John Lennon -Plastic Ono Band- 1970 - Review

John Lennon - Plastic Ono Band - 1970

Songs: Mother, Hold On, I Found Out, Working Class Hero, Isolation, Remember, Love, Well Well Well, Look at Me, God, My Mummy’s Dead. 

Type of Music: Rock/Folk

Comments:

In 1970, John Lennon wanted the world to know that he was displeased and frustrated. About his childhood, his parents, his fans, politics, social inequality, Elvis, Bob Dylan and even the Beatles. Only Yoko Ono escaped from his anger, probably because she had ordered him to do so!

Or maybe because he thought he really loved her or…really loved her or…

Now John could have told us all about that but apparently that was not good enough. Therefore John Lennon’s first and unique solo album became one big frustrated scream. Let it all hang out man as they said back in the seventies.

The danger existed of course that John’s scream would have been hard to listen to. Fortunately that's not the case because he was still able to write mighty good rockers and tender piano ballads, all stylistically close to the songs on Let it Be. And he invited Ringo to play drums! His drumming is an important part of this Album and confirms that he is  one of the great Rock Drummers.      

Sometimes, like in Well Well Well , John´s therapy starts to be a bit annoying. And I’m really sorry about John’s Mum but that does not make My Mummy’s Dead a great song even considering it was taped in the kitchen of Yoko´s Sushi Restaurant. And I’m not too keen on Remember. It reminds me too much of Bring it on Home to Me and even copies part of the lyrics of that song.

But in general, I have few complaints about this album. The Re-Mastered Sound Quality is excellent and most of the songs are quite strong. I have to warn you that it’s not an easy album to listen to. The church bells that open the album are an indication of the doom that follows. But Rock Songs like Mother, I Found Out and Isolation are well written and produced. And Hold On, Love and Look at Me are gentle ballads. When listening to Love I can hear the idea of Imagine being formed.

My favorite tune on the Album however is the Dylan pastiche Working Class Hero, a very realistic picture of some of the characteristics of our social structure.

The Re-Mastered version offers a booklet with some photos of John & Yoko, all the lyrics, apparently in John’s Handwriting and two bonus songs. One is the strong revolutionary single Power to the People. The other one is an invitation to Do the Oz. Unfortunately I have to gracefully decline this invitation.

I don’t recall having ever heard such a personal record. It’s really unique in that sense. John never repeated the procedure so apparently he was cured. And that, I’m sorry to say, proved to be a loss for Classic Rock Music.  

Bonus Tracks: Power to the People, Do the Oz.

Who should buy this Record: This is Essential John Lennon! It is also a unique album. As such it should be part of every Classic Rock Collection.

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)

Black = Good Songs

Green = Great Songs

Red = Could Be Better