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- Artist: John Lennon
- Rating:
- Release Date: October 04, 2005
- Type: Compilation (best of), Contains explicit content
- Genre: Rock
Review
There sure hasn't been a shortage of John Lennon compilations over the years, but there hasn't been a new collection since 1997's Lennon Legend and there haven't been any two-CD sets covering his entire career -- until 2005's Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon, that is. Released on October 4, 2005, this surely was intended as a tie-in to the Broadway show Lennon: The Musical, but it wound up appearing ten days after the musical concluded its disastrous run. Even if the show did tank, it provided the occasion for this strong collection. Working Class Hero may tread familiar territory -- not only does it have all the usual suspects, from "Instant Karma" to "(Just Like) Starting Over," it has them in a sequencing that feels familiar, even it doesn't correspond to any specific previous release -- but that's fine, because it provides a rather thorough overview of Lennon's best-known solo songs. In many cases, these are often his best, but there are surely some great songs missing here, particularly because the comp emphasizes material with a slight romantic bent or songs that play into the myth of St. John (meaning, mixed alongside the hits there are plenty of songs about Yoko and being a father, and rockers are given short shrift). But these are minor complaints: anybody who wants a succinct yet comprehensive compilation of most of Lennon's solo best should be satisfied with this. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| (Just Like) Starting Over | John Lennon | (3:57) | |
| Imagine (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:02) | |
| Watching the Wheels (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:31) | |
| Jealous Guy (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:13) | |
| Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono, |
(3:21) | |
| Stand by Me (Lyrics) | Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | John Lennon | (3:26) |
| Working Class Hero (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:48) | |
| Power to the People (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:22) | |
| Oh My Love (Lyrics) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | John Lennon, |
(2:44) |
| Oh Yoko! (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:17) | |
| Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out) | John Lennon, |
(5:07) | |
| Nobody Told Me (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:34) | |
| Bless You (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:38) | |
| Come Together [Live] | John Lennon | (4:23) | |
| New York City | John Lennon, Elephant's Memory, |
(4:31) | |
| I'm Stepping Out (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (4:06) | |
| You Are Here (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:08) | |
| Borrowed Time (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (4:30) | |
| Happy Xmas (War Is Over) | John Lennon, Yoko Ono | John Lennon, |
(3:37) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Woman (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:33) | |
| Mind Games (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:12) | |
| Out the Blue | John Lennon, |
(3:23) | |
| Whatever Gets You Thru the Night (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:26) | |
| Love (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:25) | |
| Mother (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(5:34) | |
| Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) | John Lennon | (4:01) | |
| Woman Is the Nigger of the World (Lyrics) | John Lennon, Elephant's Memory, |
(5:16) | |
| God (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:10) | |
| Scared (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:36) | |
| #9 Dream (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(4:47) | |
| I'm Losing You (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:56) | |
| Isolation (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(2:52) | |
| Cold Turkey | (5:03) | ||
| Intuition (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:09) | |
| Gimme Some Truth (Lyrics) | John Lennon, |
(3:15) | |
| Give Peace a Chance | (4:50) | ||
| Real Love (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (4:12) | |
| Grow Old with Me (Lyrics) | John Lennon | (3:20) |
