![]() ![]() This was understandable - at the time, Lennon was neck-deep in his struggle to remain in the United States, a conflict rooted in his antiwar and antiestablishment politics and the enmity of the Nixon administration. The first album co-billed to John Lennon and Yoko Ono to actually contain recognizable pop music, Some Time in New York City found the Lennons in an explicitly political phase. Few albums are ever as harrowing, difficult, and rewarding as John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. It’s an unflinching document of bare-bones despair and pain, but for all its nihilism, it is ultimately life-affirming it is unique not only in Lennon’s catalog, but in all of popular music. Lennon presents everything on the surface, and the song titles - “Mother,” “I Found Out,” “Working Class Hero,” “Isolation,” “God,” “My Mummy’s Dead” - illustrate what each song is about, and charts his loss of faith in his parents, country, friends, fans, and idols. ![]() ![]() ![]() Not much about Plastic Ono Band is hidden. Lennon’s songs range from tough rock & rollers to piano-based ballads and spare folk songs, and his melodies remain strong and memorable, which actually intensifies the pain and rage of the songs. Which isn’t to say that the record is unlistenable. It was a revolutionary record - never before had a record been so explicitly introspective, and very few records made absolutely no concession to the audience’s expectations, daring the listeners to meet all the artist’s demands. Arthur Janov, Lennon created a harrowing set of unflinchingly personal songs, laying out all of his fears and angers for everyone to hear. Inspired by his primal scream therapy with Dr. The cliché about singer/songwriters is that they sing confessionals direct from their heart, but John Lennon exploded the myth behind that cliché, as well as many others, on his first official solo record, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. ![]()
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