As John Lennon remains a symbol of peace, in life and death, so do his songs and lyrics. In remembrance of him and his message, the album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur, brings together several artists to echo that message of peace to the rest of the world.The group Amnesty International has a long tradition of activism powered by music. It is more evident than ever with Instant Karma. More than 50 international recording artists and over 30 record labels have come together for this project. 

The album will be a benefit project to support Amnesty International’s campaign. It will help focus attention and mobilize activism around the crisis in the Sudan. That crisis has place millions of people outside of their homes in Dafur and neighboring countries. The crisis, beginning in February of 2003, is genocide at the hands of the Janjaweed militias, bands of fighters backed by the Sundanese government.In addition to spreading awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, the project also encourages individuals to take a stand by putting their name to Amnesty International's global petition, at the instantkarma website, which declares, "As a citizen of the world, I demand and end to the killing and mass atrocities in Darfur, Sudan.” 

Aside from the cause, the Instant Karma album boasts a heavy line-up of world-wide artists. Big time acts such as Aerosmith, Christina Aguilera, Black Eyed Peas, Green Day, Lenny Kravitz, and R.E.M. just to name a few. Other artists like Ben Harper, Jakob Dylan and Jack Johnson also contributed to this double CD collection. All of the acts put their own spin and style on these classic Lennon songs, such as “Power to the People,” “Gimme Some Truth,” and “Mother.”

The 23-track album starts off with an amazing version of “Instant Karma” by U2. The song is about as close to the original as you’re gonna get. Aerosmith teams with The Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars for an interesting version of “Give Peace A Chance.” Aerosmith provides great rock verses while the Refugee All Stars back it with a reggae-style chorus.

Lenny Kravitz gives “Cold Turkey” a funky feel and former Wallflowers lead singer Jakob Dylan and Mexican rock band The Jaguares perform their own renditions of “Gimme Some Truth.” Country duo Big & Rich put a down-south twist on a good version of “Nobody Told Me.”

“Working Class Hero” is performed by Green Day and is an amazing punk-rock version to the Lennon original. The song is the first single off of the album. One of the best songs on the album is performed by English songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae. Her rendition of “I’m Losing You” is performed with a beautiful voice, accompanied by an electric piano, making it a really funky and soulful track.

Songs like Avril Lavigne’s version of “Imagine” and Christina Aguilera’s version of “Mother” are decent at best and show some of the low points to the album. But then again, who will ever do it as good as Sir John Lennon himself? Exactly.

All in all, a very nice and heartfelt album full of classic Lennon songs. The cause is on-point and so are the artists with this one.

For more information, visit www.instantkarma.org.  

Album Grade: B 

Standout Tracks:

“Instant Karma” by U2

“Give Peace A Chance” by Aerosmith

“I’m Losing You” by Corrine Bailey Rae

“Working Class Hero” by Green Day