there.

Original album: I had heard it through... let's say something of a bootleg source, plus a radio broadcast that aired the whole thing once in a John Lennon marathon or something. It appeared to me then - and I still mantain the opinion - as John's weakest effort by far. I only really like two of the songs there ("Woman Is the Nigger of the World" and "New York City"), but still I wouldn't consider them for any serious compilation. Yoko's tracks rank from passable (the brightness of "We're All Water" and the energy of "Sisters O Sisters") to downright boring ("Born in a Prison") to extremely unbearable ("Don't Worry Kyoko"). "Angela" must be the worst lyrical effort by John... ever. And so on. What was he thinking.
Bonus tracks: We officially have "Happy Xmas" on seven different officially released CDs. Sorry, eight, counting The US vs. John Lennon soundtrack. The decision of taking the Live Jam out of the CD wasn't that painful either... I don't think I could actually bear the performances of "Jamrag", "Scumbag" and "Au" more than the one or two times I heard them... And the edit of "We're All Water" makes it sound more cohessive now. But I understand the historical reasons to preserve the originality of the work...
Reissue packaging/booklet: Mantains the artwork, features full lyrics. Enough for me.

So my rank for John's albums is now:
1. Plastic Ono Band
2. Walls and Bridges
3. Imagine
4. Double Fantasy
5. Rock'n'Roll
6. Mind Games
7. Milk and Honey
8. Some Time in New York City

If I'm not missing anything, and excluding compilations, that is.