Power to the People: The Hits (2010) 


 

  1. Power to the People
  2. Gimme Some Truth
  3. Woman
  4. Instant Karma!
  5. Whatever Gets you Thru the Night
  6. Cold Turkey
  7. Jealous Guy
  8. #9 Dream
  9. (Just Like) Starting Over
  10.Mind Games
  11.Watching the Wheels
  12.Stand By Me
  13.Imagine
  14.Happy Xmas (War is Over)
  15.Give Peace a Chance

 

Released in 2010 as part of a broader remastering campaign of John Lennon’s solo catalogue, Power to the People: The Hits positions itself as a concise, streamlined collection of Lennon’s most well-known solo tracks. Clocking in at 15 songs, it’s a tidy package, aimed more at the casual listener than the committed fan. Unfortunately, that audience was already well served over a decade earlier by Lennon Legend, which remains the more comprehensive—and frankly, more satisfying—single-disc compilation.

Power to the People does its job efficiently. All the expected titles are here: Imagine, Instant Karma!, (Just Like) Starting Over, Woman, Watching the Wheels, and so on. The sequencing is straightforward, the mastering crisp, and the packaging clean. But in terms of content, there’s little to distinguish this set from previous compilations. Only Gimme Some Truth and Mind Games stand out as tracks that didn’t make the cut on Lennon Legend, though both are welcome inclusions. Still, the overall track count is slimmer, and what’s here feels more like a highlight reel than a career portrait.

There’s also an undeniable air of commercial redundancy about the release. With so many Lennon collections already in circulation—some comprehensive, others archival—Power to the People adds little that wasn’t already available. It’s not poorly assembled, but its purpose feels more marketing-driven than musical. For longtime fans, it offers nothing new. For newcomers, Lennon Legend remains the better value and the more thoughtful compilation.

One suspects this release was as much about reviving catalogue visibility as it was about curating a definitive best-of. It serves its function, but makes no strong case for its own necessity.

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