After departing The Beatles, John Lennon took his career in an odd direction. Much of the music he made after becoming one of the biggest stars in the world was avant-garde and highly political, and it wasn’t the sort of thing that the masses could latch onto. He knew this at the time, but chose to push forward anyway, as commercial success no longer appeared to be the main driver for him.
Much of the music Lennon released on his own–and with his wife Yoko Ono–underperformed, at least when compared to his past material. Decades later, many fans and critics have revisited his collections, thanks to reevaluations and re-releases that place certain titles into the spotlight once again.
Later this month, a new box set of Lennon’s album Mind Games is set to drop. The late rocker’s son Sean worked on the updated project, and he recently spoke to the Daily Beast about the set, sharing some thoughts about why the album may not have been a smash at the time it was released more than half a century ago.
“I think Mind Games fell through the cracks for a number of reasons,” Lennon opined. “People were having trouble adjusting to the ‘new’ John Lennon,” the musician’s son mused about the lack of success the title enjoyed. He also added that he felt that “the fact that the mixes were a bit thin didn’t help either.”
Lennon–junior–remixed the song “Mind Games” for the updated re-release. The process of working on his father’s material must have been difficult, as well as rewarding, and he didn’t shy away from sharing that it wasn’t always easy doing so.
“John was cut down at a time when most people are just getting started with their art,” Lennon said of his father’s murder in 1980. He added that, to him, “it’s hard to hear this, sounding so great.” Lennon also stated that listening to Mind Games makes him “think about what John might have done. Because John’s music played itself.”
Mind Games was released in the fall of 1973. The title track served as the lead single, and it was shared at the same time. The former Beatle produced the full-length himself, though it received fairly mixed reviews. The project peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200, while the tune of the same name stalled at No. 18 on the Hot 100.
