John Lennon's fourth solo album Mind Games will receive a deluxe box set this summer packed with new mixes of the album's contents as well as a dozen unreleased outtakes.

Available July 12, the 6CD/2BD box will take a new, immersive look at Lennon's sessions at New York's Record Plant in the summer of 1973, a turbulent time that resulted in a somewhat divisive effort in his post-Beatles discography. Included in the set are many assemblies of the original 12-track album, produced by Lennon and Yoko Ono's son Sean in collaboration with an engineering/mixing team that includes Paul Hicks, Sam Gannon and Rob Stevens - all of whom worked on similar deluxe versions of Lennon's first two studio albums, Plastic Ono Band (1970) and Imagine (1971). The original album will be presented in "ultimate," "elemental," and "elements" mixes with varying degrees of influence on Lennon's vocals and instrumental backing; then, the "evolution documentary" will trace each song on the album from demo to finished product and every phase in between. A set of original rough mixes of the album will follow, along with a selection of alternate outtake versions of each track on Mind Games. All of this audio will also be available on two Blu-ray Discs in high-resolution stereo, 5.1 surround and Dolby Atmos mixes, along with two music videos.

The box also features a 128-page coffee table book telling the story of the album through archival interviews with John and Yoko, new interviews with the album's session musicians, unseen photography and memorabilia. It's rounded out with some additional ephemera: a reproduction of an original marketing poster; postcard-sized reproductions of 1973 ads, and an individually numbered "Citizen of Nutopia" ID Card - all packaged in a 10" square box. A cut-down version on two CDs or two LPs includes the "ultimate" mixes and studio outtakes, while a super deluxe set (limited to only 1100 copies) offers the 6CD/2BD set, replicas of Ono's 1966 art piece Danger Box and Lennon's 1968 canvas art You Are Here, certificates of authenticity, all the audio on an additional seven LPs, a holographic picture disc "Mind Games"/"Meat City" EP, a "Magic Box" version of the ultimate mixes and outtakes (on colored vinyl with zoetrope artwork), two maps of Liverpool and Tokyo, an additional coffee table book (which will be available separately from publisher Thames and Hudson), a "Citizen of Nutopia" box of ephemera (including a flag, stamp, plaque and badges), I-Ching coins and a word puzzle - all housed in a bespoke cardboard shipping container. (Whew!)

Released in the fall of 1973, Mind Games came at a time of personal upheaval for the former Beatle. His last album, the political studio-live hybrid Sometime in New York City, had flopped; his radical views led to considerable surveillance from the FBI; and tension was mounting in his marriage to Yoko. (Just before the sessions began, the pair separated, kicking off Lennon's "lost weekend" era, during which their assistant May Pang became Lennon's companion and lover for 18 months.) Opting to produce this album himself after collaborating with Phil Spector, Mind Games featured songs more simply devoted to concepts of peace and love with a crack session group (dubbed "The Plastic U.F.Ono Band") that included drummer Jim Keltner, guitarist David Spinozza, bassist Gordon Edwards, keyboardist Kenny Ascher, saxophonist Michael Brecker, pedal steel guitarist Sneaky Pete Kleinow and the vocal backing of a group named Something Different.

Mind Games was a Top 10 album in the U.S., though its title track was only a modest hit, and some critics felt Lennon was at his most musically wayward - a charge that would drop with 1974's successful Walls and Bridges. But Mind Games is certainly ripe for rediscovery in this generous box, which you can pre-order at the below links. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Mind Games (The Ultimate Collection) (Capitol/UMe, 2024)

6CD/2BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
9LP/6CD/2BD Super Deluxe Box: Official Store
2CD (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. (TBD) / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)

CD 1: The Ultimate Mixes

CD 2: The Elemental Mixes

CD 3: The Elements Mixes

CD 4: Evolution Documentary

CD 5: Raw Studio Mixes

(same track listing on above discs. Originally released as Apple PCS 7165 (U.K.)/SW-3414 (U.S.), 1973)

1. Mind Games
2. Tight A$
3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry)
4. One Day (At a Time)
5. Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple)
6. Nutopian International Anthem
7. Intuition
8. Out the Blue
9. Only People
10. I Know (I Know)
11. You Are Here
12. Meat City

CD 6: The Out-Takes

1. Mind Games (Take 7)
2. Tight A$ (Take 6)
3. Aisumasen (I'm Sorry) (Take 2)
4. One Day (At a Time) (Take 18)
5. Bring on the Lucie (Freeda Peeple) (Take 15)
6. Nutopian International Anthem (Take 1)
7. Intuition (Take 12)
8. Out the Blue (Take 15)
9. Only People (Take 12)
10. I Know (I Know) (Take 22)
11. You Are Here (Take 5)
12. Meat City (Take 16)

Blu-rays 1-2

• All tracks from CD 1-6 in high definition 24-bit/192 kHz Stereo, 24-bit/192 kHz 5.1 surround, and 24-bit/48 kHz Dolby Atmos
• "Mind Games" music video (2024 remaster)
• "You Are Here" additional outtake/tape boxes music video