John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

Its raw, angry and very good

Lennon abandons the slick production of his Beatle years and records a raw, in your face album which made many fans step back when it was released. But it is very good and very introspective. The album is worth it for the song "God" alone. A must have for any Lennon or Beatle fan. BnB Beatles Depot December 10, 2008

The Far-From-Plastic Ono Band

Why he called it "plastic", I have no idea, unless it was to signal the nihilism that pervades this mind-blower. In my opinion, this album is one of the greatest albums ever made by an individual male vocal artist, right up there with Dylan's classic holy trinity of "Bringing It All Back Home", "Highway 61" and "Blonde on Blonde". But Lennon's work holds the trump card of blunt honesty.

In the latter half of his Beatles career, Lennon began to move away from decorative, sanitized pop expression, and toward exposing a more "real" self. However, he tended to veil it in imagery which turned out to be so clever and powerful that it resulted in some of the most brilliant pop poetry ever written, personal but perceptive too of what was happening in ever-changing 60's society. I cite as examples "Norwegian Wood", "Nowhere Man", "Strawberry Fields", "Lucy in the Sky", "A Day in the Life", "I Am the Walrus", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun", "Come Together", "Across The Universe" and "I Dig a Pony".

Releasing "Plastic Ono Band", with Yoko as his muse and his enabler, he was liberated from the shackles and trappings of Beatledom, and he showed his feelings as nakedly as the couple had shown their physiques on the cover of "Two Virgins". The torrent of hurt, fear, anger, bitterness, contempt, and rejection of his past was harrowing yet thrilling when I first heard it, like a "rush". In "Mother", he not only laments very loudly that his parents had abandoned him, but also that he was now abandoning US: "Children...I just gotta tell you goodbye, goodbye." After this trauma, John's first rule of survival in this godawful world is in the second track, "Hold On". He sings, "When you're by yourself/And there's no one else/You just have yourself/And you tell yourself to hold on." Illusions are shattered in "I Found Out", to the accompaniment of some very primitive, grating rock: "There ain't no Jesus gonna come from the sky/Now that I found out, I know I can cry." The somber, sarcastic folk song "Working Class Hero" is a classic, right on the mark. My favorite track, "Remember", hits us with pounding drums, pounding bass and pounding piano, to make us recall the hypocrisy and fairy-tale foolishness of things we endure in life: "Remember how the hero was never hung/Always got away...how the man always, always let you down...Remember ma and pa, just wishing for movie stardom/Always playing a part?" In the midst of all this fear and loathing, Lennon takes the time to describe "Love", and more importantly, places the words in a delicate melody which floats, rises and falls with all the beauty of any Beatles ballad. In "Well Well Well", we hear of a typical day in the life of John Ono-Lennon, ex-Beatle, activist, comrade of Yoko, accompanied by raw, rough rock and including the famous "primal screams". "God" is the finality of all finalities. With bluesy piano backing, Lennon declares that he doesn't believe in God, Dylan (Zimmerman), Tarot, I-Ching, Buddha, Kennedy, nothing and nobody except himself and Yoko. In a climactic moment in pop history, he sings, "I don't believe in BEATLES...And so, dear friends, you'll just have to carry on. The dream is over."

As bonus tracks, we get "Power to the People", which I have always liked since my own pseudo-radical days, and "Do the OZ". I would describe the latter, a duet with Yoko by the way, as an avant-garde rock parody of dance songs like "The Hokey Pokey". But as silly as it seems, it also mirrors the new, wild impulsiveness in John's heart and the absurdity he finds in the world.

Taken as a whole, this outpouring transcends pop music. In its own way, this is art, just as the writings of Shakespeare, Coleridge, the Brownings, and T.S. Eliot are art. Lennon found a way to be lyrically real, musically authentic (raw, no frills, to match the emotions), and entertaining all at the same time, and that is an accomplishment most pop or rock stars would sell their souls for. In addition, the entire CD package is a class act. The sound is magnificent, the cover is gorgeous, the wonderful photos inside are new to me, and the lyrics provided are from John's own notes. For any fan of John Lennon, this is a treasure and a must-have. May 21, 2008

You don't analyze pain, you feel it.

