Official details have been announced about the series of celebrating the 50th anniversary of John Lennon’s 1973 solo album, Mind Games. The reissue will be released on July 12.
Videos by American Songwriter
The expanded Ultimate Collection editions of Mind Games will feature newly remixed audio, with Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions offering a deep dive into the sessions for the album.
Released in October 1973, the 12-song Mind Games was the former Beatles star’s fourth studio effort. The record reached No. 9 on the Billboard 200. It yielded one hit single, the title track, which peaked at No. 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
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Lennon produced Mind Games himself, and recorded it at the Record Plant in New York City. He worked with a group of session musicians that were jokingly dubbed The Plastic U.F.Ono Band. They included drummer Jim Keltner, sax player Michael Brecker, pedal-steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow, guitarist David Spinozza, keyboardist Ken Ascher, and bassist Gordon Edwards.
The Mind Games reissues are fully authorized by Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, and produced by their son, Sean Ono Lennon. Similar to the Ultimate Collection releases of Lennon’s 1971 album, Imagine, and 1970 solo debut, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, the Deluxe and Super Deluxe versions of Mind Games present each song in multiple forms, including new mixes, rough demos, outtakes, and more.
Deluxe Mind Games Reissue
The standard Deluxe box set features six CDs and two Blu-ray discs. The CDs feature Ultimate Mixes, Elements Mixes, Elemental Mixes, Out-takes, Raw Studio Mixes, and Evolution Documentary.
The Ultimate Mixes disc features a new ground-up mix of Mind Games offering excellent sonic depth, definition, and clarity. The Elements Mixes feature stripped-down versions of the songs. The Elemental Mixes also offer stripped-back renditions of the tracks, lying sonically somewhere between the Ultimate and Elements Mixes. The Out-takes disc features rare, alternate versions of each song. The Raw Studio Mixes give the listener the experience of hearing the songs how they may have sounded in the studio, with minimum effects.
The Evolution Documentary disc features specially created audio montages incorporating segments of demos, rehearsal recordings, studio chatter, outtakes and more to present how each song evolved from the demo stage to the final master.
The Blue-rays feature the audio from the six CDs in high-res stereo, 5.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos mixes, as well as a remastered 2024 “Mind Games” music video and more content.
The standard Deluxe box set also includes a 128-page coffee-table book. Additionally, you’ll recieve a reproduction of the album’s marketing poster, and more Mind Games-related memorabilia.
Super Deluxe Mind Games Box Set
The Super Deluxe edition of the Mind Games reissue is a work of art itself. The box set is presented in a 13-inch clear plastic cube that’s a replica of Yoko Ono’s 1966 “Danger Box” art piece. The cube houses nine interlocking boxes of various sizes and shapes that offer a variety of hidden secrets, surprises, and puzzles.
Included in the package are the aforementioned Deluxe Mind Games CD box set; a seven-LP vinyl version of the collection; a hologram vinyl EP box; a two-LP picture-disc box set; a 288-page coffee-table book; an I-Ching box featuring three custom John & Yoko I-Ching coins, an ultraviolet flashlight and a “Magic Magnet”; and more.
Only 1,100 copies of the limited-edition release will be available worldwide.
“Mind Games” Evolution Documentary Video
As a preview of the Mind Games reissues, a “Mind Games” Evolution Documentary video has premiered at Lennon’s YouTube channel. The clip shows how “Mind Games” evolved from an early 1970 demo version of the song. Originally titled “Make Love Not War,” the song morphed into the final album track. The video boasts previously unseen footage from February 1970 of Lennon playing “Make Love Not War” on piano. The recording occured in John and Yoko’s bedroom at his Tittenhurst Park estate.
Lennon reworked “Make Love Not War” into “Mind Games” after reading the Mind Games: The Guide to Inner Space. The 1972 book was written by Robert Masters and Jean Houston. The book encouraged people to play “mind games” with themselves as a way to tap into their mental potential to help inspire positive change in the world.
Other Versions of the Mind Games Reissues
Mind Games – The Ultimate Collection also will be available as two-LP and two-CD sets featuring the Ultimate Mixes and Out-takes. You can pre-order the reissues now.
Mind Games Meditation Mixes
In conjunction with the Mind Games reissue campaign, nine “Meditation Mixes” created from the album’s tracks have been released. They are designed to be experienced in combination with Lumenate, a consciousness-expanding psychedelic meditation phone app.
Using the app, which emits varying frequencies of light, in combination with the mixes, should put the listener in a relaxed, meditative state.
The “Mind Games” Meditation Mixes can be experienced for free exclusively via the Lumenate app.
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