An excellent review by Shelley Germeaux.

My copies of all the Lennon remasters material is on the truck for delivery and should arrive within a few hours but I'm out of town until late tonight so I should find it all (hopefully) on my doorstep when I arrive in the wee morning hours of tomorrow morning. Chip are you saying you heard a different stripped Starting Over than the one posted here?

I just heard the new version of (Just Like) Starting Over and loved it! My birthday is a day after John's and I put this CD on my wish list. If history repeats itself, I probably won't get it because everyone thinks I would rather do the "Beatle thing" myself. They're usually right, I suppose. If they buy something, it might not be just right. Being old enough to remember vinyl, I remember the days spent in the record store making sure that the copy I was buying had as clean and un-knicked a cover as possible. I still do that today with CDs but I don't suppose it's really necessary.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing the whole CD.

Yes, and Chris Carter also played it this morning... heard it after I posted, though. (lol ~ Chris mispronounced my name... I had called in to request Jealous Guy.)

I'm staying out of the Yoko discussion (although I do have strong opinions that have developed nuance over the years), but I love this version of Starting Over!!! I love hearing John's beautiful voice with no ADT. Can't wait to hear Watching the Wheels, Beautiful Boy, Woman... all beautiful songs that were originally, imho, over-produced.

Happy Nat,

I agree. I think it is virtually impossible to over saturate the market. We can all pick and choose what we wish to purchase. These days it is easy to sample albums online, so no one is getting "duped" into buying something that they don't really want. Remember those days? With all of the blogs, reviews, audio clips, fan youtube clips, etc. one would have to be pretty ignorant to lay out $15 on an album they don't like.

I am eager to hear the new DF. Starting Over was always my least favorite John track on the album. Watching the Wheels however, is one of the first songs I can remember hearing on my mom's car radio. I was seven, very meaningful tune to me. I can't wait to hear Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, I'm Losing You, Give me Something, Woman, I'm your Angel, the whole darn thing in fact. I wish the Milk and Honey tracks were incorporated into the new DF, but since John didn't approve that, there wouldn't be any fidelity to his vision.

Ultimately however, I think this is a weird project. Certainly nothing anyone of us would have expected last year while we were daydreaming about what Yoko was planning for John's 70th. So this is a nice surprise. Now if it were possible to remove Phil Spector's wall of sound from everything between Imagine and DF, I'd be thrilled.

I'm really surprised by all the Yoko-bashers out there. My hat is off to Yoko for putting this out. It is easy to prefer the original version of Starting Over over this, at least initially, since that is what you are accustomed to hearing and, after all, that is the completed account. This isn't really about which is best, but more about getting to hear it before another layer or two of sound was added and an edit in the ending, giving more insight into the recording process of this song. Now you can have it clean and clearer or finished and smoother. Take your pick.

Again, I'm the oddball. I am a huge Yoko fan and, at this point, prefer her catalog to John's. I've felt this way for a couple of years now. Of course John was a musical genius and his work has made a greater impression on me and he has personally influenced so much of my life. But for the past few years, for whatever reason, I've been enjoying her discs more. I have the huge Onobox and all of the releases since then. More importantly, I have tickets to see her (and bizarrely Lady Gaga)on Saturday night. I probably see a dozen major shows a year, but am most excited for this performance. I saw Yoko on the Rising tour in '97 or so, she was extraordinary - anyone interested in 90's alternative rock should certainly seek out the Rising album - never a dull moment, to put it kindly. Very challenging to say the least.

I play a lot of Yoko for my high school students. At first they laugh or roll their eyes, but the more they hear the more they begin to see the earnestness of those whoops, yelps and shouts. These kids are so young, they don't carry any of the anti-Yoko baggage from the 60's-80's. They have absolutely no idea who she is. So, for them, she is not riding on someone's coattails, or the one who broke up the Beatles, or even just an incredibly wealthy woman who makes strange vanity records. They hear the music with nothing in their heads. They have no idea that she is even Japanese. They have a very pure interaction with her music. We can't. It is sort of a shame. But I think this is happening in a larger context too, not just my classroom. Yoko is now enjoying her 5th number 1 record in the dance charts. Who was the last Beatle-person to have #1 on any chart? I don't go to nightclubs, so I don't know what the reaction is, or if those attendees know anything about the woman, like the fact that she is 77 - and having #1s on the dance charts, but her work has finally become popular.

As a Beatle fan I am excited for the Lennon releases, but not going nuts excited.

Interesting version. I have, in the past, loved the various "stripped down" songs and CDs we have been given, but like Stacia, I, too, liked the backing vocals of the original. I am sure to get this when it becomes available and I'll be interested what my take is. I'll have to do a side-by-side for my own comparison.

As for Yoko, I have always appreciated her for who she is. We all loved John, John loved Yoko, so therefore, I always gave her the respect I felt she deserved. Without her coming into his life, the music might not have been the same. I happen to like her songs on Double Fantasy. Her orgasm at the end of "Kiss Kiss Kiss" might be a bit much . . . I think "Yes, I'm Your Angel" and "Hard Times Are Over" are beautiful songs and well sung by her. I can't say that I own a solo Yoko record other than "Walking On Thin Ice," but her inclusion on this album was brilliant.

I'm a bit surprised to say I really like this, the big difference being able to hear John's vocals so clearly. Wish he hadn't mucked about at the end there. The intro is the best part.

Hmmm. I may have to consider buying his tunes (sans Joke-O) on iTunes when this is released.

I do kinda miss the backing vocals here, but I LOVE THIS. And Sean did such a lovely job with the cover art. Cannot wait for Tuesday!