Walls and Bridges - Reception and Promotion

Reception and Promotion

Walls and Bridges has received mixed reviews over the years. When originally released a review from Rolling Stone noted that Lennon was making "progress". In later years Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic felt that the album was "decidedly uneven".

Both the album and the single, "Whatever Gets You thru the Night", reached number 1 on the American charts the same week (16 November), and number 6 in the United Kingdom.

During the recording of "Whatever Gets You," Elton John bet Lennon that it would top the charts. Never believing it would, Lennon agreed to perform live with John if it did. Having lost the wager, Lennon appeared at John's Madison Square Garden show on 28 November, performing Lennon's current number 1 hit together as well as The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", (which was Elton John's new single with Lennon on backing vocals). This was Lennon's last major live performance.

In addition to reestablishing a relationship with Julian, Lennon mended fences with the other Beatles during this period and Walls and Bridges is filled with musical nods to the group. In the opening track, Lennon sings "somebody please, please help me". On "Surprise Surprise", Lennon utilises the coda of "Drive My Car" substituting the "beep beep yeah" fadeout with "sweet sweet love". In response to McCartney's Lennon-esque track "Let Me Roll It" on the Band on the Run album, Lennon took the guitar riff note for note and incorporated it into "Beef Jerky".

The album's elaborate jacket featured childhood drawings done by Lennon and a series of interchangeable faces. Walls and Bridges also had a popular ad campaign (created by Lennon) called "Listen To This..." (button, photo, sticker, ad, poster, t-shirt and, in New York City, a huge poster plastered on the rear of 2,000 city buses).

Television and radio commercials featuring a voiceover from Ringo Starr depicted the album jacket in its many 'photo flap' faces. Lennon would return the favour and do the voiceover for the commercials for Starr's Goodnight Vienna album.

Shortly after its release, Lennon personally mixed a true quadrophonic version of the album ("for the 20 people who buy quad", he joked in his infamous 1974 WNEW radio interview in New York). These mixes highlight many of the percussive and orchestrative textures that were not as prominent on the stereo version.