Plastic Ono Band Songs Ranked
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band is the debut solo record by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At the time of its issue, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band received mixed reviews overall but later came to be widely regarded as Lennon’s best solo album. John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the US Billboard 200. In 1987, Rolling Stone ranked it fourth in its list “The 100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years” and in 2012, ranked it number 23 in their list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. It was voted number 244 in Colin Larkin All-Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[3] In 2000, the album was remixed with two bonus tracks, “Power to the People” and “Do the Oz”. The album’s 2021 Ultimate Mixes reissue, in the eight-disc Ultimate Collection box set, features 159 previously unreleased mixes, demos, outtakes, and isolated track elements. Here are all of Plastic Ono Band songs ranked.
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11. Mother
“Mother” is certainly one of the top 20 Lennon songs ever for, and that’s saying a lot. What does it for me is lull you into some of the best rock singing and screaming that this reviewer has ever heard. A very cathartic experience”
10. I Found Out
“Recorded a year after the Beatles break up, and at a time of future uncertainty for all 4 of them, Lennon produced the Lennon/Plastic Ono album, where he teamed up with Beatles colleague, Ringo on drums, and an old friend from the Hamburg days, Klaus Voormann on bass.”
9. Isolation
“Isolation” veers from soft piano-based pop on the fearful & fretful verses to a bluesy bridge in which he expresses his anger and frustration with the public’s and media’s perception of John & Yoko.”
See more: John Lennon Albums Ranked
8. Love
“Normally known for his wall of sound, this album is the exact opposite. The personnel on this are also kept to a bare minimum, John and Yoko, Ringo on drums and Klaus Voorman on bass. It is an album that at times really rocks. One notable exception is the beautiful and tender song, Love.”
7. Look at Me
“Look At Me” is a quiet, introspective folk piece with some lovely double-tracking on the vocals. When this album was released, it left a lot of Beatle fans scratching their heads. Clearly these tracks couldn’t be more at odds with what people were expecting and the album received many mixed reviews with fans and critics being left confused.”
6. My Mummy’s Dead
“The best song on here is the one that terrifies you before it actually happens; My Mummy’s Dead. It sounds like it was recorded with the most primitve, tinny device known to man. Perfect. Adds to the desolation more. John sure sounds numb there; numb and sad. It’s the most truthful song he EVER”wrote.”
5. God
“Just to hear John’s singing on “God” is revelatory (although not exactly easy listening): here is a man at his rope’s end, desperate to try and find something to believe in, doubting everything that has influenced him or which has been forced upon him to accept as the “answer” to all his pain (a la Descarte) until he has nothing left to say except “I just believe in me/Yoko and me/and that’s reality”.”
See more: John Lennon Songs Ranked
4. Well Well Well
“In case you didn’t know this, Lennon shut himself off, his emotions toward pain, for years; like during the rise to success (that word doesn’t seem enough…); and this album was the result of Dr. Janov’s primal scream therapy, which Lennon embraced (as did P.F. Sloan). Just listen to Lennon screaming his guts out on the word ‘well’ in Well Well Well. Beautiful.”
3. Remember
“My favorite track, “Remember”, hits us with pounding drums, pounding bass and pounding piano, to make us recall the hypocrisy and fairy-tale foolishness of things we endure growing up in bourgeois society:”
2. Working Class Hero
“Another favorite is the melancholy folk song “Working Class Hero”, another song I can easily relate to.Working Class Hero, where John just accompanies himself on guitar is typical of this. “
1. Hold On
“We also hear him reassuring himself to ‘Hold On’, despite the turmoil all around him, with the breakup of the Beatles and the battering him and Yoko were receiving from the world’s press.. There’s also another short and optimistic song, ‘Hold On’, Not in the class of ‘Love’, perhaps, but together they provide the only escape from the general feel of the album.”
