Simplify the following text for a Grade 11 native English-speaking person.
Original: Recorded and released in 1971 , the album tended toward songs that were gentler , more commercial and less avant-garde than those on his critically acclaimed previous album , John Lennon\/Plastic Ono Band .
Simplified: Recorded and released in 1971 , the album had songs that were gentler , more commercial and less avant-garde than the ones he released on his previous album , John Lennon\/Plastic Ono Band .