NEW LIGHT ON LENNON

“MENLOVE AVE.”

John Lennon. Capitol.

Imagine that an archivist found an undiscovered John Lennon album with a raw nerviness and uncluttered emotion that approaches 1970’s classic “Plastic Ono Band” in its intensity.

That would be eye-opening enough, but the even bigger surprise of this posthumous collection is that the key tracks are alternate versions of songs from “Walls and Bridges,” which was generally regarded as one of Lennon’s least engaging works. These renditions, recorded live in the studio without the horns and strings that were ultimately added to the 1974 album, shed new light--or darkness, really--on this phase of Lennon’s career.

The five songs making up Side 2 of “Menlove Ave.” are even more downbeat versions of what were already recognizably the five most depressed songs on “Walls and Bridges,” the last collection of Lennon songs before he retreated from the pop spotlight for five years. Twelve years ago, when this material was laden with production values and interspersed among other songs that were deliberate fluff, the sense of urgency and desperation was diluted.

Here, though, “Scared” really does sound a little scary, and “Steel and Glass” broods with a palpable self-loathing. Even in its raw and improved form, this batch of material still isn’t as remarkable as “Plastic Ono Band,” but it’s certainly a worthy companion piece.

In contrast, Side 1--consisting entirely of outtakes from the “Rock ‘n’ Roll” sessions--is more fun and less substantial. There are three Phil Spector-produced oldies remakes: “Angel Baby,” “My Baby Left Me” and “To Know Her Is to Love Her” (the widely bootlegged “Be My Baby” isn’t included, surprisingly), plus two previously unheard Lennon originals--one a druggy-sounding, key-shifting wall of Spector noise, and the other a simple, raucous goof. Nothing to set the world on fire on Side 1, mind you, but nothing to embarrass Lennon’s memory, either. As posthumous releases go, this is an entirely justifiable one.