In case you haven’t heard: Thursday (Dec. 8) marks the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder. Of course, it isn’t just the brutal nature of his death that continues to fascinate the public but also what he stood for in his lifetime that enraptures new audiences and worshippers. For better and worse, this fascination also ensures the demand for a steady stream of new product. Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, oversees the release of new CD compilations of her husband’s music, produces stage-musicals based on his life and uses his artwork on everything from postcards to infant’s clothing. To her credit, Ono makes sure that Lennon’s legacy isn’t exploited to the point of becoming Graceland-esque. On the other hand, Ono’s involvement in some of the re-issues of Lennon’s work has been cited as heavy-handed, occasionally questionable and sometimes downright misguided. Further, while Ono was once widely viewed as “the dragon lady who broke up the Beatles” (at worst) or “John’s accomplice in some foolhardy ventures” (at best) she is now simply seen as Lennon’s widow and estate keeper. This must be a difficult pill to swallow for an artist, filmmaker and musician in her own right whose work has yet to be fully celebrated.

Frankly, it is now nearly impossible to separate John Lennon the man, artist and musician from “St. John Lennon,” the man who threw away the biggest pop group in history for love and preached peace until being felled by a gunman’s bullets. It’s especially hard when faced with the duty of reviewing the two weakest albums that Lennon made during his lifetime. The re-release of Sometime In New York City and Walls and Bridges completes the campaign that Ono began five years ago to give her husband’s studio efforts a proper sound and packaging representation on CD (shockingly, no such efforts have been made to do the same for The Beatles’ back catalog, which still looks and sounds like poop on disc). All of these released discs have been eagerly scooped up by fans and contain bonus material and remastered sound. Not surprisingly, these two records were the last in the bunch to receive “the treatment.”

John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Sometime in New York City (Remastered) (Capitol)

Originally released in 1972, Sometime... is a document of John and Yoko’s move from England to the Big Apple and the radicalization of the duo’s leftist politics. In New York, the duo hung out with just about every big-name Yippie of the day (including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and a young John Kerry who used pictures of himself with the pair from the time to no great effect in his presidential election bid). The couple’s associations and involvement in peace demonstrations earned Lennon a healthy FBI dossier and near-deportation for his efforts. Accordingly, every aspect of the album, from the cover artwork to its lyrics, is steeped in the newfound awareness of causes, cases and conundrums that captured the Lennons’ attention. Unfortunately, “making a statement” doesn’t always equal “making great music.” While Sometime... was mostly panned upon its release (and probably scared away old Beatles fans with its message), the album’s music has bettered with age even as its subject matter has become increasingly dated. As always, Lennon’s impassioned vocal delivery saves the day on even the most lackluster material. His voice on the record’s sole hit, “Woman Is the Nigger of the World,” and songs like “Luck of The Irish” is simply transcendent. However, it’s Ono who emerges with the bulk of memorable tunes here. Her 1950s-pastiche “Sisters, O Sisters,” soul-lament “Born in A Prison,” and proto-punk wailer “We’re All Water” prove to be some of the most melodic pieces on the record. Sad then that Ono chose to lop two minutes of the latter song just as she elected to reduce the “Live Jam” album that was originally included with the LP from six songs to three. This decision will undoubtedly ruffle the feathers of Lennon purists (not to mention fans of Frank Zappa who performed on many of the jams originally included on the album). In the press release for the reissue Ono states, “If you miss the ‘freak-out’ part...just put a microphone to the many battlefields in the world. You will hear everything—children crying, guys shouting, and the occasional silence created by the dead.” Huh? This definitely seems like a reversal of heart from the woman who accused Paul McCartney or trying to “rewrite history” (which he was) when ol’ puppy eyes wanted to change the songwriting credits on “Yesterday” from Lennon/McCartney to McCartney/Lennon. Of course, in its original form, the “freak out part” of the record was mostly awful anyway. In cutting down the jam portion of the record, while curiously adding the single “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” and “Listen The Snow Is Falling” as bonus tracks, Ono has ensured that this former double album will be released as a single disc and perhaps finally find more listeners.

John Lennon: Walls and Bridges (Remastered) (Capitol)

Recorded during Lennon’s notorious “Lost Weekend” extended separation from Yoko period, Walls and Bridges is arguably Lennon’s weakest musical statement. Ironic then that the record produced the songwriter’s first number one single (with the Elton John duet “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night”) and second number-one album. Of course, even at his most uninspired, Lennon was capable of moments of sheer brilliance, as in his soaring delivery on “#9 Dream” and the bottomed-out lyrical beauty of “Nobody Loves You (When You’re Down and Out).” Less memorable are songs like Lennon’s version of the old rock n’ roll chestnut “Ya Ya” (complete with a ten-year old Julian Lennon on drums) and “Beef Jerky” (where the title alone implicates the throw-away nature of the tune). Like all Lennon albums, Walls and Bridges is hardly a complete failure, but it simply pales in comparison to albums like Plastic Ono Band and Imagine which were recorded only a few years earlier. Again, Lennon fanatics will take exception with Ono’s decision to change the album’s original artwork which seems like more rewriting of history especially considering who estranged the couple was at the time of the recording. Still, the remastered sound here is a vast improvement over the previous CD incarnation.