Though filled with collaborations this is mainly billed as a Lennon album and as such his most hated. Scolded by critics, had comparatively low sales and still today on worst albums ever lists. Strange indeed. Some of the reaction could be explained by a kind of common expectation at the time it would be in the same style as the more PC "Imagine", but instead it came out as an hardcore left-wing statement, ardously embraced by the large public and thus also by anxious critics. Maybe it also had to do with John and Yoko sharing the space instead of releasing separate vinyls. Whatever! Fortythree years later it's time to put all that aside and just listen. Studio record has a couple of excellent Lennon rockers - "New York City", "John Sinclair" and "Attica State". Yoko does some of her best numbers in "Sisters O Sisters" and "We're All Water" and the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" duet works just fine. The live sets are more uneven but certainly intriguing. Side one is from a 1969 concert where they did the "Cold Turkey"/"Don't Worry Kyoko..." '45, backed by Keith Moon and George Harrison among others (at a time Beatles was still on). Side two from John & Yoko guesting a 1971 Zappa/Mothers concert at Fillmore East and collaborating on four cuts. "Jamrag" - a different version of Zappas "King Kong", "Scumbag" - avant-garde rock, "Au" - more or less a sound experiment, and "Well - a song from Lennon's early Liverpool days with a breathtaking Zappa solo. I love it all and today spin it a lot more than "Walls And Bridges" or "Mind Games". Not that those are bad in any way, I just find this a lot more exciting. Premiere US on Apple (SVBB 3392) came with residency petition form, postcard and credit inners. First UK had label as shown here, matt fold/out cover, postcard and credit inners. (BÄ*)(JYZÖ*) (ÄPLÄ*)
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