Power to the People (live at the One to One Concert - Afternoon & Evening Shows) — John Lennon

This album captures a singular moment in 1972 when John Lennon was at his most radicalized and New York-centric. It is not the polished, ethereal Lennon of the studio; instead, it is a sweat-soaked, shouting, and deeply earnest performer leading a bar band through a set of political anthems and personal exorcisms.

The sound is thick with the grit of early seventies Manhattan, characterized by the honking saxophones and heavy-handed drumming of Elephant's Memory. You can feel the humidity of Madison Square Garden and the weight of the social causes he was championing.

Moments Worth Listening For

The raw, throat-shredding delivery of Mother where the band struggles to keep up with the emotional weight.

The communal singalong of Give Peace a Chance that feels more like a rally than a concert.

The loose, bar-band swing of Well Well Well featuring heavy, distorted guitar riffs.

Reviews

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Where This Album Departs

How does Power to the People (live at the One to One Concert - Afternoon & Evening Shows) sound next to the rest of John Lennon's catalogue?

This album stays in step with the catalogue across the board — no axis departs enough to be worth its own note. Hover the dots to see where each one sits.

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