Kicking off with a lovely ballad which shares the album’s title, the first effort by John Lennon’s eldest son is almost eerie to listen to today, and it affected Julian’s career forever. Was he deliberately trying to sound like his father? Could he have avoided it even if he had tried? In the end, the questions are moot. “Valotte” – the song, not the entire album – sounds more like a lost John Lennon opus than either of the “new” Beatles songs created when the elder Lennon’s former bandmates “finished” incomplete songs in 1995. Julian’s vocals are spot-on perfect for the song and its subject matter, and it’s written and arranged in a way that echoes John’s songwriting and performance eerily. “Lonely”, a bluesy ballad which didn’t make it to single status, is another example of the haunting similarities. But there is another side to the album – several relentlessly ’80s pop songs (“Jesse” is especially guilty of dating itself). But overall, the good 
outweighs the bad – and one wishes that perhaps the critics had kept their mouths shut when Valotte was released. After all, Julian Lennon has spent years trying to get away from the trying-to-sound-like-Dad criticisms that were leveled at his solo debut. Now, how do we convince him that sounding eerily like his father was never necessarily a bad thing?
- Valotte (4:15)
- OK For You (3:38)
- On The Phone (4:42)
- Space (4:22)
- Well I Don’t Know (4:35)
- Too Late For Goodbyes (3:30)
- Lonely (3:50)
- Say You’re Wrong (3:25)
- Jesse (3:48)
- Let Me Be (2:12)
Released by: Atlantic
Release date: 1984
Total running time: 38:39
