"Yoko performed some of the most lascerating electric guitar solos of all time, on this disc. Only she did them with HER VOICE!!! Half the songs are meditatives, dusky, gems, and the other are death metal/funk blitzkriegs. Some of John's best guitarwerk can be found here, along with Clapton, and Ringo. If Yoko is a witch like so many halfwits portend, then "FLY" is her pox on all their little houses."
Strangely, I appreciate Ono's music more as I grow older
Thomas Lapins | Orlando, Florida USA | 10/22/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Disc one is less interesting to me than disc two. I can see why "Midsummer New York" has been well received. However, except for his 1969's Session Album, I can't listen to Elvis hound dog type music. It's not a bad song but I don't like the beat. Track three "Mind Holes" is good but way too short. This is of the same calibre as anything else on "Plastic Ono Band". I find it soothing and stimulating. "Mrs. Lennon" is my favorite track on disc one. I very much like this "Yoko". She's tender and intelligent. "Toilet Piece" is a royal flush! great fun. "O Wind (Body Is The Scar Of Your Mind)" is the third song on disc one that I especially enjoy. I can meditate to the drums and voice. The slight variations throughout keeps the song interesting for me. Disc two starts out with "Airmale" from Lennon's film "Erection". This is perhaps the centerpiece, for me, of this two disc collection. It's long, and probably far too long for most people, but it keeps my interest throughout. It's a strange, magical journey into.... It has a sense of purpose, and the chimes are wonderful. "Don't Count The Waves" some of Yoko's music ventures are pure think pieces. I classify this one as one of those. Hypnotic! "You" reminds me of "Why" from POB. Very different for sure, but I find it to be the "yin" to "Why"'s yang. "Fly" is the primal "yelp" that preceeded her heavy "Rising" cd. Very long. Sometimes too long. But it makes sense to me. The gutteral noises of the body, the brain, the vocals, the lungs, everything is explored and chokes and splurts all over you and everyone else in the way. "Telephone Piece" is the royal ring. Have a sense of humor and enjoy the idea here. Bonus tracks: "Between The Takes" could have been an outtake from POB. OK. "Will You Touch Me" the lyrics could have been on Lennon's POB. Lyrics much better than the melody."
Oh yoko, dear yoko, poor yoko
Spencer Owen | Los Angeles, CA United States | 11/27/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sometimes I think, "I just want to talk to someone who appreciates this." And then I get the mental reply that most people would give me: "Sorry, Lennon's dead." Many of the reviews I find hear support this claim. People seem to hold an awful lot of animosity towards Ms. Ono and her work. Maybe it's because, like one said, they've got this vengeance complex against her for "breaking up the Beatles." Or maybe it's something more innocent like not appreciating the avant garde or experimental (which I completely understand). I'd like now to lend a voice to the minority group of those in favor: This record and YOKO ONO/PLASTIC ONO BAND are unadulterated masterpieces to my ears. Ono and Lennon brought out the best in each other on these records. This stuff never gets tiresome to me. At the end of it all, I will have listened to these more often than I will have listened to IMAGINE and RUBBER SOUL combined. Wonderful. And I have no shame in saying I think so."
Epic Yoko
Grigory's Girl | NYC | 01/31/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is an epic masterpiece from Yoko. There are many brilliant (and yes, I mean brilliant) songs here. Mrs. Lennon is achingly beautiful. I really like Mindtrain, presented here in its original 16 minute version (the box set Onobox has a single length edit). The rock and roll insanity of Don't Worry, Kyoko is incredibly intense. The musicians rock like hell, and Yoko sings with a feverish passion. Airmale is an eerie song, reminiscent of Brian Eno's ambient work. You is another great track. The only track that should be avoided is the title one. It runs 22:53, and it is not an interesting 22:53. The album is the best example of her "avant-garde" work (as narrow minded critics put it; they have to label EVERYTHING), and it's one of her best albums ever. Originally a double album when it was released, it has withstood the test of time, and it's the album of hers I revisit the most. I have a ton of Yoko's albums (including Onobox, Season of Glass, It's Alright, Fly, Plastic Ono Band, Rising, and her colloborations with John, Sometime in NYC, Two Virgins, Life with the Lions, Double Fantasy, Milk and Honey), and I am not ashamed of saying I think she's f^%%ing brilliant.
"
Avant-Yoko screams to a start
Grigory's Girl | 07/26/1998
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What was so astonishing with the Yoko Ono/PLastic Ono band release of the same name, which came in 1970, was how it fused wild, often improvised jams with primal vocal performance and ambient soundscapes. And to top it off, free-jazz of the most untempered sort performed by Avant-jazz guru Ornette Coleman. So, when this 2 LP set was released in 1971, what had changed? Thruth to tell, the album does not unleash the full range of manic energy as did POB, but it is more varied and- in its own right - more adventurous. Despite the pretentions of the opening rock number "midsummer New York" & the lovely, doomed love ballad "Mrs. Lennon", the rough edges of such cliffhanger escapades as "Don't worry Kyoko" & "Hirake", are never smoothened out. The second disc contains over fifty minutes of Yoko's instrumental experimentations, which owe even less to rock&roll than the material on the first disc. Despite continuous variation! s, the instrumentals and vocal improvisations ultimately start to wear just a tad thin, but then again Lou Reed did incomparably worse when attempting noise experimentation on the trite "metal machine music". Few artist's would probably succeed as well with this feet as does Yoko, and the spirit of this epic album continues to inspire to this day."