can't remember anybody else who put out two such utter killers in a row over the same period of time." Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described "Instant Karma!" as Lennon's "best political song," while some other reviewers consider it to be the artist's finest post-Beatles recording. In their 1975 book The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, Roy Carr and Tony Tyler describe "Instant Karma!" as a "snappy little rocker" that "owes as much to the skilful production of Phil Spector as to the vitality of the overall performance," on which "[d]rummer Alan White excels." Another to highlight White's drumming amid the "collective genius" of all the musicians on "Instant Karma!", author Robert Rodriguez concludes of Lennon's activities on 27 January 1970: "Not many days in the history of rock and roll proved as everlastingly fruitful." In 1981, NME critic Bob Woffinden wrote of the single: "It was excellent. Lennon was characteristically simple and direct, but this time on a song with one of those magically catchy refrains." Among Lennon biographers, Jon Wiener praises Lennon's "rich, deep voice" on a recording where the sound is "irresistible". Philip Norman describes the song as "similar to 'Cold Turkey' in tempo but far more relaxed and humorous", adding that Spector's production gave Lennon's voice "a taut expressiveness it had not had since 'Norwegian Wood'." While noting the significance of the session for George Harrison's career, author Simon Leng praises the recording as being "full of urgency and sheer excitement." In 1989, Rolling Stone ranked "Instant Karma!" the 79th best single of the previous 25 years. In NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980, David Stubbs lists the song second among Lennon's "ten solo gems" (behind "Cold Turkey"), with the comment: "'Instant Karma!' epitomises the Lennon paradox, melding hippie idealism and rock'n'roll primal energy in an exhilarating mix." Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound placed it third on his 2009 list of "Top Ten Songs by Ex-Beatles". According to the website Acclaimed Music, "Instant Karma!" has also appeared in the following critics' best-songs lists and books: Dave Marsh's The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1989; at number 638), 1000 Songs that Rock Your World by Dave Thompson (2011; number 56), the NMEs "The 100 Best Songs of the 1970s" (2012; number 77), and Q magazine's "The 1001 Best Songs Ever" (2003; number 193). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes the track among its