John Lennon’s fourth studio album, Mind Games, has been reissued in a massive new box set aptly called Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection).
Available now in a variety of formates including as a 6xCD/2xBlu-ray audio Deluxe Edition (order here) and a limited-edition Super Deluxe Edition (order here), the expansive set offers six (!) different listening experiences of the album.
For example, The Ultimate Collection boasts brand new “ultimate mixes” focusing on Lennon’s vocals; “elements mixes” highlighting certain instrumentation from the multi-track recordings; and “raw studio mixes,” which are mixed raw and live without vocals effects, tape delays or reverbs.
The Ultimate Collection also includes The Evolutionary Documentary, offering a track-by-track audio montage that details the evolution of each song from demo to master recording via demos, rehearsals, out-takes, multitrack exploration, and studio conversations. The collection also offers a bevy of previously unreleased outtake, audio stems, and other never-heard-before head recordings from archived ¼” reel-to-reels, cassettes, and videotapes.
Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) was fully authorized by Lennon’s wife, Yoko Ono. His son, Sean Ono Lennon, oversaw the production and creative direction, working with the same audio team that worked on similar releases for the Imagine and John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band Ultimate Collections.
In a statement, Ono said: “John was trying to convey the message that we all play mind games. But if we can play mind games, why not make a positive future with it – to be a positive mind game? ‘Mind Games’ is such an incredibly strong song. At the time, people didn’t quite get the message because this was before its time. Now, people would understand it. I don’t think in those days people knew they were playing mind games anyway.”
John Lennon Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection