John Lennon fans say ‘influential’ solo album is his best work

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A solo album from legendary songwriter John Lennon is considered the most “influential” of his discography by fans.

The Beatles member released several solo albums and also produced the likes of Harry Nilsson after leaving the Fab Four. Lennon, alongside Yoko Ono, would go on to write the likes of Imagine, Walls and Bridges, and Mind Games after leaving the era-defining band. A post to the r/JohnLennon subreddit has suggested what could be Lennon’s most “influential” work after The Beatles. A fan asked: “What is his best solo album?” While responses were mixed, many have agreed that the Ono-featuring Plastic Ono Band was Lennon’s most influential solo album.

One user wrote: “Plastic Ono Band was such an influential album for me as a youth. Then, it was my interest in Sometime in NYC that caused my older brothers to call me a hippie. I have such good memories attached to John’s albums as I grew into the teenage years. To pick a best, for me, would have to include his partner, Move Over Mrs. L. and without question, Milk & Honey was their best music and timeless.”

Another agreed, adding: “Plastic Ono Band by a country mile, best album by a former Beatles and better even than all of the Beatles’ albums.” A third wrote: “Plastic Ono Band, followed closely by Double Fantasy.”

One user added Plastic Ono Band became a “dense” listen the more it was played. They wrote: “Definitely Plastic Ono Band, although over the years and with more listens it becomes a bit dense, for specific moments. Although a less dense option is Walls and Bridges, simpler and with great moments.”

While Plastic Ono Band was described as Lennon’s most “influential” solo album, many listeners agreed that Walls and Bridges was the far superior release.

One user wrote: “Walls and Bridges, by a mile. He was working with qualified collaborators, including Elton John (who discerned the hit potential of Whatever Gets You Thru The Night), Harry Nilsson, who contributed to the lyrics of Old Dirt Road, and his favourite guitarist, Jesse Ed Davis.

“The songs are musically and thematically diverse. They are not all odes to Ono, or hymns to hippie causes. John was regaining his melodic gifts — and his life in general. #9 Dream, which I consider John’s best post-Beatles song, is on this album.”

Another added: “As already observed in the thread, there is an objective/conventional wisdom ‘best’. Or there’s the one a listener likes most. That would be Walls and Bridges.” Walls and Bridges was released in 1974 and featured Julian Lennon, Elton John, and Jim Keltner among others.

Walls and Bridges topped the US Billboard charts and went on to reach number six in the UK charts. It marked Lennon’s last album of original material until his final album, Double Fantasy. A follow-up to Walls and Bridges, named Between the Lines, was scrapped shortly after it was conceived.