John Lennon's first "true" solo album "Plastic Ono Band" was originally released in December, 1970; a full year after the Beatles technically broke up. It is, by far, the most powerful and honest album that Lennon produced during his tragically brief solo career. This album even rivals some of his best work within the Beatles. Remastered this year under the supervision of Yoko Ono, "Plastic Ono Band" sounds twice as clear as the original cd release. New liner notes and packaging were added, including some nice pictures of John and Yoko during this period and examples of hand-written lyrics by John for every song. This is an extremely attractive looking re-issue, which is fitting for a classic album of this quality.
What's so timeless and appealing about "Plastic Ono Band" was Lennon's ability to record a simple and sparse sounding album that contained some very deep and diverse songwriting. He brought in a very solid group of musicians for these sessions; Ringo Starr on drums, Klaus Voorman on bass, Billy Preston on piano, Yoko on wind (whatever that means!), and Lennon himself on vocals, guitar, and piano. The album was produced by veteran/eccentric producer Phil Spector. The album begins with the most well-known song from this album, "Mother". It's a painful reminder of the loss that John felt with his mother's death and the abandonment from his father. The song was written during John and Yoko's primal scream therapy period, and the song does come off sounding like a release of some very strong/deep rooted feelings Lennon had at that time. It's only fitting that "Mother" would follow with the hopeful sounding "Hold On": "Hold on John, John hold on... it's gonna be alright. You're gonna win the fight." This song features some nice echo guitar to an easy going melody. Lennon actually sounds like an angry punk on "I Found Out" and "Well Well Well". Gritty guitar-work accompanies both songs, and "I Found Out" contains the classic line "I've seen through junkies, I've been through them all. I've seen religion from Jesus to Paul". John never had a problem with being honest about himself or his feelings about his ex-mates. With the Beatle's breakup still fresh in his mind, John tries to set the record straight on "God". He attempts to discredit reliance in religion and many rock icons at the time such as Elvis, Bob Dylan, and even the Beatles. "I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that's reality" is how the song finishes. But, even with John setting his life apart from being a Beatle, he still has a few songs on here that would fit well on any Beatle's album. "Look at Me" sounds like it came right off the "White Album" and "My Mummy's Dead" wouldn't be too out of place on "Revolver". The latter song ends "Plastic Ono Band" in a sad manner, but it's a true statement to what Lennon was going through at the time. He wore his heart out on his sleeve, and he never did it quite better than on "Plastic Ono Band".
As a nice addition, this re-issue contains the bonus tracks "Power to the People" and "Do the Oz". The latter track is really just a throw-away song that already appeared on the Lennon box set. "Power to the People" is a timeless anthem with plenty of soul to it. I always thought of this song as being a more militant version of "Give Peace a Chance"!
In addtion to this album, "Imagine" and "Double Fantasy" were also remastered and released with new liner notes. It's a great way to remember Lennon's solo work 20 years after his murder. Hopefully, the rest of his releases get the same treatment. If you have to own just one Lennon solo album, "Plastic Ono Band" would be the one to own. I always thought that if you took a few of these songs along with some selections from the other Beatle's first solo albums (Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", McCartney's first album, and throw in a little bit of Ringo such as "It Don't Come Easy"), you would have a pretty impressive final Beatle's album. Oh well, a fan can still dream a little can't he?!