This album, as most folks know, is Lennon's solo masterpiece, and I must say I'm happy to have the unadorned version of the CD; that is, I've had a couple different vinyl versions, but when to get the CD, forget about the reissue which throws on Power To The People right after My Mummy's Dead.
That's sacrilegious.

You don't temper with perfection, or mess with a bare naked statement about pain, isolation (well, semi; he had Yoko you know); and the brutality of growing up, be it school or home (Working Class Hero, clearly one of his best songs); false idols (Elvis, Dylan, Beatles) and the facing that they're vicarious (or plain false--as 'idols', 'heroes') and keeping you metaphorically 'drugged'.
Then there's Lennon's unresolved issues over his mother's death; he had said before he had suppressed it for years.
In case you didn't know this, Lennon shut himself off, his emotions toward pain, for years; like during the rise to success (that word doesn't seem enough...); and this album was the result of Dr. Janov's primal scream therapy, which Lennon embraced (as did P.F. Sloan).
Just listen to Lennon screaming his guts out on the word 'well' in Well Well Well. Beautiful.

The best song on here is the one that terrifies you before it actually happens; My Mummy's Dead.
It sounds like it was recorded with the most primitve, tinny device known to man. Perfect. Adds to the desolation more.
John sure sounds numb there; numb and sad.
It's the most truthful song he EVER wrote.

This album is a grade A classic, and you need this in some form or other, but DON'T, please don't buy the reissue, not new anyway; it shows support for the bonus tracks, screamin' at you after the coda of My Mummy's Dead.
Shows support for the record company idiots.
Hopefully one day this will be released without said tracks.

But I ain't holding my breath.
You STILL waiting for The Beatles first four in stereo?
That's a good one...

Buy this USED, without the bonus tracks, like I did. OR, if you get the new version, get it used, and copy it for yourself sans the bonus tracks, and re-sell the dreadful version, keeping less brand-new copies of the desecrated version of this album from selling. (Or buy the album for download--all ELEVEN songs).
April 15, 2008

John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

John Lennon was an incredible lyricist & this album does nothing to dispel the fact. This is his first true solo project (studio) of his career. Lennon had a multi-faceted personality, he was perhaps the most complex of the Beatles. At this point in his life he was going through primal scream therapy, this album reflects every aspect of it. Lennon had things to deal with in his life & primal scream caused him to confront these problems head-on & openly. That angst is very apparent in the music & lyrics presented here.

This album was recorded about the same time as "Cold Turkey" which should have been a bonus cut on this album, it would've a perfect fit. There's not a weak moment on this album. Outstanding songs include "Love", "Working Class Hero", "I Found Out", "Well Well Well" & "God". There are two bonus cuts: "Power to the People" & "Do the Oz".

Lennon is so raw & powerful on this album that it's palpable. He was also very politically active with the "left" & some of that comes through. That was also a problem for him; it kept interfering with his desire to reside in the U.S. There were so many conflictions within him we may never truly understand the man, Yoko Ono included.

It's so sad we lost him the way we did. If he had retained the sort of dynamics that were working on this album we would've gotten some really incredible compositions from him. But I, for one, was glad to see the peace he received from his five year self-imposed exile as a househusband. It mellowed him (a good thing) & his music (not the best thing). Enjoy this album from John Lennon, it still stands as the best one of his shortened career. February 22, 2008

Lennon's solo masterwork

Time has softened the effect of "Plastic Ono Band" (tracks like "Mother" and "God" are no longer shocking in the least by today's standards), but the songs still hold up well. Easily the angriest of the three 1970 Beatles solo albums, but it can't quite top George's double album of the same year. But the two are so different in their method and themes that it's easy to love them both on equal if opposing grounds (let's just leave the McCartney record out of the counversation, shall we?).

Years of punk and metal have done nothing to lighten the impact of Lennon's primal howls on tracks like "Isolation," "I Found Out," and "Mother." And "Working Class Hero" may be the album's finest moment, a tirade-type song that almost anyone can get behind. Far sparer than George's and not just a bunch of pop songs like Paul's, somehow this has been overshadowed by "Imagine" for far too long now. "Plastic" may not be easy to get into (its confessional style can be harrowing and unflinching), but it's also one of the most so-called "rewarding" albums ever made.

Best cuts: "Working Class Hero," "I Found Out," "Remember," "Mother," "Isolation," "God," "Love," "Well Well Well," "Hold On" February 13, 2008

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