Ask the elephant! (Yoko Ono) (LP 3417 - 3425)

Yoko Ono  Season of Glass (Vinyl, Geffen Records, 1981) *   

Yoko Ono  It's Alright (I see rainbows) (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1982) **  

Yoko Ono  Starpeace (CD, Polygram Records/Ryko, 1985) **

Yoko Ono/IMA  Rising (CD, Capitol Records, 1995) ****    

Yoko Ono  Blueprint For A Sunrise (CD, CapitolRecords, 2001) ***

Yoko Ono  Yes, I'm A Witch (CD, Chimera Music, 2007) **  

Yoko Ono/ Plastic Ono Band  Between My Head and the Sky (CD, Chimera Music, 2009) ****  

Yoko Ono  Yes, I'm A Witch Too (CD, Chimera Music, 2016) *** 

Yoko Ono  Warzone (CD, Sony Music, 2018) *** 

Genre: Synth pop, pop/rock, experimental rock

Places I remember: Marbecks Records, Fopp, HMV, Real Groovy Records.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Warzone (Rising)

Gear costume: Waiting For The D Train (Between My Head and the Sky)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I really struggle with listening to Seasons Of Glass. It's too harrowing for me. I understand why Yoko felt the need to do it and, at a pinch, I even understand her need to release it as an artistic statement, but, from John's bloody glasses on the cover to the sound of gunshots on one song, it's just too raw. 

 

Yes, this is still, in 2025, more than I can process (it's not only his murder but the effect on Yoko and Sean that resonates). Hence the one star - for collector's only, rating. I've played it once and that was tough. I have no desire to ever play it again. 

For some reason I've kept collecting her post John albums (although I have missed a couple of the latest ones and the remix collections).

It's alright (I see rainbows) is at least a little more upbeat, but John's ghost is literally on the back cover. All very natural catharsis but it doesn't make for great art.

Starpeace is Yoko starting to reclaim her more singular vision, via some great session musicians. It adds up to some goodish synth-pop and some reawakening of the old Yoko. 

The reawakening would see full bloom on Rising with Sean taking over John's supportive role (his count into a song at one point is eerily like his dad). Yoko reprises her primal scream sound to great effect and Sean emerges as a creative force for his mother in a stripped back trio approach.

In one sense, Blueprint For A Sunrise is a step backward from Rising's new material, as it features live tracks, samples, and remixes of previous recordings, but it continues to utilise Sean's and others' creativity. 

In terms of subject matter, it returns to Feeling The Space's feminist theme. Unfortunately, it was still a relevant subject matter in 2001, and 2025 for that matter.

Yes, I'm A Witch and Yes, I'm A Witch Too are interesting. I've added them to this post because they are Yoko-centric in that Yoko collaborates with others by providing vocals to a variety of backing bands (some famous, some not) on both albums.

It's okay but even Porcupine Tree can't add much to Death Of Samantha. The thing is - Yoko's vocals are an acquired taste at the best of times. Without John or Sean providing instrumentation, there is not a lot for me to grasp on to. 

The most interesting songs are on Yes, I'm A Witch Too: a slowed down orchestrally lush Walking On Thin Ice , a slightly revamped Move On Fast (one of my favourite Yoko moments) with Jack Douglas at the controls, and Hell In Paradise is nicely Moby-ised.

Against all odds she returned to the Plastic Ono Band name and released Between My Head and the Sky at age 76! And it's a big time return to form. 

Sean is again at the heart of things with a few guests from sympathetic bands like Cibo Matto.

The AllMusic review sums it well - This is a deeply focused, wonderfully colorful, and deeply expressive work that showcases a collaboration between mother and son and displays depth, strength, creativity in spades, and intense beauty.

The final album in this list is Warzone from 2018. It's her latest album, which she released when she was 85 years old. What a remarkable achievement. 

She uses the occasion to re-record songs from her past and sounds vital, interested, and still inventive. Even if, like Macca, her vocals have morphed into a new sound in old age, she's still recognisably Yoko. Like Macca and Joni, her voice has taken on a new resonance at age 85. 

What a life. What a remarkable body of work that she has amassed during her life. John would have been so proud of her (and Sean's input) in the years since he was cruelly taken from us (yes - us - he belongs to the world).

Although she is not my wife's idea of a singer, I still love a lot of her work, in particular Yoko Ono/ Plastic Ono Band, and Rising. Two great albums.

If only she'd leave Imagine alone, though. On Warzone she revises history by adding her name to the composition - something John suggested was right and proper given her Grapefruit inspiration. But her singing of this iconic song is a bridge too far for me. 

Where do they all belong? A couple of her post Between My Head and the Sky albums have passed me by to this point: Yokokimthurston is a collaborative album with Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, released in 2012; and Take Me To The Land of Hell is from 2013. If I see them, I'll grab them. She's always interesting!