Another Week Another Vinyl: John Lennon & Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy
I actually purchased this album the same week I bought Autumn to Spring from The Nice. However, I found it more appropriate to post this on the anniversary of Lennon’s death. It’s sadly been 28 years since Lennon was ripped from the world, and no matter how cliche this may sound, his music continues to live on and is just as powerful as it was when he recorded it. Double Fantasy was the last album released before Lennon’s death, and was the final insight on Lennon’s transformation in his personal life.Double Fantasy is the kind of album that makes you happy we are in the digital age. Sure, I’ll be the first to bash iTunes, but it’s not necessarily all that bad when you take into account albums like this. Double Fantasy is incredibly historic, and quite good-- that is if you listen to every other song... John and Yoko split the musical duties evenly, and respectively take on every other song, which inevitably means you have to listen to the squealing Yoko Ono every second track. John’s songs are fantastic and if you were to exclude Yoko from the mix, you would have a stellar album. He sets the mood so well on all of his songs, only to be ruined by Ono each and every time.
Double Fantasy is certainly a nice vinyl to have in my collection. Its historical value is like no other, but this album is better off listened to on my iPod where I can conveniently delete all of Yoko’s contributions. Yoko may not be as evil as everyone makes her out to be, but there is no doubt her artistic talents are better left off in any spectrum that isn’t associated with music.
And no, Yoko didn’t break up The Beatles. Time did.
posted by Jeff at 12:33 PM
13 Comments:
Hello
Such a beautiful cover. I keep hoping somebody'd request I paint that.
Daniel - Would you actually paint the cover onto the record? Because I bet that would look great.
Time, and the good sense to put their legacy ahead of their bank accounts. Not many artists quit on top, but the Beatles were in their prime and walked away. Actually, John Lennon did it twice, because he took that five year break before Double Fantasy. IT was a tie when his records were selling, but he may have been running out of steam. After the break, he returned with one of his best albums. I spend a lot of time bashing Lennon because I think he was a pretty rotten guy who gets credit for being some kind of saint, but all that aside, he did walk away from fame twice and that's impressive.
Bob - I can't blame you for bashing Lennon. Sort of like how Nirvana's importantance in music is overrated, Lennon's personal life was a little overrated. He never had peace with his family, yet he was advocating for world peace. The worst part of his death was that he was slowly begining to improve his life, and was finally reconnecting with Julian.
This was the first Lennon album I listened to growing up. And Yoko made the experience gut-wrenching.
But it was worth it just to hear "Watching the Wheels"--still my favorite Lennon solo song.
I agree about "Watching the Wheels." It's one of my favorites too. I love how it's such an un-rock sentiment.
Yeah, I'd paint that image.
David - "Watching the Wheels" is probably my favorite track on the album, but I don't think I would rank it as my favorite Lennon song. Even though I'm being incredibly unoriginal by saying this, "Imagine" is probably my favorite. "Mind Games" and "Jealous Guy" are definitely close too.
"Instant Karma" is probably my favorite or "Woman is the Nigger of the World." "Imagine" is probably my least favorite, but largely because its lightweight philosophy is seen as a message of hope and peace when it's really (albeit only in its ignorance) a recipe for disaster.
Bob - I guess arguing about "Imagine" would only lead to a political debate (I like to stay away from those.) But I don't see it as a recipe for disaster. Deep down I've always had a soft spot for Socialism, I think it's an incredible Utopian idea. Obviously it hasn't been implemented too well in the past and has only led to crazy dictatorships but I like to believe that if it were applied without any power hungry psychos then maybe it could work. Certainly not likely but I like to have some sort of optimism. Every time I read the Communist Manifesto I get this incredible rush of thinking how great that world would be... Once again, to each his own I suppose.
Bob - Although I must say I hate when people say how great the "Imagine" world would be when in fact their political beliefs don't even come close to aligning with the lyrics.
It's not socialism I object to, it's the absence of Truth and the whole "lining for today" concept. Lennon was a nit-wit. It all sounds good and then you dig under it all and there's no substance. It's just nonsense about everyone living in peace, but there's nothing about what happens when we disagree. Frankly, I'm twice as liberal as anyone I know, but that doesn't mean I'll believe in some hair-brained rock star and his phoney concept of a peaceful world. If you want peace, you have to think about tomorrow and you have to think about how we get along when we don't all think the same. If we follow Lennon's plan (or Marx's for that matter), we sacrifice freedom (and art along with it) for a peace that neither can deliver.
Post a Comment
<< Home