SEE the film to best appreciate the music – that’s my sound advice. This release comprises two CDs, the first the soundtrack to Sam Taylor-Wood’s poignant directorial debut detailing the twang, angst and anger-ridden teenage years of John Lennon; the second a CD of 15 tracks entitled Music Inspired By.

Let’s deal with the second first. Quite what forms the subject of inspiration is unclear, even if the second CD does resonate to such rock’n’roll belters as Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethoven and the Bobby Fuller Four’s I Fought The Law. Apart from such classic cuts, the second CD is a mishmash and Lennon fans would surely have preferred his own Rock ‘N’ Roll album of covers from 1975.

Significantly better is the original soundtrack, the strength of which is reinforced in the context of the movie. They give the 17 tracks, culled from the origins of popular music in the late 1950s, a genuine perspective. And there is one final rendition, the searing, heart-cracking Mother, which features Lennon’s own inimitable voice. A gripping finale.