John Lennon - Lennon Legend: The Very Best of John Lennon (CD)

All Music Guide

Lennon Legend was released in the fall of 1997 in England to replace the deleted John Lennon Collection, and the 20-track collection is remarkably similar to its predecessor, replicating a full 16 tracks and deleting the relatively non-essential "I'm Losing You," "Dear Yoko" and "Move Over Ms. L" in favor of "Borrowed Time," "Mother," "Nobody Told Me" and "Working Class Hero." Even if the disc isn't sequenced in strict chronological order, the end result is the strongest single-disc Lennon collection yet. It might not offer everything of worth that Lennon recorded -- the Plastic Ono Band and Imagine albums remain essentials, and there are great-to-good songs scattered among his later solo records -- but it does function as an excellent sampler and introduction to his solo career.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide