| The careful burnishing of John Lennon's daunting legend usually obscures one telling fact: the former Beatle endured a long and troubling artistic slump in the mid-'70s. Indeed, his five-year retirement/househusband phase may have been one of the shrewdest career moves he ever made. Cut in Los Angeles during his prolonged "lost weekend" estrangement from Yoko Ono, Walls and Bridges too often sacrifices the sublime for the ridiculous--that is, when it's not being altogether superfluous. Still, "Whatever Gets You Through the Night," Lennon's boisterous collaboration with Elton John, scored him his first No. 1 record as a solo artist, and compelling tracks like "Steel and Glass," "Going Down on Love," and "#9 Dream" belie the artistic genius Lennon was literally drowning in copious rounds of Brandy Alexanders during the period. --Jerry McCulley |
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