Yoko Ono | Page 13 | Fab forum

Ooooh, listy time!

1) You are already know YO/POB – and hey, that's the best one!

2) I dare you to listen to the entirety (eternity?) of "Cambridge 1969" while baked.

3) If you want more of the same, only quieter, move on to "Fly". If you want more of the same, only scarier, move on to "John, John (Let's Hope for Peace)" and "Aü". Then lie down for a bit.

4) If you definitely, emphatically do not want more of the same, listen to the incredible "Open Your Box" (or the censored album version "Hirake"). Repeat.

5) Listen to all available versions of "Don't Worry Kyoko": demo (Wedding Album CD), Cold Turkey b-side (also on Fly), live in Toronto, and live in London (Live Jam, approx. 15 minutes).

6) Yoko also has a few actual songs, e.g. "Midsummer New York" (kicks butt!), "Listen the Snow Is Falling", or "Who Has Seen the Wind". Then there's "Mrs Lennon", which is a bit like "Oh My Love", only scary.

7) Treat yourself to side 3 of Fly ("Airmale", "Don't Count the Waves", and "You"). You will never want to listen to anything else ever again.

The rot started to set in with Some Time in NYC, mainly because of the lyrics. I cannot recommend Approximately Infinite Universe either, except for laughs. Haven't heard all of "Feeling the Space" because what I heard sounded too much like AIU. 

For some reason, I don't really count Double Fantasy, Season of Glass etc. as Yokomusic.

I haven't heard Starpeace, but the cover looks dreadful.

But the "old" stuff is really good! 

She has indeed, although even on the most hummable/danceable of tunes, her voice always stands out as quite unconventional (I think) – so you'd have to like or at least tolerate that.

In fact, I believe that percentage-wise, most of her music is conventional rock/pop rather than head-splitting screeching – it's just that on the whole, I like the screeching (and the music that comes with it) more than the pop stuff.

That said, most of Yoko's early traditionally-structured and -instrumented songs (e.g. "Listen the Snow Is Falling", "Who Has Seen the Wind", "Remember Love", "Midsummer New York", "Mrs Lennon") are really good, and it was only when she pushed the screechy stuff overboard and went pop/rock full-time that the songs began to suffer. I like "Sisters O Sisters" (a little reggae-ish, that one, and a great melody) and "We're All Water" on Some Time in NYC, but the other songs she sings on are embarrassing (just my view though – I can see how one might like "Angela" or "The Luck of the Irish", perhaps because they're duets with John).

Approximately Infinite Universe (2 LPs!) and Feeling the Space (what I've heard of it) are musically pleasant but lyrically painful – a lot of unfiltered feminist rethoric set to professional mid-70s soft rock. Whenever the lyrics are bearable, it's the lack of tunes that drags the recordings down. However, if you're the kind of listener who likes to go for "so bad it's good" stuff on occasion, this might be for you.

I've heard Yoko's songs on Double Fantasy and Milk and Honey, and some of what followed (all pop/rock very much in the styles of its time, i.e. late 70s/early 80s), but wasn't too impressed – I always feel that Yoko needs to go beyond verse/chorus structures and let loose. She did that best on her late 60s/early 70s records, as the albums she's put out since 1995 aren't so hot either…

Hope this helps!

Ah well, I tried.

But you're right – the "shaaaaake" bit is, for want of a better word, awesome.