Track Listing

1. Here We Go Again
2. Rock & Roll People
3. Angel Baby
4. Since My Baby Left Me
5. To Know Her Is to Love Her
6. Steel and Glass [Live]
7. Scared [Live]
8. Old Dirt Road [Live]
9. Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out) [Live]
10. Bless You [Live]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #147147 in Music
• Published on: 1986
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Roundly pilloried at the time of its 1986 release as a posthumous barrel-scraping, Menlove Avenue is actually a much more complicated proposition. While it's true that the album's 10 tracks are merely outtakes from Lennon's troubled 1974-1975 studio sessions, the music here is fairly enlightening and occasionally even excellent. The five songs originally recorded for Rock 'N' Roll are admittedly pretty awful; it's no wonder that these soggy versions of "Angel Baby" and "To Know Her Is to Love Her" didn't make it onto the album, or that John fobbed "Rock and Roll People" off on Johnny Winter instead of releasing it himself. But the second half rescues five great Walls and Bridges cuts from the over-produced murk of their "official" versions, and the results are nothing less than sublime. Recommended to hardcore Lennonists with a soft spot for Walls and Bridges; everyone else should probably avoid it. --Dan Epstein

Customer Reviews

an essential Lennon purchase, if you're really a fan
Whoa, there! This album isn't nearly that bad. In fact, here's a rundown of why any self-repecting John Lennon fan cannot be without this album:

"Side 1" consists of five outtakes from the Rock'n'Roll/Walls and Bridges era, so this is the only place you'll find 'Here We Go Again', Rock and Roll People (which he gave to Johnny Winter), To Know Her Is To Love Her, and Since My Baby Left Me. Angel Baby was later released on the Lennon box, and is the only other place to find that cut. While I'm not saying that these are lost John Lennon classics, they've all got a rock and roll heart and are featured in pristine sound. They stand with the material on Rock'n'Roll, and are remastered much better.

But it is "Side 2" that really shines. These are stripped-down, magnificent sounding outtakes of songs that were released on Walls and Bridges. Like many of the similar outtakes that would surface on Anthology, I much prefer these versions to the 'produced' versions that grace the actual Walls and Bridges album. Every nuance of every sound is captured here. John's voice is frightfully real and close.

If you dig John Lennon, for God's sake, don't miss this album. It's one of the greatest unexpected pleasures in his catalog. Thanks, Yoko and Capital/EMI for releasing this. One gripe: how about a better package design and some liner notes?

Basically an official bootleg
"Menlove Avenue" is a collection of outtakes and demos from the "Lost Weekend" phase of John's life. Some good moments (especially on the "Walls and Bridges" demo section), but hardly essential, and this set is inferior to the material from the same era found in the "Anthology" box.

Beautiful, haunting and nostalgic for Lennon fans
A wonderful collection of songs, some very dark, that let us into John's musical and psychological space. No Lennon collection is complete without "Steel and Glass." "Rock and Roll People" and "Since My Baby Left Me" are just good ol' rock and roll, with John at his joyous best.