The U.S. vs. John Lennon

1	Power to the People / John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band 3:21
2	Nobody Told Me 3:33
3	Working Class Hero 3:47
4	I Found Out / John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band 3:36
5	Bed Peace / John Lennon & Yoko Ono 0:12
6	The Ballad of John & Yoko / The Beatles 2:57
7	Give Peace a Chance / Plastic Ono Band 3:53
8	Love / John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band 3:21
9	Attica State / Plastic Ono Band Live / previously unreleased 3:47
10	Happy Xmas (War Is Over) / Harlem Community Choir 3:38
11	I Don't Want to Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Want to Die / Flux Fiddlers 6:04
12	Imagine / Flux Fiddlers 3:01
13	How Do You Sleep? / Flux Fiddlers previously unreleased / Instrumental 3:06
14	New York City / Invisible Strings 4:30
15	John Sinclair / Plastic Ono Band Live 3:43
16	Scared / Philharmonic Orchestrange 4:35
17	God / John Lennon & the Plastic Ono Band 4:08
18	Here We Go Again 4:47
19	Gimme Some Truth / Flux Fiddlers 3:14
20	Oh My Love / Flux Fiddlers 2:44
21	Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) / Flux Fiddlers 3:30

Barnes & Noble

Since it's the soundtrack to a documentary detailing the U.S. government's decision to stage all-out war on John Lennon -- in large part due to his protest of the "other" war they were staging in Vietnam -- it's not surprising that this disc homes in on the more politically potent songs from the singer's early-'70s catalog. And while many of the tunes reside in similar topical territory, each captures a distinct emotional vibe -- a testament to Lennon's greatness as a writer. Even in the midst of turmoil, Lennon usually exuded an ultimately optimistic feel, an emotion conveyed in the strains of the classic rallying cry "Power to the People" and the elegiac "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." Those songs, of course, are buoyed by bold, outsized arrangements and a sense that the studio was absolutely overflowing with musicians. When exploring the darker recesses of his psyche, however, Lennon chose to go it all but alone, a decision that adds to the laser-like precision of withering acoustic tracks like "Working Class Hero." The 21-song set is rounded out by some lesser-known but equally worthy material, most notably "John Sinclair" (the song that sicced the feds on Lennon's tail in the first place) and a previously unreleased live version of the searing protest screed "Attica State." The U.S. vs. John Lennon is a fine overview of Lennon's work in the immediate wake of the Beatles' split, as well as an enlightening lesson about taking on those in power and ultimately emerging victorious. David Sprague

All Music Guide

It shall come as no surprise that the soundtrack to the documentary The U.S. vs. John Lennon -- a film that traces Lennon's time as a political protestor and his subsequent, often covert, persecution by the U.S. government -- showcases John the Protest Singer. It's a prominent part of John's legend, so much so that it would seem like there's a great number of these songs, but when it comes down to it, his political work doesn't amount to that much: a few singles and the double album Some Time in New York City, generally acknowledged as Lennon's lousiest record. Not a lot to build a soundtrack on, so The U.S. vs. John Lennon is fleshed out with some ideological tunes and songs about hope and love or about John himself -- which ultimately means that this album has such old standbys as "Imagine," "Instant Karma," "Power to the People," "Working Class Hero," "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)," and the Beatles' "The Ballad of John & Yoko" and a bunch of songs from Plastic Ono Band and Imagine, plus the posthumous "Nobody Told Me" and some stray songs from Some Time in New York City. There isn't much that's rare here -- two OK live versions of NYC's "Attica State" and "John Sinclair," both taken from the 1971 rally in Ann Arbor held to free Sinclair, plus an instrumental version of "How Do You Sleep?" (a protest against Paul, here used as score) -- but at this point, there simply isn't much rare to be dug out of the vaults, at least not to sell a soundtrack like this. And as a soundtrack it's not bad -- it captures the spirit of the movie, and there's a bunch of good music here, even if it's hard to imagine that anybody interested in this film wouldn't own all this music already. Stephen Thomas Erlewine