Imagine followed the more austere John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album. The official recording history describes sessions at Tittenhurst Park and work with musicians including George Harrison, placing the familiar songs within a collaborative studio setting.

His literary work includes In His Own Write, a collection of prose and drawings published in 1964. That book offers a different route into the wordplay and visual imagination associated with his music.

Mind Games was recorded at the Record Plant in New York in 1973. The 2024 Ultimate Collection revisits those sessions through several distinct listening formats. Sean Ono Lennon oversaw the later collection, authorised by Yoko Ono; this separates its production credits from those of the original album.

The Ultimate Mixes rebalance the finished recordings with Lennon's voice prominent. Elements Mixes isolate selected instruments, while Elemental Mixes use leaner arrangements without drums. These labels describe different treatments of existing multitrack recordings, not different songs or newly recorded Lennon vocals.

The collection's Evolution Documentary follows songs through demos, rehearsals, takes and studio conversation. Raw Studio Mixes and outtakes offer further comparisons with the finished master. For a listener interested in how the songs were made, choosing the version is as important as choosing the title; the collection is designed to expose those stages.