There's been a fair amount of media coverage over the coming 70th birthday of John Lennon, even though he sadly isn't here to celebrate it. Yoko and the record companies have banded together to remaster and re-release the major works from his solo catalogue, which is the umpteenth time they've tried to repackage and re-sell the goods. Not that much different from what most musicians from the 60s have done, though, so I suppose we can't really blame them.
The happy piece of news here is that Yoko decided to release a stripped down version of "Double Fantasy," Lennon's last album to be released in his lifetime. When it first came out in 1980, the album received generally lukewarm reviews, with some praising its craftsmanship, and others lamenting the absence of Lennon's more acerbic, more outspoken qualities. I've always been on the fence about it; I could certainly do without the Yoko tracks altogether, and even though I like "(Just Like) Starting Over," "I'm Losing You," and "Cleanup Time," I've never liked the glossy production that accompanied them. So the stripped-down presentation is definitely welcome to these ears.
The bare-bones version of "(Just Like) Starting Over," in particular, works much better than the original, 30 year old version. Gone are the backing singers, the annoying vocal effects, and the slightly soulless sheen. Now Lennon's voice is front and center, the guitars are clean and crisp, and the track has a new bite and immediacy that it previously lacked. Now, if McCartney would only do the same for "Flowers In The Dirt"....